Louise Michel

also publ i shed in the rebel lives series:
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Haydee Santamaria, edited by Betsy Maclean
Albert Einstein, edited by Jim Green
Sacco & Vanzetti, edited by John Davis
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Chris Hani, edited by Thenjiwe Mtintso
rebe I lives, a fresh new series of inexpensive, accessible and provoca
tive books unearthing the rebel histories of some familiar figures and
introducing some lesser-known rebels
rebel lives, selections of writings by and about remarkable women
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louise michel
edited by Nic Maclellan
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contents
- -
introduction: Biogaphy of Louise Michel
tribute to Louise Michel from Victor Hugo
chapter one: Early Life
Louise Michel: Sources of rebellion
Louise Michel: Poem
Louise Michel: Letter to Victor Hugo
chapter two: Seizing the Guns
Louise Michel: Seizing the g
Louise Michel: Open letter defending the seizing
of the guns at Montmartre
Bertolt Brecht: Te Days of the Commune
chapter three: Pars Enraged
24
28
3 1
3 1
34
36
37
Friedich Engels: History of the Comune 45
Louise Michel: Life during the Comune 51
Louise Michel: Letter t o the Mayor of Montartre 57
Louise Michel: Letter t o the Editors of La Sociale newspaper 58
chapter four: Wen the Women Decide The
Have Had Enough
Louise Michel: On women's rights
A call to the women citizens of Paris
60
62
Request for organizational assistance from the Commune 64
Elisabeth Dmitrief: Letter to the Commune 66
chapter five: The First Dress Rehearsal in
World Histor
Karl Marx
Friedrich Engels
70
7 1
Mikhail Bakunin
William Moris
Peter Kropotkin
V.I. Lenin
HowardZinn
Paul Foot
Sheila Rowbotham
chapter six: lThe Interationale"
"The Internationale"
V.I. Lenin: The workers' anthem
chapter seven: Exile in New Caledonia
73
75
76
78
80
82
84
90
92
Louise Michel: Te Kanaks were seeking the same liberty . . . 94
Louise Michel: Art for all! Bread for all! Science for all! 96
Louise Michel: Letter protesting removal from
Numbo camp 98
chapter eight: Authorit Vested in One Person
is a Crime
Louise Michel: Statement to the military tribunal, 1871 1 00
Report of Louise Michel's trial for insulting police, 1882 1 02
Telegram to organizers of the Les Invalides protest 1 04
Louise Michel: Les Invalides Trial, 1883 1 05
Letter to the Comissioner of Police 1 07
chapter nine: Emma and Louise
Emma Goldman: There was spirit and youth in her eyes 1 09
Emma Goldman: Louise Michel was a complete woman 1 1 2
resources
Books in English
Books in French
On the Paris Commune
Websites and Film
1 1 6
1 1 6
1 1 7
1 1 7
introduction
I n France, Loui se Mi chel is cel ebrated as the heroi ne of t he Pari s
Commune of 1 871 . School s, rai l way stati ons and streets are named
afer her. I n recent years, a number of new bi ographi es h ave docu
mented her l egendary l i fe, and over a thousand of her l etters have
been col l ated and publ i shed .
But outsi de France her hi story and l egacy are not widel y known.
Loui se Mi chel recei ves fl eet i ng references in most hi stori es of the
Commune, when the peopl e of Pari s rose up between March and
May 1 871 to establ i sh a short-l i ved workers' government i n the ci ty.
But afer the Commune was crushed , Mi chel was captured , i mpri s
oned and exi l ed to the other si de of the worl d. From there, she di s
appears from most hi stori es of the 1 9th century.
Beyond the t umul t uous days of the Pari s Commune, however,
Loui se Mi chel conti nued to l ead a l ife of rebel l i on and hope.
I nspi red by a mi xtu re of anarchi st, anti cl eri cal and republ i can
val ues, Mi chel mai ntai ned her rebel spi ri t for t he l ast 30 years of her
l i fe, unti l her death i n Marsei l l es i n January 1 905, aged 74. She
spoke, campai gned and demonstrated i n support of soci al revol uti on
and women's ri ghts i n France and nei ghbori ng European countri es.
Throughout her l ater l i fe, Mi chel was an i nternati onal i st. She
supported ant i col oni al struggl es i n the French col oni es of Afri ca,
I ndochi na and t he Paci fi c i sl ands. I n her South Pacific exi l e, she
stood agai nst t he raci sm of her fel l ow deportees, support i ng the
1 878 revol t by the i ndi genous Kanak popul ation of New Cal edoni a
agai nst French col oni zati on . I n the l ast decades of t he 19th century,
she campai gned for the ri ghts of Al geri ans who rose agai nst French
2 louise michel rebelli ves
rule, pavi ng the way for l ater generati ons of French paci fi sts and
soci al i sts who supported Al geri a' s Nati onal Li berat i on Front i n
1 954-62.
She was a teacher, a wri ter, a poet and a defi ant orator who
i nspi red others to wri te poems and eul ogi es i n her honor. And duri ng
her l i fe, Loui se Mi chel mai ntai ned a l i vel y correspondence wi th
poets and wri ters, sci enti sts and anarchi sts, drunkards and l oved
ones.
Early lie
Loui se Mi chel was born on May 29, 1 830, i n the smal l vi l l age of
Vroncourt in the Haute-Marne regi on of France. Her mother, Mari e
Anne Mi chel , worked as a servant for t he l andowner Et i enne
Charl es Demahi s. Mari e-Anne was unmarri ed, and many wri ters
suggest that Louise's father was Demahi s' son Laurent - t hrough
out her l i fe, i n fact, Mi chel regarded the ol der Demahi s as her own
g randparents.
From an earl y age, Mi chel was encouraged to read and questi on
by these grandparents. She wanted to be a wri ter, and throughout
her l i fe composed a vari ety of poems, essays, theater scri pts and
stori es - ofen unreadabl e, al ways passi onate. She began wri ti ng
to the famous author Vi ctor Hugo, known throughout the worl d for
h i s books Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Not Dame, and
they formed a l i feti me fri endshi p.
Her cri ti que of soci ety d rew on Cat hol i c val ues, her l ove of
ani mal s and observati ons of rural l i fe (see Chapter Two) . As her
Memoirs expl ai n:
As far back as I can remember, the ori gi n of my revol t agai nst
the powerful was my horror at the tortures i nfl icted on ani mal s.
I used to wi sh ani mal s coul d get revenge, that the dog could
bi te the man who was merci l essl y beati ng hi m, that the horse
bl eedi ng under the whi p coul d throw of the man tormenti ng
hi m.
introduction 3
Michel left home after the death of her grandparents and arguments
with Laurent Demahis' wife, who denounced her as a "bastard." At
age 21, she began studying to be a primary schoolteacher and in
September 1852, she became head teacher at a school in Audelon
court in Haute-Marne. (She later claimed that she opened her own
school to avoid pledging allegiance to Emperor Napoleon I I I, as was
required for public schoolteachers.) She traveled to Paris the next
year to teach, but returned to Haute-Marne afer several months
when her mother fell sick.
Over the next few years, Michel taught at small schools at
Clefmont and Millieres in the Haute-Marne region. She experimen
ted in libertarian teaching methods, using techniques ahead of her
time: composing plays for her students to perform and bringing ani
mals and birds into class for the children to touch. As one colleague
noted:
I can't say it was entirely proper, as the Sorbonne understands
the word. It was something of a free-for-all, with highly unusual
teaching methods, but taking everything into account, you had
to agree that instruction was being ofered.
Yet she continued to dream of Paris. It was only in 1865 that she
had enough funds to open a day school in the capital, after selling
some land left to her by the Demahis family.
Stgle against the em
p
ire
As a provincial schoolteacher, Louise Michel was not actively
engaged in the turbulent politics of the mid-19th century. Throughout
Europe, the year 1848 was marked by popular and republican up
risings -in France, a republic was declared. But in 1851, the short
lived French Republic was overthrown in a coup d'etat by Charles
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (nephew of the famous general).
Louis Napoleon's Second Empire lasted until 1870, with support
from the conservative rural peasantry. By the end of his reign,
4 louise michel rebel lives
however, popular opposition to the empire was rising. During the
1 860s, many elections in urban centers were won by republicans
- both middle-class reformers and working-class radicals. On
January 1 2, 1870, nearly 100,000 people demonstrated against the
Second Empire afer a republican journalist Victor Noir was killed by
Prince Pierre Bonaparte, the emperor's cousin. Louise Michel atten
ded the funeral dressed as a man, carrying a dagger beneath her
clothes.
In July 1870, afer a diplomatic struggle over a Prussian attempt
to take control of the vacant Spanish throne, the French Emperor
declared war on Prussia. In August, three Prussian armies invaded
France. Using new technologies (railways and rapid-firing artillery),
they soon defeated French Marshal MacMahon at Worth and Weis
sen burg and surrounded the city of Strasbourg. In mid-August ,
French forces were defeated at Mars-la-Tour and Gravelotte, and the
Prussians advanced on Chalons.
