Editing Paris Commune (section)

== Administration and actions ==

=== Programme ===
[[File:communepawnshop.jpg|thumb|The Commune returns workmen's tools pawned during the siege.]]

The Commune adopted the discarded [[French Republican Calendar]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robb |first=Graham |url=https://archive.org/details/parisiansadventu00robb/page/181 |title=Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris |date=2010 |publisher=W. W. Norton |isbn=978-0-393-06724-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/parisiansadventu00robb/page/181 181] |url-access=registration}}</ref> during its brief existence and used the socialist [[Red flag (politics)|red flag]] rather than the [[Flag of France|republican tricolor]]. Despite internal differences, the council began to organise public services for the city which at the time consisted of two million residents. It also reached a consensus on certain policies that tended towards a progressive, secular, and [[social democracy]]. Because the Commune met on fewer than sixty days before it was suppressed, only a few decrees were actually implemented. The decrees included:
* remission of rents owed for the entire period of the siege (during which payment had been suspended);
* abolition of [[child labour]] and [[night working|night work]] in bakeries;
* granting of pensions to the unmarried companions and children of national guardsmen killed in active service;
* free return by pawnshops of all workmen's tools and household items, valued up to 20 francs, pledged during the siege;
* postponement of commercial debt obligations, and the abolition of interest on the debts;
* [[workers' self-management|right of employees to take over and run an enterprise]] if it were deserted by its owner; the Commune, nonetheless, recognised the previous owner's right to compensation;
* prohibition of fines imposed by employers on their workmen.<ref>''Marx and the Proletariat: A Study in Social Theory'' by Timothy McCarthy</ref>

=== Feminist initiatives ===
[[File:Louise Michel2.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Louise Michel]], anarchist and famed "Red Virgin of Montmartre", became an important part of the legend of the Commune.]]

Women played an important role in both the initiation and the governance of the Commune, though women could not vote in the Commune elections and there were no elected women members of the Commune itself.{{sfn|Milza|2009a|pp=109–113}} Their participation included building barricades and caring for wounded fighters.<ref name=":0" /> [[Joséphine Marchais]], a washer woman, picked up a gun during the battles of 22-23 May and said, "You cowardly crew! Go and Fight! If I'm killed it will be because I've done some killing first!" She was arrested as an incendiary, but there is no documentation that she was a {{lang|fr|[[pétroleuse]]}} (female arsonist). She worked as a {{lang|fr|[[vivandière]]}} with the {{lang|fr|[[Forlorn hope|Enfants perdus]]}}. While carrying back the laundry she was given by the guardsmen, she carried away the body of her lover, Jean Guy, who was a butcher's apprentice.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Merriman |first=John |title=Massacre: The Life and Death of the Paris Commune of 1871 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=2014 |isbn=9780465020171 |location=New Haven and London |pages=81}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Perny |first=Paul |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5447194n |title=Deux mois de prison sous la Commune; suivi de détails authentiques sur l'assassinat de Mgr l'archevêque de Paris (3e éd.) / par Paul Perny,... |date=1871 |access-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411100658/http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5447194n |archive-date=11 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> There were reports in various newspapers of female arsonists, but evidence remains weak. The ''Paris Journal'' reported that soldiers arrested 13 women who allegedly threw petrol into houses. There were rumours that {{lang|fr|pétroleuses}} were paid 10 francs per house. While it was clear that communard arsonists burned the [[Tuileries Palace]], the Hotel de Ville and other landmarks, the reports of women participating were exaggerated at the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Merriman |first=John |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-465-02017-1 |title=Nonfiction Book Review: Massacre: The Life and Death of the Paris Commune by John Merriman |date= 2014 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-02017-1 |pages=156–157 |access-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315192926/http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-465-02017-1 |archive-date=15 March 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Some women organised a [[feminism in France|feminist movement]], following earlier attempts in 1789 and 1848. Thus, [[Nathalie Lemel]], a socialist bookbinder, and [[Élisabeth Dmitrieff]], a young Russian exile and member of the Russian section of the First International, created the [[Union des femmes pour la défense de Paris et les soins aux blessés|Women's Union for the Defence of Paris and Care of the Wounded]] on 11 April 1871. The feminist writer [[André Léo]], a friend of [[Paule Minck]], was also active in the Women's Union. Believing that the situation of women could only be improved through a global struggle against capitalism, the association demanded [[gender equality|gender]] and [[equal pay for women|wage equality]], the right of divorce for women, the right to secular education, and professional education for girls. They also demanded suppression of the distinction between married women and concubines, and between legitimate and illegitimate children. They advocated the [[prostitution law|abolition of prostitution]] (obtaining the closing of the [[Prostitution in France|maisons de tolérance]], or legal brothels). The Women's Union also participated in several municipal commissions and organised cooperative workshops.<ref>[https://www.humanite.fr/journal/2005-03-19/2005-03-19-458756 Women and the Commune], in {{lang|fr|[[L'Humanité]]}}, 19 March 2005 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312190133/http://www.humanite.fr/journal/2005-03-19/2005-03-19-458756 |date=12 March 2007 }}</ref> Along with [[Eugène Varlin]], Nathalie Lemel created the cooperative restaurant {{lang|fr|La Marmite}}, which served free food for indigents, and then fought during the Bloody Week on the barricades.<ref name="Bodinaux">François Bodinaux, Dominique Plasman, Michèle Ribourdouille. "''[http://www.femmesprevoyantes.be/NR/rdonlyres/E9B8FF14-B989-404F-A844-DB71B8D98326/0/PETROLEUSESDEFVERSIONFPS.doc On les disait 'pétroleuses'...]''" {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326175450/http://www.femmesprevoyantes.be/NR/rdonlyres/E9B8FF14-B989-404F-A844-DB71B8D98326/0/PETROLEUSESDEFVERSIONFPS.doc |date=26 March 2009 }}</ref>

Paule Minck opened a free school in the Church of [[Saint Pierre de Montmartre]] and ran the {{lang|fr|Club de la Victoire}} in the [[Church of Saint-Sulpice]] on the [[Rive Gauche|Left Bank]].<ref name=Bodinaux/> The Russian [[Anne Jaclard]], who declined to marry [[Dostoyevsky]] and finally became the wife of Blanquist activist [[Victor Jaclard]], founded the newspaper {{lang|fr|La Sociale}} with André Léo. She was also a member of the {{lang|fr|[[Comité de vigilance de Montmartre]]}}, along with [[Louise Michel]] and Paule Minck, as well as of the Russian section of the First International. [[Victorine Brocher]], close to the IWA activists, and founder of a cooperative bakery in 1867, also fought during the Commune and the Bloody Week.<ref name=Bodinaux/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Eichner |first=Carolyn |title=The Paris Commune: A Brief History |publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]] |year=2022 |location=Camden}}</ref> [[Louise Michel]], the famed "Red Virgin of Montmartre" (see photo), who would later be deported to [[New Caledonia]], was one of those who symbolised the active participation of a small number of women in the insurrectionary events. A women's battalion of the National Guard defended the [[Place Blanche]] during the repression.

=== Bank of France ===
The Commune named [[François Jourde]] as the head of the Commission of Finance. A former clerk of a notary, accountant in a bank and employee of the city's bridges and roads department, Jourde maintained the Commune's accounts with prudence. Paris's tax receipts amounted to 20 million francs, with another six million seized at the Hôtel de Ville. The expenses of the Commune were 42 million, the largest part going to pay the daily salary of the National Guard. Jourde first obtained a loan from the [[Rothschild & Co|Rothschild Bank]], then paid the bills from the city account, which was soon exhausted.

The gold reserves of the [[Bank of France]] had been moved out of Paris for safety in August 1870, in addition to 88 million francs in gold coins and 166 million francs in banknotes. When the Thiers government left Paris in March, they did not have the time or the reliable soldiers to take the money with them. The reserves were guarded by 500 national guardsmen who were themselves Bank of France employees. Some Communards wanted to appropriate the bank's reserves to fund social projects, but Jourde resisted, explaining that without the gold reserves the currency would collapse and all the money of the Commune would be worthless. The Commune appointed [[Charles Beslay]] as the Commissioner of the Bank of France, and he arranged for the Bank to loan the Commune 400,000 francs a day. This was approved by Thiers, who felt that to negotiate a future peace treaty the Germans were demanding war reparations of five billion francs; the gold reserves would be needed to keep the franc stable and pay the indemnity. Jourde's actions were later condemned by [[Karl Marx]] and other Marxists, who felt the Commune should have confiscated the bank's reserves.<ref>Karl Marx: ''Selected Writings'' (ed. McLellan), pp. 592–594</ref>

===Press===
[[File:PereDuchesneIllustre1 1 0.png|thumb|upright|{{lang|fr|[[Le Père Duchesne (19th century)|Le Père Duchêne]]}} looks at the statue of [[Napoleon]] on top of the [[Place Vendôme#The Vendôme Column|Vendôme column]], about to be torn down by the Communards.]]

From 21 March, the Central Committee of the National Guard banned the major pro-Versailles newspapers, {{lang|fr|[[Le Gaulois]]}} and {{lang|fr|[[Le Figaro]]}}. Their offices were invaded and closed by crowds of the Commune's supporters. After 18 April other newspapers sympathetic to Versailles were also closed. The Versailles government, in turn, imposed strict censorship and prohibited any publication in favour of the Commune.

