History Extra Podcast

The Paris Commune: Everything You Wanted to Know

Date: August 16, 2025
Guest: Historian David A. Schaeffer, interviewed by Danny Bird

Overview

This episode explores the Paris Commune of 1871—an extraordinary and brief moment in French history when Parisian citizens declared a radical, independent government and attempted sweeping social reforms. Historian David A. Schaeffer delves into the origins, causes, policies, violent suppression, and lasting legacy of the Commune, answering listener questions and offering insights into one of history’s most debated revolutions.

1. Background: Why Did the Paris Commune Happen?

[02:13]

• Historical Context:
  • France experienced repeated revolutions from 1789 onwards, with many feeling the original Revolution was unfinished.
  • Industrialization led to tensions: deskilling of labor, increased poverty, and displacement of working classes.
  • Prior uprisings set the stage: 1830 ended the Bourbon dynasty; 1848 brought the short-lived Second Republic and later Louis Bonaparte’s Empire.
  • Paris’s transformation under Haussmann pushed poorer workers to the margins, creating social divides.

“There had been a revolutionary tradition... the French Revolution had been an incomplete project, that it was the filial duty of 19th-century Republicans and revolutionaries to finish that job.”
— David A. Schaeffer [02:24]

• Collapse of the Second Empire:
  • Louis Bonaparte’s inconsistent policies and war failures eroded faith in the government.
  • The disastrous Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) left Paris besieged and demoralized.

2. Paris Under Siege & the Collapse of Authority

[05:00]

• Siege of Paris (Sept 1870 – Jan 1871):
  • Severe food shortages (Parisians ate rats, zoo animals, improvised bread).
  • Harsh winter compounded suffering.
  • City run by a patchwork of provisional authorities: the Government of National Defense, municipal mayors, and activist committees.

“A city that’s besieged, a city that’s hungry... you’ve got people who are going to the Bois de Boulogne, cutting down trees for fuel... so you’ve got an air pollution problem.”
— David A. Schaeffer [05:00]

• Paris’s Unique Municipal Structure:
  • Paris divided into 20 arrondissements, many newly incorporated after Haussmann’s modernization.

3. The Spark: Birth of the Commune

[09:17]

• Immediate Causes:

  • Deep mistrust between Paris and national government post-siege.
  • Premature elections and unpopular economic and military measures further inflamed tensions.
  • Conflict over Parisian cannons—funded and maintained by citizens—led to direct confrontation.

• Commune Declared:

  • On March 18, 1871, after national troops tried to seize cannons at Montmartre, Parisians resisted.
  • March 19: Paris declares itself governed by the Commune; elections held March 26.

“On the morning of the 18th of March... they blocked it. And basically that’s what happened... Paris declared itself a government and that there would be elections one week later.”
— David A. Schaeffer [09:23]

4. Inside the Commune: How Did It Work?

[13:09]

• Disunity and Idealism:

  • The Commune brought together Jacobins, socialists, anarchists, and Blanquists—rarely united and frequently referencing 1790s revolutionary models.
  • Severe political infighting limited policy effectiveness.
  • All governance overshadowed by immediate civil war with the Versailles government.

• Revolutionary Policies Attempted:

  • Free, compulsory secular education.
  • Night work in bakeries abolished (ending exploitative shifts).
  • Minimum wage–like proposals.
  • Worker cooperatives and participatory workplace democracy.
  • Symbolic acts: burning of the guillotine, toppling the Vendôme Column (ordered by artist Gustave Courbet), and demolition of royalist monuments.

“The most famous [act] was the toppling of the Vendôme Column... it was perceived as a monument to imperialism, to oppression, to militarism.”
— David A. Schaeffer [16:55]

5. Women of the Commune: Louise Michel and Beyond

[22:21]

• Vital Role of Women:
  • Actively supported the Commune; some fought on the barricades.
  • Louise Michel became a legendary figure—teacher, activist, later exiled to New Caledonia, and lifelong champion of revolutionary ideals upon return.
  • Women’s engagement viewed as both inspiring and threatening by contemporaries.

“Women saw in the general principles articulated by the Commune... equality. They saw the promise that many felt the French Revolution failed to deliver on.”
— David A. Schaeffer [22:32]

6. The Commune’s Reach: Influence Beyond Paris

[25:41]

• Other Communes:
  • Short-lived revolts in Marseille, Lyon, and elsewhere, but all were quickly quashed.
  • Paris left isolated, which some historians argue weakened its hopes for survival.
• Interpretations:
  • Debate over whether Commune was a socialist, nationalist, or municipalist revolution.

