Historical Organization
Government of France
Government of France
Details
Organization Timeline
The government decides to seize the National Guard’s cannons
📅 17 March 1871A council of ministers led by Adolphe Thiers ordered the army to remove cannons held by the National Guard in working-class districts and to arrest leading revolutionaries. The decision prepared the...
Paris rises after the army attempts to seize the cannons
📅 18 March 1871Government troops tried to remove National Guard artillery from Montmartre and Belleville. Residents and guards resisted, many soldiers fraternized with the crowd, and the operation collapsed. The...
MacMahon takes command of the Versailles Army
📅 6 April 1871Patrice de MacMahon was appointed commander of the reorganized government army. Released prisoners of war strengthened the force preparing to retake Paris.
France and Germany sign the Treaty of Frankfurt
📅 10 May 1871The peace treaty ending the Franco-Prussian War required France to cede Alsace and part of Lorraine and pay a large indemnity. The agreement helped the Versailles government concentrate military...
The first convoy of Commune deportees leaves France
📅 3 May 1872The first group sentenced to deportation departed for the penal colony of New Caledonia. Deportation separated thousands of prisoners from their families and extended the repression far beyond Paris.
France grants a full amnesty to the Communards
📅 11 July 1880Parliament approved a complete amnesty for people prosecuted for participation in the Commune, enabling surviving prisoners and exiles to return and re-enter public life.