After the decisive Prussian victory at the battle of Sedan,
Emperor Louis Napoleon III and Marshal MacMahon were captured,
capitulating on September 2 with over 83, 000 soldiers. At news of
the Sedan defeat, workers in Paris invaded the Bourbon Palace and
forced the Legislative Assembly to proclaim the fall of the empire
and declare a republic on September 4. A provisional Government
of National Defense was established to continue the war to remove
the Prussians from France: "not an inch of our soil, not a stone of our
fortresses, will we cede."
Just a few years earlier in 1 864, the German revolutionary Karl
Marx helped found the International Working Men's Association in
London (a network later called the First International). Now, a series
of meetings and demonstrations began in London and other Euro
pean cities, calling for recognition of the new French Republic. The
General Council of the First International took a direct part in this
solidarity movement, organizing resolutions and petitions calling on
the British Government to immediately recognize the republic.
introduction 5
Early politcal actvism
Duri ng t hi s upheaval , Loui se Mi chel was drawn i nto the pol i ti cal
acti vi ty that woul d consume the rest of her l i fe.
I n Pari s, Mi chel had begu n to read texts on natural hi story,
chemi stry and sci ent i fi c phi l osophy, i ncl udi ng Charl es Darwi n' s
Origin of the Species, and decl ared hersel f to be an athei st and a
materi al i st. She j oi ned the Uni on of Poets and mai ntai ned an exten
si ve correspondence wi t h cul t ural fi gures such as wri t er Vi ctor
Hugo, poet Paul Verl ai ne and other French arti sts. She al so met a
range of republ i can and revol uti onary l eaders who would pl ay a key
rol e i n the Pari s Commune, such as Theophi l e Ferre (the soci al i st
agi tator whom she most admi red -even l oved -but who was exe
cuted i n November 1 87 1 afer the fal l of the Commune).
On August 1 5, 1870, Loui se Mi chel j oi ned a demonstrati on i n
support of General s Emi l e Eudes and Bri deau, two republ i cans
arrested by t he government. She carried a peti ti on i n thei r favor to
General Trochu , the mi l i tary governor of Pari s. I n September, Loui se
Mi chel hit publ i c noti ce wi th her cal l s for "free thi nking ci ti zens" to
provi de nursi ng and medi cal support to the town of Strasbourg ,
whi ch had been enci rcl ed by the Prussi an Army for over a month:
The i dea came to some among us - or rather, some women
among us, for we women were i n the majority - to get weap
ons and set forth to hel p Strasbourg defend itself, and to di e
wi th it.
She was a member of two vi gi l ance committees establ ished in the
1 8th arrondi ssement i n the eastern suburbs of Pari s -one for men
and the other for women. I n November, she was el ected presi dent
of the Women' s Vi gi l ance Committee:
I spent t he finest hours of the si ege wi th the Montmartre
Vi gi l ance Commi ttee and wi th the Cl ub de l a Patrie en Danger.
One was a l i ttl e more ful l y al ive there, with the feel i ng of being
i n one's el ement, in the midst of the intense struggl e for l iberty.
The Prussian mil itary advance conti nued i n l ate 1 870. Paris was
besieged f rom September 1 9, and t he Government of National
Defense moved t o t he city of Versail l es. The French Army of over
1 50, 000 men surrendered on October 27, but when the Government
of National Defense started negotiations with the Prussians, Paris
workers and sections of the National Guard rose up in revol t, led by
the socialist revol utionary Louis Auguste Bl anqui. They seized the
Paris Town Hal l and set up a revol utionary government -the Com
mittee of Publ ic Safety - which l asted for just days before Bl anqui
was arrested and charged with treason .
Between October 1 870 and March 1 87 1 , the Government of
National Defense and the radical republ ican forces in Paris vied for
pol itical supremacy. The republ ican National Guard was establ ished
as a popul ar militia, efectivel y arming the workers of Paris. The Nat
ional Guard enlisted 384, 000 men in 234 neighborhood battal ions
and al so establ ished a women' s battal ion l ed by Col onel Adel aide
Val entin .
Louise Michel was swept up in this revol utionary ferment. She
paricipated in the massive demonstration on October 31 , 1 870, i n
front of t he Paris Town Hal l to support t he Committee of Publ ic
Safety. I n December, she was arrested for the first time, fol l owing a
women' s demonstration at t he Paris Town Hal l that cal l ed for the
training and recruitment of women for the National Guard. And on
January 22, 1 871 , dressed i n a National Guard uniform and armed
wi th a rifl e, Louise Michel returned fire on troops under the com
mand of Versai l l es General Trochu when they shot at a crowd pro
testing in front of the Town Hal l .
Louise Michel even argued with other radical s, suggesting that
she shoul d travel to Versail l es to assassinate Adol phe Thiers, the
reacti onary l eader of the Government of National Defense. Al though
persuaded that an act of terror woul d onl y bring reprisal s, she trav
el ed to Versail l es in disguise and ret urned to Paris to prove it coul d
be done.
The Government of National Defense moved to surrender to the
introduction 7
encircling Prussi an forces, agreeing to pay five billion francs and
hand over much of the border provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. But
the surrender would only take effect i f Paris could be controlled.
Before dawn on March 1 8, 1 871 , the Versailles Government sent
4, 000 troops to seize the cannons held by the National Guard. Many
of these guns were stationed on the Butte of Montmartre - the blufs
overlooki ng the city - and the suburb where Louise Michel was an
acti ve member of t he Women's Committee. As she describes in her
Memoirs (see Chapter Three), Michel helped rally women to seize
the National Guard cannon and stop the Versailles troops from dragging
them away. The troops refused to fire on the women, and instead
arrested and shot their own commander!
Delegates of the Nati onal Guard found themselves in efective
politi cal control of the city, and elections were called within a week.
The Paris Commune had begun i ts revolt .
Popular contol in the Commune
So what was the Commune? In French, the term means local muni
cipality, but for t he men and women of 1 871 , it also recall ed the
Commune created during the French Revolution in 1 792 - a sym
bol of popular control.
On March 26, 1 87 1 , a week afer the attempted seizure of the
National Guard's cannon, over 229, 000 citizens of Paris elected an
80-member muni cipal council. The Paris Commune consisted of
middle-class republicans as well as more radical workers and shop
keepers. Nearly half the elected members of the Commune were
ski lled workers, while others were j ournalists, lawyers, doctors and
accountants. Most were supporters of the republican left - al most
20 percent were members of Marx's First I nternational, while others
were followers of the anarchist leader Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (inc
luding the fabric designer Eugene Pottier, who was later to write the
revolutionary hymn "The Internati onale"). Louise Michel's suburb
Montmarre was a hotbed of working-class and revolutionar ferment,
8 louise michel rebel l ives
wi th 1 5, 000 of 1 7, 000 eli gi ble voters supporti ng the jai led socialist
Auguste Blanqui.
I n its short life bet ween March and May 1 87 1 , the Commune
enacted a series of decrees to promote radi cal democracy - poli
cies on securi ty, democracy and economy that led to i ts celebrati on
as the first workers' government. These i ncluded:
Security: The Paris upri si ng marked a revolt against the old
symbols of mili tari sm and repressi on. The first decision of the Com
mune was to aboli sh conscription and the standing army, leavi ng
the National Guard mi li ti a as the sole armed force. The gui llotine
was publicl y burnt by National Guard troops, ami d great popular
rejoicing. On May 1 6, in the dyi ng days of the Commune, the Vi ctory
Column on the Place Vend6me (cast from guns captured by Napoleon
afer the war of 1 809) was demolished as a "symbol of chauvinism
and incitement to national hatred. "
Democracy: The Commune decreed the separati on of church
from state, the abolition of all state payments for religious purposes
and the transfer of all church property i nto national propery. The
decree ordered the removal of all reli gious symbols, pictures, dog
mas and prayers from schools - "all t hat belongs to the sphere of
the individual's conscience. "
Key administrati ve, judi ci al and educati onal positions were fi lled
by popular election rather than appointment, and members of the
Commune were forbidden to hold multiple posi tions. Forei gners
elected to the Commune were confi rmed in ofi ce, because "the flag
of the Commune is the flag of the World Republi c. "
Economy: Other reforms opened the way for working people to
seize economic power. In light of the economic collapse brought on
by the war and siege of Paris, the Commune moved to shif the tax
burden away from workers, tradespeople, artisans and small busi
nesses, decreeing a moratorium on debt foreclosures, postponing
debt obli gations for three years and supporti ng the abolit i on of
interest on debts. Pension ri ghts were extended to common-law
wives and children, a challenge to church values and propri ety.
in traduction 9
In one of i ts few expl i ci tl y soci al ist steps, on Apri l 16, the Com
mune issued a decree on abandoned factori es, so that peopl e coul d
form cooperati ves and wor k in factori es deserted by their owners
who had fl ed the revol ution.
The Commune al so deci ded that i ts el ected members coul d
onl y recei ve a sal ary of up to 6,000 francs -si mi l ar to that of other
workers. A decree abol ished ni ght work for bakers, ended the un
popul ar system of workers' registration cards and ordered the clos
ing of pawnshops as "a pri vate expl oi tati on of l abor."
