More than half of the prisoners, 22,727 to be exact, were released before trial for extenuating circumstances or on humanitarian grounds. On the morning of 22 May, the regular army occupied a large area from the Porte Dauphine; to the Champs-de-Mars and the École Militaire, where general Cissey established his headquarters; to the Porte de Vanves. Empires of Sand by David W. Ball (Bantam Dell, 1999) is a novel in two parts, the first of which is set during the Franco-Prussian war, more particularly the Siege of Paris during the winter of 1870-71. With very rare exceptions, everybody seemed to me only fit for the strait-jacket. There were heavy naval cannons mounted on the ramparts of Paris, but few national guardsmen were trained to use them. sur revueconflits.com. The workload of the Commune leaders was usually enormous. After 18 April other newspapers sympathetic to Versailles were also closed. "Yes" votes totalled 557,996, while 62,638 voted "no". He studied the question of the number of dead, and studied the records of the office of inspection of the Paris cemeteries, which was in charge of burying the dead. Dombrowski held this position until 23 May, when he was killed while defending the city barricades.[66]. The Commune named Francis Jourde as the head of the Commission of Finance. Others were sent from military units in all of the provinces. [6], On the morning of 27 May, the regular army soldiers of Generals Grenier, Ladmirault and Montaudon launched an attack on the National Guard artillery on the heights of the Buttes-Chaumont. I am quite upset, or rather out of heart. She offered to shoot Thiers, and suggested the destruction of Paris by way of vengeance for its surrender. [80] Furthermore, besides public buildings, the National Guard also started fires at the homes of a number of residents associated with the regime of Napoleon III, such as that of the historian and playwright Prosper Merimee, the author of Carmen. "[112] Mikhail Bakunin was a strong supporter of the Commune. [29] Earlier that day, dressed in civilian clothes, he had been trying to find out what was going on, when he was recognized by a soldier and arrested, and brought to the building at Rue des Rosiers. Depuis 1870, la France est en guerre contre la Prusse. The Commune appointed Charles Beslay as the Commissaire of the Bank of France, and he arranged for the Bank to loan the Commune 400,000 francs a day. However, this page is dedicated to the 1871 historical period Commune de Paris, hereafter called Commune for the sake of simplicity. At about seven-thirty Delescluze put on his red sash of office, walked unarmed to the barricade on the Place du Château-d'Eau, climbed to the top and showed himself to the soldiers, and was promptly shot dead. 1870-1871: Franco-Prussian war. Six demonstrators were killed, and the army cleared the square. Émile Zola wrote, "Thus we citizens of Paris are placed between two terrible laws; the law of suspects brought back by the Commune and the law on rapid executions which will certainly be approved by the Assembly. The siege ended with the surrender of the French army to the Prussians and the signing of an armistice to end the fighting of the Franco-Prussian War. At the same time, these local assemblies pursued their own goals, usually under the direction of local workers. In Paris, members of the Military Commission and the Executive Committee of the Commune, as well as the Central Committee of the National Guard, met on 1 April. One of the best-known candidates, Georges Clemenceau, received only 752 votes. A handful of barricades at Rue Ramponneau and Rue de Tourville held out into the middle of the afternoon, when all resistance ceased. 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 national government wary of the capital's unruly populace. Les plongeurs quittent la ville en ballon, mais celui-ci, le, L'administration des Postes proposa d'utiliser des chiens comme passeur de messages, dans leur collier. On 2 September 1870, France was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War, and Emperor Napoleon III was captured. He celebrated by dancing in the snow in Moscow on the day that his Bolshevik government was more than two months old, surpassing the Commune. The Commune was suppressed and liquidated during La semaine sanglante (The Bloody Week), a series of massacres of unarmed men, women and children, beginning on 21 May 1871 [7], by French Army prisoners of war handed by the Prussians to their Versailles collaborators. On 18 March, Thiers ordered a violent seizure