Le Père Duchesne looking at the statue of Napoleon I on top of the Vendome column: "Eh ben ! bougre de canaille, on va donc te foutre en bas comme ta crapule de neveu !… (Well now! buggering rascal, we will knock you the fuck off just like your crook of a nephew!…")

The Paris Commune (French: La Commune de Paris) was a government that briefly ruled Paris from 18 March (more formally from 26 March) to 28 May 1871. Le Père Duchêne ("Old Man Duchesne" is the title of a Newspaper which appeared during revolutionary periods of the nineteenth century Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Place Vendôme is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor Events 1026 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor. Events 585 BC - A Solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Year 1871 ( MDCCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common It has been variously described as either Anarchist or Socialist in tenor, depending on the ideology of the commentator. Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution

In a formal sense the Paris Commune was simply the local authority (council of a town or district — French "commune") which exercised power in Paris for two months in the spring of 1871. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people But the conditions in which it was formed, its controversial decrees and tortured end make it one of the more important political episodes of the time.

Background

Destruction of the Vendôme Column during the Paris Commune (This and other pictures were later used to identify and execute Communards)

The Commune was the result of an uprising in Paris after France was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War. Place Vendôme is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine The Communards were members and supporters of the short-lived 1871 Paris Commune formed in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War and France's defeat The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War ( 19 July, 1870 — 10 May, 1871 This uprising was chiefly caused by the disaster in the war and the growing discontent among French workers. ^[1] The worker discontent can be traced to the first worker uprisings, the Canut Revolts, in Lyon and Paris in the 1830s. There were three Canut revolts (Révolte des canuts in Lyon during the first half of the 19th century ||-||} Lyon, also known as Lyons in English is a city in east-central France. ^[2] ('Canut' was a Lyonnais silk worker, often working on Jacquard looms. The canuts were Lyonnais silk workers often working on Jacquard looms They were primarily found in the Croix-Rousse neighbourhood of Lyon in )

"Discussing the War in a Paris Café", Illustrated London News 17 September 1870

The war with Prussia, started by Napoleon III in July 1870, turned out disastrously for France, and by September Paris itself was under siege. The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War ( 19 July, 1870 — 10 May, 1871 The Illustrated London News was a Magazine founded by Herbert Ingram and his friend Mark Lemon, the editor of Punch Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state Napoléon III, also known as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (full name Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte) (20 April 1808 9 January 1873 was the first President The Siege of Paris, lasting from September 19, 1870 &ndash January 28, 1871, brought about French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War The gap between rich and poor in the capital had widened in recent years, and now food shortages, military failures, and finally a Prussian bombardment added to the widespread discontent. Parisians, especially workers and the lower-middle classes, had long supported a democratic republic. A specific demand was that Paris should be self-governing with its own elected council, something enjoyed by smaller French towns but denied to Paris by a government wary of the capital's unruly populace. An associated but more vague wish was for a fairer, if not necessarily socialist, way of managing the economy, summed up in the popular cry for "la république démocratique et sociale!" ("the democratic and social republic!")

In January 1871, after four months of siege, the moderate republican Government of National Defence sought an armistice with the newly-proclaimed German Empire. Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification The Germans included a triumphal entry into Paris in the peace terms. Despite the hardships of the siege, many Parisians were bitterly resentful and were particularly angry that the Prussians (now at the head of the new Empire) should be allowed even a brief ceremonial occupation of their city.

A contemporary sketch of women and children helping take two National Guard cannons to Montmartre

By that time hundreds of thousands of Parisians were armed members of a citizens' militia known as the "National Guard", which had been greatly expanded to help defend the city. The National Guard ( la Garde nationale) was the name given at the time of the French Revolution to the Militias formed in each city in imitation of Guard units elected their own officers who in working-class districts included radical and socialist leaders.

Steps were taken to form a "Central Committee" of the Guard, including patriotic republicans and socialists, both to defend Paris against a possible German attack and also to defend the republic against a possible royalist restoration following the election of a monarchist majority in February 1871 to the new National Assembly.

The population of Paris was defiant in the face of defeat and was prepared to fight if the entry of the German army into the city led to an armed clash. Before the Germans entered Paris, National Guards helped by ordinary working people managed to take large numbers of cannons (which they regarded as their own property as they had been partly paid for by public subscription) away from the Germans' path and store them in "safe" districts. One of the chief "cannon parks" was on the heights of Montmartre. Montmartre is a hill (the butte Montmartre) which is 130 metres high giving its name to the surrounding district in the north of Paris in the 18th

Adolphe Thiers, head of the new provisional government, realised that in the present unstable situation the Central Committee formed an alternative centre of political and military power. Louis-Adolphe fr Thiers ( Marseille, 16 April 1797&ndash3 September 1877 was a French politician and Historian. In addition he was concerned that the workers would arm themselves with the National Guard weapons and provoke the Germans.

Rise and nature

A barricade, March 18th, 1871.

The Germans entered Paris briefly and left again without incident, but Paris continued to be in a state of high political excitement. The imperial and provisional governments had both left Paris for Versailles, a safer haven against the German armies, and during the time required to return there was a power vacuum in the capital of France.

