COMMUNE OF PARIS ( 1871 ). This is com monl• referred to when the term is used without qualification. It was the insurrectionary body, or organized mob, which was in possession and control of Paris from March IS to Nay 27. The German army of occupation left Paris March 3, and almost immediately signs of revolt appeared. On the 1Sth the Reds, as the Communists were called, with the encouragement of the Interna tionale (q.v.), rose against the French regular troops, and, supported by the National Guard. took possession of the city. Generals Lecomte and CIC:ment Thomas were shot. Communal elec tions were held and the authority of the National Assembly, which was sitting at Versailles, was declared null. Peace negotiations with Germany were held in abeyance until the new National Government could establish its authority in France. and it was intimated that GerMany might find it necessary to reoccupy the abaii doned fortresses. Large bodies of the French prisoners held by Germany were released to rein force the army at the disposal of the Government for the suppression of the insurrection. The army was thus raised to 150.000 men, and on April 6 active operations were begun by the Government forces. under .Marshal MacMalion, for the capture of Paris. The military adminis tration of the Commune was notoriously incom petent, and insubordination and debauchery rendered the forces inefficient, but the available number of the National Guard approximated 100,000, and they were well armed and pos sessed strong fortifications, the reduction of which was not a light task. The siege of the city was pushed with energy, for the credit of the new Republican Government of France before the world hung upon its ability to maintain its authority. Before the middle of May it. became evident that the Commune could not hold out much longer, and its followers began to resort to acts of vandalism. The residence and library of Thiers were destroyed. May 10; the Vendome Column was pulled down. May 16. The Govern ment forces penetrated the defenses of the city on May 21. obtaining possession of Montmartre
on May 23, and now was enacted that saturnalia of violence and crime which has made the name of the Commune infamous. On May 24 the Com munists; set the to the public, buildings, the Palace of the Tuileries being destroyed. On the same day a large number of hostages, including M. Darboy. Archbishop of Paris, were massacred. On May 27 the last hand-to-hand struggle, with out quarter, was fought in the Cemetery of Pere la-Chaise. On the following day all resistance came to an end, and the reign of the Commune was closed. Many of its leaders were put to death. others were punished with banishment or impris onment. Most of the banished were pardoned in 1SSO. The Communal Council, the governing body of the Commune. was organized in ten com mittees, of which that for finance was the most efficient. At the head was a general executive com mittee, the authority of which was never great. It was displaced by a committee of public safety. which was expected to exercise dictatorial power, like its Revolutionary prototype; but this, too, proved a failure. The Commune was essentially lawless. Many of those who initiated the move ment were honest theorists and enthusiasts. but the forces they called into action were entirely be yond their control. There is no scientific history of the Commune. The principal work is du Camp, Les convulsions de Paris (4 vols.. Paris, 1S7S-79). conservative. Of Communist sympathies are Ar nould. Histoire popnlaire et parlrmentaire de la Commune de Paris (3 vols.. Brussels. MS). and Lissagaray, Histoire dr la Commune (last edi tion, Paris, 1896) : there is an English transla tion by Aveling of an earlier edition (1SS6). Consult also Washlmrne. Recollections of a Min ister to France (2 vole., New York, 1857) : Simon, The Government of M. Thiers (2 vols., New York. 1S7S1 ; Fetridge, Vise and Fall of the Paris Commime of 1871 (New York. 18711: March, History of the Commune of 1871 (Lon don, 1896). See FRANCE; FRANCO-GERMAN WAR.