Women in th Commune
Throughout t he Commune, Parisi ans organi zed themsel ves i nto
l ocal community cl ubs, and these popul ar associ ati ons became cen
ters of debate, theater and publ ishi ng. Afer the creat i on of the
Commune i n March 1 871 , Louise Mi chel regul arl y parti ci pated i n
meeti ngs of the ( men's) Vi gi l ance Committee i n Montmart re and i m
mersed hersel f i n suppor work for chi l dren, women's groups and
communi ty associ ations.
As chair of t he Women's Vi gi l ance Commi ttee, she pl ayed a
l eadi ng rol e in mobi l i zi ng women in support of the Commune, and
organi zed day care for 200 chi l dren l i vi ng in besi eged Pari s. She
recrui ted women as ambul ance workers, even among the sex wor
kers from her suburb. Rej ecti ng her mal e compatri ots' concern that
"the wounded must be tended by pure hands," she argued:
Who has more ri ght than these women , the most pi ti ful of the
ol d order's vi cti ms, to gi ve thei r l i fe for the new?
Women's acti vists l i ke Sophi e Poi ri er and the 20-year-ol d Russi an
revol uti onar y El isabeth Dmi tri eff moved beyond more basi c dem
ands, putti ng forward soci al ist proposals to the l eaders of the Paris
Commune. Poi ri er establ ished a workshop empl oyi ng over 70 wom
en, al l of whom shared i n the profits.
These radi cals cal l ed for the sei zure of deserted factori es for use
by the women who worked in them (see Chapter Four). Thei r dem
ands - equal pay for equal work, better occupati onal heal th and
safety, a reducti on i n worki ng hours - sti l l resonate today. I n res
ponse, some Commune decrees di rectl y addressed women's sta
t us, such as a decree on May 21 that granted equal pay to mal e and
femal e teachers.
The example of the Pars Commune
The Pari s Commune, whi ch onl y l asted between March 1 8 and May
28, 1 871 , has assumed l egendary i mportance. I t i nspi red a range
of anarchi sts, soci al i sts and communi sts i n the decades l eadi ng up
to t he Russi an Revol uti on of 1 91 7, and was a source of i deas about
the repl acement of capi tal i st pol i ti cal structures wi th those that coul d
assi st a transi ti on to a soci al i st soci ety.
The Pari s upri si ng is cel ebrated as the fi rst great workers' revol t
to chal l enge the power of the state and form a workers' government .
Thi s l egacy comes even though many of i ts decrees and acti ons
were not ful l y i mpl emented, gi ven the short peri od of popul ar control
of the ci ty, and many of the Commune l eaders were not workers,
soci al ists or revol uti onari es.
From hi s exi l e i n London, Karl Marx cl osel y fol l owed events i n
Pari s. Just days afer the upri si ng, he publ i shed The Civil War in
France, a report for the General Counci l of the Fi rst I nternati onal .
Thi s famous t ext anal yzed the i mportance of t he short- l i ved
Commune and chal l enged the noti on that ordi nary workers are not
equi pped to govern. The pamphl et was a scathi ng pol emi cal attack
on Adol phe Thi ers -the "monstrous gnome," "a parl i amentary Tom
Thumb," "a monkey al l owed for a ti me to gi ve ful l vent to hi s ti geri sh
insti nct." Before the end of the year, i t had been publ i shed i n 30
editi ons i n 1 1 l anguages.
Marx suggested that the Commune represented a si gni fi cant
new breakthrough i n creat i ng a workers' government, rather than
one l ed by mi ddl e-cl ass republ i cans:
introduction 11
This was the first revolution in which the working class was
openly acknowledged as the only class capable of social initia
tive, even by the great bulk of the Paris middle class - shop
keepers, tradesmen, merchants - the wealthy capitalists
alone excepted.
In an April 1871 letter sent to a colleague in the First International,
Marx argued: "History has no like example of greatness. With the
struggle in Paris, the struggle of the working class against the capi
talist class and its state has entered a new phase."
Marx and his collaborator Friedrich Engels argued that the Com
mune raised crucial issues for any radical movement. In 1872, in a
new introduction to their revolutionary Communist Manifesto, they
argued that a workers' revolution would have to "smash the state
machine" before it could progress any further: "One thing especially
was proved by the Commune . .. that the working class cannot simp
ly lay hold of the ready-made state machinery and wield it for its
own purposes."
Re
p
ression of the Communards
This republican, anticlerical and popular rebellion struck fear in both
the Prussian Army and the reactionary French Government of
National Defense. Versailles leader Adolphe Thiers asked Prussian
Chancellor Otto von Bismarck for permission to build up the Ver
sailles Army with French prisoners of war who had surrendered after
the Prussian victories at Sedan and Metz. Bismarck agreed afer the
payment of a massive indemnity, and the French Army began a siege
of Paris.
From April 3, 1871, the Versailles troops launched a final assault
to crush the Paris Commune. As a member of the 61 st Montmartre
battalion, Louise Michel paricipated in the defense of Paris, both as
a fighter and a medical worker.
The image of Louise Michel as warrior is often highlighted in
histories of the Commune, ignoring her achievements as poet and
politician. But there is no doubt that she was on the barricades in the
defense of Paris. She fought in battles at Clamart, Neuilly and Issy
les-Moulineaux, and her courage is mentioned specifically in the
Commune's official Joural on April 1 0: "An energetic woman has
been fighting in the ranks of the 6 1 st Battalion, and has killed sev
eral police and soldiers."
In between the fighting, she read the works of Baudelaire and
played the harmonium at a church near Neuilly. But in her own Memoirs,
she writes:
Yes, barbarian that I was, I loved the cannon, the smell of gun
powder and grapeshot in the air, but above all, I was in love
with the revolution!
Versailles troops entered Paris on May 21 , afer Prussian troops who
held the northern and eastern forts allowed the French troops to
cross land to the north of the city. In the wealthier suburbs, the Ver
sailles troops were welcomed as liberators, but resistance was
fiercer as they approached the working-class suburbs. As Paris
burned, Communard women were denounced as petroleuses (in
cendiaries or arsonists), a charge later hurled at Louise Michel by
the conservative press.
In the final days of conflict, the Communards executed a number
of military, church and political hostages, for which they were pillor
ied by the Versailles press. But these deaths were overshadowed by
the ferocity of the Versailles troops, who spent eight days massac
ring workers and shooting many civilians on sight. An English eye
witness noted the resistance of Michel's women's battalion:
They fought like devils, far better than the men; and I had the
pain of seeing 52 shot down, even when they had been sur
rounded by the troops and disarmed.
Thousands of Communards and workers were summarily executed.
The exact number of dead is unknown, but more than 20,000 were
killed, with 43,000 others arrested, tens of thousands imprisoned
introduction 1 3
and nearly 5, 000 later depored. A March 1 872 law banned the First
I nternational as subversive, and all socialist and anarchist activity
was illegal for over a decade.
Today, at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, a small plaque
marks the wall where the final Communards who surrendered were
gunned down - "Au x Morts de la Commune, 21 -28 mai, 1 87 1 " (To
the dead of the Commune). The cemetery is best known to tourists
as the resting place for the singer of The Doors, Jim Morrison, but
the corner near the Commune plaque is surrounded by the graves
of French revolutionaries, including anti-Nazi Resistance fighters,
trade unionists and socialist and communist activists.
Tral and deporation
Louise Michel escaped the final massacre of the Communards. On
May 1 8, she had been sent to work with the Vigilance Committee in
Montmarre. She fought at the Montmarre cemetery and on the bar
ricades at Clignancourt, where she took part in the last resistance
against the advancing Versailles troops. At first she evaded capture,
but when her mother was taken hostage she turned herself in. Soon
after, she was transferred to Versailles and brought before a military
tribunal for interrogation.
In September 1 87 1 , Michel was transferred to the Arras prison,
where she was held for over two months until her trial. On December
1 6 , 1 871 , Louise Michel appeared before the 4th Council of War.
As detailed in Chapter Eight , Michel had little respect for any court
of law. She scorned the authority of the military tribunal, stating:
Louise Michel: Since it seems that any heart which beats for liberty
has the right only to a small lump of lead, I demand my share. I f you
let me live, I will not stop crying for vengeance, and I will denounce
the assassins on the Board of Pardons to avenge my brothers.
President of the Cour: I cannot allow you to continue speaking if you
continue in this tone.
Louise Michel: I have finished . . . If you are not cowards, kill me.
Her defi ance made t he front page of newspapers around France,
and Vi ctor Hugo wrote the poem "Viro Maj or" in her honor. But the
j udges rejected her offer of martyrdom. I nstead , t he court con
demned her to deportati on wi thi n a fortress i n New Cal edoni a, the
French South Paci fi c col ony 20, 000 mi l es from Pari s. She refused
to appeal the decision, and was detai ned in France for nearl y two
years awaiti ng deportati on .
On August 24, 1 873, she j oi ned other Communards who were
transferred by trai n through Paris to the port of La Rochel l e. Four
days l ater, 1 69 deportees -20 of t hem women -were l oaded onto
the vessel Virginie for the fou r- month voyage to the South Pacific.
Among the Kanaks
Just 1 , 800 kil ometers of the east coast of Austral i a, the i sl ands of
New Cal edonia became Loui se Mi chel 's exi l e for more t han six
years.
After the annexation of New Cal edoni a in 1 853, France estab
l i shed a penal col ony that remai ned the cornerstone of col oni al
society unti l its cl osure i n 1 897. As wel l as cri minal s, the convoys
brought Al gerian pri soners after t he defeat of the 1 871 upri sing l ed
by Abd-el Kader, together with pol i ti cal prisoners afer the crushi ng
of t he Pari s Commune. Over 4, 200 Communards were deported to
New Cal edoni a, with 20 convoys travel ing between September 29,
1872, and October 25, 1 878.
Louise Michel arrived i n New Cal edonia on December 1 0, 1 873.
The l eaders of the Commune, l i ke Henri Rochfort , were i nitial l y de
tained on the Ducos peni nsul a at Numbo. Together wi th other wom
en of the Commune, Michel refused to be separated from her mal e
comrades, and was al so detai ned i n the camp at Ducos (see l etter,
Chapter Seven) .
She had extensive pol itical discussions with anarchi sts such as
Nathal i e Lemel and Charl es Mal ato, and i t was during her exi l e that
Michel adopted the anarchist pol itics that she woul d fol l ow for the
rest of her life. Her friendship wi th Rochford was al so to l ast through-
introduction 15
out her life, and he continued to support Michel financially even as
their politics diverged in later years.
The colonial administration in New Caledonia granted immi
grants the best land in the plains and the low valleys. As their land
was taken, the indigenous Melanesian population known as Kanaks
was pushed back into the narrow valleys of the interior, where it was
dificult to grow staple foods like yam and taro.
Louise Michel took up defense of the Kanak cause: "To some
comrades I seemed to be more Kanak than the Kanaks" (see Chap
ter Seven). From an early fascination with cannibalism, she started
to learn some of the indigenous Kanak languages, and worked as
a teacher with Kanak children and adults. Michel's style of teaching
soon raised the ire of one prison administrator, who stated:
You must close your school. You' re filling the heads of these
Canaques with pernicious doctrines. The other day, you were
heard talking about humanity, j ustice, freedom and other
useless things.
Gradually, she collected Kanak legends, chants and songs, which
were published in the local newspaper Les Petits Affiches, and
collated and republished on her return to Paris.
From the 1840s, Kanak clans had sporadically resisted the thef
of their land. The policy of cantonment, imposed systematically from
1 876 onwards, contributed to the great uprising of 1 878 led by Chief
Atai. Atai was famous for his declaration against the thef of Kanak
land: "When my taro can go and eat on the land where your cows
graze, I will respect your enclosures. "
With many clans following Atai, this rebellion continued for two
months in the west of the main island, around colonial centers l ike
La Foa, Bourail and Bouloupari. Isolated farms were attacked, and
some 200 colonists were killed. Repression by the French Army was
fierce, and continued for over six months, causing more than 1, 200
deaths among the Kanaks, of whom Atai was one - betrayed by
opposing clans.
1 6 louise michel rebel l ives
During the 1878 revolt, most of the Communards exiled in New
Caledonia rallied to the French state. But Louise Michel sided with
the Kanaks, identifying with their spirit of rebellion:
The Kanaks were seeking the same l iberty we had sought in
the Commune. Let me say onl y that my red scarf, the red scar
of the Commune that I h ad hidden from every search, was
divided in two pieces one night. Two Kanaks, before going to
j oin the insurgents against the whites, had come to say
goodbye to me. [Then] they slipped into the ocean. The sea
was bad, and they may never have arrived across the bay, or
perhaps they were killed in the fighting. I never saw either of
them again, and I don't know which of the two deaths took them,
but they were brave with the bravery that black and white both
have.
The symbolism of Louise Michel' s gesture lives on in the modern
Kanak movement for independence. I n the early 1970s, a new
generation of Kanak students returned home afer studying in France
during the turmoil of May 1968. To campaign for independence from
France, they formed a group called the Foulards Rouges - the Red
Scarves. Today, Michel' s writings on Kanak cul ture are republished
in New Caledonia, a primary school has been named after her and
"The Red Virgin, " a play in her honor, was performed at the Tj ibaou
Cul tural Center in 2002.
Solidart with Algea
Louise Michel' s internationalism was also expressed in her soli
darity with the 1871 Kabyle uprising in Algeria, where 200, 000
people rose up against French rule - a revolt crushed by 80, 000
French troops. Michel' s Memoirs noted:
In the first days afer our deportation, one morning we saw the
arrival - in their great white burnous - of the Arabs deported,
like us, for having risen up against oppression. These Orientals,
introduction 17
who have been jai l ed far from thei r tents and thei r fl ocks, are
so si mpl e and good and of great merit.
Mi chel 's sol i dari ty wi th t he Kanaks and Al geri ans stood out agai nst
the prevai l i ng raci sm of the settl er communi ty i n Noumea and even
among many exi l ed Communards, and i n her Memoirs, Mi chel
recal l s fri ends made among t he Al geri an deportees.
In December 1879, Loui se Mi chel was ofered a reducti on in her
sentence, whi ch she i n i t i al l y refused. However, i n Jul y 1880, an
amnesty decree was i ssued i n France for members of t he Commune
and Mi chel was pardoned. Arri vi ng i n Austral i a on her way home,
she requested passage t o France on a fast mai l carri er rather t han
a sl ow sai l i ng shi p to get to her mother's si de more qui ckl y. Her
request was i ni t i al l y refused , but i n her Memoirs she descri bes how
she encouraged t he French Consul to speed her passage:
The French Consul at Sydney had not yet made up hi s mi nd
to repatri ate me wi th some others schedul ed to go on the mai l
shi p. I tol d hi m that, i n that case, I woul d be obli ged to gi ve
l ectures on the Commune for several days, so that I coul d use
the fees for my tri p. He then deci ded to send me wi th 20 others
on the mai l shi p John Helder whi ch was l eavi ng for London.
She arri ved i n London on November 7, 1 880, then two days l ater
made a tri umphal return to the Sai nt-Lazare stati on i n Pari s.
Radical agitation
For the remai nder of her l i fe, Loui se Mi chel conti nued to agi tate for
radi cal and anarchi st causes. Her profi l e as a former Communard
ensured wi de publ i c attenti on and popul ar afecti on , and she often
spoke with tempestuous fury: "The ocean of revol uti ons wi l l carry us
forward with i ts hi gh ti des. "
The Bri ti sh hi stori an of anarchi sm, George Woodcock, descri bed
her as a "secul ar sai nt. " But for conservatives, Louise Mi chel became
the symbol of al l t hi ngs ugl y and threateni ng. I n cari catures and
polemics, ri ght-wi ng newspapers dubbed her " t he Red Vi rgi n, " pres
ent i ng her as unattracti ve and mascul i ne.
I roni cal l y, her supporters have taken up t hi s ti tl e wi th pri de, and
new generati ons of femi ni st wri ters have specul ated on her sex
ual i ty and her refusal to marry. I n many recent studi es of Mi chel 's l ife,
wri ters ponder her admi rati on for Vi ctor Hugo (ol d enough to be her
fat her), her unful fi l l ed l ove for the executed Communard Theophi l e
Ferre, and her cl ose rel ati ons wi th women such as Mi ri am Ferre and
Nathal i e Lemel . Schol ars scour her l etters for evi dence to back up
theori es that her return t o Haute-Marne from Pari s was t o bear Hugo's
chi ld, or that her b reak with Lemel may have come afer the end of
a l esbi an rel ati onshi p.
Cl earl y, i nformati on about Mi chel 's pri vate l i fe is scarce. There i s,
however, pl enty of evi dence t hat Loui se Mi chel was a passi onate
orator and agi tator. Throughout the 1 880s and 1 890s, Loui se Mi chel
spoke at numerous publ i c meeti ngs i n support of radi cal causes,
workers' struggl es and for the ri ghts of the unempl oyed. She was
ofen cal l ed on to present tri butes to her comrades from the Pari s
Commune - soon after her return to Pari s, i n January 1881 , she
del ivered the eul ogy at the funeral of soci al i st l eader Bl anqui .
She was wi l l i ng to speak from t he stage wi th a range of radi cal s,
but her commi tment was to "soci al revol uti on, " deepl y opposed t o
parl i amentary pol i ti cs. Al though she was a strong supporter of wom
en taki ng thei r pl ace i n soci ety, she di d not support the 1 9th century
femi ni st demand for the vote for women - she al so opposed the
vote for men! Her emoti onal ti es were wi th the anarchi st movement.