As the Central Committee of the National Guard adopted an increasingly radical stance and steadily gained authority, the government felt that it could not indefinitely allow it to have four hundred cannons at its disposal. So, as a first step, on 18 March Thiers ordered regular troops to seize the cannon stored on the Butte Montmartre and in other locations across the city. Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor But instead the soldiers, whose morale was low, fraternised with National Guards and local residents. The general at Montmartre, Claude Martin Lecomte, who was later said to have ordered them to fire on the crowd of National Guards and civilians was dragged from his horse and later shot together with General Thomas, a veteran republican now hated as former commander of the National Guard, who was seized nearby.

Generals Lecomte and Thomas being shot in Montmartre after their troops join the rebellion: a photographic reconstruction, not an actual photograph of the event.

Other army units joined the rebellion which spread so fast that the head of the government, Thiers ordered an immediate evacuation of Paris by as many of the regular forces as would obey, by the police, and by administrators and specialists of every kind. He fled ahead of them to Versailles. Versailles (vɛʀsaj in French) formerly de facto capital of the kingdom of France, is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and is still an important Thiers claimed he had thought about this strategy (to retreat from Paris to crush the insurrection afterward) for a long time while meditating on the example of the 1848 Revolution but it is just as likely that he panicked. The February 1848 Revolution in France ended the reign of King Louis-Philippe, and led to the creation of the French Second Republic (1848-1852 There is no evidence that the government had expected or planned for the crisis that had now begun. The Central Committee of the National Guard was now the only effective government in Paris: it arranged elections for a Commune, to be held on 26 March. Events 1026 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor.

The 92 members of the "Communal Council" included a high proportion of skilled workers and several professionals (such as doctors and journalists). Many of them were political activists, ranging from reformist republicans, through various types of socialists, to the Jacobins who tended to look back nostalgically to the Revolution of 1789. This page describes the political term "Jacobin" For discussion of the political organization of the French Revolution era see Jacobin Club. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an

Louis Auguste Blanqui

The veteran leader of the 'Blanquist' group of revolutionary socialists, Louis Auguste Blanqui, was elected President of the Council, but this was in his absence, for he had been arrested on 17 March and was held in a secret prison throughout the life of the Commune. Louis Auguste Blanqui (born February 8, 1805 in Puget-Théniers, France, died January 1, 1881) was a French Events 45 BC - In his last victory Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger The Commune unsuccessfully tried to exchange him first against Mgr Darboy, archbishop of Paris, then against all 74 hostages it detained, but Thiers flatly refused (see below). Georges Darboy ( January 16 1813 - May 27 1871) was a French Catholic Priest, later Bishop of Nancy The Paris Commune (La Commune de Paris was a Government that briefly ruled Paris from 18 March (more formally from 26 March) to 28 May The Paris Commune was proclaimed on 28 March although local districts often retained the organizations from the siege. Events 37 - Roman Emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, entitled to him by the Senate.

Social measures

The commune adopted the previously discarded French Republican Calendar during its brief existence and used the socialist red flag rather than the republican tricolore — in 1848, during the Second Republic, radicals and socialists had already adopted the red flag to distinguish themselves from moderate Republicans similar to the moderate, liberal Girondists during the 1789 Revolution. The French Republican Calendar or French Revolutionary Calendar was a Calendar proposed during the French Revolution, and used by the French government Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution Red flags can signify a warning Martial law, defiance or Left-wing politics The National flag of France (known in French as drapeau tricolore, drapeau français,and in military parlance les couleurs History Revolution of 1848 See also Mid-nineteenth century France The industrial population of the Faubourgs The Girondists (in French Girondins, and sometimes Brissotins or "Baguettes" were a political faction in France within the Legislative The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an

Despite internal differences, the Council made a good start in maintaining the public services essential for a city of two million. It also reached consensus on certain policies that tended towards a progressive, secular and highly democratic social democracy rather than a social revolution. Social democracy is a Political ideology of the left and centre-left Lack of time (the Commune was able to meet on fewer than 60 days in all) meant that only a few decrees were actually implemented. These included the separation of church and state; the right to vote for women; the remission of rents owed for the entire period of the siege (during which payment had been suspended); the abolition of night work in the hundreds of Paris bakeries; the granting of pensions to the unmarried companions and children of National Guards killed on active service; the free return, by the city pawnshops, of all workmen's tools and household items valued up to 20 francs, pledged during the siege as they were concerned that skilled workers had been forced to pawn their tools during the war; the postponement of commercial debt obligations, and abolition of interest on the debts; and the right of employees to take over and run an enterprise if it were deserted by its owner, who was to receive compensation. Separation of church and state is a Political and Legal Doctrine that Government and religious institutions are to be kept separate A bakery (also called baker's or bakehouse) is an establishment which produces or/and sells Bread, pies pastries Cakes Biscuits A pension is a steady income given to a person upon Retirement, typically in the form of a guaranteed annuity. A pawnbroker is an individual or business entity that offers monetary loans in exchange for an item of value to the given pawn broker Debt is that which is owed usually referencing Assets owed but the term can cover other obligations Worker self-management (or autogestion) is a form of workplace decision-making in which the workers themselves agree on choices (for issues like customer care general production

The decree separated the church from the state, made all church property public property, and excluded religion from schools — after the fall of the Commune, the Third Republic would have to wait until the 1880-81 Jules Ferry laws and the 1905 French law on the separation of Church and State to re-implement these measures which founded French laïcité. The French Third Republic (in French, La Troisième République, sometimes written as La IIIe The Jules Ferry laws are a set of French laws which established first Free education ( 1881) then mandatory and laic education ( 1882 The 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and State ( French: Loi du 9 décembre 1905 concernant la séparation des Églises et de l'État) was passed by Laïcité (laisiˈte is the French concept of a Secular society, connoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs The churches were allowed to continue their religious activity only if they kept their doors open to public political meetings during the evenings. Along with the streets and the cafés, this made the churches one of the main participatory political centres of the Commune. Other projected legislation dealt with educational reforms which would make further education and technical training freely available to all.

