Historical Organization
Paris Commune
Paris Commune
Details
Organization Timeline
Paris elects the Council of the Commune
đź“… 26 March 1871Parisian voters elected representatives to a municipal council. The results gave influence to Jacobins, Blanquists, Internationalists, socialists and other republican revolutionaries, although...
The elected Commune takes office
đź“… 27 March 1871The newly elected Council of the Commune began its work. The Central Committee of the National Guard prepared to transfer governmental authority to the elected council.
The Paris Commune is publicly proclaimed
đź“… 28 March 1871Before a large crowd at the HĂ´tel de Ville, the elected Commune was formally proclaimed. The red flag became the symbol of the new revolutionary municipal government.
The Commune creates ten governing commissions
đź“… 29 March 1871The Council organized its administration through commissions responsible for war, finance, justice, security, labour, public services, education, food, external relations and executive coordination.
The Commune abolishes conscription and the standing army
đź“… 29 March 1871The Commune declared that the National Guard, composed of armed citizens, would replace conscription and the permanent army. This measure expressed its conception of popular self-government.
The Commune cancels three quarters of unpaid rent
đź“… 29 March 1871To relieve households affected by the siege and economic crisis, the Commune remitted the final three quarters of rent owed since October 1870. It also suspended sales of pledged goods at the...
Versailles forces attack at Courbevoie
đź“… 2 April 1871Government troops opened a military offensive west of Paris and attacked National Guard positions near Courbevoie. The clash marked the beginning of open warfare between the Commune and Versailles.
The Commune decrees the separation of church and state
đź“… 3 April 1871The Commune ended state financial support for religious institutions and declared religion a private matter. The policy became an important precedent for later French secularism.
Communard forces launch an unsuccessful offensive
📅 3 April 1871National Guard columns moved toward Versailles through Rueil, Bougival and Châtillon. Poor coordination and government artillery fire broke the offensive, after which prisoners including Émile Duval...
The Commune adopts the Decree on Hostages
đź“… 6 April 1871In response to summary executions by government forces, the Commune authorized the detention of people suspected of aiding Versailles and threatened reprisals if captured Communards continued to be...
DÄ…browski becomes commander of the defence of Paris
📅 6 April 1871The Polish revolutionary Jarosław Dąbrowski was appointed commander of the Paris military district. He became one of the Commune’s most important battlefield commanders.
Women organize the Union for the Defence of Paris
📅 11 April 1871Élisabeth Dmitrieff and Nathalie Lemel helped establish a citywide women’s organization. It mobilized women for nursing, defence, paid work and demands for social and economic equality.
Courbet is authorized to reopen the city’s museums
đź“… 12 April 1871The Commune authorized artist Gustave Courbet to restore the museums of Paris and reopen their galleries. Artists later organized to administer cultural institutions through an elected federation.
The Commune suspends debt collection proceedings
đź“… 12 April 1871A decree suspended legal action over commercial debts and extended repayment periods. The measure sought to protect small businesses and workers from the economic consequences of the siege.
The Commune orders workers to organize abandoned workshops
📅 16 April 1871Trade-union and workers’ organizations were asked to identify workshops abandoned by their owners and prepare plans for their operation by cooperative associations. The decree became one of the...
Paris holds supplementary Commune elections
đź“… 16 April 1871Voters filled seats left vacant by resignations, multiple elections and deaths. Turnout was lower than in March, reflecting warfare, political division and population flight.
The Commune extends the moratorium on commercial bills
đź“… 17 April 1871The Commune postponed payment deadlines for commercial bills to protect debtors affected by the siege and civil war.
The Commune adopts the Declaration to the French People
đź“… 19 April 1871The declaration set out a programme of autonomous communes united in a democratic republic. It called for local control of administration, education, police and finances while affirming the unity of...
The Commune requisitions vacant housing
đź“… 24 April 1871Vacant homes were requisitioned for people whose houses had been damaged by bombardment. The measure attempted to respond to displacement caused by the fighting.
The Commune prohibits workplace fines and wage deductions
📅 27 April 1871Employers were forbidden to impose arbitrary fines or deductions on workers’ wages. The Commune described these practices as an unjustified reduction of pay.
The Commune appeals to rural France
đź“… 28 April 1871An appeal addressed peasants and agricultural labourers, arguing that Paris fought for a republic that would also reduce rural exploitation and inequality.
The Commune schedules the end of night work in bakeries
đź“… 28 April 1871The executive commission issued rules implementing the ban on overnight bakery labour from 3 May. The measure answered a longstanding demand from bakery workers for healthier working hours.
A commission is formed for secular and vocational education
📅 28 April 1871The Commune created a commission to develop free, secular primary and vocational education. Women teachers and activists participated in efforts to expand girls’ education.
