MOST NARRATIVES FOCUS ON THE RUINS LA COMMUNE LEFT — FORGETING THOSE OF THE ARMY
For example...
- The National Library introduces documents of La Commune by a photo of burned City Hall. It is true that it was deliberately burned by Ferré's order, but the army's destruction was as terrible.
- The anchor of a popular television series states that Communards burned the chateau of Saint-Cloud — six months before La Commune existed.
The Government of National Defense bombarded it on October 13. 1870; La Commune was proclaimed on March 27, 1871.
# # #
Army officers, who did not trust their troops...
- Preferred bombardment to combat and army shells caused the first fires. As well, they tore down houses to skirt barricades rather than attack head on:
The postcard sent in 1908 shows how long the memory lasted.
- That officially-sanctioned destruction was new. In Les Misérables Victor Hugo explicitly states that the army fought barricade defenders face to face, as illustrations confirm.
Destruction at Rue de Rivoli Facing Louvre, « Illustrated London News »
# # #
As well, owners, who presumably backed Versailles, burned buildings to collect insurance.
"We will never know how many crooked speculators, merchants at the end of their resources, men facing bankruptcy, used the fires to erase their situation crying, Death to the incendiaries!, when they had just lit the fire [themselves]."
A man is sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for burning his house to collect damages.
-- Lissangary, Appendix XXI
Knowing which side destroyed most
is impossible.
* * *
Next,
No comments:
Post a Comment