of Paris, in collusion with the Prussian occupying force with whom they were collaborating to effect France's capitulation. As for the reforms initiated by the Commune, such as the re-opening of workplaces as co-operatives, anarchists could see their ideas of associated labour beginning to be realised...Moreover, the Commune's ideas on federation obviously reflected the influence of Proudhon on French radical ideas. The Commune began by establishing nine commissions, similar to those of the National Assembly, to manage the affairs of Paris. An ardent republican and fierce disciplinarian, he had helped suppress the armed uprising of June 1848 against the Second Republic. The abandonment of the fort led the Commune to dismiss Rossel, and replace him with Delescluze, a fervent Communard but a journalist with no military experience.[67]. "[109] But on 1 June, when the fighting was over, his tone had changed, "The court martials are still meeting and the summary executions continue, less numerous, it's true. 26 Addeddate 2008-06-18 17:29:45 De Commune van Parijs was een revolutionaire regering die heerste over de stad Parijs van 18 maart 1871 totdat ze bloedig werd neergeslagen op 28 mei van datzelfde jaar. British filmmaker Ken McMullen has made two films directly or indirectly influenced by the Commune: Moinak Biswas, Indian filmmaker and Professor of Film Studies at Jadavpur University (Calcutta), showed a split-screen entry connecting the work of 1970s Left filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak with contemporary shots of the Paris Commune at the 11th Shanghai Biennale (2016). Prussian chancellor Otto Von Bismarck sought to unite all of the German kingdoms under one nation-state. While carrying back the laundry she was given by the guardsmen, she carried away the body of her lover, Jean Guy, who was a butcher's apprentice. They also sent a delegation of mayors of the Paris arrondissements, led by Clemenceau, to negotiate with Thiers in Versailles to obtain a special independent status for Paris. The Commune counts on you, count on the Commune![72]. Ten years ago, for 140 Th Exhibitions and theatrical productions were held for two months at the commune’s anniversary, Mairie de Paris (Paris Town Hall).1871 – Paris, a capital in rebellion“. Ninety-five were sentenced to death; 251 to forced labour; 1,169 to deportation, usually to New Caledonia; 3,147 to simple deportation; 1,257 to solitary confinement; 1,305 to prison for more than a year; and 2,054 to prison for less than a year.[91]. Le 30 décembre c'est le tour de Castor et Pollux, les deux éléphants du Jardin des Plantes, d'être abattus, et les bouchers vendent de la trompe d'éléphant de premier choix à 40 francs la livre[19]. Afin de contrarier, autant que possible, la marche des Prussiens sur Paris, huit régiments de cavalerie, commandés par les généraux Gustave Coste de Champéron et Jean-Henry Reyau[9] sont dirigés sur Meaux avec ordre de harceler l'ennemi. Many Parisians, especially workers and the lower-middle classes, supported a democratic republic. During this time many progressive popular reforms are instituted concerning work, women, education and the arts. Early in May, some of the political clubs began to demand the immediate execution of Archbishop Darboy and the other priests in the prison. The Paris Commune of is often associated with Montmartre. They advanced on the morning of 3 April—without cavalry to protect the flanks, without artillery, without stores of food and ammunition, and without ambulances—confident of rapid success. Parmi ceux-ci six redoutes avaient été armées rapidement dont celles de Gennevilliers au nord, et au sud celles de Créteil, du Moulin de Saquet et des Hautes-Bruyères[4]. December 2003. Empress Eugénie, the acting Regent, fled the city, and the government of the Second Empire swiftly collapsed. [41] All were men; women were not allowed to vote. ", The elections of 26 March elected a Commune council of 92 members, one for every 20,000 residents. An army engineer crossed the moat and inspected the empty fortifications, and immediately telegraphed the news to Marshal MacMahon, who was with Thiers at Fort Mont-Valérien. [88] According to Prosper-Olivier Lissagaray, a defender of the Commune, a total of 63 people were executed by the Commune during the bloody week. H ôtel de ville (City Hall) after 1871 fire. That is clearly to be read in the eyes of the passers-by. [65] One of these officers was General Jaroslav Dombrowski, a former Imperial Russian Army officer, who was appointed