The Paris Commune

A radical government that ruled Paris for about two months in 1871.

Background

France had been defeated by Prussia, and Paris endured a hard siege in the winter of 1870 and 1871. Many Parisians distrusted the new national government, which was dominated by conservatives, and the National Guard held on to its weapons.

Course of events

The rising began on 18 March 1871 when troops sent to seize cannon in Montmartre were joined by the crowd. An elected Commune governed the city and passed measures including the separation of church and state and limits on night work in bakeries. In late May the army of the government at Versailles entered the city in the so-called Bloody Week.

Legacy

Thousands of Communards were killed in the fighting or executed, and many more were deported. The Commune was interpreted in very different ways by thinkers such as Karl Marx, and it remains a powerful symbol in debates about popular self-government.