ERRORS WITH NO MENTION OF THE UNDERLYING ISSUES
OR OF LA COMMUNE'S ACHIEVEMENTS
(A TEXTBOOK OF 2016)
This was the book available at the second-hand bookstore Gibert Jeune then; other schoolbooks may not have made as flagrant mistakes, but since the national programs are all the same, they would have had the same point of view.
La Commune (1871)
- Pointless erudition: "Provisional Chief of the executive power:" No explanation is given for the clumsy title * in quotes, which takes up more than a full line in the short text.
* It left the form of government open, in hopes of restoring monarchy later.
- An unforgivable error: "The latter [Thiers] seizes the cannons to disarm the capital." NO! He tries to do so, fails and flees, leaving the vacuum that allows La Commune.
As well, what cannons?
- A major omission: It [The Commune] takes measures that are social (free schooling) and anti-clerical (nationalization of ecclesiastical property)." All western industrialized nations adopt those practices. Commune innovations that challenged the social hierarchy are left out.
- Glossing over massacre: "In May during 'Bloody Week,' the army crushes the Parisian revolt, executing between 20,000 and 30,000 people." The worst massacre to take place in Europe until the Shoah obtains one line more than the ponderous Chief of the Executive title.
- It doesn't even get pages right: "That 'Commune of Paris,' inspired by socialist ideas (see p.227." There are no "socialist ideas" on that page.
A choice of illustration shows that
La Commune is seen mainly
as a prelude to the Third Republic.
That it was as conservative as
would have been a monarchy,
perhaps even more so,
is not said.
No comments:
Post a Comment