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

In the spring of 1871, as the Prussians surrounded Paris and the French government fled to Versailles, the people of Paris rose up and declared their own government — the Paris Commune. For 72 days, a radical experiment in democracy, feminism, and socialism played out in the streets of the capital. Women organized the Union des femmes, workers seized factories, and the guillotine was publicly burned. But it ended in a week of brutal repression known as la Semaine sanglante, when government troops killed perhaps 20,000 Parisians. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore what the Commune was, who fought for it, and why its memory still divides France. They discuss the role of Louise Michel, the 'Red Virgin' of Montmartre, the political symbolism of the Commune's destruction of the Vendôme Column, and the lasting impact on French left-wing identity. They also touch on how the Communards' legacy influenced later revolutions worldwide, from the Russian Revolution to the Chinese Cultural Revolution. A story of idealism, violence, and the fight over who gets to define a nation. #ParisCommune #SemaineSanglante #LouiseMichel #AdolpheThiers #VendomeColumn #VersaillesGovernment #UnionDesFemmes #FrenchHistory #ThirdRepublic #Revolution #CivilWar #Montmartre #PereLachaise #Communards #Feminism #Socialism #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo