A History of Modern Europe - From the Renaissance to the Present

734 Ch. 1 8 • The Dominant Powers in the Age of Liberalism

municipality contracted work. The Commune recognized women’s unions—
indeed the role of women in the Commune exceeded that of any previous
revolutionary movement in France. Given the severity of the circumstances,
with cannon shelling the city, it is remarkable how much the Communards
accomplished in such a short time.
Much smaller uprisings occurred in Lyon, Marseille, and several other
towns. These movements reflected a combination of middle-class dissatis­

faction with Bonapartist centralization, republican enthusiasm, and social­
ist mobilization. But the provinces provided no help to the Paris Commune;
rather, conservative regions sent volunteers to fight for the Versailles
forces.

On May 21, 1871, the troops of Thiers’s Versailles government poured
into Paris through the western gates, left open for them by monarchist
sympathizers. During the “bloody week” that followed, Thiers’s army, aided
by the recently constructed boulevards (see Chapter 19), overwhelmed
neighborhood after neighborhood, blasting through barricades. Summary
executions occurred throughout Paris, particularly after a rumor began
that female incendiaries were burning banks and the homes of the wealthy.
The Communards retaliated by executing some hostages, including the
archbishop of Paris. About 15,000 to 25,000 Parisians were summarily exe­
cuted or dispatched after hurried military trials.
For the left, the Commune seemed to be a glimpse of the future prole­
tarian revolution (although Paris largely remained a city of artisans and
skilled workers). To conservatives, the Commune offered a frightening
glimpse of plebeian insurrection, affirming their resolve to oppose move­
ments for social and political change with force.

Republican France

The National Assembly elected in February 1871 had a monarchist major­

ity. Yet most people in France wanted a republic. Gradually the Third

Republic took hold, at first extremely conservative, then moderate, and

beginning in 1899, radical, under the guidance of the socially moderate

but stridently anticlerical Radical Party. Yet the republic had to overcome

dramatic challenges from the far right, which rejected parliamentary rule

and dreamed of recapturing Alsace-Lorraine from Germany.

Monarchists and Republicans

The Bourbon pretender to the throne of France was the count of Chambord,

a lazy man of mediocre intelligence who lived in an Austrian castle and

amused himself by playing cards and telling dirty jokes and anti-Semitic sto­

ries to his cronies. The Orleanist pretender to the throne was the relatively