An old engraving of rioters and ‘petroleuses’ setting fire to buildings during the Paris Commune, Paris, France in the spring of 1871. It is from a Victorian history book of The Paris Commune was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris from 18 March to 28 May 1871.
An old engraving of rioters and ‘petroleuses’ setting fire to buildings during the Paris Commune, Paris, France in the spring of 1871. It is from a Victorian history book of The Paris Commune was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended Paris, and working-class radicalism grew among its soldiers. Following the establishment of the Third Republic in September 1870 (under French chief executive Adolphe Thiers from February 1871) and the complete defeat of the French Army by the Germans by March 1871, soldiers of the National Guard seized control of the city on March 18. They killed two French army generals and refused to accept the authority of the Third Republic, instead attempting to establish an independent government. The Commune governed Paris for two months, establishing policies that tended toward a progressive, anti-religious system of their own self-styled socialism. These policies included the separation of church and state, self-policing, the remission of rent, the abolition of child labour, and the right of employees to take over an enterprise deserted by its owner. The national French Army suppressed the Commune at the end of May during La semaine sanglante (‘The Bloody Week’) beginning on 21 May 1871. The national forces still loyal to the government either killed in battle or executed an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Communards.
Size: 4252px × 3099px
Location: Paris, France
Photo credit: © M&N / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1800s, 1871, 19th, anti, black, bloody, campaign, century, civil, communard, communards, commune, defend, demonstrate, demonstration, discrimination, early, engraving, france, french, guard, historical, hundreds, illustration, la, liberation, march, meeting, movement, national, nineteenth, paris, petroleuse, petroleuses, political, politics, protest, ralley, rally, revolt, revolution, revolutionary, rights, riot, rioter, rioters, sanglante, semaine, socialist, street, victorian, week, white