The Manifesto of the Anarchists, publ i shed i n January 1 883, states:
"Vi l l ai ns t hat we are, we cl ai m bread for al l , knowl edge for al l , work
for al l , i ndependence and j usti ce for al l ! "
For Loui se Mi chel : " I share al l t he i deas wri tten there. "
On her return from New Cal edoni a, she publ i shed a number of
volumes about Kanak cul ture and the hi story of the Commune, and
the publ i cati on of her Memoirs i n 1 886 gave a wi der audi ence to her
vi ews. She wrote for many workers' and soci al i st newsl etters and,
introduction 1 9
together with anarchist Sebastian Faure, founded the j ournal Le
Liberaire i n November 1895.
She maintained her internationalist perspective, and condemn
ed French military operations in its overseas colonies: "In 187 1 , the
government's abattoirs were in Paris, now they're in Madagascar
and Tonkin. " In 1880, hundreds of former Communards met at a hall
in Varigaud, calling for amnesty for the 187 1 Algerian rebels who
had risen up against the French - Louise Michel was chosen as
one of two honorary chairs for the conference. She supported this
amnesty campaign for 1 5 years until the final granting of pardons
in 1895. In 1904, j ust before her death, she traveled to Algeria to
investigate the situation of Arabs in the French colony.
Police harassment
Her adulation by many working-class supporters was matched by
close attention from the police. In the 25 years afer her return from
exile, the authorities of several European countries monitored her
speeches and regularly arrested, j ailed or deported her. In one letter
to a friend, she added a postscript:
Would the people responsible for opening my mail please
reseal the letters and put them in the post! As you've seen,
we're not talking about you.
Chapter Eight details her constant run-ins with the law, such as a
two-week stint in prison in January 1882 for insulting police.
On March 9, 1883, Louise Michel took part in a rally of unem
ployed people at Les Invalides in Paris, during which some bakeries
were looted. As Michel and fellow anarchist Emile Pouget had been
carrying a black flag at the front of the rally, police issued a warrant
for her arrest. She dodged the police for two weeks (see letter in
Chapter Eight) but on March 29, she wrote to Police Commissioner
Camescasse, saying she would hand herself in, and the next day
she was arrested and taken to Saint-Lazare prison. I n this prison,
she met a number of prostitutes, and later took up the cause of sex
workers, seei ng t hem as the vi cti ms of sexual expl oi tati on: "No more
gi rls for prosti tuti on, no more boys for the army . . . "
At her tri al for the Les I nval i des protest on June 2 1 , the pros
ecutor asked: "Do you take part i n every demonstrati on that occurs?"
Her repl y: "Unfortunatel y, yes. I am a l ways on the si de of the
wretched ! "
After a fi ery speech to the j udges (see Chapter Ei ght ) , she was
sentenced to si x years' sol i tary d et ent i on, fol l owed by 1 0 years
moni tori ng by the pol i ce, and transferred to the Cl ermont-de-I 'Oi se
pri son. The severi ty of the sentence shocked many, i ncl udi ng the
poet Paul Verl ai ne, who wrote hi s "Bal l ad i n Honor of Loui se Mi chel . "
Her pri son sentence was cut short after the death of her mother
on January 3, 1 885. Three days afer her mother's funeral , a presi
denti al decree ofered Mi chel a pardon . At fi rst she refused , then
l ater accepted, and was free agai n to conti nue her agi tati on.
Her publ i c speaki ng conti nued to provoke the authori ti es. On
June 3, 1 886, Mi chel spoke wi t h soci a l i st l eaders Jul es Guesde,
Paul Lafargue and Dr. Susi ni at a publ i c meeti ng i n Pari s, i n favor
of stri ki ng mi ners from Decazevi l l e. I n August , together wi th her
radi cal col l eagues, she was sentenced t o four mont hs i n pri son and
a 1 00 franc fi ne for speaki ng i n favor of the mi ners. The next month,
Guesde, Lafargue and Susi ni successful l y appeal ed t he court's
deci si on and were rel eased. But Loui se refused to appeal , embar
rassi ng the government wi th her defi ance. After vari ous contorti ons
by the government, she was pardoned i n November 1 886.
Her cl osest cal l came i n January 1 888, after a speech at the
Gafte theater i n Le Havre. That eveni ng, a Cathol i c fanati c Pi erre
Lucas fi red hi s pi stol twi ce and wounded Mi chel in the head. Never
thel ess, she protected Lucas from t he angry crowd and l ater refused
to l odge a compl ai nt agai nst hi m - a symbol of her contempt for the
police and j usti ce system.
Troubl e came agai n fol l owi ng a May Day speech Mi chel gave i n
t he French town of Vi enne on Apri l 30, 1 890. Mi chel was arrested
afer protesti ng workers, carryi ng red and bl ack fl ags, cl ashed wi th
in troduction 21
police, set up barricades in the town and looted a factory. She
refused to accept an ofer of provisional release unless all her co
accused were released. Although her arrest warrant was revoked,
she smashed up her cell and refused to leave the prison unless her
conditions were met. The hospital doctors declared her insane (a
common tactic used against rebel women), but fearing a scandal the
government released her, returning her to Paris on June 4.
Fearful that the authorities would use the insanity declaration to
condemn her to an asylum, Louise Michel fled to London in July
1 890 and lived in exile for the next five years.
London and Pars
At the end of the 1 9th century, the British capital was home to many
exiled European radicals and anarchists. In London, Louise opened
the I nternational School for the children of political refugees - prob
ably the first libertarian school to be founded in Britain. The flavor
of the school is suggested by the membership of the school board,
which included the English designer and socialist Will iam Morris,
the Russian anarchist Prince Peter Kropotkin and I talian revolution
ary Errico Malatesta. The school prospectus included a statement by
the Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin:
All rational education is at bottom nothing but the progressive
immol ation of authority for the benefit of libery, the final obj ect
of education necessarily being the formation of free men full
of respect and l ove for the liberty of others.
The school promoted "rational and integral education": no subj ects
were compulsory, teaching was in small groups and students were
encouraged to think for themselves. However, the school was closed
in 1 892 after the police claimed they had found bomb-making
equipment in the basement.
On November 1 3, 1895, Michel returned to Paris to a massive
welcome rally at Saint-Lazare station, and resumed her speaking
tours around France in support of anarchist and workers' causes. For
the next 10 years, ignoring poor health, she continued to travel
between London, Paris, Edinburgh and other European capitals to
preach the gospel of rebellion.
Traveling anarchist
Although widely respected, as a woman she did not command the
same authority in revolutionary circles as leaders like Blanqui, Krop
otkin and Marx. But Michel continued to play a significant role in the
debates of the late 1 9th century between anarchists, socialists and
communists over the best way to create revolution.
In July 1 881 , Louise Michel attended the International Congress
of Workers and Syndicalists in Britain. The meeting was organized
by the anarchist leader Peter Kropotkin, who hoped to create an
anarchist "Black International" to match Karl Marx's communist First
International. Michel traveled to London as a representative of
French anarchist groups, j oining delegates from Europe, the United
States, Mexico, Russia and beyond. The congress, however, was a
failure, and a second attempt - the Second International Congress
of 1896 - saw a lasting rupture between Marxist social democrats
and anarchists.
Afer being arrested in Belgium and expelled from the country in
September 1 897, Michel continued to travel between Paris and
London from 1898 to 1 900, attending conferences and editing her
writings on the Paris Commune.
In exile, she played a public role in supporting trade unionists,
anarchists and democrats facing police repression. Police archives
record her speaking at Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square in
support of radicals imprisoned and tortured in Spain. She cam
paigned in London alongside British labor leader Tom Mann, and
anarchists Kropotkin, Malatesta and Emma Goldman in support of
the Haymarket martyrs (executed afer a bomb killed policemen in
Chicago, United States, at a protest for the eight-hour day on May
1 , 1886). In December 1 899, Michel appeared again in London with
Goldman and Kropotkin, at a "Grand Meeting and Concert for the
|n|mJuc||cn 23
Benefit of the Agitation in Favor of the Pol itical Victims in Ital y." She
al so condemned the anti-Semitism of the right, as she fol l owed the
campaign for Captain Al fred Dreyfus, a French Army officer fal sel y
accused of treason and jail ed on the penal col ony of Devil 's Isl and.
Stricken with pneumonia at age 71,she nearl y di ed, but returned
to France from London on May 15,1902,to conti nue a series of pub
lic meeti ngs.
Throughout 1903, she toured France with the young anarchist
journalist Ernest Giraul t, until she returned to London on October 27,
1903, ill once again. A second tour of publ ic meeti ngs with Giraul t
starting i n February 1904 was cut short i n Toul on on March 20
because of her i l l heal th. In May, Louise drafed her wil l , leaving her
few possessions to her comrade Charlotte Vauvel l e, and aski ng to
be buried beside her mother, without rel i gious ceremony, at the
Leval l ois-Perret cemetery. T hat month , she started her speaki ng
tours again, but the tol l on her heal th was too great.
Afer visiti ng Al geria in l ate 1904, she arrived exhausted in the
southern French city of Marseil l es - where she died on January 9,
1905, aged 74.
