to each according to his needs
140-726: The International Anarchist School was an educational institution founded by the French anarchist Louise Michel in London in 1891, in order to educate the children of political refugees. Michel was a professional teacher who had previously educated the children of factory workers in Paris. Finding herself exiled in England in the 1890s she wanted to establish a school on anarchist principles, eschewing religion and instead guided by scientific reason, freethought and respect for individual liberties. Michel founded
280-613: A progressive , anti-religious system of their own self-styled socialism , which was an eclectic mix of many 19th-century schools of thought. These policies included the separation of church and state , self-policing , the remission of rent, the abolition of child labor , and the right of employees to take over an enterprise deserted by its owner. The Commune closed all Catholic churches and schools in Paris. Feminist , communist , old-style social democracy (a mix of reformism and revolutionism), and anarchist / Proudhonist currents, among other socialist types, played important roles in
420-488: A "social instinct developed to the extreme". In reference to the harsh conditions of Michel's life, Goldman asserted "Anarchists insist that conditions must be radically wrong if human instincts develop to such extremes at the expense of each other." Michel returned to France in 1895. In an 1896 article, entitled "Why I am an Anarchist", Michel argued that "Anarchy will not begin the eternal miseries anew. Humanity in its fight of despair will cling to it in order to emerge from
560-716: A National Guard. When the Paris Commune was proclaimed Michel was named head of the Women's Vigilance Committee and played a key role in initiating economic and social reforms. Michel pushed through the separation of church and state, initiated educational reforms and codified rights for workers. The reforms were not carried out due to the short duration of the Commune. When Michel was tried, she demanded to be killed by firing squad and proclaimed "If you let me live, I shall never stop crying for vengeance, and I shall avenge my brothers by denouncing
700-483: A bit of lead, so I claim mine!" Instead, Michel was among 1,169 Commune supporters sentenced to penal transportation . It is estimated by some sources that 20,000 defenders of the Paris Commune had been killed or summarily executed after combat, though this number is highly disputed by other more recent sources. Jacques Rougerie , a noted French Marxist historian, put the probable number at closer to 10,000. Michel
840-475: A charismatic professional revolutionary who had spent most of his adult life in prison. He had about a thousand followers, many of them armed and organized into cells of ten persons each. Each cell operated independently and was unaware of the members of the other groups, communicating only with their leaders by code. Blanqui had written a manual on revolution, Instructions for an Armed Uprising , to give guidance to his followers. Though their numbers were small,
980-404: A crowd of 20,000 and the police. But she had no patience for Clemenceau's "illustration... that he should wait for parliamentarianism to bring progress". Michel soon began her career as a public speaker and found an audience all over Europe. In 1882 she staged her first anarchist play Nadine . As a public speaker Michel became skilled in advancing pragmatic arguments to attack capitalism and
1120-535: A delegation of mayors of the Paris arrondissements , led by Clemenceau, to negotiate with Thiers in Versailles to obtain a special independent status for Paris. On 22 March 1871, demonstrators holding banners declaring them to be "Friends of Peace" were blocked from entering the Place Vendôme by guardsmen who, after being fired on, opened fire on the crowd. At least 12 people were killed and many wounded. The event
1260-438: A demonstration of unemployed workers. In a subsequent riot , 500 demonstrators led by Michel pillaged three bakeries and shouted "Bread, work, or lead". Reputedly, Michel led this demonstration with a black flag, which has since become a symbol of anarchism . It was the first recorded use of the anarchist black flag. Michel was tried for her actions in the riot and used the court to publicly defend her anarchist principles. She
1400-474: A devastated Europe. Michel's political ideals owed much to the French romanticism of Hugo and are described at length in The New Era, Last Thought, Memories of Caledonia (1887): "It is indeed time that this old world die since no one is safe any longer... We can no longer live like our Stone Age ancestors, nor as in the past century, since the series of inventions, since the discoveries of science have brought
1540-492: A euphoric mood. The members adopted a dozen proposals, including an honorary presidency for Blanqui; the abolition of the death penalty ; the abolition of military conscription ; a proposal to send delegates to other cities to help launch communes there; and a resolution declaring that membership in the Paris Commune was incompatible with being a member of the National Assembly. This was aimed particularly at Pierre Tirard ,
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#17330929816111680-517: A few hundreds of persons, mostly quite young". He noted, however, that "working-men, as a class, took no part in the proceedings." A coup was attempted in early 1870, but tensions eased significantly after the plebiscite in May . The war with Prussia, initiated by Napoleon III in July, was initially met with patriotic fervour. Paris was the traditional home of French radical movements. Revolutionaries had gone into
1820-425: A legal admonition in order to let the crowd retreat, which would have left without resistance. People are dying from hunger, and they do not even have the right to say that they are dying from hunger." Michel frequently spoke on women's rights from an anarchist perspective. She not only advocated education for women, but also that marriage should be free and that men should hold no property rights over women. In
1960-532: A mass uprising of the people to defend the republic , arguing that martyrdom was preferable to defeat. This sentiment would be echoed in her subsequently published poetry, plays and novels. But unlike her contemporaries, Michel repeatedly lamented the violent treatment of children and the gory abuse of animals. Michel's political characters fought for justice, while the children and animals in her fictional works were too weak, sick and starved to resist or survive. When Emperor Napoleon III and his army were captured by
2100-452: A militant revolution, proclaiming: "I descended the Butte, my rifle under my coat, shouting: Treason! . . . Our deaths would free Paris". She reflected: "It is true, perhaps, that women like rebellions. We are no better than men in respect to power, but power has not yet corrupted us." In her memoirs Michel confessed that the realities of the revolutionary government strengthened her resolve to end
2240-453: A more permanent address in, what is today, Fitzrovia . Michel's school was a transnational endeavour set up by activists from many different countries, and open to the children of political refugees who were drawn from across the European continent. The teaching itself was largely free to access, being based on Bakuninist principles of education, as well as drawing a significant influence from
2380-470: A pamphlet in which he made false denunciations against his successors, David Nicoll and Cyril Bell, accusing them of defrauding funds from the movement and working for the police. In 1894 Coulon would attempt to re-establish the International School under the name Ecole Anarchiste Industrielle . However, the venture failed to ever materialise. Although Fitzroy Square is often erroneously cited as
2520-801: A public address on 21 November 1880 and continued her revolutionary activity in Europe, attending the 1881 London Social Revolutionary Congress , where she led demonstrations and spoke to huge crowds. While in London, she also attended meetings at the Russell Square home of the Pankhursts where she made a particular impression on a young Sylvia Pankhurst . In France she successfully campaigned, together with Charles Malato and Victor Henri Rochefort , for an amnesty to be also granted to Algerian deportees in New Caledonia. In March 1883 Michel and Émile Pouget led
2660-410: A school and moved among the European anarchist exile circles. Her International Anarchist School for the children of political refugees opened in 1890 at 19 Fitzroy Square. The teachings were influenced by the libertarian educationist Paul Robin and put into practice Mikhail Bakunin 's educational principles, emphasising scientific and rational methods. Michel's aim was to develop among the children
2800-445: A well-known speaker, touring Europe repeatedly to speak in front of thousands of people. In 1895 Sébastien Faure and Michel founded the French anarchist periodical Le Libertaire ( The Libertarian ), now called Le Monde Libertaire ( Libertarian World ). In the same year Michel met Emma Goldman at an anarchist conference in London, at which both were speaking. The young Goldman was hugely impressed by Michel, considering her to have
2940-429: A whole. Progress being infinite, transformations will be perpetual." Michel did not only bemoan the poverty in which people across Europe lived, she also advanced a detailed critique of 19th century capitalism. She lamented the deficiencies of the capitalist banking system and predicted that the concentration of capital would result in the ruin of small enterprises and the middle class . In her memoirs Michel said that
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#17330929816113080-414: Is evil" and in her mind history was the story of free people being enslaved. In an 1882 speech she said "All revolutions have been insufficient because they have been political". Organisation was, in her mind, not necessary because the poor and exploited would rise up and, through their sheer numbers, would force the old order to shrivel up. Michel was among the more influential French political figures in
3220-473: Is impossible for liberty ever to be associated with any form of power whatsoever." Michel was introduced to the tenets of anarchism by a fellow prisoner Nathalie Lemel , with whom she was imprisoned in a large cage for several months. Michel became known for her selfless generosity and devotion to others. In the penal colony she lived in voluntary poverty, giving away her books, clothes and any money she acquired. Michel took up teaching again. She spent time with
3360-552: Is not a question of our practicing politics, we are human, that is all." During the siege, Michel became part of the National Guard. When the Paris Commune was declared she was elected head of the Montmartre Women's Vigilance Committee. In April 1871 she threw herself into the armed struggle against the French government. Her lover, Théophile Ferré , was a senior member of the Commune and of its Committee of Public Safety. It
3500-528: Is remembered in the names of French streets, schools and parks. Michel became a national heroine in France and was revered as the "great citizen". A cultish image of Michel emerged. Shortly before her death, when returning from her exile in London, Michel had been dubbed "the angel of petrol", "the virago of the rabble" and "queen of the scum" by the conservative French press. In turn, Charles Ferdinand Gambon compared her to Jeanne d'Arc in reference to her role in
3640-502: The Anarchist Manifesto of Lyon (1883) precisely expressed her views. The Manifesto had been signed by Peter Kropotkin , Émile Gautier , Joseph Bernard , Pierre Martin [ fr ] and Toussaint Bordat . Kropotkin, like Jules Guesde and Émile Pouget would become close friends and associates of her. Instead of focusing on violent revolution, as she had done in her earlier works, Michel in her later works emphasised
3780-626: The Blanquists provided many of the most disciplined soldiers and several of the senior leaders of the Commune. By 20 September 1870, the German army had surrounded Paris and was camped just 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) from the French front lines. The regular French Army in Paris, under General Trochu 's command, had only 50,000 professional soldiers of the line; the majority of the French first-line soldiers were prisoners of war, or trapped in Metz , surrounded by
3920-716: The Collège Louise-Michel was opened in the 10th arrondissement . On 1 May 1946 the Paris Metro Vallier station in Levallois-Perret Paris Metro was renamed Louise Michel station . In 2004 the Square Louise-Michel in Montmarte was renamed after her. Michel was one of 10 French women honoured during the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Paris, where a gold statue of her was raised along
4060-678: The Faubourg Saint-Antoine , and the Faubourg du Temple —marched to the centre of the city and demanded that a new government, a Commune, be elected. They were met by regular army units loyal to the Government of National Defence, and the demonstrators eventually dispersed peacefully. On 5 October, 5,000 protesters marched from Belleville to the Hôtel de Ville , demanding immediate municipal elections and rifles. On 8 October, several thousand soldiers from
4200-555: The National Guard , numbering about 300,000 men. They also had very little training or experience. They were organised by neighbourhoods; those from the upper- and middle-class arrondissements tended to support the national government, while those from the working-class neighbourhoods were far more radical and politicised. Guardsmen from many units were known for their lack of discipline; some units refused to wear uniforms, often refused to obey orders without discussing them, and demanded
4340-591: The Seine froze for three weeks. Parisians suffered shortages of food, firewood, coal and medicine. The city was almost completely dark at night. The only communication with the outside world was by balloon, carrier pigeon , or letters packed in iron balls floated down the Seine. Rumours and conspiracy theories abounded. Because supplies of ordinary food ran out, starving denizens ate most of the city zoo 's animals, then resorted to feeding on rats. By early January 1871, Bismarck and
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4480-452: The authoritarian state , while holding open the possibility of a positive outcome. When she was put on trial in 1883 for leading a group of unemployed workers, she attacked shortcomings in the implementation of the French republican constitution, saying: "They keep talking to us about liberty: There is the liberty of speech with five years of prison at the end. In England, the meeting would have taken place; in France, they have not even made
4620-408: The leaders , fled abroad, mostly to England, Belgium or Switzerland. All the surviving prisoners and exiles received pardons in 1880 and could return home, where some resumed political careers. Debates over the policies and outcome of the Commune had significant influence on the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels , who described the régime in Paris as the first example of the dictatorship of
4760-652: The legitimists . In Paris, however, the republican candidates dominated, winning 234,000 votes against 77,000 for the Bonapartists. Of the two million people in Paris in 1869, according to the official census, there were about 500,000 industrial workers, or fifteen percent of all the industrial workers in France, plus another 300,000–400,000 workers in other enterprises. Only about 40,000 were employed in factories and large enterprises; most were employed in small industries in textiles, furniture and construction. There were also 115,000 servants and 45,000 concierges. In addition to
4900-524: The "French grande dame of anarchy ." Her use of a black flag at a demonstration in Paris in March 1883 was also the earliest known of what would become known as the anarchy black flag . Louise Michel was born on 29 May 1830 as the illegitimate daughter of a serving-maid, Marianne Michel, and the son of the house, Laurent Demahis. She was raised by her paternal grandparents, Charlotte and Charles-Étienne Demahis, in north-eastern France. She spent her childhood in
5040-451: The 1878 Kanak revolt . The following year, she received authorisation to become a teacher in Nouméa for the children of the deported — among them many Algerian Kabyles (" Kabyles du Pacifique ") from Cheikh Mokrani 's rebellion (1871). In 1880, amnesty was granted to those who had participated in the Paris Commune. Michel returned to Paris, her revolutionary passion undiminished. She gave
5180-618: The 7th and 8th arrondissements; 68 percent in the 15th, 66 percent in the 16th, and 62 percent in the 6th and 9th. But in the working-class neighborhoods, turnout was high: 76 percent in the 20th arrondissement, 65 percent in the 19th, and 55 to 60 percent in the 10th, 11th, and 12th. A few candidates, including Blanqui (who had been arrested when outside Paris, and was in prison in Brittany), won in several arrondissements . Other candidates who were elected, including about twenty moderate republicans and five radicals, refused to take their seats. In
5320-559: The Central Committee of the National Guard ordered the three battalions to seize the Hôtel de Ville, where they believed the government was located. They were not aware that Thiers, the government, and the military commanders were at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where the gates were open and there were few guards. They were also unaware that Marshal Patrice MacMahon , the future commander of
5460-511: The Central Committee, led by the Blanquists, demanded an immediate march on Versailles to disperse the Thiers government and to impose their authority on all of France; but the majority first wanted to establish a more solid base of legal authority in Paris. The Committee officially lifted the state of siege, named commissions to administer the government, and called elections for 23 March. They also sent
5600-557: The Château de Vroncourt and was provided with a liberal education. When her grandparents died, she completed teacher training and worked in villages. In 1865 Michel opened a school in Paris which became known for its modern and progressive methods. Michel corresponded with the prominent French romanticist Victor Hugo and began publishing poetry. She became involved in the radical politics of Paris and among her associates were Auguste Blanqui , Jules Vallès and Théophile Ferré . In 1869
5740-597: The Committee of Vigilance of the 18th arrondissement , who demanded that they be tried and executed. At 5:00 in the afternoon, the National Guard had captured another important prisoner: General Jacques Leon Clément-Thomas . An ardent republican and fierce disciplinarian, he had helped suppress the armed uprising of June 1848 against the Second Republic. Because of his republican beliefs, he had been arrested by Napoleon III and exiled, and had only returned to France after
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5880-484: The Commune. The various Communards had little more than two months to achieve their respective goals before the national French Army suppressed the Commune during the semaine sanglante ("bloody week") beginning on 21 May 1871. The national forces still loyal to the Third Republic government either killed in battle or executed an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Communards, though one unconfirmed estimate from 1876 put
6020-470: The Germans themselves were tired of the prolonged siege. They installed seventy-two 120- and 150-mm artillery pieces in the forts around Paris and on 5 January began to bombard the city day and night. Between 300 and 600 shells hit the centre of the city every day. Between 11 and 19 January 1871, the French armies had been defeated on four fronts and Paris was facing a famine. General Trochu received reports from
6160-526: The Germans. Regular soldiers would give up their arms, but would not be taken into captivity. Paris would pay an indemnity of 200 million francs. At Jules Favre 's request, Bismarck agreed not to disarm the National Guard, so that order could be maintained in the city. The national government in Bordeaux called for national elections at the end of January, held just ten days later on 8 February. Most electors in France were rural, Catholic and conservative, and this
6300-454: The Germans. The regulars were thus supported by around 5,000 firemen, 3,000 gendarmes , and 15,000 sailors. The regulars were also supported by the Garde Mobile , new recruits with little training or experience. 17,000 of them were Parisian, and 73,000 from the provinces . These included twenty battalions of men from Brittany , who spoke little French. The largest armed force in Paris was
6440-461: The Government of National Defence. "Yes" votes totalled 557,996, while 62,638 voted "no". Two days later, municipal councils in each of the twenty arrondissements of Paris voted to elect mayors; five councils elected radical opposition candidates, including Delescluze and a young Montmartrean doctor, Georges Clemenceau . In September and October, Adolphe Thiers , the leader of the National Assembly conservatives, had toured Europe, consulting with
6580-405: The Hôtel de Ville, one narrowly missing Trochu, and the demonstrators crowded into the building, demanding the creation of a new government, and making lists of its proposed members. Blanqui, the leader of the most radical faction, established his own headquarters at the nearby Prefecture of the Seine , issuing orders and decrees to his followers, intent upon establishing his own government. While
6720-700: The International School in the autumn of 1891, initially using the premises of the Autonomie Club . Due to her lack of fluency in English, Michel agreed that Auguste Coulon, a polyglot she had met at the Autonomie Club, could be the school's secretary and language teacher. The project received the keen support of Peter Kropotkin , who did a fundraising lecture for it at the Athenaeum Hall , Errico Malatesta and William Morris . The newly established school soon moved to
6860-589: The National Guard, led by Eugène Varlin of the First International, marched to the centre chanting 'Long Live the Commune!", but they also dispersed without incident. Later in October, General Louis Jules Trochu launched a series of armed attacks to break the German siege, with heavy losses and no success. The telegraph line connecting Paris with the rest of France had been cut by the Germans on 27 September. On 6 October, Defense Minister Léon Gambetta departed
7000-453: The Paris Commune would influence French politics for years to come. Conservatives and moderates in the new government avoided anything that could trigger another uprising. This fear delayed the amnesty for those who had participated in the Paris Commune for years. Eventually an amnesty was granted and when Michel returned to Paris in November 1880 she was greeted by Henri Rochefort , Clemenceau,
7140-420: The Paris Commune. This imagery was further propagandized by Edmond Lepelletier in 1911. The image of Michel as vierge rouge (red virgin) came to be used by conservative and liberal historians alike when recounting the story of the Paris Commune. Michel is regarded as a founder of anarcha-feminism . Despite the anti-authoritarian rhetoric, early anarchist thinkers maintained cultural orthodoxy when it came to
