Communards - The Franco-Prussian War and The Paris Commune

The Franco-Prussian War and The Paris Commune

The working class of Paris were feeling ostracized after the decadence of the Second Empire and the Franco-Prussian War. The Prussians besieged Paris in September 1870, causing suffering among Parisians. The poor ate cat or rat meat or went hungry. Out of resentment from this situation grew radical and socialist political clubs and newspapers. While Paris was occupied, socialist groups tried twice to overthrow the provisional government.

In January 1871, Otto von Bismarck and the French minister of foreign affairs, Jules Favre, decided that France would hold national elections. Adolphe Thiers, who had been loyal to the Second Empire, was elected head of the newly monarchist republic. During the war, the capital had moved from Paris to Bordeaux. When the war ended, the government declined to move back to Paris and instead moved to Versailles. In the early morning of March 18, the government stationed in Versailles sent military forces into Paris to collect a reserve of cannons and machine guns. The detachment was still gathering the munitions when the Parisians awoke, and soon the soldiers were surrounded. In the chaos that followed, the soldiers killed two of their own, and by the end of the day, they were mainly sided with the Parisians. Insurgents now controlled the city, and they declared a new government called the Paris Commune, which lasted from March 18 to May 28, 1871.

Thiers refused to bargain with the Communards, despite their attempts to do so. He taught newly-released French soldiers the "evils" of the Communards as the government prepared for a battle. Starting on May 21 and continuing through May 28, soldiers chased the National Guard members who sided with the Communards through the streets. Around 18,000 Parisians were killed, 25,000 were imprisoned, and thousands more were later executed. The outrageous violence of Bloody Week became a rallying cry for the working classes; politicians would later proudly brag about their participation with the Commune.