Posters t hroughout the capital announced: "People of Pari s,
Louise Michel i s dead." The Paris Police Commi ssi oner mobil ized
nearl y 10,000 pol ice for her funeral . Her cofin was transported from
Marseil l es to Paris and on January 22,1905,a procession of 120,000
peopl e fol l owed her cofin from the Gare de Lyon station in Paris to
the Leval l ois-Perret cemetery.
That day, the czar's troops fired on demonstrators in front of t he
Winter Pal ace i n S1. Petersburg , Russia - the precu rsor to t he
Russi an Revol ution. Louise Mi chel 's l egacy lives on.
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You days, you nigts, you cares, your tears gven to al.
Your forgetg of yourself t aid oters
You words which resemble the flames of the apostes;
Those who know the roof without fre, without a, witout
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Te bd of webbing with the fr tble
Your goodness, your prde a a woman of the people.
Te acrid emoton which sleeps bneath your anger.
Your long look of hate at althe iuman people
And te feet of the chldren warmed by your hands:
Tose people, woman, facing your tmid majest
Meditated, and despite the bitter fold of your mouth
Despite the one who cd and hounded you
Who hurled at you the undigned cries of te lw
Despite your high, fatal voice with whch you accused yoursel
They saw te agel's splendor byond the medua.
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For, puny like tose who lve down there,
Nothig bers tem more t to conctng souls,
T te dv chaos of str t
Seat te dept of a gat inlement heart,
T t rdto se i a bl.
Dmber 1 8, 1 871
(Trns. -oie Ma)
chapter one: Early Lie
Growing up in the northeastern region of Haute-Marne, Louise Michel 's
radical vision grew out of her experiences in the countryside. In her
Memoirs, written in prison in the 1880s, she looks back on her youth,
considering her anger at the mistreatment of animals and rrl peasants
as sources of her rebellion.
Wen she moved to Paris in the early 1850s, Louise Michel began to
meet more of the impoverished members of the city. In her poetr, she started
to record her pity for the underclass, and her anger at the wealthy.
Louise Michel
Sources of rebel l i on
Above everything else, I am taken by the revolution. I t had to be that
way. The wind that blew through the ruin where I was born, the old
people who brought me up, the solitude and freedom of my child
hood, the legends of the Haute-Marne, the scraps of knowledge
gleaned from here and there - all that opened my ear to every
harmony, my spirit to every illumination, my hear to both love and
hate. Everything intermingled in a single song, a single dream, a
single love: the revolution.
As far back as I can remember, the origin of my revolt against the
powerul was my horror at the tortures inflicted on animals. I used
to wish animals could get revenge, that the dog could bite the man
who was mercilessly beating him, that the horse bleeding under the
whip could throw of the man tormenting him. But mute animals
always submit to their fate . . .
Animals always submit, and the more ferocious a man i s toward
animals, the more that man cringes before the people who dominate
him ...
My evenings in the village added to the feeling of revolt that I
have felt time and time again. The peasants sow and harvest the
grain, but they do not always have bread. One woman told me how
during a bad year - that is what they call a year when the mono
polists starve the country - neither she, nor her husband, nor their
four children were able to eat every day. Owning only the clothes on
their backs, they had nothing more to sell. Merchants who had grain
gave them no more credit, not even a few oats to make a little bread,
and two of their children died, they believed, from hunger.
"You have to submit, " she said to me. " Everybody can't eat bread
every day."
early lie 29
Her husband had wanted to ki l l the man who had refused them
credi t at 1 00 percent i nterest whi l e t hei r chi l dren were dyi ng, but
she stopped hi m. The two chi l dren who managed to survi ve ul ti
matel y went to work for the man whom her husband wanted to ki l l .
The usurer gave them hardly any wages, but poor peopl e, she sai d,
"shoul d submi t to that whi ch they cannot prevent. "
Her manner was cal m when she tol d me that story. I had gone
hot-eyed wi th rage, and I sai d t o her, "You shoul d have l et your
husband do what he wanted t o do. He was ri ght. "
I coul d i magi ne the poor l i ttl e ones dyi ng of hunger. She had
made that pi cture of mi sery so di st ressi ng that I coul d feel i t mysel f.
I saw the h usband i n hi s torn shi rt, hi s wooden shoes chafi ng hi s
bare feet, goi ng to beg at the evi l usurer's and returni ng sadl y over
the frozen roads wi th not hi ng. I saw hi m shaki ng hi s fi sts threat
eni ngl y when hi s l i ttl e ones were l yi ng dead on a handful of straw.
I saw hi s wi fe stoppi ng hi m from avengi ng hi s own chi l dren and
others. I saw the two survi vi ng chi l dren growi ng up with t hi s memory,
and then goi ng of to work for that man: the cowards.
I thought that i f t hat usurer had come i nto the vi l l age at that
moment I woul d have l eaped at hi s t hroat to bi te i t, and I tol d her
that. I was i ndi gnant at her bel i evi ng everybody coul dn't have food
every day. Such stupi di ty bewi l dered me. "You mustn' t tal k l i ke that,
l i ttl e one, " the woman sai d. "I t makes God cry."
Have you ever seen sheep l i f thei r throats to the kni fe? That
woman had the mi nd of a ewe . . .
Somethi ng more than chari ty was necessary i f each person was
al ways to have somethi ng to eat. As for the ri ch, I had l i ttl e respect
for them. I know the ful l real i ty of heavy work on the land. I know the
woes of the peasant. He i s i ncessantl y bent over l and that i s as
harsh as a stepmother. For hi s l abor al l he gets i s l eftovers from hi s
master, and he can get even l ess comfort from thought and dreams
than we can . Heavy work bends both men and oxen over the
furrows, keepi ng the sl aughterhouse for worn-out beasts and the
beggar's sack for worn-out humans.
30 louise michel rebel li ves
The l and. That word i s at the very bottom of my l i fe. I t was i n the
t hi ck, i l l ustrated Roman hi story from whi ch my whol e fami l y on both
si des had l earned how to read . My grandmother had taught me to
read from it, poi nti ng out the l etters with her l arge kni tti ng needl e.
Reared i n t he country, I understood t he agrari an revolts of ol d Rome,
and I shed many tears on the pages of that book. The death of the
Greeks oppressed me then as much as the gal l ows of Russi a di d
l ater.
How mi sl eadi ng are these texts about the happi ness of the fi el ds.
The descri pti ons of nature are t rue, but the descri pti on of the happi
ness of workers i n the fi el ds i s a l i e. Peopl e who know no better gaze
at the flowers of the fi el ds and the beauti ful fresh grass and bel i eve
that the chi l dren who watch over the l i vestock pl ay there. The l i ttl e
ones want grass onl y to stretch out i n and sl eep a l i ttl e at noon. The
shadow of the woods, the yel l owi ng crops that the wi nd moves l i ke
waves -the peasant i s too ti red to fi nd them beauti ful .
Hi s work i s heavy, hi s day i s l ong but he resi gns hi msel f, he
al ways resi gns hi msel f, for hi s wi l l i s broken. Man i s overworked l i ke
a beast. He is hal f dead and works for hi s expl oi ter wi thout t hi nki ng.
No peasants get ri ch by worki ng the l and; t hey onl y make money for
peopl e who al ready have too much . Many men have tol d me, i n
words that echoed what t he woman tol d me at t he vi l l age: "You must
not say that, l i ttl e one. It ofends God. " That' s what they sai d to me
when I tol d them that everyone has a ri ght to everythi ng there i s on
earh.
My pi ty for everythi ng that suffers went far - more perhaps for
the si l ent beast than for man. My revol t agai nst soci al i nequal i ti es
went furher. I t grew, and i t has conti nued to grow, through the battl es
and across the carnage. I t domi nates my gri ef, and i t domi nates my
l i fe. There was no way t hat I coul d have stopped mysel f from
t hrowi ng my l i fe to the revol uti on.
From: The Red Virgin - Memoirs of Louise Michel
Louise Michel
Pom
I have seen criminals and whores
And spoken with them. Now I inquire
If you believe them, made as now they are
To drag their rags in blood and mire
Preordained, an evil race?
You to whom all men are prey
Have made them what they are today.
Louise Michel
Letter to Victor Hugo
In 1851, Louise Michel traveled briefy to Paris with her mother. During
this visit, she met the fmous writer Victor Hugo, author ofTe Huchback
of Notre Dame and Les Miserables, forming a lietime fiendship. On her
retur to the province ofHaute-Mrne, she sent him numerous poems and
letters.
Yesterday I lef the old chateau at Vroncourt, maybe never to see it
again. At present, I' m far from my mother and in a small boarding
school where I 'm preparing to take an examination in August which
will allow me to teach.
Courage ofen fails me. I want to confess to you, brother, you who
understands all the tortures facing a small child, with all afection
and illusions shattered. All my life is passing before my eyes as if
in a dream, and I dare not look toward the future.
Allow me to open my soul to you. You are good and great like
God - Hugo, please give me a word of hope and maybe I will
bel ieve again in good fortune . . .