At the same time, the number of pro-Commune newspapers and magazines published in Paris during the Commune expanded exponentially. The most popular of the pro-Commune newspapers was ''{{lang|fr|Le Cri du Peuple}}'', published by [[Jules Vallès]], which was published from 22 February until 23 May. Another highly popular publication was ''{{lang|fr|[[Le Père Duchesne (19th century)|Le Père Duchêne]]}}'', inspired by a [[Le Père Duchesne|similar paper of the same name]] published from 1790 until 1794; after its first issue on 6 March, it was briefly closed by General Vinoy, but it reappeared until 23 May. It specialised in humour, vulgarity and extreme abuse against the opponents of the Commune.{{sfn|Milza|2009a|p=250}}

A republican press also flourished, including such papers as ''{{lang|fr|Le Mot d'Ordre}}'' of [[Victor Henri Rochefort, Marquis de Rochefort-Luçay|Henri Rochefort]], which was both violently anti-Versailles and critical of the faults and excesses of the Commune. The most popular republican paper was ''{{lang|fr|[[Le Rappel]]}}'', which condemned both Thiers and the killing of generals Lecomte and Clement-Thomas by the Communards. Its editor [[Auguste Vacquerie]] was close to [[Victor Hugo]], whose son [[François-Victor Hugo]] wrote for the paper. The editors wrote, "We are against the National Assembly, but we are not for the Commune. That which we defend, that which we love, that which we admire, is Paris."{{sfn|Milza|2009a|p=253}}

=== Anti-clericalism ===
[[File:Commune de Paris réunion de femmes (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|right|The Church of [[Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois]] was briefly turned into a Socialist women's club]]
From the beginning, the Commune had a hostile relationship with the [[Catholic Church in France|Catholic Church]]. On 2 April, soon after the Commune was established, it voted a decree accusing the Catholic Church of "complicity in the crimes of the monarchy." The decree declared the separation of church and state, confiscated the state funds allotted to the Church, seized the property of religious congregations, and ordered that [[Catholic schools]] cease religious education and become secular.
Over the next seven weeks, some two hundred priests, nuns and monks were arrested, and twenty-six churches were closed to the public. At the urging of the more radical newspapers, National Guard units searched the basements of churches, looking for evidence of alleged sadism and criminal practices. More extreme elements of the National Guard carried out mock religious processions and parodies of religious services. Some churches, like [[Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois]], were turned into socialist meeting clubs.

Early in May, some of the political clubs began to demand the immediate execution of Archbishop Darboy and the other priests in the prison. The Archbishop and a number of priests were executed during Bloody Week, in retaliation for the execution of Commune soldiers by the regular army.{{sfn|Milza|2009a|pp=350–354}}

===Destruction of the Vendôme Column===

[[File:Souvenirs de la Commune de Paris, renversement de la colonne Vendôme, 1871.jpg|thumb|left|Toppling of the [[Vendôme Column]] on 16 May 1871. The column's destruction fulfilled an official proposition made the previous September by painter [[Gustave Courbet]]. After the end of the Commune, Courbet was sentenced to six months in prison and later ordered to pay for putting the column back up. He could never pay, and died soon after in exile]]

[[File:Colonne Vendôme à terre.jpg|thumb|Statue on the ground of Emperor Napoleon I, considered the symbol of imperial despotism]]

The destruction of the [[Vendôme Column]] honouring the victories of [[Napoleon I]], topped by a statue of the [[Emperor of the French|Emperor]], was one of the most prominent civic events during the Commune. It was voted on 12 April by the executive committee of the Commune, which declared that the column was "a monument of barbarism" and a "symbol of brute force and false pride." The idea had originally come from the painter [[Gustave Courbet]], who had written to the [[Government of National Defence]] on 4 September calling for the demolition of the column. In October, he had called for a new column, made of melted-down German cannons, "the column of peoples, the column of Germany and France, forever federated." Courbet was elected to the Council of the Commune on 16 April, after the decision to tear down the column had already been made. The ceremonial destruction took place on 16 May. In the presence of two battalions of the National Guard and the leaders of the Commune, a band played "[[La Marseillaise]]" and the "[[Chant du Départ]]". The first effort to pull down the column failed, but at 5:30 in the afternoon the column broke from its base and shattered into three pieces. The pedestal was draped with red flags, and pieces of the statue were taken to be melted down and made into coins.{{sfn|Milza|2009a|pp=294–296}}

On 12 May a crowd organised by the Commune destroyed the residence of Adolphe Thiers, the leader of the Third Republic, on Place Saint-Georges. Proposed by Henri Rochefort, editor of the {{lang|fr|Le Mot d'Ordre}}, on 6 April, it was not voted upon by the Commune until 10 May.{{sfn|Milza|2009a|pp=296–298}}