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#17330929816117280-528: The Prussians in 1870, the French Third Republic was proclaimed in Paris. But the provisional government continued the war against the Prussians and a four-month siege of Paris resulted in bleak hardship. Parisians starved and froze to death. Some managed to save themselves by eating cats, dogs and rats. The government surrendered, but Michel and other Parisians had taken up arms and organised themselves as
7420-668: The Seine river. Paris Commune Revolt suppressed [REDACTED] French Republic The Paris Commune ( French : Commune de Paris , pronounced [kɔ.myn də pa.ʁi] ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 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
7560-518: The abyss." In 1904 Michel went on a conference tour through French Algeria . Michel was scheduled to meet the anti-colonial campaigner Isabelle Eberhardt , but Eberhardt died shortly before Michel arrived in Algeria. Michel died of pneumonia in Marseille on 10 January 1905. Her funeral in Paris was attended by more than 100,000 people. Michel's grave is in the cemetery of Levallois-Perret , in one of
7700-566: The aftermath of the French Revolution , which was followed by a series of monarchies. Two prevailing theories emerged. There were those who believed that the Reign of Terror that followed the revolution was proof that democracy was flawed. The ruling elites of the post-revolutionary monarchies believed that for the economy to succeed, it was necessary to control the labour market, wages and working conditions. Thus few labour reforms were enacted. On
7840-534: The angry crowd of national guardsmen and deserters from Lecomte's regiment at rue des Rosiers seized Clément-Thomas, beat him with rifle butts, pushed him into the garden, and shot him repeatedly. A few minutes later, they did the same to General Lecomte. Doctor Jean Casimir Félix Guyon , who examined the bodies shortly afterwards, found forty bullets in Clément-Thomas's body and nine in Lecomte's back. By late morning,
7980-421: The armistice was signed. At the end of the war, 400 obsolete muzzle-loading bronze cannons , paid for by the Paris public via a subscription, remained in the city. The new Central Committee of the National Guard, now dominated by radicals, decided to put the cannons in parks in the working-class neighborhoods of Belleville , Buttes-Chaumont and Montmartre , to keep them away from the regular army and to defend
8120-688: The beginning of the Bloody Week (21-28 May, 1871), the battle that ended the Commune In her memoirs she later wrote "oh, I'm a savage all right, I like the smell of gunpowder, grapeshot flying through the air, but above all, I'm devoted to the Revolution." On May 23, after a fierce fight, Montmatre was captured by the French Army. On May 24, she surrendered to the French army in order to save her mother from possible imprisonment. Michel ideologically justified
8260-477: The cannon away did not arrive, and the army units were immobilized. As the soldiers were surrounded, they began to break ranks and join the crowd. General Lecomte tried to withdraw, and then ordered his soldiers to load their weapons and fix bayonets. He thrice ordered them to fire, but the soldiers refused. Some of the officers were disarmed and taken to the city hall of Montmartre, under the protection of Clemenceau. General Lecomte and his staff officers were seized by
8400-461: The cannons became a symbol of that authority. The Assembly also refused to prolong the moratorium on debt collections imposed during the war; and suspended two radical newspapers, Le Cri du Peuple of Jules Valles and Le Mot d'Ordre of Henri Rochefort , which further inflamed Parisian radical opinion. Thiers also decided to move the National Assembly and government from Bordeaux to Versailles, rather than to Paris, to be farther away from
8540-434: The cannons. The plan was initially opposed by War Minister Adolphe Le Flô , d'Aurelle de Paladines, and Vinoy, who argued that the move was premature, because the army had too few soldiers, was undisciplined and demoralized, and that many units had become politicized and were unreliable. Vinoy urged that they wait until Germany had released the French prisoners of war, and the army returned to full strength. Thiers insisted that
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#17330929816118680-574: The certainty that all production will increase a hundredfold when these innovations will be used for the general good, instead of letting just a handful of vultures help themselves in order to starve the rest." Michel lived at a time when hunger was widespread among the working poor of Europe. She believed that technological progress would replace physical labour with machines. In combination with anarchist politics, she argued, this could lead to equal distribution of wealth. In 1890 she reasoned that "the attractive power of progress will demonstrate itself all
8820-467: The city against any attack by the national government. Thiers was equally determined to bring the cannons under national-government control. Clemenceau, a friend of several revolutionaries, tried to negotiate a compromise; some cannons would remain in Paris and the rest go to the army. However, neither Thiers nor the National Assembly accepted his proposals. The chief executive wanted to restore order and national authority in Paris as quickly as possible, and
8960-415: The city by balloon to try to organise national resistance against the Germans. On 28 October, the news arrived in Paris that the 160,000 soldiers of the French army at Metz, which had been surrounded by the Germans since August, had surrendered. The news arrived the same day of the failure of another attempt by the French army to break the siege of Paris at Le Bourget , with heavy losses. On 31 October,
9100-404: The city. In February, while the national government had been organising in Bordeaux, a new rival government had been organised in Paris. The National Guard had not been disarmed as per the armistice, and had on paper 260 battalions of 1,500 men each, a total of 390,000 men. Between 15 and 24 February, some 500 delegates elected by the National Guard began meeting in Paris. On 15 March, just before
9240-426: The city. While he was at the railway station, national guardsmen sent by the Central Committee arrived at his house looking for him. On the advice of General Vinoy, Thiers ordered the evacuation to Versailles of all the regular forces in Paris, some 40,000 soldiers, including those in the fortresses around the city; the regrouping of all the army units in Versailles; and the departure of all government ministries from
9380-505: The commune. It was this latter contact that led Louise to become an anarchist . She remained in New Caledonia for seven years and befriended the local Kanak people . Taking an interest in Kanak legends, cosmology and languages , particularly the bichelamar creole, she learned about Kanak culture from friendships she had made with Kanak people. She taught French to the Kanaks and took their side in
9520-511: The confrontation between the National Guard and the regular army over the cannons, 1,325 delegates of the federation of organisations created by the National Guard elected a leader, Giuseppe Garibaldi (who was in Italy and respectfully declined the title), and created a Central Committee of 38 members, which made its headquarters in a school on the rue Basfroi, between Place de la Bastille and Rue de la Roquette [ fr ] . The first vote of
9660-461: The content of his lessons, until he was finally asked to leave. In 1892 a police raid on the premises of the school uncovered explosives and bombs in the cellar of the building, which had almost certainly been planted there by Coulon, who is known to have instigated the entrapment of the Walsall anarchists during the same period. Following his dismissal from the International School, Coulon published