commander of the Commune forces on the right bank of the Seine. The ministers and officials of the Bolshevik government were given the title Commissar, which was borrowed directly from the Commissaires of the Commune. Once the fighting began inside Paris, the strong neighborhood loyalties that had been an advantage of the Commune became something of a disadvantage: instead of an overall planned defence, each "quartier" fought desperately for its survival, and each was overcome in turn. [54], A republican press also flourished, including such papers as Le Mot d'Ordre of Henri Rochefort, which was both violently anti-Versailles and critical of the faults and excesses of the Commune. Barricades had not been prepared in advance; some nine hundred barricades were built hurriedly out of paving stones and sacks of earth. By four o'clock in the morning, sixty thousand soldiers had passed into the city and occupied Auteuil and Passy.[69]. [9], The Commune resulted in part from growing discontent among the Paris workers. Un article de Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre. Trochu a choisi de faire rentrer dans la capitale l'armée de 40 000 hommes de Vinoy sur des considérations peut-être plus politiques que militaires[2]. Commune de Paris 1871, label créatif fondé en 2009, conçoit et produit des articles chics pour hommes, des accessoires, objets décoratifs et autres curiosités. Once again national guardsmen captured with weapons were routinely shot by army units. They reported to both the Central Committee of the National Guard and to the Executive Commission, and it was not clear which one was in charge of the inevitable war with Thiers' government.[44]. Le ballons sortis pendant le Siege de Paris, 1870-1871 Summary Broadside about balloon events during the Siege of Paris, 1870-1871. [57], On 12 May another civic event took place: the destruction of Thiers' home on Place Saint-Georges. The reserves were guarded by 500 national guardsmen who were themselves Bank of France employees. On 24 May, a delegation of national guardsmen and Gustave Genton, a member of the Committee of Public Safety, came to the new headquarters of the Commune at the city hall of the 11th arrondissment and demanded the immediate execution of the hostages held at the prison of La Roquette. [76] Bergeret sent a message to the Hotel de Ville: "The last vestiges of royalty have just disappeared. Coupée du reste du pays, la capitale subit rapidement la rigueur exceptionnelle d’un hiver (pointes à −12 °C en décembre) tandis que les bombardements allemands aggravent la situation à partir de janvier 1871. In October 1871 a commission of the National Assembly reviewed the sentences; 310 of those convicted were pardoned, 286 had their sentences reduced, and 1,295 commuted. They prepared a massive offensive of 27,000 national guardsmen who would advance in three columns. Initially she worked as an ambulance woman, treating those injured on the barricades. La revue des Anciens Élèves de l'École Nationale d'Administration". The first vote of the new Central Committee was to refuse to recognise the authority of General D'Aurelle de Paladines, the official commander of the National Guard appointed by Thiers, or of General Vinoy, the Military Governor of Paris. If you let me live, I shall never cease to cry for vengeance. Au moment où le siège de Paris semble inéluctable, le gouvernement engage un immense effort de travaux de défense qui doit faire, en quelques semaines, d'une ville jugée hors d'état de se défendre, une place véritablement imprenable. "[95], In 1876 Prosper-Olivier Lissagaray, who had fought on the barricades during Bloody Week, and had gone into exile in London, wrote a highly popular and sympathetic history of the Commune. Les effectifs des 266 bataillons de Garde nationale sédentaire atteindront jusqu'à 300 000 hommes hâtivement armés, parisiens (bourgeois et ouvriers) sans discipline, et élisant leurs propres officiers. The men of the Hotel de Ville could not be other than assassins and arsonists. Based on their records, he reported that between 20 and 30 May, 5,339 corpses of Communards had been taken from the streets or Paris morgue to the city cemeteries for burial. [107] On 25 May, during the Bloody Week, he wrote: "A monstrous act; they’ve set fire to Paris. More public buildings were set afire, including the Palais de Justice, the Prefecture de Police, the theatres of Châtelet and Porte-Saint-Martin, and the Church of Saint-Eustache. [20], Between 11 and 19 January 1871, the French armies had been defeated