The Commune returns workmen's tools pawned during the siege

Some women organized a feminist movement, following on from earlier attempts in 1789 and 1848. Feminism in France has its origins in the French Revolution. A few famous figures emerged during the 1871 Paris Commune, including Louise Michel, Russian-born Thus, Nathalie Lemel, a socialist bookbinder, and Élisabeth Dmitrieff, a young Russian exile and member of the Russian section of the First International (IWA), created the Union des femmes pour la défense de Paris et les soins aux blessés ("Women's Union for the Defense of Paris and Care of the Injured") on 11 April 1871. Nathalie Lemel ( 24 August 1826 - 1921 was a militant anarchist and feminist who participated on the barricades at the Commune de Paris Elisabeth Dmitrieff ( 1 November, 1851, Volok -1910 or 1918 was a Russian born Feminist and actress of the 1871 Paris Commune Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Year 1871 ( MDCCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The feminist writer André Léo, a friend of Paule Minck, also was active in the Women's Union. Victoire Léodile Béra (1824-1900 was a French Novelist, Journalist and Feminist. Believing that their struggle against patriarchy could only be followed in the frame of a global struggle against capitalism, the association demanded gender-equality, wages' equality, right of divorce for women, right to secular education and professional education for girls. Patriarchy is the structuring of Society on the basis of Family units where fathers have primary responsibility for the welfare of hence authority over Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where Gender comprises a range of differences between men and women extending from the biological to the social Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the termination of a Marriage. Secular education is a term that refers to the system of public education in countries with a Secular government or separation between Religion and They also demanded suppression of the distinction between married women and concubines, between legitimate and natural children, the abolition of prostitution (obtaining the closing of the maisons de tolérance, or legal official brothels). Concubinage is the state of a woman or youth in an ongoing quasi-matrimonial relationship with a man of higher social status Prostitution is the act of performing Sexual activity in exchange for Money. For the 2008 film of this name see The Brothel. For the television series of this name see Cathouse The Series. The Women's Union also participated in several municipal commissions and organized cooperative workshops. ^[3] Along with Eugène Varlin, Nathalie Le Mel created the cooperative restaurant La Marmite, which served free food for indigents, and then fought during the Bloody Week on the barricades ^[4] Paule Minck opened a free school in the Church of Saint Pierre de Montmartre, and animated the Club Saint-Sulpice on the Left Bank. In Paris, Saint Pierre de Montmartre is the lesser known of the two main churches on Montmartre, the other being the Basilica of the Sacré-Coeur. ^[4] The Russian Anne Jaclard, who declined to marry Dostoievsky and finally became the wife of Blanquist activist Victor Jaclard, founded with André Léo the newspaper La Sociale. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (Фёдор Миха́йлович Достое́вский, sometimes transliterated Dostoyevsky, Dostoievsky, She was also a member of the Comité de vigilance de Montmartre, along with Louise Michel and Paule Minck, as well as of the Russian section of the First International. For the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War units see Louise Michel Battalions Louise Michel (1830-1905 was a French anarchist Victorine Brocher, close to the IWA activists, and founder of a cooperative bakery in 1867, also fought during the Commune and the Bloody Week ^[4].

Famous figures such as Louise Michel, the "Red Virgin of Montmartre" who joined the National Guard and would later be sent to New Caledonia, symbolize the active participation of a small number of women in the insurrectionary events. For the former North American fur-trading district see New Caledonia (Canada, and for the Scottish colony in Panama see Darien scheme. A female battalion from the National Guard defended the Place Blanche during the repression. Place Blanche in Paris, France is one of the small Plazas along the Boulevard de Clichy, which runs between the 9th and 18th

The work-load of the Commune leaders was enormous. The Council members (who were not "representatives" but delegates, subject in theory to immediate recall by their electors) were expected to carry out many executive and military functions as well as their legislative ones. The numerous ad hoc organisations set up during the siege in the localities ("quartiers") to meet social needs (canteens, first aid stations) continued to thrive and cooperated with the Commune. CanTeen, The Australian Organisation for Young People Living with Cancer, is the national support organisation for young people (aged 12-24 living with cancer including cancer First aid is the provision of initial care for an Illness or Injury.

Paris, 29 May 1871

At the same time, these local assemblies pursued their own goals, usually under the direction of local workers. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Year 1871 ( MDCCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Despite the formal reformism of the Commune council, the composition of the Commune as a whole was much more revolutionist. Revolutionary trends included Proudhonists — an early form of moderate anarchists — members of the International socialists, Blanquists, and more libertarian republicans. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (ˈpruːd ɒn in British English, dɔ̃ in French) ( 15 January 1809 – 19 January 1865) was Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution In Left-wing discourse ' Blanquism' refers to a conception of revolution generally attributed to Louis Auguste Blanqui which holds that socialist revolution should A republic is a State or Country that is not led by a hereditary Monarch, but in which the people (or at least a part of its people have impact on its The Paris Commune has been celebrated by Anarchist and Marxist socialists continuously since then, partly due to the variety of tendencies, the high degree of workers' control and the remarkable cooperation among different revolutionists. Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

For example, in the III^e arrondissement, school materials were provided free, three schools were "laicised" and an orphanage was established. In the XX^e arrondissement, school children were provided with free clothing and food. There were many similar examples. But a vital ingredient in the Commune's relative success at this stage was the initiative shown by ordinary workers in the public domain, who managed to take on the responsibilities of the administrators and specialists removed by Thiers. After only a week, the Commune came under attack by elements of the new army (which eventually included former prisoners of war released by the Germans) being created at a furious pace in Versailles.