9800-475: The council were 33 workers; five small businessmen; 19 clerks, accountants and other office staff; twelve journalists; and a selection of workers in the liberal arts. 20 members were Freemasons . All were men; women were not allowed to vote. The winners were announced on 27 March, and a large ceremony and parade by the National Guard was held the next day in front of the Hôtel de Ville, decorated with red flags. The new Commune held its first meeting on 28 March in
9940-409: The discrimination against women. On the attitude of her male comrades, she wrote "How many times, during the Commune, did I go, with a national guardsman or a soldier, to some place where they hardly expected to have to contend with a woman?" She challenged her comrades to "play a part in the struggle for women's rights, after men and women have won the rights of all humanity?" In December 1871, Michel
10080-455: The division of domestic labour and their personal relationships with women. The founder of French anarchism , Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was notorious for his sexist views. Michel, Teresa Claramunt , Lucy Parsons , Voltairine de Cleyre and Emma Goldman became prominent figures in the late 19th century pan-European and American anarchist movement. With the formation of the First International anarchist sections in various European countries under
10220-451: The downfall of the Empire. He was particularly hated by the national guardsmen of Montmartre and Belleville because of the severe discipline he imposed during the siege of Paris. Earlier that day, dressed in civilian clothes, he had been trying to find out what was going on, when he was recognized by a soldier and arrested, and brought to the building at rue des Rosiers. At about 5:30 on 18 March,
10360-522: The elections, the Central Committee and the leaders of the International gave out their lists of candidates, mostly belonging to the extreme left. The candidates had only a few days to campaign. Thiers' government in Versailles urged Parisians to abstain from voting. When the voting was finished, 233,000 Parisians had voted, out of 485,000 registered voters, or forty-eight percent. In upper-class neighborhoods many abstained from voting: 77 percent of voters in
10500-475: The end, the council had just 60 members. Nine of the winners were Blanquists (some of whom were also from the International); twenty-five, including Delescluze and Pyat, classified themselves as "Independent Revolutionaries"; about fifteen were from the International; the rest were from a variety of radical groups. One of the best-known candidates, Clemenceau, received only 752 votes. The professions represented in
10640-652: The establishment of the French 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. The Communards killed two French army generals and refused to accept the authority of the Third Republic; instead, the radicals set about establishing their own independent government. The Commune governed Paris for two months, promoting policies that tended toward
10780-441: The experience of a failed revolution turned her into a radical anarchist . Her political theory progressed from peaceful reform to violent revolution, because she came to believe that contemporary society had to be completely destroyed for a new egalitarian era to emerge. The many years she spent in prison and in the French penal colony New Caledonia were central to her change of heart. Michel's political theory had its roots in
10920-458: The feminist group Société pour la Revendication des Droits Civils de la Femme ( Society for the Demand of Civil Rights for Women ) was announced by André Léo . Among the members of the group were Michel, Paule Minck , Eliska Vincent , Élie Reclus and his wife Noémie, Mme Jules Simon , Caroline de Barrau and Maria Deraismes . Because of the broad range of opinions, the group decided to focus on
11060-619: The followers of Blanqui, who went quickly to the Latin Quarter and took charge of the gunpowder stored in the Panthéon , and to the Orléans railway station . Four battalions crossed the Seine and captured the prefecture of police , while other units occupied the former headquarters of the National Guard at the Place Vendôme , as well as the Ministry of Justice. That night, the National Guard occupied
11200-457: The forces against the Commune, had just arrived at his home in Paris, having just been released from imprisonment in Germany. As soon as he heard the news of the uprising, he made his way to the railway station, where national guardsmen were already stopping and checking the identity of departing passengers. A sympathetic station manager hid him in his office and helped him board a train, and he escaped
11340-492: The foreign ministers of Britain , Russia , and Austria-Hungary , and found that none of them were willing to support France against the Germans. He reported to the government that there was no alternative to negotiating an armistice. He travelled to German-occupied Tours and met with Otto von Bismarck on 1 November. The German Chancellor demanded the cession of all of Alsace , parts of Lorraine , and enormous reparations. The Government of National Defence decided to continue
11480-488: The formation of the new government was taking place inside the Hôtel de Ville, however, units of the National Guard and the Garde Mobile loyal to General Trochu arrived and recaptured the building without violence. By three o'clock, the demonstrators had been given safe passage and left, and the brief uprising was over. On 3 November, city authorities organized a plebiscite of Parisian voters, asking if they had confidence in
11620-426: The future was shaped by a supreme confidence. "Science will bring forth harvests in the desert; the energy of the tempests and whirlpools will carve paths through the mountains. Undersea boats will discover lost continents. Electricity will carry ships of the air above the icy poles. The ideas of Liberty, Equality and Justice will finally burst into flame. Each individual will live his integral part within humankind as
11760-525: The guardsmen and his mutinous soldiers and taken to the local headquarters of the National Guard under the command of captain Simon Charles Mayer at the ballroom of the Chateau-Rouge . The officers were pelted with rocks, struck, threatened, and insulted by the crowd. In the middle of the afternoon, Lecomte and the other officers were taken to 6 rue des Rosiers by members of a group calling themselves
11900-452: The indigenous Kanak people , teaching them French so that they could challenge the French authorities. Michel supported them in their revolt against the colonial power. In 1875 the monarchist-dominated National Assembly passed a constitution that established a republican government with an upper and lower house of parliament. This republic was a compromise, as the National Assembly could not agree on who should be king. The brutal crackdown on
12040-528: The lack of industrial activity due to the war and the siege; they formed the bedrock of the Commune's popular support. The Commune resulted in part from growing discontent among the Paris workers. This discontent can be traced to the first worker uprisings, the Canut revolts (a canut was a Lyonnais silk worker, often working on Jacquard looms ), in Lyon and Paris in the 1830s. Many Parisians, especially workers and
12180-560: The large cities. The killing of journalist Victor Noir incensed Parisians, and the arrests of journalists critical of the Emperor did nothing to quiet the city. The German military attaché, Alfred von Waldersee , wrote in his diary in February: "Every night isolated barricades were thrown up, constructed for the most part out of disused conveyances, especially omnibuses, a few shots were fired at random, and scenes of disorder were taken part in by
