Bloody Week

Origins

Context of after Franco-German war, lost.
the preserving elites (Adolphe Thiers, Jules Grévy) wish to restore the peace as fast as possible, consolidated in that by the wish of the vast majority of the French (elections of January 1871)
Condition working and ideal socialist agitating the poor population, which wants to install its mode.

See also: the Commune of Paris (1871), Chronology of the Commune of Paris (1871)

Chronology

May 21st

This Sunday after midday, the troops of Versailles, under command of the marshal of Mac-Mahon (overcome of Sedan) enter Paris. Profiting owing to the fact that it is not kept, named Ducatel, stitcher of the Bridges and Chaussées, their opened the postern of bastion 64 close to the door of Saint-Cloud. They occupy the fortifications and the ground to the railway line of small belt. The Council of the Commune, which is judging Cluseret, does not send any reinforcement requested by Dombrowski which orders the sector. The Committee of Public Hello dispatches an observer which is made prisoner. The Of Versailles ones occupy Auteuil and Passy where they start to shoot the Guard-Nationals of the sector. Last meeting of the Council of the Commune.

May 22nd

to follow the operations to see the chart with HTTP: /www.atlas-historique.net/1815-1914/cartes/CommuneParis1871.html

In the morning, " Versaillais" occupy XVe and XVIe districts, the doors of Auteuil, Passy, Sevres and Versailles. They install artillery on the hill of Chaillot and with Star. The remainder of Paris learns finally the news by a poster signed from Charles Delescluze, delegated with the War. Most of the combatants of the Commune is folded up then in its district to defend it, giving up any coordinated fight. Barricades are built with the Saint-Jacob public garden, in the Auber streets, of Châteaudun, the Montmartre Suburb, Notre-Dame de Lorette, with the Trinity, the Vault, the Bastille, the Chaumont Hillocks, with the Saint-Michel boulevard, in the Pantheon… Of the engagements take place places Clichy and at Batignolles. The Germans authorize the Of Versailles ones to cross the neutral zone to the north of Paris, which enables them to take Batignolles with reverse. In end-of-day the Of Versailles ones occupy the Elysium, the station Saint-Lazare, the Military academy (where the guns of the Commune are stationed). Their progression is slow, in these districts which are acquired to them, because it seems that the officers slow down their soldiers to make assemble the tension and to carry out summary executions, by " fournées" in particular in the barracks of the street of Babylon.

May 23rd

The Committee of Public Hello and the Central committee of the National guard make placard, for submission to the soldiers of Versailles, of the calls to fraternization. In vain. The hostilities cease in Batignolles and the Montmartre hillock falls without combat. Dombrowski is killed street Myrrha. Resistance persists with Ridge-with-Ruails (with Walery Wroblewski), in the Pantheon (with Lisbon), in the streets of the University, Saint-Dominique, Vavin, of Rennes and at the station of the East. The Of Versailles ones occupy the Opera, the Montmartre suburb and the Harmony, they reach the Observatory and proceed to massive executions with Montmartre, the Monceau park and the Madeleine. Beginning of the large fires which will devastate several Parisian monuments (the Palais of Tileries, Court of Auditors, the Council of State and the palate of the Legion of honor). One cannot decide between if these fires are the result of the action of Communards flamers or the shells of Versailles which were heated with the red, even the action of agents Bonapartists anxious to destroy compromising files.

May 24th

The fires of the 23 continue, including residential buildings street of Lille, Saint-Sulpice and Vat. The leaders communards evacuate and make voluntarily set fire to the Town hall, the Police headquarter and the Law courts. The Of Versailles ones occupy Banque de France, the Palais Royal, Louvre, the street of Assas and Notre-Dame of the Fields. The Latin Quarter is attacked, it is occupied the evening and its defenders (nearly 700) are carried out street Saint-Jacob. The explosives magazine of Luxembourg jumps. With the prison of the Rocket, the Communards carry out the archbishop of Paris Georges Darboy and five other hostages (of which president Bonjean who had illustrated himself during the anti-popular repression of June 1848). The Communards hold nothing any more but XIe, XIIe, XIXe and the XXe districts, plus some small islands in IIIe, Ve and XIIIe.

May 25th

Fierce combats Places Water Tower and Ridge-with-Ruail with Wroblewski. Died of Charles Delescluze, delegated to the War of the Commune. The 5 Dominican ones of Arcueil and 9 their employees taken as hostages on May 19th, transferred from the fort of Bicêtre the 25, are killed in the confusion of the bombardment, during their transfer in Paris.

May 26th

Episode of the " Villa of the Hostages " , street Haxo: about fifty hostages (11 priests, 25 gendarmes and four informers of the police force of the Second empire…) are massacred by the Parisian crowd terrorized by the exactions of Of Versailles which invest Paris. Massacre Communards in the Pantheon. The Saint-Anthony suburb is controlled by the " Versaillais". The Communards hold nothing any more but a " quadrilatère" : channel of Ourcq, basin of the Villette, Saint Martin's day channel, Richard-Lenoir boulevard, street of the Saint-Anthony Suburb and carries of Vincennes.

May 27th

With the Cemetery of the Father-Lachaise, one fights with the knife between the tombs: 147 communards are shot with the Mur of Federate the. During the night the artillerists of Versailles draw with teeth and nail to try to set fire to Belleville.

May 28th

The engagements continue in Belleville. At the beginning of afternoon, the Of Versailles ones take the last barricade of the Communards (street Ramponneau). Died of Eugene Varlin.

May 29th

The fort of Vincennes encircled by the Germans goes.

Assessment of the bloody Week

The repression of the Parisian insurrection of March 18th at summer organized particularly well by the government of Thiers. The state of siege was issued and Paris divided into four military sectors. If the soldiers of first line are charged to make the shot against the Communards, the soldiers of the second line are charged to track the resistant ones. They can search in the houses, the parks and even the catacombs. " brassardiers" , Parisian partisans of the government of Versailles provided with an arm-band, knowing their districts well, help them. One attends a flood of denunciations (nearly 400.000 of which only five percent are signed). During the engagements there were summary executions. The official figure of 17.000 is shot (many funerals paid by the Town of Paris). The real number is certainly much higher (thus in 1897, one finds a mass grave of 800 Communards with Charonne). Courses provostal (charged to give a pretense of legitimacy to the summary executions) are installed at the Polytechnic school, at the Station of North, the Station of the East, Châtelet, Luxembourg. Firing squads function, with the system of the " fournées" , Montholon public garden, with the park Heap, the Military academy, the Montparnasse cemetery, the Lobau barracks. To save time one makes use of machine-guns. One can reasonably count on close to the double of the official figures (either 30.000).

The prisoners hardly are treated better. The majority are forwarded to Versailles and are interned with the camp of Satory. During the voyage there are executions: May 31st, the journalist of Times, tells that in front of him, the general De Galliffet, makes kill 83 men and 12 women. Very many testimonys tell that during the way the prisoners are insulted, beaten by the inhabitants of these smart suburbs of the capital, without the soldiers escort ships not intervening. Official results, reported by the Appert general to the National Assembly in 1875, made state of 43.522 arrests, among which 819 women and 538 children (one slackens some nearly 7.700 who had been stopped by error). With the camp of Satory, the martyrdom continues, no hygiene, little care for the casualties, the epidemics develop. One kills even 300 prisoners for attempt at escape in the night from May 27th to 28th.

Opposite, the army of Versailles counts 877 killed, to which one can add about fifty hostages shot by the Communards.

Afterwards

Repression is terrible with the measurement of the fright which the insurrection had caused with the easy classes. In 1875, in his report/ratio with the National Assembly the Appert general counts 43.522 arrests. There are 7.213 refusal to inform, there thus remain 36.309 prisoners (including 819 women and 538 children) who are translated in front of 24 councils of war. 3.303 contumacies are added. The courts pronounced 23.727 withdrawals of case, 2445 payments and 10.137 judgments: 93 with death, 251 with the forced labors, 4586 with the deportation (in particular in New Caledonia), the remainder with variable custodial sentences. For contumacies it has there 175 condemned to death, 159 with the forced labors, 2910 with the deportation and 46 with the prison. In fact there was not which 23 carried out (of which Theophilus Ferré and Louis Rossel). The decrees are distributed as follows: " ouvriers" (paid workmen and small employers craftsmen): 75 percent, 8 percent of employees, 7 percent of servants, 10 percent of small shopkeepers, liberal professions, even of the small owner-shareholders. The insurrection of March 18th is thus well a popular rising.

In December 1875, the deputy of Vaucluse, Alfred Naquet, deposits a proposal for an amnesty which is pushed back by a show of hands by the National Assembly. In May 1876, the Raspail deputies, Clemenceau, Naquet, Floquet and Lockroy repeat in vain (377 against, 99 for). In March 1879, the Minister for justice Royer, makes vote a substituent project the " grâce" with the amnesty by 345 for and 104 against. It is only on July 11th, 1880, which with the late support of Gambetta, the total amnesty is voted. Exiled and the deportees can then return to France.

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