Assault

The Commune forces, the National Guard, first began skirmishing with the regular Versailles Army on 2 April. Events 68 - Galba, Governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of Neither side really sought a major civil war, nor was either side ever willing to negotiate. The National Assembly's army brutally crushed the Commune, and when the Commune had been demolished, the National Assembly proceeded with executions that numbered 20,000 in one week. The National Assembly is either a Legislature, or the Lower house of a Bicameral legislature in some countries Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. One of the generals leading the counter-assault headed by Thiers was the Marquis de Galliffet, the fusilleur de la Commune who later took part as Minister of War in Waldeck-Rousseau's government at the turn of the century (alongside independent socialist Millerand). Gaston Alexandre Auguste Marquis de Galliffet, Prince de Martignes ( Paris, January 23 1830 -1909 was a French General, best known The Minister of Defence ( Ministère de la Défense) is the French Government cabinet member charged with running the Military of France Alexandre Millerand (10 February 1859 - 7 April 1943 was a French socialist Politician.

Adolphe Thiers charging on the Communards, in Le Père Duchênes illustré magazine

The nearby suburb of Courbevoie was occupied by the government forces on 2 April, and a delayed attempt by the Commune's forces to march on Versailles on 3 April failed ignominiously. Louis-Adolphe fr Thiers ( Marseille, 16 April 1797&ndash3 September 1877 was a French politician and Historian. The Communards were members and supporters of the short-lived 1871 Paris Commune formed in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War and France's defeat Le Père Duchesne ( Old Man Duchesne or Father Duchesne) was an extreme radical newspaper during the French Revolution, edited by Jacques Courbevoie is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located 8 Events 68 - Galba, Governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. Defence and survival became overriding considerations, and the Commune leadership made a determined effort to turn the National Guard into an effective defence force.

Strong support came also from the large foreign community of political refugees and exiles in Paris: one of them, the Polish ex-officer and nationalist Jarosław Dąbrowski, was to be the Commune's best general. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Jarosław Radwan Dąbrowski-Żądło ( November 13 1836 &ndash May 23 1871) was a Polish revolutionary Nationalist and general The Council was fully committed to internationalism, and in the name of brotherhood the Vendôme Column, celebrating the victories of Napoleon I, and considered by the Commune to be a monument to Bonapartism and chauvinism, was pulled down. For the Marxist concept of internationalism see Proletarian internationalism. Place Vendôme is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Chauvinism (ˈʃoʊvɨnɪzəm is extreme and unreasoning Partisanship on behalf of a group to which one belongs especially when the partisanship includes malice and hatred

Abroad, there were rallies and messages of goodwill sent by trade union and socialist organisations, including some in Germany. A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. But any hopes of getting serious help from other French cities were soon dashed. Thiers and his ministers in Versailles managed to prevent almost all information from leaking out of Paris; and in provincial and rural France there had always been a skeptical attitude towards the activities of the metropolis. Movements in Narbonne, Limoges, and Marseille were quickly crushed. Narbonne ( Narbona in Catalan and in Occitan, the Roman Narbo) is a commune in southwestern France in the Limoges ( Lemòtges / Limòtges in the Limousin dialect of Occitan language) is a city and commune in France, the préfecture Marseille, ( English alt Marseilles mɑrˈseɪ — French: maʁsɛj locally — Provençal Occitan: Marselha maʀˈsijɔ

As the situation deteriorated further, a section of the Council won a vote (opposed by bookbinder Eugène Varlin, a correspondent of Karl Marx, and by other moderates) for the creation of a "Committee of Public Safety", modelled on the Jacobin organ with the same title, formed in 1792. The Committee of Public Safety (Comité de salut public le Haut Comité de la santé publique which is an entirely unrelated present-day institution--> set up by the Its powers were extensive and ruthless in theory, but in practice it was ineffective.

Jaroslaw Dabrowski caricatured in Le Père Duchesne Illustré - Un bon bougre!. A caricature is either a Portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness or in literature a description Le Père Duchesne ( Old Man Duchesne or Father Duchesne) was an extreme radical newspaper during the French Revolution, edited by Jacques . . Nom de Dieu!. . .

Throughout April and May, government forces, constantly increasing in number - with Prussia releasing French POWs to help the Thiers government - besieged the city's powerful defenses, and pushed back the National Guards. On 21 May a gate in the western part of the fortified city wall of Paris was opened, and Versaillese troops began the reconquest of the city. Events 878 - Syracuse Italy is captured by the Muslim sultan of Sicily. See also List of cities with defensive walls A defensive wall is a Fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors They first occupied the prosperous western districts, where they were welcomed by residents who had not left Paris after the armistice. It seems an engineer (who had spied regularly for the Thiers government) found the gate unmanned and signaled this to the Versaillais.