12320-465: The late 1880s she authored several works in which she revisited the themes of her earlier works, but also portrayed the demise of the old order and its replacement with a society of equals. Michel embarked on a journey towards a new political philosophy. The revolutionary characters in The Strike expected to die, but instead they gave life to a new age and Michel discussed the rights and responsibilities of
12460-413: The leaders of the main revolutionary groups in Paris, including Blanqui, Félix Pyat and Louis Charles Delescluze , called new demonstrations at the Hôtel de Ville against General Trochu and the government. Fifteen thousand demonstrators, some of them armed, gathered in front of the Hôtel de Ville in pouring rain, calling for the resignation of Trochu and the proclamation of a commune. Shots were fired from
12600-411: The leadership of Mikhail Bakunin , anarchism became noted for not only encouraging female participation in the political movement, but also for espousing the ideal of female emancipation. A movie by the French filmmaker Sarah Maldoror , The Commune, Louise Michel and Us (1971), now lost, was commissioned by the city of Saint-Denis . Michel was rediscovered by French feminists in the 1970s through
12740-424: The location of the school, its first site was on Windmill Street , before it was permanently housed at number 19 Fitzroy Street. The International Anarchist School was part of a wider anarchist pedagogical movement which developed from the late-19th century. In part this tendency was a rejection of propaganda of the deed , as well as a reaction to the establishment of formal state run education systems. The school
12880-577: The lower-middle classes, supported a democratic republic. A specific demand was that Paris should be self-governing with its own elected council, something enjoyed by smaller French towns but denied to Paris by a national government wary of the capital's unruly populace. Socialist movements, such as the First International , had been growing in influence with hundreds of societies affiliated to it across France. In early 1867, Parisian employers of bronze-workers attempted to de-unionise their workers. This
13020-512: The more as daily bread will be assured, and a few hours of work which will have become attractive and voluntary will be enough to produce more than what is necessary for consumption." Like other anarchists of her time she did not believe that history was a record of constant improvement, but that it could become so. However, constant economic growth was not an improvement in itself. Michel argued instead, that progress came through intellectual development, social evolution and liberation. Her vision of
13160-399: The morning of 18 March, two brigades of soldiers climbed the butte of Montmartre , where the largest collection of cannons, 170 in number, were located. A small group of revolutionary national guardsmen were already there, and there was a brief confrontation between the brigade led by General Claude Lecomte , and the National Guard; one guardsman, named Turpin, was shot, later dying. Word of
13300-493: The murderers". The military court refused to make her a martyr . Michel was imprisoned for two years before she was deported. While in prison she demanded to be treated just like the other prisoners and rejected efforts by her friends Hugo and Georges Clemenceau to have her sentence commuted. She considered preferential treatment a dishonour. During the four-month journey to New Caledonia Michel re-examined her belief in revolutionary socialism . She embraced anarchism and for
13440-454: The native French population, there were about 100,000 immigrant workers and political refugees, the largest number being from Italy and Poland. During the war and the Siege of Paris , various members of the middle and upper classes departed the city. At the same time, there was an influx of refugees from parts of France occupied by the Germans. The working class and immigrants suffered the most from
13580-461: The new Central Committee was to refuse to recognise the authority of General D'Aurelle de Paladines, the official commander of the National Guard appointed by Thiers, or of General Vinoy, the Military Governor of Paris. Late on 18 March, when they learned that the regular army was leaving Paris, units of the National Guard moved quickly to take control of the city. The first to take action were
13720-526: The offices vacated by the government; they quickly took over the Ministries of Finance, the Interior, and War . At eight in the morning the next day, the Central Committee was meeting in the Hôtel de Ville. By the end of the day, 20,000 national guardsmen camped in triumph in the square in front of the Hôtel de Ville, with several dozen cannons. A red flag was hoisted over the building. The extreme-left members of
13860-421: The operation to recapture the cannons had failed, and crowds and barricades were appearing in all the working-class neighborhoods of Paris. General Vinoy ordered the army to pull back to the Seine, and Thiers began to organise a withdrawal to Versailles, where he could gather enough troops to take back Paris. On the afternoon of 18 March, following the government's failed attempt to seize the cannons at Montmartre,
14000-570: The other hand, French romanticism reinterpreted the French Revolution as the tangible spirit of the French people. In the 1840s romanticism in France became politicised, because it became accepted that individual happiness could not be achieved in isolation. Romantics became preoccupied with social progress and reform. Writers embarked on a quest to realistically portray the lives of the working poor. Victor Hugo and Emile Zola emerged as key writers and political activists. Shortly after Michel
14140-509: The people who lived in the aftermath of a revolution . She staged her plays in accordance with Jean Grave 's theory on audience participation. The audience was integrated through a political and artistic program of lectures, poems and songs. The audience was encouraged to react and re-enact the conflicts of the plays. In her plays The Human Microbes (1886), Crimes of the Times (1888) and The Bordello (1890) an agricultural utopia emerges from
14280-420: The planned operation must go ahead as quickly as possible, to have the element of surprise. If the seizure of the cannon was not successful, the government would withdraw from the centre of Paris, build up its forces, and then attack with overwhelming force, as they had done during the uprising of June 1848. The Council accepted his decision, and Vinoy gave orders for the operation to begin the next day. Early in
14420-470: The poor and working-class women. In the 1860s she was noted as political activist for vehemently opposing the policies of Emperor Napoleon III . Michel signed a number of her published political writings with Enjolras, the name of the revolutionary in Hugo's Les Misérables . In 1865 she provocatively wrote a new Marseillaise , the call to arms during the French Revolution. In her Marseillaise, Michel called for
14560-439: The prefect of Paris that agitation against the government and military leaders was increasing in the political clubs and in the National Guard of the working-class neighbourhoods of Belleville, La Chapelle , Montmartre, and Gros-Caillou. At midday on 22 January, three or four hundred National Guards and members of radical groups—mostly Blanquists—gathered outside the Hôtel de Ville. A battalion of Gardes Mobiles from Brittany
14700-427: The pressure of demonstrations, which further enraged the National Guard and the radical political clubs. On 17 March 1871, there was a meeting of Thiers and his cabinet, who were joined by Paris mayor Jules Ferry, National Guard commander General Louis d'Aurelle de Paladines and General Joseph Vinoy , commander of the regular army units in Paris. Thiers announced a plan to send the army the next day to take charge of