My thoughts drift in the gloom, and I need a powerful voice to say:
" Let there be light! " and cast away these shadows. Write me a few
lines, so that I can find some courage again, as my strength comes
from God and from you, brother. . .
Louise Michel,
Madame Beth' s Boarding School
Chaumont en Bassigny,
Haute-Marne, 1 851 .
Xavi ere Gauthi er (ed) , Louise Michel,
je vous ecris de ra nuit. (Trans. -Ed. )
chapter to: Seizing the Guns
Te famous incident that sparked the Paris Commune was an attempt by
the conservative government in Versailles to seize the cannon held by the
republican National Guard in Paris. Before dawn on March 18, 1871, the
Versailles Government sent 4,000 troops to seize the guns. Louise Michel's
Memoirs tell how she helped rally women to stop the troops fom dragging
them away.
Tese events were drmatized in the last fll-length play written by
famous German playwright Bertolt Brecht. As an anti-Nazi refgee living
in the United States, Brecht was named as a subversive afer World War
I. Afer giving evidence to the House Un-American Activities Committee,
where he denied being a member of the U. S. Communist Party, he left the
United States for East Germany. In 1949, Brecht founded the Berliner
Ensemble, which became the countr's foremost theater company. He wrote
only one new play before his death in 1956: Die Tage der Commune (Te
Days of the Commune).
Louise Michel
Seizi ng the guns
Faced with surrender to the Prussian Army, the Commune and
popular associations mobilized to take power on March 1 8, 1 87 1 .
The cannon paid for by the Nat ional Guard had been l eft on
some vacant land in t he middle of the zone abandoned by the
Prussians. Paris objected to that, and the cannon were taken to the
Parc Wagram. The idea was in the air that each battalion should
recapture its own cannon. A battalion of the National Guard from the
sixth arrondissement gave us our impetus. With the flag in front, men
and women and children hauled t he cannon by hand down the
boul evards, and although t he cannon were loaded, no accidents
occurred. Montmartre, like Belleville and Batignolles, had its own
cannon . Those that had been placed in the Place des Vosges were
moved to the faubourg Saint Antoine. Some sailors proposed our
recapturing the Prussian-occupied forts around the city by boarding
them l ike ships, and this idea intoxicated us.
Then before dawn on March 1 8, the Versailles reactionaries sent
in troops to seize the cannon now held by the National Guard. One
of the points they moved toward was the Butte of Montmartre, where
our cannon had been taken. The soldiers of the reactionaries captur
ed our artillery by surprise, but they were unable to haul them away
as they had intended, because they had neglected to bring horses
with them.
Learning that the Versailles soldiers were trying to seize the
cannon, men and women of Montmartre swarmed up the Butte in a
surprise maneuver. Those people who were climbing believed they
woul d die, but they were prepared to pay the price.
The Butte of Montmartre was bathed in the first light of day,
through which things were glimpsed as if they were hidden behind
seizing the guns 35
a thin veil of water. Gradually the crowd increased. The other distri cts
of Paris, hearing of the events taking pl ace on the Butte of Mont
martre, came to our assistance.
The women of Paris covered the cannon with their bodies. When
their oficers ordered the sol diers to fire, the men refused. The same
army that would be used to crush Paris two months later decided
now that it did not want to be an accompl i ce of the reaction. They
gave up their attempt to seize the cannon from the National Guard.
They understood that the people were defending the republ ic by def
ending the arms that the royal ists and imperialists would have turned
on Paris i n agreement wi th the Prussians. When we had won our
victory, I looked around and noticed my poor mother, who had fol l ow
ed me to the Butte of Montmartre, bel ieving that I was going to die.
On this day, March 1 8, the people wakened. If they had not, it
woul d have been the triumph of some king; instead it was a triumph
of the people. March 1 8 could have belonged to the all ies of kings,
or t o foreigners, or t o the people. It was the peopl e' s . . .
From: Loui se Mi chel , Memoires. (Trans. -Ed. )
Louise Michel
Open l etter defendi ng the seizi ng
of the guns i n Montmarre
Ater Louise Michel led the women of Montmartre to protect cannon
deployed on the hi l l overlooking Paris, Versailles leader Adolphe Tiers told
the newspapers that the cannon belong to the state and not the people.
Lou ise Michel wrote an open letter in protest.
Protest from the citizens of Montmartre:
Will we be betrayed in the end? No, Montmartre has not asked to
be disarmed!
Our fathers, brothers, husbands are as indignant as we are read
ing these things in the papers. But if the men were to give back
these cannon placed on the Butte of Montmartre to defend the rep
ubli c, we women citizens would defend them to the death, j ust as
we wi l l defend to the l ast ramparts the violated honor of our nation
whi ch has been betrayed.
Long live the republ ic!
For the citizens of Montmartre,
The secretary, Louise Michel .
Bertolt Brecht
The Days of the Commune
Montmartre, March 18, 1871
Six o'clock in the moring. It is getting light. The blinds of the baker
are raised. A window shutter is opened. In some houses lights ar
switched on. Two women crss the square. Before they enter the
shop they see the soldiers arund the gun.
1 st WOMAN: What does he think he's doing with the gun?
4th WOMAN: That's Phi ll i ppe. He used t o work i n the baker's here.
You've come back j ust in time, Phillippe. The bakery opened up
agai n yesterday.
PHI LLI PPE: Take it easy, I haven't come to visit the boss.
1 st WOMAN: What are all that lot doing wi th him?
4th WOMAN: He's led them here because he knows the di stri ct.
1 st WOMAN: What are you trying to do with that gun?
PHI LLI PPE: Clear off. I t's none of your business. We're taking it to
Versailles. By order.
1 st WOMAN: You wouldn't dare. You wouldn't dare lay a hand on
that gun, you shitehawk.
PHI LLIPPE: Come on l adi es, less of i t. Clear of.
1 st WOMAN: Jean Cabet!
4th WOMAN: Jean!
1 st WOMAN: They're tryi ng to pi nch the gun.
PHILLI PPE: Shut up. You'l l wake up the whole street.
4th and 1 st WOMEN: Jean, Jean, they're trying to run of with the
gun! !
PHI LLI PPE: That's dropped us ri ght in it. Where's the bloody
horses?
38 louise michel re be I I i v es
Jean runs frm the house in trusers and shir.
J EAN: What's the matter? ( Two soldiers grab him. )
He recognizes Phillippe and cals to the house.
J EAN: Frangois, your brother's working for Thiers.
Franrois comes out of the house putting his spectacles on.
J EAN: They're trying to snatch the gun.
FRAN<OI S: You leave the gun alone. It doesn't belong to you.
PHI LLIPPE (laughing): Since when were you in the National
Guard?
FRAN<OI S: The seminar shut down. Keep your thieving hands off
that gun.
Franrois is jumped by the other soldiers.
FRAN<OIS: Get of me.
PHI LLI PPE: Take it easy kidder.
J EAN: Somebody run and beat the drums.
PHI LLI PPE: You're wasting your time. We slashed the drums as a
precaution.
FRAN<OI S: They've covered the whole district.
PHI LLI PPE: Shhuussh.
1 st SOLDI ER: Shut up.
FRAN<OIS: The church bells.
J EAN: You bastards.
(He breaks away and gets clear of the soldier. One aims his rife
at him.)
PHI LLI PPE: Don't shoot, or we'll have the whole lot of them down
on top of us.
1 st SOLDI ER: If the horses don't come in a minute we'll be sunk in
any case.
The women retur. By and by the square fil s up with women. Tey
block the exits. One woman goes up to the soldiers with a piece of
bread and ofers it. The 2nd soldier takes it.
seizing the guns 39
2nd SOLDI ER: I wi sh they'd get a bloody move on wi th thei r
horses.
5t h WOMAN: We've got whi te bread here. All you get with Thi ers i s
bellyache.
GENEVIEVE: We got thi s bread from Thi ers. He robbed you to pay
us, so you can take it wi th a clear consci ence.
2nd WOMAN: Now I can see why we got the whi te bread. He wants
a strai ght swap. Guns for bread. He must think we're daf.
5t h WOMAN: Where're you from son?
2nd SOLDI ER: From the Auvergne.
5t h WOMAN: Ah, from the Auvergne. A farm yacker?
GENEVI EVE: A peasant.
BABETTE: I bet they sent you here wi thout your breakfast, didn't
they?
1 st SOLDIER: They di dn't thi nk we'd be out long.
BABETTE: We got the whi te bread and you go hungry.
1 st WOMAN: Have a sup of thi s, lad. Now then, what is there
around here that could i nterest a young lad li ke you?
3rd SOLDIER: Eh! Don't tear us to bi ts. Leave us in one pi ece.
PHI LLIPPE: Now come on ladi es, you are hindering me i n the
executi on of my duty.
GENEVI EVE: Get i nsi de Franyoi s. We can handle this without
bloodshed.
FRANCOIS: Be careful, Genevi eve.
3rd SOLDIER: The war's over. All we want t o do i s go home.
5t h WOMAN: Come home wi th me.
