In his “A Short History of the Paris Commune,” journalist Ernest Belfort Bax (something of a socialist himself) claimed the big point of the event is not what it achieved in terms of policy: “What constitutes the importance of the Commune…is that the Commune is a landmark as being the first administration manned by the working classes.”
The Workers Rise Up
In March 1871, France had just been defeated in war by the Prussians and the latter had soldiers stationed close to the French capital. The war had been hard on the working people; the rich had become richer, the poor had become poorer, and the Prussian siege of the city had caused food shortages.
Many Parisian citizens had been armed and enrolled in a National Guard to defend Paris. They now rose up against the French government and, with the help of ordinary working people, gained control of several hundred cannons and shot a couple of generals. As well, writes Robert Toms in an article for History Today, some members of the regular army “handed over their rifles and went off ‘arm in arm, fraternizing and singing’ with the civilians.”
A Central Committee of the National Guard was formed and it issued a manifesto on March 18: “The proletarians of Paris amidst the failures and treasons of the ruling classes, have understood that the hour has struck for them to save the situation by taking into their own hands the direction of public affairs.”
Elections for Government
Although other towns and cities in France had municipal councils, Paris was ruled by the national government. Parisians didn’t like this.
So, according to libcom.org, the Paris National Guard “held free elections and the citizens of Paris elected a council…The council declared that Paris was an independent commune and that France should be a confederation of communes. Inside the commune, all elected council members were instantly recallable, paid an average wage, and had equal status to other commune members.” Among the council’s other actions was to turn some workplaces into cooperatives, to freeze rents, and notes Greg Oxley at Marxist.com “Public education was opened to all, as were the theatres, and places of culture and learning…Meetings took place day and night, where thousands of ordinary men and women debated how various aspects of social life should be organized in the interests of the ‘common good.’ ”
Some members of the council were anarchists, some socialists, and some more mainstream, and they all showed that it was possible to organize government from the bottom up.
Of course, the people who were used to running things from the top down weren’t pleased.
Government Counter-attack on Communards
While the communards were getting organized, the French government of Adolphe Thiers was getting some reliable soldiers ready at Versailles, just outside Paris. By April there was sporadic gunfire between the two sides and most of the communard fighters that were captured were summarily shot.
On May 21, 1871, the Versailles army entered Paris to deal with what was a rabble rather than a military force. The communards had no central command and fought only in local skirmishes that proved not much of a challenge to disciplined and well-armed soldiers.
Within a week, the serious fighting was over; that seven-day spell became known as “la Semaine Sanglante” (Bloody Week). But, there was much more blood to be shed before it was all over.
Prime Minister Thiers’ firing squads were kept busy well into June finishing off those who had stood against his government. Historian Benedict Anderson (New Left Review, 2004) reports that “in one horrifying week, [the army] executed roughly 20,000 Communards or suspected sympathizers.” He adds that 7,500 more were jailed or deported, while thousands fled the country to Belgium, Spain, and the United States; wherever they could find a haven.
Sources
- “History of the Paris Commune of 1871.” Prosper Olivier Lissagaray, Red and Black Publishers, July 2007.
- “A Short History of the Paris Commune.” Ernest Belfort Bax, Twentieth Century Press, 1895.
- “The Paris Commune.” Robert Tombs, History Today, Issue 34, 1999.
- “The Paris Commune of 1871.” Greg Oxley, Marxist.com, May 16, 2001.
- “In the World-Shadow of Bismarck and Nobel.” Benedict Anderson, New Left Review, Issue 28, July-August 2004.
Rupert Taylor - Rupert Taylor is the editor of a magazine that provides background to current events.