14840-433: The principles of humanity and justice. Among the teachers were exiled anarchists, such as Victorine Rouchy-Brocher , but also pioneering educationalists such as Rachel McMillan and Agnes Henry . In 1892 the school was closed, when explosives were found in the basement. (See Walsall Anarchists .) It was later revealed that the explosives had been put there by Auguste Coulon, a Special Branch agent provocateur, who worked at
14980-639: The proletariat . Engels wrote: "Of late, the Social-Democratic philistine has once more been filled with wholesome terror at the words: Dictatorship of the Proletariat . Well and good, gentlemen, do you want to know what this dictatorship looks like? Look at the Paris Commune. That was the Dictatorship of the Proletariat." On 2 September 1870, France was defeated in the Battle of Sedan , and Emperor Napoleon III
15120-412: The republican mayor of the 2nd arrondissement , who had been elected to both Commune and National Assembly. Seeing the more radical political direction of the new Commune, Tirard and some twenty republicans decided it was wisest to resign from the Commune. A resolution was also passed, after a long debate, that the deliberations of the council were to be secret, since the Commune was effectively at war with
15260-537: The rest of her life rejected all forms of government . In 1896 she wrote about her change of mind: "I considered the things, events and people of the past. I thought about the behaviour of our friends of the Commune: they were scrupulous, so afraid of exceeding their authority, that they never threw their full energies into anything but the loss of their own lives. I quickly came to the conclusion that good men in power are incompetent, just as bad men are evil, and therefore it
15400-472: The right to elect their own officers. The members of the National Guard from working-class neighbourhoods became the main armed force of the Commune. As the Germans surrounded the city, radical groups saw that the Government of National Defence had few soldiers to defend itself, and launched the first demonstrations against it. On 19 September, National Guard units from the main working-class neighbourhoods— Belleville , Ménilmontant , La Villette , Montrouge ,
15540-423: The school as an assistant. Michel contributed to many English-speaking publications. Some of Michel's writings were translated into English by the poet Louisa Sarah Bevington . Michel's published works were also translated into Spanish by the anarchist Soledad Gustavo . The Spanish anarchist and workers rights activist Teresa Claramunt became known as the "Spanish Louise Michel". By that time Michel had become
15680-401: The second half of the 19th century. She was also one of the more powerful women political theorists of her day. Her publications on social justice for the poor and the cause of the working classes were read in France and all over Europe. When she died in 1905 she was mourned by thousands. Memorial services were held all over France and in London. Although her writings are today forgotten, her name
15820-483: The shooting spread quickly, and members of the National Guard from all over the neighbourhood, along with others including Clemenceau, hurried to the site to confront the soldiers. While the Army had succeeded in securing the cannons at Belleville and Buttes-Chaumont and other strategic points, at Montmartre a crowd gathered and continued to grow, and the situation grew increasingly tense. The horses that were needed to take
15960-452: The spontaneous uprising of the people. She came to reject terror as a means of bringing about a new era. She wrote "Tyrannicide is practical only when tyranny has a single head, or at most a small number of heads. When it is a hydra, only the Revolution can kill it". She took the view that it is best if the leaders of such a revolution would perish, so that the people would not be burdened with surviving general staff. Michel thought that "power
16100-436: The square. The government quickly banned two publications, Le Reveil of Delescluze and Le Combat of Pyat, and arrested 83 revolutionaries. At the same time as the demonstration in Paris, the leaders of the Government of National Defence in Bordeaux had concluded that the war could not continue. On 26 January, they signed a ceasefire and armistice, with special conditions for Paris. The city would not be occupied by
16240-452: The streets and overthrown their governments during the popular uprisings of July 1830 and the French Revolution of 1848 , as well as subsequent failed attempts such as the 1832 June Rebellion and the uprising of June 1848 . Of the radical and revolutionary groups in Paris at the time of the Commune, the most conservative were the "radical republicans". This group included the young doctor and future prime minister Georges Clemenceau , who
16380-531: The subject of improving girls' education. Commonly known as the Revendication des Droits de la Femme ( Demand for Women's Rights ), the group had close ties with the Société Coopérative des Ouvriers et Ouvrières ( Cooperative Society of Men and Women Workers ). The July 1869 manifesto of the Revendication des Droits de la Femme was thus signed by the wives of militant cooperative members. The manifesto
16520-452: The suburbs of Paris. The grave is maintained by the community. This cemetery is also the last resting place of her friend and fellow communard Théophile Ferré . Michel once joked, "We love to have agents provocateurs in the party, because they always propose the most revolutionary motions." Michel's political ideas evolved throughout her life. Once a teacher with progressive ideals, her activism saw her embrace revolutionary socialism , but
16660-634: The toll as high as 20,000. In its final days, the Commune executed the Archbishop of Paris , Georges Darboy , and about one hundred hostages, mostly gendarmes and priests. National army forces took 43,522 Communards as prisoners, including 1,054 women . More than half of the prisoners had not fought, and were released immediately. The Third Republic tried around 15,000 in court, 13,500 of whom were found guilty, 95 were sentenced to death, 251 to forced labor, and 1,169 to deportation (mostly to New Caledonia ). Many other Commune supporters, including several of
16800-467: The war and raise a new army to fight the Germans. The newly organized French armies won a single victory at Coulmiers on 10 November, but an attempt by General Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot on 29 November at Villiers to break out of Paris was defeated with a loss of 4,000 soldiers, compared with 1,700 German casualties. Everyday life for Parisians became increasingly difficult during the siege. In December, temperatures dropped to −15 °C (5 °F), and
16940-546: The work of the anarchist pedagogue Paul Robin . Lessons at the school included various languages, crafts, arts, and music. The International School's prospectus was designed by the artist Walter Crane , who utilised Louis Blanc's phrase "From each according to his capacity, to each according to his needs" as the school's motto. Those who taught at the school included Victorine Brocher , Agnes Henry, Rachel McMillan and her younger sister Margaret McMillan , and Nannie Dryhurst . Unbeknownst to Michel and her colleagues, Coulon
17080-594: The works of Xavière Gauthier. Michel is the subject of Mary M Talbot and Bryan Talbot's graphic work, The Red Virgin and the Vision of Utopia (2016). In 2020, street artist Banksy was credited for sending a rescue ship in the Mediterranean Sea and naming it after Michel. Academic interest in Michel's life and political writings was prompted in the 1970s by Édith Thomas 's comprehensively researched biography. In 1937