The strong local loyalties which had been a positive feature of the Commune now became something of a disadvantage: instead of an overall planned defence, each "quartier" fought desperately for its survival, and each was overcome in turn. The webs of narrow streets which made entire districts nearly impregnable in earlier Parisian revolutions had been largely replaced by wide boulevards during Haussmann's renovation of Paris. Boulevard ( French, from Bolwerk &ndash bolwark meaning bastion has several generally accepted meanings The Haussmann Renovations, or Haussmannisation of Paris, was a work commissioned by Napoléon III and led by the Seine prefect, Baron The Versaillese enjoyed a centralised command and had superior numbers. They had learned the tactics of street fighting, and simply tunnelled through the walls of houses to outflank the Communards' barricades. Ironically, only where Haussmann had made wide spaces and streets were they held up by the defenders' gunfire.

During the assault, the government troops were responsible for slaughtering National Guard troops and civilians: prisoners taken in possession of weapons, or who were suspected of having fought, were shot out of hand and summary executions were commonplace. A summary execution is a type of Extrajudicial punishment in which a person is killed on the spot without Trial.

Map of the April-May assault on the Paris Commune

The Commune had taken a "decree on hostages" on April 5, 1871, according to which any accomplice with Versailles would be made the "hostage of the Parisian people,". A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security Its article 5 also stated that the execution by Versailles of any war prisoner or partisan of the regular government of the Paris Commune would be followed on the spot by the execution of the triple number of retained hostages. But this decree was not applied. The Commune tried several times to exchange Mgr Darboy, archbishop of Paris, against Auguste Blanqui, but Thiers flatly refused and his personal secretary, Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire, declared: "The hostages! The hostages! too bad for them (tant pis pour eux!)". Georges Darboy ( January 16 1813 - May 27 1871) was a French Catholic Priest, later Bishop of Nancy Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire ( August 19, 1805 &ndash November 24, 1895) was a French Philosopher, Journalist The Commune unsuccessfully made other negotiation attempts, proposing the exchange of all 74 hostages it detained against Blanqui.

Finally, during the Bloody Week and the ensuing executions by Versaille troops, Théophile Ferré signed the execution order for 6 hostages (including Mgr Darboy), who passed before a firing-squad on May 24 in the prison de la Roquette. Théophile Charles Gilles Ferré,(Paris 1846 - Satory 1871 was one of the members of the Paris Commune. This led Auguste Vermorel to ironically (and perhaps naively, since Thiers had refused any negotiation) to declare: "What a great job! Now we've lost our only chance to stop the blood shed. August Jean-Marie Vermorel ( June 21, 1841 - June 20, 1871) was a French Journalist. " Ferré was himself executed in retaliation by Thiers' troops. ^[5][6]

The Catholic Encyclopedia states that on 24 – 26 May, more than 50 hostages were murdered. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia Events 451 - The Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire takes place In some cases, certain leaders of the Commune gave the orders, in other cases they were killed by mobs. ^[7] Among the victims was the Archbishop of Paris, Georges Darboy. Georges Darboy ( January 16 1813 - May 27 1871) was a French Catholic Priest, later Bishop of Nancy

La Semaine sanglante ("The Bloody Week")

The toughest resistance came in the more working-class districts of the east, where fighting continued during the later stages of the week of vicious street fighting (La Semaine sanglante, the bloody week). By 27 May only a few pockets of resistance remained, notably the poorer eastern districts of Belleville and Ménilmontant. Events 927 - Simeon the Great, Tsar of Bulgaria, dies 1120 - Richard III of Capua is anointed Belleville is a Neighbourhood of Paris, France, located in the XXe arrondissement and XIXe arrondissement and parts of the Xe Ménilmontant is a Neighborhood of Paris, France, located in the twentieth arrondissement. Fighting ended during the late afternoon or early evening of 28 May. Events 585 BC - A Solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling According to legend, the last barricade was in the rue Ramponeau in Belleville.

Marshall MacMahon issued a proclamation: "To the inhabitants of Paris. Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de Mac-Mahon, 1st Duc de Magenta, Marshal of France (13 June 1808 - 17 October 1893 was a French The French army has come to save you. Paris is freed! At 4 o'clock our soldiers took the last insurgent position. Today the fight is over. Order, work and security will be reborn. "

Commune prisoners being marched to Versailles: from a contemporary illustrated magazine

Reprisals now began in earnest. Having supported the Commune in any way was a political crime, of which thousands could be, and were, accused. Some of the Communards were shot against what is now known as the Communards' Wall in the Père Lachaise cemetery while thousands of others were tried by summary courts martial of doubtful legality, and thousands shot. The Communards’ Wall ( F: Mur des Fédérés) at the Père Lachaise Cemetery is where on May 28 1871, one-hundred Père Lachaise Cemetery (Cimetière du Père-Lachaise officially cimetière de l'Est, "East Cemetery" is the largest Cemetery in the city of Paris A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. Notorious sites of slaughter were the Luxembourg Gardens and the Lobau Barracks, behind the Hôtel de Ville. Nearly 40,000 others were marched to Versailles for trials. For many days endless columns of men, women and children made a painful way under military escort to temporary prison quarters in Versailles. Later 12,500 were tried, and about 10,000 were found guilty: 23 men were executed; many were condemned to prison; 4,000 were deported for life to New Caledonia. For the former North American fur-trading district see New Caledonia (Canada, and for the Scottish colony in Panama see Darien scheme. The number of killed during La Semaine Sanglante can never be established for certain, and estimates vary from about 10,000 to 50,000. According to Benedict Anderson, "7,500 were jailed or deported" and "roughly 20,000 executed" ^[8]. Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson (born August 26, 1936) is Aaron L

Communards killed in 1871.