on four fronts and Paris was facing a famine. General Lecomte tried to withdraw, and then ordered his soldiers to load their weapons and fix bayonets. The defenders resisted until the night of 7–8 May, when the remaining national guardsmen in the fort, unable to withstand further attacks, decided to withdraw. The Assembly also refused to prolong the moratorium on debt collections imposed during the war; and suspended two radical newspapers, Le Cri du Peuple of Jules Valles and Le Mot d'Ordre of Henri Rochefort, which further inflamed Parisian radical opinion. MacMahon responded, "I don't know what that estimate is based upon; it seems exaggerated to me. Trials were held for 15,895 prisoners, of whom 13,500 were found guilty. Tombs, Robert, "How Bloody was la Semaine sanglante of 1871? Delescluze ordered everyone to leave the building, and Brunel's men set it on fire. "[128] The Bolsheviks renamed their dreadnought battleship Sevastopol to Parizhskaya Kommuna. L'acheminement de l'artillerie lourde ne commence que fin novembre, une fois contrôlés les axes ferroviaires. In February, while the national government had been organising in Bordeaux, a new rival government had been organised in Paris. Paris's tax receipts amounted to 20 million francs, with another six million seized at the Hotel de Ville. Perhaps he meant both dead and wounded." Ils comptent sur la lassitude et la faim pour obtenir la capitulation de Paris, et se contenteront donc de repousser toute tentative de percée. Il fut imaginé de faire rentrer à Paris des plongeurs qui auraient suivi le fond de la Seine dans des scaphandres sous-marins. The first reaction of many of the National Guard was to find someone to blame, and Dombrowski was the first to be accused. Some Communards wanted to appropriate the bank's reserves to fund social projects, but Jourde resisted, explaining that without the gold reserves the currency would collapse and all the money of the Commune would be worthless. They passed by the line of forts outside the city, believing them to be occupied by national guardsmen. The feminist writer André Léo, a friend of Paule Minck, was also active in the Women's Union. Blanqui had written a manual on revolution, Instructions for an Armed Uprising, to give guidance to his followers. The German military attaché, Waldersee, wrote in his diary in February: "Every night isolated barricades were thrown up, constructed for the most part out of disused conveyances, especially omnibuses, a few shots were fired at random, and scenes of disorder were taken part in by a few hundreds of persons, mostly quite young". CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, François Bodinaux, Dominique Plasman, Michèle Ribourdouille. 3 – 102. I wish that the same will happen to all the monuments of Paris. Ce double événement montre déjà un probable double-jeu de la part du gouvernement. By 20 September 1870, the German army had surrounded Paris and was camped just 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) from the French front lines. Word of the shooting spread quickly, and members of the National Guard from all over the neighbourhood, including Clemenceau, hurried to the site to confront the soldiers. The Chancellor demanded the cession of all of Alsace, parts of Lorraine, and enormous reparations. It seems to Paris that they're shooting everyone. Il y avait six secteurs sur la rive droite et trois sur la rive gauche. While the Army had succeeded in securing the cannons at Belleville and Buttes-Chaumont and other strategic points, at Montmartre a crowd gathered and continued to grow, and the situation grew increasingly tense. [106] On the other hand, he was critical of the Commune but sympathetic to the Communards. By 30 March, less than two weeks after the Army's Montmartre rout, it began skirmishing with the National Guard on the outskirts of Paris. Les boulangers vendent un pain noir de composition inconnue[19]. The prisoners gave their identity, sentence was pronounced by a court of two or three gendarme officers, the prisoners were taken out and sentences immediately carried out. Il y a au total en permanence plus de 400 000 hommes disponibles pour défendre Paris, mais moins d'un quart d'entre eux ont une formation militaire. The first effort to pull down the column failed, but at 5:30 in the afternoon the column broke from its base and shattered into three pieces. [118] However, it has been argued in recent research that these famous female arsonists of the Commune, or pétroleuses, may have been exaggerated or a myth.