17220-485: Was Ferré who ordered the execution of Georges Darboy , the Archbishop of Paris. She was aligned with Ferré and Raoul Rigault , two of the most militant members of the Paris Commune. However, Ferré and Rigault persuaded her to not carry out her plan to assassinate Adolphe Thiers , the chief executive of the French national government. Michel fought with the 61st Battalion of Montmartre and organized ambulance stations during
17360-409: Was a member of the National Assembly and Mayor of the 18th arrondissement . Clemenceau tried to negotiate a compromise between the Commune and the government, but neither side trusted him; he was considered extremely radical by the provincial deputies of rural France, but too moderate by the leaders of the Commune. The most extreme revolutionaries in Paris were the followers of Louis Auguste Blanqui ,
17500-418: Was also supported by Sophie Doctrinal, signing with Citoyenne Poirier (citizen Poirier), who would later become a close associate of Michel in the Paris Commune. In January 1870 Michel and Léo attended the funeral of Victor Noir . Michel expressed disappointment that the death of Noir had not been used to overthrow the Empire. At the start of the Siege of Paris , in November 1870, Léo in a lecture declared "It
17640-429: Was among the 1,169 supporters of the Commune who were sentenced to penal transportation. After twenty months in prison Michel was loaded onto the ship Virginie on 8 August 1873, to be deported to New Caledonia , where she arrived four months later. Whilst on board, she became acquainted with Henri Rochefort , a famous polemicist, who became her lifelong friend. She also met Nathalie Lemel , another figure active in
17780-417: Was born in 1830 a short-lived revolt resulted in a constitutional monarchy being established. Louis Philippe I encouraged commercial interests and the enrichment of the upper-middle class through colonization and penal transportation , but at the same time practiced laissez-faire when the socio-economic plight of the working class was concerned. Michel first made a name for herself by publicly defending
17920-586: Was captured. When the news reached Paris the next day, shocked and angry crowds came out into the streets. Empress Eugénie , the acting Regent, fled the city, and the government of the Second Empire swiftly collapsed. Republican and radical deputies of the National Assembly proclaimed the new French Republic , and formed a Government of National Defence with the intention of continuing the war. The Prussian army marched swiftly toward Paris. In 1871, France
18060-517: Was deeply divided between the large rural, Catholic, and conservative population of the French countryside and the more republican and radical cities of Paris, Marseille, Lyon and a few others. In the first round of the 1869 parliamentary elections held under the French Empire, 4,438,000 had voted for the Bonapartist candidates supporting Napoleon III, while 3,350,000 had voted for the republicans or
18200-545: Was defeated by a strike organised by the International. Later in 1867, a public demonstration in Paris was answered by the dissolution of its executive committee and the leadership being fined. Tensions escalated: Internationalists elected a new committee and put forth a more radical programme, the authorities imprisoned their leaders, and a more revolutionary perspective was taken to the International's 1868 Brussels Congress . The International had considerable influence even among unaffiliated French workers, particularly in Paris and
18340-614: Was dominant in Paris, where they won 37 of the 42 seats. On 17 February the new parliament elected the 74-year-old Thiers as chief executive of the Third Republic . He was considered to be the candidate most likely to bring peace and to restore order. Long an opponent of the Prussian war, Thiers persuaded parliament that peace was necessary. He travelled to Versailles , where Bismarck and the German Emperor were waiting, and on 24 February
18480-426: Was elected in 26 departments, the most of any candidate. There were an equal number of more radical republicans, including Jules Favre and Jules Ferry , who wanted a republic without a monarch, and who felt that signing the peace treaty was unavoidable. Finally, on the extreme left, there were the radical republicans and socialists, a group that included Louis Blanc , Léon Gambetta and Georges Clemenceau . This group
18620-500: Was in fact an agent provocateur in the pay of Special Branch . As secretary to the International Anarchist School Coulon was able to come into close proximity to those involved with the institution, giving him access to their personal details, and even providing a pretence to photograph them. Over the course of 1891 staff at the school had become increasingly concerned about Coulon's behaviour and suspicious of
18760-404: Was inside the building to defend it in case of an assault. The demonstrators presented their demands that the military be placed under civil control, and that there be an immediate election of a commune. The atmosphere was tense, and in the middle of the afternoon, gunfire broke out between the two sides; each side blamed the other for firing first. Six demonstrators were killed, and the army cleared
18900-591: Was just one episode in Michel's broader activism on behalf of the anarchist exiles, and has been seen as a progenitor of later feminist practices within anarchism. Louise Michel Louise Michel ( French: [lwiz miʃɛl] ; 29 May 1830 – 9 January 1905) was a teacher and prominent figure during the Paris Commune . Following her penal transportation to New Caledonia she embraced anarchism . When returning to France she emerged as an important French anarchist and went on speaking tours across Europe. The journalist Brian Doherty has called her
19040-516: Was labeled the Massacre in the Rue de la Paix . In Paris, hostility was growing between the elected republican mayors, including Clemenceau, who believed that they were legitimate leaders of Paris, and the Central Committee of the National Guard. On 22 March, the day before the elections, the Central Committee declared that it, not the mayors, was the legitimate government of Paris. It declared that Clemenceau
19180-475: Was no longer the Mayor of Montmartre, and seized the city hall there, as well as the city halls of the 1st and 2nd arrondissements , which were occupied by more radical national guardsmen. "We are caught between two bands of crazy people," Clemenceau complained, "those sitting in Versailles and those in Paris." The elections of 26 March elected a Commune council of 92 members, one for every 20,000 residents. Ahead of
19320-483: Was reflected in the results; of the 645 deputies assembled in Bordeaux on February, about 400 favoured a constitutional monarchy under either Henri, Count of Chambord (grandson of Charles X ) or Prince Philippe, Count of Paris (grandson of Louis Philippe ). Of the 200 republicans in the new parliament, 80 were former Orléanists (Philippe's supporters) and moderately conservative. They were led by Adolphe Thiers, who
19460-451: Was sentenced to six years of solitary confinement for inciting the looting. Michel was defiant. For her, the future of the human race was at stake, "one without exploiters and without exploited." Michel was released in 1886, at the same time as Kropotkin and other prominent anarchists. In 1890 she was arrested again. After an attempt to commit her to a mental asylum she moved to London . Michel lived in London for five years. She opened
19600-455: Was tried by a military court along with thousands of prisoners captured during the Bloody Week. She was charged with offences including trying to overthrow the government, encouraging citizens to arm themselves, and herself using weapons and wearing a military uniform. She dared the judges to sentence her to death, saying "It seems that every heart that beats for freedom has no other right than
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