7. The Enemy: The Versailles Government’s Response

[27:59]

• Led by Adolphe Thiers:
  • Assembled a coalition of republicans and monarchists committed to restoring order and preventing Parisian dominance.
  • Defined the Commune as foreign, dangerous, and anti-national—using rhetoric of “contamination.”
• Propaganda:
  • Portrayed Commune as foreign (some members were immigrants or affiliated with international socialist groups), anarchic, and un-French.

“Part of it also was to gain support. They had to define the Paris Commune and not allow the Paris community to define itself.”
— David A. Schaeffer [28:18]

8. Socialist, Anarchist, and Intellectual Responses

[32:55]

• Marx and Engels:
  • Saw Commune as an early expression of “dictatorship of the proletariat,” but misunderstood its specifics.
  • Marx: applauded the experiment but felt France was not industrialized enough for successful socialist revolution.
  • Anarchists (Bakunin, etc.): Believed in the necessity of violence, looked to Commune as a model for direct insurrection.

“I believe that the Commune represented the end of the French revolutionary tradition... that power was for the taking in the streets of France... the decimation of the Commune put an end to that for most socialists.”
— David A. Schaeffer [33:25]

9. “What If?”: Counterfactuals

[36:34]

• Even without the Prussian siege, Schaeffer believes some revolutionary eruption was likely, due to longstanding tensions and the unfulfilled promise of 1848.

10. The Bloody Week: The Suppression of the Commune

[38:38]

• May 22–28, 1871:
  • Versailles troops invaded Paris; savage street fighting ensued as National Guard and communards resisted.
  • Fires broke out across the city (attributed both to Communards and to bombardment).
  • Mass executions: ~30,000 killed (historian Jacques Rougery's estimate)—exact numbers debated.
  • Large-scale summary executions, especially at Père Lachaise cemetery.
  • Anti-Communard propaganda blamed women (“Les Pétroleuses”) for fires—often a misogynistic trope.

“What that said about the consensus and social class dynamics of France at that time, because it was probably unlike any set of days that the French had ever experienced in any previous revolution.”
— David A. Schaeffer [43:37]

11. Aftermath & Legacy

[44:20]

• Repression & Exile:
  • Thousands executed or imprisoned; many (including Louise Michel) deported to New Caledonia under dreadful conditions.
  • City placed under martial law; extensive rebuilding followed (e.g., symbolic construction of Sacré-Cœur Basilica as a counter-memorial).
• Memory Wars:
  • Governments sought to efface memory of the Commune; left-wing commemorations continued at sites like the Mur des Fédérés.
  • In Communist and socialist countries, the Commune remained a celebrated touchstone (e.g., “Paris Commune Street” in many Eastern Bloc cities).
• Impact on Art:
  • Paintings such as Caillebotte’s “Paris Street; Rainy Day” interpreted as symbolic of bourgeois restoration post-Commune.

12. Violence, Hostages, and “Both Sides”

[47:35]

• Commune Violence:
  • Hostage-taking (notably Archbishop Darboy) and summary executions by Communards also took place, though scale and intent are debated.
  • Both sides committed atrocities; post-war narratives used these acts to demonize the Commune and justify repression.

“Yeah, the Communard, they did kill the hostages. The Commune killed those that they felt were collaborating with the Versailles as well.”
— David A. Schaeffer [47:52]

13. Rebuilding and Erasure

[51:51]

• Martial law and reconstruction efforts reshaped Paris, reinforcing the dominance of the bourgeoisie—expressed both in physical space and cultural memory.
• Public spaces, monuments, and art (e.g., Sacré-Cœur Basilica, Caillebotte’s paintings) reinforced a sanitized, anti-Communard narrative.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “There had been a revolutionary tradition... it was the filial duty... to finish that job.”
  — David A. Schaeffer [02:24]

• “You’ve got people who are... cutting down trees for fuel... so you’ve got an air pollution problem.”
  — [05:00]

• “On the morning of the 18th of March... they blocked it. And basically that’s what happened... Paris declared itself a government and that there would be elections one week later.”
  — [09:23]

• “The most famous [act] was the toppling of the Vendôme Column... it was perceived as a monument to imperialism...”
  — [16:55]

• “When women enter the public space and in politics, they’re a force of mischief... that dates back to the French Revolution.”
  — [38:47]

• “The public spaces are now bourgeois spaces again... the rain is cleansing it of the taint of the Commune.”
  — [51:51]

Suggested Listening

• Everything You Wanted to Know About the Franco-Prussian War, which sets the stage for the Paris Commune.

This episode provides a rich, multidimensional exploration of the Paris Commune—tackling not only “what happened,” but how it has been remembered, mythologized, and debated ever since.