Paris Commune

The Paris Commune, also known as the Commune of Paris, was a violent insurrection by leftists in Paris against the French government from 18 March to 28 May 1871. It occurred in the wake of France’s defeat in the Franco-German War and the collapse of the regime of Napoleon III. It was harshly suppressed.

In far leftist mythology, the Paris Commune has become a short-lived (two months) socialist utopia, tragically ended by violence. It is important in Communist theory, with Marx and Engels claiming that the Paris Commune had been an example of the "Dictatorship of the Proletariat". Lenin concluded that the suppression of opponents had been insufficiently harsh by the Paris Commune, and used this as justification for implementing a Red Terror after the Communist revolution in Russia, later becoming a model for Communist Red Terrors in other Marxist-Leninist countries.

The Paris Commune is also an important supposed utopia for social anarchists.

One example of a less positive view on the Parts Commune is by the Catholic Encyclopedia, which lists three different groups of priests and religious people who were killed by the Paris Commune, notably the Archbishop of Paris.

See also

• Democratic peace theory
• Gustave Tridon
• Mass killings under Communist regimes
• Spanish Civil War - Some parts of Republican Spain is another alleged, short-lived social anarchist utopia.

External links

Encyclopedias

• Encyclopedia Britannica: Commune of Paris
• Encyclopedia.com: Commune of Paris
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Martyrs of the Paris Commune