According to Alfred Cobban, 30,000 were killed, perhaps as many as 50,000 later executed or imprisoned and 7,000 were exiled to New Caledonia. Alfred Cobban (1901&ndash1968 was a Professor of French History at University College London, who along with prominent French Historian Francois For the former North American fur-trading district see New Caledonia (Canada, and for the Scottish colony in Panama see Darien scheme. ^[9] Thousands more - including most of the Commune leaders - succeeded in escaping to Belgium, Britain (a safe haven for 3,000-4,000 refugees), Italy, Spain and the United States. The final exiles and transportees were amnestied in 1880. Some became prominent in later politics, as Paris councillors, deputies or senators.

In 1872, "stringent laws were passed that ruled out all possibilities of organizing on the left. "^[8] For the imprisoned there was a general amnesty in 1880, except for those convicted of assassination or arson. Paris remained under martial law for five years.

Retrospect

A plaque honours the dead of the Commune in Père Lachaise cemetery. Père Lachaise Cemetery (Cimetière du Père-Lachaise officially cimetière de l'Est, "East Cemetery" is the largest Cemetery in the city of Paris

Karl Marx found it aggravating that the Communards "lost precious moments" organising democratic elections rather than instantly finishing off Versailles once and for all. France's national bank, located in Paris and storing billions of francs, was left untouched and unguarded by the Communards. Timidly they asked to borrow money from the bank (which of course they got without any hesitation). The Communards chose not to seize the bank's assets because they were afraid that the world would condemn them if they did. Thus large amounts of money were moved from Paris to Versailles, money that financed the army that crushed the Commune.

Communists, left-wing socialists, anarchists and others have seen the Commune as a model for, or a prefiguration of, a liberated society, with a political system based on participatory democracy from the grass roots up. Participatory democracy is a process emphasizing the broad Participation (decision making of constituents in the direction and operation of political systems For other meanings see Grass roots (disambiguation. A grassroots movement (often referenced in the context of a Political movement Marx and Engels, Bakunin, and later Lenin and Trotsky along with Mao tried to draw major theoretical lessons (in particular as regards the "dictatorship of the proletariat" and the "withering away of the state") from the limited experience of the Commune. Friedrich Engels (28 November 1820 – 5 August 1895 was a German social scientist and philosopher, who Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin ( - July 1 1876) was a well-known Russian Revolutionary and theorist of Collectivist anarchism. Leon Trotsky ( Russian:, Lev Davidovich Trotsky, also transliterated Leo, Lyev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij Mao Zedong ( 26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976) was a Chinese Military and political leader who led The " dictatorship of the proletariat " or workers' state is a term employed by Marxists that refers to what they see as a temporary state between the World communism has a meaning close in meaning to ‘international communism’ which has usually been equated to the Comintern (Communist International A more pragmatic lesson was drawn by the diarist Edmond de Goncourt, who wrote, three days after La Semaine sanglante, "…the bleeding has been done thoroughly, and a bleeding like that, by killing the rebellious part of a population, postpones the next revolution… The old society has twenty years of peace before it…"

Karl Marx, in his important pamphlet The Civil War in France (1871), written during the Commune, touted the Commune's achievements, and described it as the prototype for a revolutionary government of the future, 'the form at last discovered' for the emancipation of the proletariat. Edmond de Goncourt ( May 26, 1822 &ndash July 16, 1896) was a French writer critic book publisher and the founder of the Académie Friedrich Engels echoed this idea, later maintaining that the absence of a standing army, the self-policing of the "quartiers", and other features meant that the Commune was no longer a "state" in the old, repressive sense of the term: it was a transitional form, moving towards the abolition of the state as such - he used the famous term later taken up by Lenin and the Bolsheviks: the Commune was, he said, the first 'dictatorship of the proletariat', meaning it was a state run by workers and in the interests of workers. Friedrich Engels (28 November 1820 – 5 August 1895 was a German social scientist and philosopher, who The " dictatorship of the proletariat " or workers' state is a term employed by Marxists that refers to what they see as a temporary state between the But Marx and Engels were not entirely uncritical of the Commune. The split between the Marxists and Bakuninists at the 1872 Hague Congress of the First International (IWA) may in part be traced to Marx's stance that the Commune might have saved itself had it dealt more harshly with reactionaries, instituted conscription, and centralized decision making in the hands of a revolutionary direction, etc. The Hague Congress was the Fifth congress of the International Workingmen's Association (IWA held in (September 1872) in The Hague Holland which anarchists consider The other point of disagreement was the anti-authoritarian socialists' oppositions to the Communist conception of conquest of power and of a temporary transitional state (the anarchists were in favor of general strike and immediate dismantlement of the state through the constitution of decentralized workers' councils as those seen in the commune). Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to Authoritarianism, which is defined as a "political doctrine advocating the principle of absolute rule absolutism autocracy despotism

