Editing Paris Commune (section)

=== Anarchists ===
The anarchist philosopher [[George Woodcock]] said that "a notable contribution to the activities of the Commune and particularly to the organization of public services was made by members of various anarchist factions, including the [[Mutualism (economic theory)|mutualists]] Courbet, Longuet, and Vermorel, the [[Collectivist anarchism|libertarian collectivists]] Varlin, Malon, and Lefrangais, and the bakuninists Elie and [[Elisée Reclus]] and Louise Michel."<ref name="Anarchism 1962">{{Cite book |last=Woodcock |first=George |chapter=The Destructive Urge |title=[[Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements]] |date=1962 |publisher=The World Publishing Company |author-link=George Woodcock |oclc=179826}}</ref> Anarchist [[Mikhail Bakunin]] was a strong supporter of the Commune. He saw the Commune as above all a "rebellion against the State," and commended the Communards for rejecting not only the State but also revolutionary dictatorship.<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/bakunin/works/1871/paris-commune.htm The Paris Commune and the Idea of the State] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203222328/http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/bakunin/works/1871/paris-commune.htm |date=3 February 2014 }}, Mikhail Bakunin, 1871</ref>

[[Louise Michel]] was an important participant in the Paris Commune, though she was not formally introduced to anarchist doctrines until her exile after the Commune. Initially she worked as an ambulance woman, treating those injured on the barricades. During the Siege of Paris, she untiringly preached resistance to the Prussians. On the establishment of the Commune, she joined the National Guard. She offered to shoot Thiers, and suggested the destruction of Paris by way of vengeance for its surrender. In December 1871, she was brought before the 6th council of war and charged with offences including trying to overthrow the government, encouraging citizens to arm themselves, and herself using weapons and wearing a military uniform. Defiantly, she vowed to never renounce the Commune, and dared the judges to sentence her to death.<ref name="flag">[http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/ws98/ws55_louise.html Louise Michel, a French anarchist women who fought in the Paris commune] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710222744/http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/ws98/ws55_louise.html |date=10 July 2009 }}</ref> According to court records, Michel told the court, "Since it seems that every heart that beats for freedom has no right to anything but a little slug of lead, I demand my share. If you let me live, I shall never cease to cry for vengeance."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=Édith |title=The Women Incendiaries |title-link=The Women Incendiaries |date=2007 |publisher=[[Haymarket Books]] |isbn=978-1-931859-46-2 |author-link=Édith Thomas |df=dmy-all |orig-year=1966}}</ref> Michel was sentenced to [[penal transportation]]. Following the 1871 Paris Commune, the anarchist movement, as with the whole of the [[workers' movement]], was decapitated and severely crippled for years.