Star Search: The Paris Commune of 1871

How did the Paris Commune of 1871 change the course of French history and of global communism? Did Patrice de Mac-Mahon scheme his way out of being a soldier sidekick to Napoleon III? And who really made the biggest Impression?

 

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The Paris Commune of 1871 was a French revolution that seized power in Paris through the spring of 1871, bringing a socialist, anti-religious flare to that year’s fashion show.

 

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were communist academics who had no role in the Paris Commune. But conservatives made Marx famous as the commune’s bushy bearded bogeyman.

 

General Patrice de Mac-Mahon (1808-1893) defeated the Paris Commune of 1871 at the head of the Versailles Army. He went from first sidekick to second president of the Third French Republic.

 

Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist who is among the most influential figures of anarchism. Rumors that he inspired The Sex Pistols’ song “Anarchy in the U.K.” are starting here. 

 

The Hague Congress (2–7 Sep. 1872) was the fifth congress of the International Workingmen's Association (a.k.a. The International), in The Hague, Netherlands. The Congress was dominated by a philosophical tug of war between Bakunin and Marx. The International broke up after they all got philosophical rope burns.

 

Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 1808-1873) was the first president of France (1848-1852), and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French (1852-1870). His dad was the King of Holland and his uncle was Napoleon I, so he was more of a Nepo-leon. Ah, nepotism. But he did bring modern farming to France.

 

Oscar-Claude Monet (1840–1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionism. Sadly, we will never get to hear his Christopher Walken.

 

Louis Charles Delescluze (1809–1871) was a French revolutionary leader, journalist, and military commander of the Paris Commune. At first, his pen was mightier than the sword. Unfortunately for him, the French Army came back with guns, and shot him dead.