VI. THE CHANGES TURN OUT TO BE USELESS: LA COMMUNE

MENU: 6. La Commune

"THAT STRANGE SPRING WHEN REVOLT SPRANG OUT OF THE GROUND..." 

 --Louise Michel

Began when the government lost control of the army and fled to Versailles, and "La Commune"* sprang into the breach. 

*The name harks back to the government the humble backed which saved the French Revolution against all odds.

    Zoom

Its defeat...

• Preserved the republic by reassuring the privileged.

• Eliminated the Paris City Hall until 1977.

• Brought the sinister monument that looms over the city, the church of the Sacré Cœur.

• Ended resistance to capitalism for a generation.

• Immeasurably deepened social antagonism.

• Led to an extraordinary experiment still inspires.
  

Commemoration of the 150th anniversary on the site where Communards fought their last battle.

Topics

• Egalitarianism breaks through

• Civil war and carnage

• Ruins, revenge, evolution

• Mystification: Old school, now, and two historians fight back 

• Fraternity that worked

• An omen and a turning point

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Next,

V.1.
Egalitarianism breaks through