The Paris Commune has been the subject of awe for many communist leaders. Mao would refer to it often. Mao Zedong ( 26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976) was a Chinese Military and political leader who led Lenin, along with Marx, judged the Commune a living example of the "dictatorship of the proletariat", though Lenin criticised the Communards for having 'stopped half way … led astray by dreams of … justice'; he thought their 'excessive magnanimity' had prevented them from 'destroying' the class enemy by 'ruthless extermination'. ^[10] At his funeral, his body was wrapped in the remains of a red and white flag preserved from the Commune. The Soviet spaceflight Voskhod 1 carried part of a communard banner from the Paris Commune. Voskhod 1 (Восход-1 was the first spaceflight to carry more than one person into space the first flight without Space suits the first to carry a scientist Also, the Bolsheviks renamed the dreadnought battleship Sevastopol to Parizhskaya Kommuna. The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction Genesis Battleships of the era typically carried four large guns mounted fore and aft in twin turrets with a number of smaller-calibre guns ranged along the sides of the A battleship is a large heavily armored Warship with a main battery consisting of the largest Calibre of Guns Battleships were

Other Communes

Simultaneously with the Paris Commune, uprisings in Lyon, Grenoble and other cities established equally short-lived Communes. ||-||} Lyon, also known as Lyons in English is a city in east-central France. Grenoble is a city and commune in south-east France situated at the foot of the Alps where the Drac joins the Isère River.

See also

Fictional treatments

• As well as innumerable novels (mainly in French), at least three plays have been set in the Commune: Nederlaget by Nordahl Grieg, Die Tage der Commune by Bertolt Brecht, and Le Printemps 71 by Arthur Adamov. Traditionally the revolutionary left sees the commune as a populist replacement for the elitist parliament Georges Benjamin Clemenceau ( Mouilleron-en-Pareds ( Vendée) 28 September 1841 24 November 1929 was a French statesman physician and Journalist Gustave Paul Cluseret (1823-1900 was a French soldier and politician who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. For the French Admiral see Admiral Courbet (1828-1885 Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( 10 June 1819 &ndash Louis Charles Delescluze ( October 2, 1809 – May 25, 1871) was a French Journalist. Jules Claude Gabriel Favre ( March 21, 1809 – January 20, 1880) was a French statesman Gustave Flourens ( Paris, August 4, 1838 &ndash April 3, 1871) was a French Revolutionary leader and writer Leó Frankel ( Léo Fränkel) ( February 25, 1844, Újlak, Óbuda – March 29, 1896, Paris) was a André Gill ( October 17, 1840 — May 1, 1885) was a French caricaturist. Jean François Paschal Grousset (7 April 1844 in Corte - 9 April 1909 in Paris) was a French Politician, Journalist, Translator Paul Lafargue ( June 16, 1842 – November 26, 1911) was a French revolutionary Marxist socialist journalist Communes in Europe in the Middle Ages were sworn allegiances of mutual defense (both physical defense and of traditional freedoms among community members of a town or city According to popular rumours at the time the pétroleuses were female supporters of the Paris Commune, accused of burning down much of Paris during the last days Eugène Edine Pottier (1816 - 1887 was a French Revolutionary socialist, poet and transport worker Élisée Reclus ( March 15 1830 &ndash July 4 1905) also known as Jean Jacques Élisée Reclus, was a renowned French Louis-Nathaniel Rossel was Minister of War (Delegate of War in Paris Commune (1871 The Siege of Paris, lasting from September 19, 1870 &ndash January 28, 1871, brought about French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War Jules Vallès ( 10 June 1832 – 14 February 1885) was a French Journalist and Author. Paul-Marie Verlaine (vɛʁˈlɛn March 30, 1844 &ndash January 8, 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist Joseph Vinoy ( 10 August, 1803 &ndash 27 April, 1880) was a French soldier The Days of the Commune is a play by the twentieth-century German Dramatist Bertolt Brecht. (born; 10 February 1898&ndash14 August 1956 was a German Poet, Playwright, and Theatre director. Arthur Adamov ( 23 August 1908 – 15 March 1970) was a Playwright, one of the foremost exponents of the Theatre of the Absurd
• There have been numerous films set in the Commune. Particularly notable is La Commune (Paris, 1871), which runs for 5¾ hours and was directed by Peter Watkins. La Commune (Paris 1871 is a 2000 historical Drama film directed by Peter Watkins about the Paris Commune. Peter Watkins (born 29 October 1935) is an English Film and (once Television director. It was made in Montmartre in 2000, and as with most of Watkins' other films it uses ordinary people instead of actors in order to create a documentary effect. Montmartre is a hill (the butte Montmartre) which is 130 metres high giving its name to the surrounding district in the north of Paris in the 18th
• The Italian composer, Luigi Nono, also wrote an opera Al gran sole carico d'amore (In the Bright Sunshine, Heavy with Love) that is based on the Paris Commune. Luigi Nono ( January 29, 1924 – May 8, 1990) was an Italian Avant-garde Composer of Classical music
• The discovery of a body from the Paris Commune buried in the Opera, led Gaston Leroux to write the tale of Le Fantôme de l’Opéra. Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux ( 6 May, 1868, Paris France &ndash 15 April, 1927) was a French Journalist The Phantom of the Opera (in French, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a French Novel by Gaston Leroux.
• The title character of Karen Blixen's Babette's Feast was a Communard and political refugee, forced to flee France after her husband and sons were killed. Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke ( April 17, 1885 &ndash September 7, 1962) Née Karen Dinesen, was a Babette's Feast (Babettes gæstebud is a 1987 Danish film written and directed by Gabriel Axel.
• Soviet Russian filmmakers Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg wrote and directed in 1929 the silent film The New Babylon (Novyy Vavilon) about the Paris Commune. Grigori Mikhailovich Kozintsev (Григорий Михайлович Козинцев Kiev, &ndash Leningrad now Saint Petersburg, 11 May 1973
• Terry Pratchett's Night Watch features a storyline based on the Paris Commune, in which a huge part of a city is slowly put behind barricades, at which point a brief civil war ensues. Terence David John Pratchett, OBE (born 28 April 1948 is an English fantasy, Science fiction, and children's author.
• The rise and fall of the Paris Commune was depicted in the novel Spangle by Gary Jennings. Spangle is a Historical novel written by Gary Jennings and first published in 1987. Gary Jennings ( September 20 1928 &ndash February 13 1999) was a U

