The Paris Commune: France's Bloody Civil War of 1871

In the spring of 1871, as the Franco-Prussian War ended with France's defeat and the capture of Napoleon III, Paris exploded. The working-class citizens of the capital, armed from the siege and furious at the new conservative government, declared their own independent government: the Paris Commune. For two months, the Commune enacted radical reforms — separation of church and state, free education, worker cooperatives — while the national government, led by Adolphe Thiers, prepared to crush them. The ensuing 'Bloody Week' in May 1871 saw as many as 30,000 Communards killed in street fighting, more than the Reign of Terror. This episode explores the Commune's rise, its ideals, its brutal suppression, and its lasting legacy in French politics and culture, from Marx to the modern French left. How did a revolutionary government born from the ashes of empire end in such a massacre? And why does the Commune still haunt France today? #ParisCommune #FrancoPrussianWar #AdolpheThiers #BloodyWeek #FrenchHistory #Revolution #CivilWar #WorkingClass #RadicalPolitics #ThirdRepublic #SiegeOfParis #Versailles #Communards #LouiseMichel #KarlMarx #FrenchLeft #History #FexingoHistory #FrenchRevolution #NapoleonBonaparte Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo