COMMUNE (THE) of PARIS. — Revolutionary movement (18 March–27 May 1871) directed by the “Central Committee of the National Guard.” It was connected with the events of the Franco-Prussian War, which brought about the fall of Napoleon III (4 Sept. 1870) and ended with the humiliating armistice of 28 Jan. 1871. Its ideological roots, however, reached deep into the revolutionary motives of 1848 and the anti-religious and Jacobin patriotic traditions of 1789–93. The following contributed greatly to creating the revolutionary psychosis: 1) the violent periodicals, such as Le Venguer by Pyat, La patrie en danger by Blanqui, Père Duchesne by Vermersch, and others of the same kind; 2) the “Central Vigilance Committee,” which carried out its extensive propaganda through the “Vigilance Committees,” composed for the most part of members of the International and established alongside the twenty Parisian mairies.
Within Paris, besieged by the Germans, a vigorous spirit of resistance had gradually taken shape among all strata of the population; in this resistance, however, social demands and postulates became increasingly intertwined with patriotic aims and military plans of defence. The definitive clash between Paris and Versailles, where the French government resided, caused dangerous extremist designs to prevail among the workers and National Guards of the capital, leading in the end to a fratricidal struggle and a heap of moral and material ruins.
In a famous proclamation of 18 March 1871, the revolutionaries declared: “The proletarians of Paris, amid the defeats and treachery of the ruling classes, have understood that the hour has struck when they must save the situation by taking the direction of public affairs into their own hands.” But the forces in motion were diverse and confused; the C. included men utterly different in character, temperament, and ideologies: from representatives of a vaguely liberal, republican, and broadly secular bourgeoisie, to obscure and confused radical lawyers, the most extravagant ideologues, the extremist and militant Blanquist group, and the active nucleus of representatives of the International. On one side were the federalists, resting upon old and new libertarian attitudes and a romantic individualism, instinctively fearful of the words “discipline” and “authority”; on the other were the Blanquists and groups akin to them, who advocated military and political centralization and tended to transform the “free municipality” of Paris into the centre of a great social revolution. Blanqui, being interned, was absent from Paris, but his figure and ideologies exerted great fascination.
The anticlerical tradition, deeply rooted in the revolutionary camp, resulted in the unleashing of a violent campaign against the clergy, accused of being enemies of the people. “Les prêtres sont les bourreaux du peuple. Il faut les fusiller” (Fabre, p. 51).
Although the Communards committed errors and excesses, especially in the massacres of hostages, it must also be said that the repression by the forces of order was summary and ruthless, being entirely divorced from any understanding of the problems of a better social justice, which had by then matured in the consciousness of broad sectors of the nation. The defeated extremists developed the myth of the C.: the “Federates’ Wall” (near which numerous executions had taken place) gradually became a destination for pilgrimages by workers’ and revolutionary organizations.
Marxism in general, and revolutionary Marxism in particular, subsequently “assimilated” the C. of P. In reality, that movement brought together memories of the great Revolution, echoes of Saint-Simonian and Fourierist ideas, and Blanquist and Proudhonian tendencies. There are very clear signs that, had it had the possibility of remaining alive longer, the C. would ultimately have collapsed through its internal contradictions. The victory of Versailles over Paris was, fundamentally, the victory of the French “provinces” and of their guarded spirit, hostile to doctrinaire extremism.
Carlo Marx had, in a certain sense, warned French workers against plunging into the unknown as early as Sept. 1870. An insurrection of this kind appeared to him as madness, and his entire ideological orientation was repelled by the “nationalist and petty-bourgeois illusion” of reviving the spirit of 1792. According to Marx, France still lacked a modern proletariat capable of directing a class-based, anti-bourgeois revolution. The Parisian proletariat itself was in fact predominantly made up of artisans and largely dominated by the “radical” spirit of bourgeois lawyers. Nevertheless, although he had defined the insurrection as “madness,” Marx devoted considerable attention to it in Apr. 1871, viewing it as a great step forward on the path of revolution. Lenin summarized, in broad outline, Marx’s judgment concerning the C., and declared that “the memory of the fighters of the C. is revered not only by the French workers, but by the proletariat of all countries.”
BRIEF CHRONOLOGY. — (18 March 1871) The revolutionary movement, which was to break out simultaneously
in other parts of France, began in Paris with the summary execution at Montmartre of Generals Thomas and Lecomte by national guardsmen and civilians. (19) The “Central Committee” replaced the government of Thiers, which had withdrawn to Versailles; the National Guard (the so-called fédérés) occupied the Hôtel de Ville, the prefecture, and the Palace of Justice. (20) The “Central Committee” appointed the young R. Rigault, an atheist revolutionary, prefect of police. (26) Elections by universal suffrage; 50% of the electorate; triumph of the “Central Committee” list. The newly elected council of Paris decided on 29 March to call itself the Commune de Paris. The assembly of the C. was transformed into a “Secret Committee” whenever the deliberations had to remain secret. (End of March–19 May) Freedom of the press was progressively curtailed; approximately 28 newspapers and periodicals were suppressed. (2 Apr.) Hostilities began between the federated forces and the regular troops. At Neuilly the federated forces were defeated. The C. then considered taking hostages for possible reprisals against Versailles. (2 and 3) Decree separating Church and State; nationalization of mortmain property. (4) Arrest of the archbishop of Paris, Mons. G. Darboy, decreed by the Executive Commission and the Central Committee. Until 15 Apr. the anticlerical campaign intensified: slanderous accusations disseminated by the press, imprisonment of priests, closure and profanation of churches, suppression and dispersal of religious houses. The campaign assumed a convulsive character. (5) Publication of the decree on hostages: three hostages for every communard killed by the Versaillais. The decree was not actually implemented until the end of the C. (During Apr.) Attempts were made to reach a peaceful settlement of the conflict between the C. and Versailles, but the two sides hardened their positions. The communards demanded to be regarded as belligerents and proposed to Thiers the release of Blanqui in exchange for that of Mons. Darboy, but in vain. (1 May) Establishment of the “Committee of Public Safety.” (4) The old republican calendar was reinstated. (8) Violent anticlerical attack, especially against the Picpus religious and against the priests of the churches of St. Lawrence and Notre-Dame-des-Victoires. (10) The members of the “Committee of Public Safety” were replaced; the committee arrogated full powers to itself. (21) The regular troops of General MacMahon began to enter Paris. (22) Rigault was charged with carrying out the decree on hostages. (23) The communard Bergeret blew up the Tuileries, and the pétroleurs set to work and set fire to the principal Parisian buildings. (24) In the evening the hostages—Mons. Darboy, the president of the Court of Cassation Bonjean, Fr. Allard, the priest Daguerre, parish priest of the Madeleine, and the Jesuit Fathers Clerc and Ducoudray—were shot at the “Grande-Rouette.” (25) Massacre of the 12 Dominicans of the Alberto il Grande college of Arcueil in the disciplinary prison of the ninth sector, avenue Italie, no. 38. (26) Massacre of 50 hostages from the Grande-Rouette (36 gendarmes, 3 Jesuits [Fr. Olivaint], 4 Picpus religious, 2 secular priests, one seminarian, and 4 fellow conspirators, traitors), which took place at rue Haxo, on the orders of Colonel Gois, president of the C.’s court-martial and a Blanquist. An act of indescribably brutal bloodshed. (27) The regular troops occupied Paris. The military tribunals, for one week, and then the courts-martial (until 21 March 1872), condemned a large number of communards to death and to various penalties. The leaders of the insurrectionary movement were for the most part condemned in absentia.