Paris Commune 1871
Topic: The Rise of Nationalism in Europe · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Paris Commune was a radical government that ruled the city of Paris from March to May 1871. It took power after France lost the war against Prussia and its allied German states. Workers, socialists and radical republicans ran it. They refused to obey the new national government, which sat at Versailles. The Commune matters because it was the first time working people ran a large city. Socialists later treated it as a model of a workers' government.
Example
In May 1871, the national government's army entered Paris. In the "Bloody Week" (la semaine sanglante), it crushed the Commune and thousands of Communards were killed. This came only months after William I was proclaimed German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles on 18 January 1871.
Don't confuse with
- February 1848 Revolution in Paris: barricades drove out Louis Philippe and set up a Republic with votes for all adult men over 21. The Commune was a separate rising, in one city only, in 1871.
Related concepts
- Otto von Bismarck
- Blood and iron
- Franco-Prussian War
- Unification of Germany
- Kulturkampf
- Count Cavour
- Napoleon III
- Giuseppe Garibaldi
- Expedition of the Thousand
- Unification of Italy