Old and New Paris: Its History, Its People, and Its Places, v. 2

by H. Sutherland Edwards

To a large extent, M. Delerot’s work, independently of the fact that it is well put together and contains a mass of valuable and interesting information, is impartial. “Impartiality!” exclaims Victor Hugo in his “Napoleon le Petit.” “Strange virtue for an historian, which Tacitus never possessed!” Thereupon Victor Hugo proceeds to “déchirer” his victim “en style de Juvenal.” M. Delerot claims to have seen things, and to state them precisely as they took place. But, with the best intentions, such an attitude would be impossible for a citizen and official of Versailles writing the moment after the occupation had come to an end, with the wound constantly and inevitably inflicted on his patriotism still fresh. He has nothing extenuated, and he has set down much, if not in malice, at least in anger. But he has striven, though not always with success, to render justice to the Prussians, especially to the Crown Prince, Count Moltke, and even Prince Bismarck.[{355}]

CHAPTER XLVIII.
VERSAILLES AND THE COMMUNE.

The Communists or Communards—The “Internationale”—Bismarck and the National Guard—The Municipal Elections—The Insurrection—Thiers—Paris During the Commune—Concluding Remarks.

PRINCE BISMARCK.
(From a Photograph by Loescher and Petsch.)

NO sooner had peace been signed between France and Germany than a desperate conflict took place in the streets of the capital, which led to a two months’ war between the regular troops established at Versailles and a mass of federated battalions of the National Guard in Paris itself. The Communards are known in England as the “Communists”; and, having after a time adopted certain theories on the subject of labour and the division of property as part of their programme, they are generally looked upon as Communists in the socialistic sense of the word. The Communard movement of 1871 was, above all, a revolutionary attempt to establish absolute municipal self-government in Paris. It recalled, then, from the first the Commune of the great Revolution, when Pétion was Mayor of Paris, with Robespierre and Danton among his councillors and officials. The Paris Commune of the first Revolution declared all other authorities suspended. It joined the extreme party known as the Mountain (from occupying the highest benches in the Assembly), organised the movement which resulted in the fall of the moderate, well-intentioned Girondists, and remained faithful to Robespierre throughout the Reign of Terror until the overthrow of the revolutionary tyrant. The very name of Commune was then abolished, and in lieu of a central municipal power, Paris was divided into twelve distinct municipalities.

Count Bismarck at Versailles had recommended the disarming of the National Guard. His well-meant advice was regarded with suspicion, though, as he had foreseen, the revolutionary spirit of the force in question soon asserted itself. Already on the 18th of March the National Guard had resisted the action of some Line regiments. The Municipal Elections of the 26th proved favourable to the projected Communal Government, and, on the 29th, the Commune was formally proclaimed. The Red Republicans, leaders in every revolutionary movement, had, since the dethronement of Napoleon III. and the proclamation of the Republic in September, 1870, never ceased to attack what they considered the conservative character of the Government of National Defence; and in demanding measures of a more democratic kind, they aimed in particular at decentralisation, municipal independence, and the introduction of a federated system made up of self-governing communes. These views were supported in good faith by politicians of the extreme Republican side. But they were adopted also, and spread abroad with many pernicious additions, by political agitators, revolutionists, and adventurers of the worst kind. The members of the “Internationale”—a society for the promotion of revolution everywhere, of which but little has lately been heard—did their best to fan the insurrectionary flame; and soon every form of discontent had its representatives, and every impossible chimera its supporters among the leaders of what was still called the Commune.

The vagabondism which gave to the Commune so many adherents had been generated and developed during the siege, and there were numbers of men in Paris, composing the worst portion of the National Guard, who saw in the end of the war the end also of their living at Government expense, and who looked forward with dismay to the return of regular work, the enforcement of creditors’ claims, the collection of rents and taxes, and a hundred other inconveniences which they had evaded during the war. On the triumphal entry of the German army into Paris, March 1st, 1871, detachments of the National Guard had, by express stipulation, though contrary to Bismarck’s advice, been allowed to remain under arms for the preservation of order in the streets, and a considerable quantity of cannon having been entrusted to their care (in order to prevent its falling into the hands[{356}] of the Germans, who by the terms of the armistice had every right to it), they afterwards, when summoned to do so by General Aurelle de Paladines, refused to give it up. It was on this occasion that the National Guard came into collision with the regular troops, who had been instructed to receive the artillery from them. Their determination not to part with the field-pieces placed beneath their protection was at first attributed to an honourable patriotic feeling. But the National Guard lost no time in seeking ammunition for their artillery, and they took possession of several magazines. They were attacked by some bodies of regular troops, but succeeded in giving a good account of their opponents, some of whom were induced to join them. A Central Committee of the National Guard was now formed, and inflammatory proclamations were put forward demanding that the National Guard should have the right to elect its own officers; that the daily war pay of one franc and a half should be secured to each National Guard until he could obtain work, and that General Aurelle de Paladines should be displaced in order to make room for a commander of their own choosing. In regard to general politics, they demanded universal suffrage and the formal subjection of all military power to the civil authority of the Paris municipality: Paris commune, that is to say.

The chief of the new National Government, M. Thiers, saw that the time for suppressing the movement in favour of the Commune had arrived. The National Guard had carried their artillery to the heights of Montmartre, and some ten thousand of the regular troops now took up positions of attack at the base of the hill. They then pressed upwards to the summit, overcame the guard placed outside the insurgents’ camp, took the cannon, and made several hundred prisoners. Having once got possession of the cannon, the regular troops do not seem to have known what to do with their capture. News of the affair spread rapidly through the workmen’s quarters of Montmartre and Belleville, and the alarm having been beaten, several battalions of National Guards mustered and marched to the hill on whose crest the cannon still remained. One of the regiments entrusted with the custody of the guns fraternised with the assailants, and the victory of the National Guards was thus made easy. The insurgents remained in possession of the guns, and the few troops who remained loyal to their colours were allowed to withdraw. Soon afterwards, on the same day, a small body of regular troops was cut off from the main column by a party of insurgents, and General Clément Thomas, former commander of the National Guard of Paris, was taken prisoner and shot. By mid-day on the 18th, the insurgents were in full possession of Montmartre, and towards evening, the Government troops having been driven from the field, they penetrated into other quarters, and now for the first time established themselves in the Place Vendôme. Soon after dark, they occupied the Hôtel de Ville without encountering any resistance. By midnight they had made it their headquarters, the regular troops having meanwhile returned to Versailles. On the morning of the 19th, the federated Guards held every point within their power, and the Central Committee were the rulers of the city. The Government over which M. Thiers presided was already established at Versailles.