Notes

References

• (German)Haupt, Gerhard; Hausen, Karin: Die Pariser Kommune: Erfolg und Scheitern einer Revolution. Frankfurt 1979. Campus Verlag. ISBN 3-593-32607-8.
• Edwards, Stewart [1971]. The Paris Commune 1871. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN 0413281108.  
• The two most important primary sources are:
  • The verbatim record of the sessions of the Commune (Procès-verbaux de la Commune. 2 vols. , Paris, 1944-1945) — long out of print, though secondhand copies are to be found
  • The history of the Commune by Prosper-Olivier Lissagaray, a Communard journalist with socialist convictions who was present at or close to most of the events he describes, is vivid and partisan, but observant and factually reliable: (Histoire de la Commune de 1871. Most recent edition, 3 vols in 1, Paris, Maspero, 1969), which is available in English translation online).
• Prosper Olivier Lissagaray, "History of the Paris Commune of 1871", Red and Black Publishers, St Petersburg, Florida, 2007. ISBN 978-0-979-1813-4-4.
• Another online classic is Marx's own contemporary analysis, The Civil War in France, written during and immediately after the events. For Lenin's views, see V. I. Lenin on the Paris Commune (Moscow, 1970)
• For anarchist analysis of the events, two important documents from the time are Mikhail Bakunin's The Paris Commune and the Idea of the State and Peter Kropotkin's The Commune of Paris
• Also online is Agor@'s book-length site about the Commune (in French)
• Returning to primary sources, there is an extremely hostile account in 4 volumes called Les Convulsions de Paris (Paris, 1878) by the journalist Maxime du Camp who takes a hard and rhetorical right-wing position. Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin ( - July 1 1876) was a well-known Russian Revolutionary and theorist of Collectivist anarchism. Maxime Du Camp ( 8 February 1822, Paris - 9 February 1894) was a French Writer and photographer. In Politics, right-wing, the political right, and the Right are positions that uphold traditional values and/or authorities This is a fair guide to the contemporary views of the Versaillais. His book can be found in major libraries or through Galaxidion the main French online source for secondhand and antiquarian books.
• The leading modern historian of the Commune is Jacques Rougerie, whose books Procès des Communards and Paris ville libre are unfortunately unpublished in English.
• Two concise up-to-date histories in English, readily available , are:
  • Robert Tombs. The Paris Commune 1871 London, Longman, 1999
  • David A. Shafer. The Paris Commune London, Palgrave, 2005

Older works include:

• Alistair Horne. The Fall of Paris. The Siege and the Commune 1870-71. London, Macmillan, 1965. (A much shorter but lavishly illustrated version was published in 1971 under the title, The Terrible Year). A very lively 'Anglo-Saxon' view.
• Frank Jellinek. The Paris Commune of 1871. London, Gollancz, 1937. Also, N. Y. , Grosset & Dunlap, 1965. Written from a socialist point of view.
• The Revolutionary Idea in France 1789-1871 by Godfrey Elton (London, Edwin Arnold, 1923), available in many university libraries, is one of the few books which places the Commune in a longer-term historical perspective. It is conservative in tone.
• Lenin, who deemed the Paris Commune an excellent example of the "Dictatorship of the Proletariat", also wrote about the Paris Commune in The Paris Commune (to be found in Lenin on the Paris Commune). It is less informative, however, than it is ideological.
• The fullest bibliography of the Commune is that of Robert le Quillec: La Commune de Paris. Bibliographie Critique 1871-1997. Paris, La Boutique de l'Histoire, 1997. 2660 books, pamphlets and other materials are listed.
• Barbara de Courson, Martyrs of the Paris Commune in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1908). The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia

External links

• Paris Commune Archive at marxists.org
• Paris Commune Archive at Anarchist Archive
• Norman Barth writing on the Commune in Paris Kiosque
• Discussion of the Commune in "An Anarchist FAQ"
• Short history of the Paris Commune on libcom.org
• Karl Marx's contemporary account of the Commune 'The Civil War in France'
• Karl Marx and the Paris Commune by C.L.R. James
• The Paris Commune and Marx' Theory of Revolution by Paul Dorn
• Association Les Amis de la Commune de Paris (1871) (in French)
• The Siege of The Paris Commune at the Northwestern University Library Mccormick Library of Special Collections
• Paris Commune on Encyclopedia.com
• La Commune (Paris, 1871) on DVD
• Page describing the history and the workings of the Paris Commune's government