On May 27, 1871, the last members of the Paris Commune were all shot dead under the wall in the north corner of The ParisIan Cemetery of Father Lachaise, which was later called the "Wall of Commune Members".
Posthumous photograph of a commune member
The historical background of the Paris Commune begins with the war between France and Prussia, which was provoked by the French Emperor Napoleon III in July 1870 and ended in a crushing defeat for the French army.
Emperor Napoleon III of the Second French Empire
On September 2, 1870, the besieged Napoleon III ordered surrender, and the Second Empire collapsed with the emperor's surrender.
Germany received the surrender of France
However, Prussia was not satisfied with the emperor's surrender and continued to attack France on a large scale. On 19 September, the Prussians besieged Paris. Years of growing disparities between rich and poor, coupled with current food shortages, army defeats, and constant bombardment by the Prussian army, have finally greatly intensified discontent in all sectors of Parisian society. Now that the Second Reich had collapsed, the citizens of Paris, especially the working class and the lower middle class, wanted to establish a democratic republic.
Siege of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War
In January 1871, four months after the siege, the French Provisional Government sought a ceasefire agreement with Prussia (then the German Empire). The Germans demanded the inclusion of a clause in the peace agreement that would allow German troops to enter Paris in a triumphal ceremony. Despite the siege for many days, many Parisians were indignant and adamantly opposed to the Prussians declaring the occupation of their city by any ceremony.
At that time, there was a force of 300,000 in Paris called the "National Guard". The troops are composed of civilian armed forces, which is similar in nature to militias. This force helped defend the city and elected their own officials, all of whom were from the working class. Later, they further formed a "Central Committee" of the Self-Defense Army.
During the paris commune's rise to power, the commune members destroyed the Vendôme column representing the imperial system
After the Germans left Paris, the "Central Committee" quickly rebelled against the army of the Provisional Government at that time, and then the Commune elections were held, electing 92 members, and the Paris Commune was officially established.
Elections to the Paris Commune
The Commune army engaged in a brutal offensive and defensive battle with the government forces over the next two months. After the city of Paris was breached, the Commune army engaged in street battles in the streets of Paris, the most stubborn of which took place in the working-class districts of the east.
Barricade warfare
Until 27 May, there were fewer and fewer Commune troops resisting. The last members of the Paris Commune were all shot dead under the wall in the north corner of The Father Lachaise Cemetery, which was called the "Wall of Commune Members" by later generations.
Commune members' wall
The Paris Commune was the world's first revolution in which the proletariat consisted mainly. Karl Marx believed that it was a great pity that the Commune had "wasted precious time" organizing democratic elections rather than quickly eliminating government forces. The National Bank of France was located in the city of Paris, storing billions of francs, but the Commune did not leave it intact or protect it. They asked the bank for money, and Karl Marx thought they should confiscate all the bank's assets without hesitation. The Commune chose not to confiscate the bank's assets to avoid being condemned. As a result, bank assets were moved to the armed army of Versailles.
Karl marx
The Communists saw the Paris Commune as the prototype for liberating society because its political system was based on democracy in which everyone, including the grassroots, participated. Subsequent revolutionaries learned from the very limited experience of the Paris Commune. Since then, the workers' movement has flourished in Europe and around the world.