Cluseret resigns as delegate for war
📅 30 April 1871Gustave Paul Cluseret was removed after the loss of military positions and growing criticism of the Commune’s defence. Louis Rossel replaced him as delegate for war.
The Commune creates a Committee of Public Safety
📅 1 May 1871A majority of the Council created a five-member Committee of Public Safety with broad executive powers. A minority opposed the body as authoritarian and contrary to the Commune’s democratic...
The Commune authorizes free recovery of low-value pawned goods
đź“… 7 May 1871People could reclaim essential objects valued below twenty francs from the municipal pawnshop without payment. The measure especially benefited poorer households.
Versailles troops capture Fort Issy
đź“… 9 May 1871After sustained bombardment and confused Communard command, government forces occupied Fort Issy. Its fall weakened the southwestern defence of Paris.
Rossel resigns as delegate for war
đź“… 10 May 1871Louis Rossel resigned after criticizing the military organization of the Commune and the National Guard. Charles Delescluze assumed responsibility for the war effort the following day.
The Commune appeals to the major cities of France
đź“… 15 May 1871The Council called on other French cities to support communal liberty and the struggle against the Versailles government. By this point, most provincial communes had already been suppressed.
A minority withdraws from the Commune’s council
đź“… 15 May 1871Members opposing the Committee of Public Safety announced that they would withdraw from council meetings and work in their districts. They objected to concentrating power in an executive committee.
The VendĂ´me Column is pulled down
đź“… 16 May 1871The VendĂ´me Column, viewed as a monument to militarism and imperial conquest, was demolished in a public ceremony. Gustave Courbet had earlier proposed moving the monument, but later became associated...
An explosion destroys the Avenue Rapp ammunition factory
đź“… 17 May 1871A major explosion at an ammunition works killed and injured workers and nearby residents. Communards suspected sabotage, although the precise cause remained disputed.
The Commune orders the secularization of education
đź“… 19 May 1871The Commune directed that religious symbols and instruction be removed from schools and accelerated the creation of secular education. The policy accompanied efforts to improve education for girls.
Versailles troops enter Paris
đź“… 21 May 1871Government troops entered through the Porte de Saint-Cloud after discovering that part of the western defences was unguarded. Their entry began the Bloody Week and the final destruction of the...
Barricades spread as Versailles forces advance
đź“… 22 May 1871The Versailles Army occupied western Paris while Communards constructed barricades and organized neighbourhood resistance. The centralized defence rapidly fragmented into local battles.
Montmartre falls to the Versailles Army
📅 23 May 1871Government troops captured Montmartre, the district where the uprising had begun. Jarosław Dąbrowski was mortally wounded during the fighting as the Commune lost much of northern and western Paris.
The HĂ´tel de Ville burns during the fighting
đź“… 24 May 1871As government forces advanced, fires destroyed the HĂ´tel de Ville and other public buildings. Responsibility for individual fires and their military purpose became a major subject of political...
Archbishop Darboy and other hostages are executed
đź“… 24 May 1871Communard officials executed Archbishop Georges Darboy and several other hostages in La Roquette prison while government forces carried out mass executions of captured Communards.
Communards defend the Butte-aux-Cailles
đź“… 25 May 1871Several thousand Communards resisted a much larger government force around the Butte-aux-Cailles. Versailles troops eventually took the position and continued eastward.
Charles Delescluze is killed at a barricade
📅 25 May 1871Charles Delescluze, the Commune’s delegate for war, walked unarmed toward a barricade at the Place du Château-d’Eau and was killed by government fire.
Hostages are killed in the Rue Haxo
📅 26 May 1871A crowd of guards and civilians killed clergy, gendarmes and other prisoners in the Rue Haxo amid the collapse of Commune authority. Commune members including Eugène Varlin attempted unsuccessfully to...
Fighting reaches Père-Lachaise Cemetery
📅 27 May 1871Communards fought government troops among the tombs of Père-Lachaise. Captured defenders were later shot near the wall remembered as the Mur des Fédérés.
The last major Commune resistance is defeated
đź“… 28 May 1871Government forces overcame the final organized barricades in eastern Paris. The defeat ended the Commune after seventy-two days, while arrests and summary executions continued.
Eugène Varlin is captured and killed
📅 28 May 1871Eugène Varlin, a labour organizer and member of the Commune, was recognized, beaten and shot at Montmartre without trial.
Fort Vincennes surrenders after the fall of the Commune
đź“… 29 May 1871The remaining Communard garrison at Fort Vincennes surrendered. Government forces executed several officers, marking the end of the last fortified position held in the name of the Commune.
Rossel, Ferré and Bourgeois are executed at Satory
📅 28 November 1871A military firing squad executed Louis Rossel, Théophile Ferré and Sergeant Pierre Bourgeois after courts-martial connected with the Commune.