2nd SOLDIER: Thi s is seedi ng t i me, but you don't think of this do
you -you town people.
4t h WOMAN: They ought to be ashamed of themselves, setti ng on
women and then dodgi ng t hei r duty!
6t h WOMAN: Look at t hem shi veri ng. The only thing they' ll get sti f
wi th i s cold. Come over here lad, a bi t closer to the fire.
5t h WOMAN: There are better games to play than soldiers.
1 st WOMAN: Let's stop the fi ght i ng. How good are you at drilling?
Stand to attention. Ri ght. To the front salute.
PHI LLI PPE: Quiet , quiet, quiet.
OFFI CER (frm the rear) : The horse teams can't get through. The
guns will have to be manhandled. Anyone who resists is to be shot
out of hand. That's an order from General Lecomte.
PHI LLI PPE: Go on, pick up the traces. (To the women.) Shi f.
6th WOMAN: Are you going to fight agai nst us j ust because your
lousy general tells you to?
PHI LLI PPE: Shove off.
GENEVI EVE: You won't take the guns away, you wretches. We'll
throw ourselves under the wheels.
PHI LLI PPE: The first one who gets in the way will be shot.
The soldiers struggle to inch the gun forar.
6th WOMAN: Are you going to massacre the lot of us?
Genevieve thrws herself in frnt of the gun.
BABETTE: Genevieve!
PHI LLI PPE (to the women) : Get away or I 'll fire.
Framois comes out of the house with a rife.
FRANvOI S: Get out of the road , Phi llippe.
PHI LLI PPE: Give me that rifle kidder.
BABETTE: Shoot him down. (She repeats this three or four times.)
GENEVI EVE (steps between them) : No bloodshed .
BABETTE: Keep out of it Genevieve.
PHI LLI PPE (aiming) : Drop t hat gun, ki d.
FRANvOIS: You make one move and I 'll shoot. Our Father, which
ar in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name . . .
6th WOMAN: What's this baker's boy? Are you going to shoot down
your own brother because General Lecomte t ells you to.
5th WOMAN: Cain!
PHI LLI PPE: I 'm going to count up to three. One . . .
GENEVI EVE: Franois, don't shoot. We are i n the ri ght.
FRANvOI S: Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is
seizing the guns 41
in Heaven. (Getting louder.) Give us this day our daily bread . . .
PHI LLI PPE: Two . . .
FRANQOIS: And forgive us our trespasses . ..
The window opens and Mme Gabet looks out.
MME GABET: Phillippe, put that rifle down at once. How can you
think of such things. Shooting your own brother and him a student
of physics. The government wants peace and order. .. I stick to it
and you can damn well do the same. But then you can't even read,
I don't suppose you even know what the government wants.
BAKER' S WI FE: Yes, Madame Gabet, peace and order. An end to
all this shooting. Let's get rid of the gun.
1 st WOMAN: It's our gun.
BAKER' S WI FE: That's not true. The gun belongs to the National
Guard, damn them for heathen troublemakers. I sn't that so?
Phillippe, if you don' t get that gun away from here I 'm not having
you back in my bakery. So get on with it.
Mme Gabet shuts the window, she comes down stairs. Phillippe gets
his men working on the gun. Mme Gabet leaves the house, pushes
the soldiers of the gun and puts her hand on it.
MME GABET: The gun belongs to me.
BAKER' S WI FE: What?
GENEVI EVE: It's true. Madame Gabet raised the money for it. But
you, Madame Poulard never gave a sou. (To the soldiers.) The gun
belongs to Madame Gabet j ust as her pots and pans do. You can't
have it.
PHI LLI PPE: Oh come on. Let's talk sense.
BAKER' S WI FE: This is treachery.
BABETTE: Paying back treachery in its own coin.
BAKER' S WI FE: You're sacked.
Laughter. The door shuts.
1 st WOMAN: You can stuf your mouldy bread.
5th WOMAN: They can't expect you to shoot your own brother.
PHILLI PPE: I ' m not a baker and I ' m not a brother, ladies, I' m doi ng
my duty.
GENEVIEVE (to the other soldiers): And the rest of you . . . ? What
are you going to do with your guns?
2nd SOLDI ER: Shit, we shouldn' t have to do this . . .
Arund the gun upon which Mme Cabet is sitting a thick crwd has
colected, Papa and Coco come running with fixed bayonets. Noise
comes frm everwhere.
PAPA: Get away from the gun.
MME CABET: Good morni ng.
PAPA: Morning.
COCO: Morni ng.
BABETTE: This i s Madame Cabel' s gun.
PAPA: So I see.
COCO: I can hardly bel ieve i t.
PAPA: Long live Madame Cabet, sole owner of the gun in the Rue
Pigall e. What's up with him?
PHILLIPPE: I t' s not our fault they di dn' t send us horses. We can' t
push our way through these women.
Laughter frm the women.
PAPA: You see, fine words. Turn bayonets. Hold onto them. Take
them to your hearts where they can' t do any harm.
Langevin enters.
BABETTE: Uncle Pi erre.
PAPA: Where have you come from?
LANGEVIN (confidentially) : Straight from General Lecomte. He
gave the order for two of us to be shot i n the Rue Lepi c, but his
men turned on him and arrested hi m. I' ve been released and I
came straight here.
PAPA: Lecomte. We know all about that pi g. He' s got to answer for
t he January killings. Where is he now?
LANGEVI N : They took him to the guard post.
seizing the guns 43
PAPA: We' ve got to get there qui ck. I f he i sn' t i n our hands i n fi ve
mi nutes they' l l l et hi m escape.
COCO: Cal m down Papa.
PAPA: Cal m down . . . Me. Thi s i s a matter of l i fe and death and you
tel l me to cal m down . . .
LANGEVI N: The Central Commi ttee wi l l be meeti ng thi s eveni ng.
GENEVI EVE: We won' t pay back ki l l i ng wi th ki l l i ng.
PAPA: No Mademoi sel l e, we' l l l et t hem sl aughter us l i ke we di d i n
January. (He rushes of)
LANGEVI N: The general wi l l be tried in a court of l aw, brother.
PAPA: We are the l aw.
LANGEVI N: Let' s barri cade the streets. They mi ght attack us at any
ti me.
MME CABET: Perhaps someone wi l l gi ve me a hand down?
From: Bertol t Brecht, The Days of the Commune
(London: Eyre Metheun, 1 978).
chapter three: Pars Enraged
Following the failure of Versailles to seize the guns defending Paris,
elections were held for a new administration in the city of Paris. In later
years, the Paris Commune served as a model for socialists and rdicls across
Europe.
On the 20th anniversar of the crushing of the Commune, Karl Marx's
collaborator Friedrich Engels wrote about the histor of the Commune.
From September 1870, Paris was besieged by Prussian troops. During
the winter of 1870, there was increasing starvation and hardship among
working people in the capital. In her Memoirs, Louise Michel describes her
participation in the creation of local associations in the working-class suburb
of Montmartre, and her role in the defense of the Commune.
Fredrch Engels
Hi stor of the Commune
The necessary consequence was the Paris Revolution of Septem
ber 4, 1 870. The empire collapsed like a house of cards, and the
republic was again proclaimed. But the enemy was standing at the
gates; the armies of the empire were either hopelessly encircled at
Metz or held captive in Germany. In this emergency the people al
lowed the Paris deputies to the former legislative body to constitute
themselves into a " Government of National Defense." This was the
more readily conceded, since, for the purposes of defense, all
Parisians capable of bearing arms had enrolled in the National
Guard and were armed, so that now the workers constituted a great
majority. But very soon the antagonism between the almost com
pletely bourgeois government and the armed proletariat broke into
open conflict. On October 31 , workers' battalions stormed the town
hall and captured part of the membership of the government. Treach
ery, the government's direct breach of its undertakings, and the
intervention of some petty-bourgeois battalions set them free again,
and in order not to occasion the outbreak of civil war inside a city
besieged by a foreign military power, the former government was lef
in office.
At last , on January 28, 1 871 , starved Paris capitulated. But with
honors unprecedented in the history of war. The forts were surren
dered, the city wall stripped of guns, the weapons of the regiments
of the line and of the Mobile Guard were handed over, and they
themselves considered prisoners of war. But the National Guard
kept its weapons and guns, and only entered into an armistice with
the victors. And these did not dare enter Paris in triumph. They only
dared to occupy a tiny corner of Paris, which, into the bargain, con
sisted partly of public parks, and even this they only occupied for a
few days! And during this time they, who had maintained their en
circlement of Paris for 1 31 days, were themselves encircled by the
armed workers of Paris, who kept a sharp watch that no "Prussian"
should overstep the narrow bounds of the corner ceded to the
foreign conqueror. Such was the respect which the Paris workers
inspired in the army before which all the armies of the empire had
laid down their arms; and the Prussian Junkers, who had come to
take revenge at the home of the revolution, were compelled to stand
by respectfully, and salute precisely this armed revolution!
During the war the Paris workers had confined themselves to
demanding the vigorous prosecution of the fight. But now, when
peace had come after the capitulation of Paris, now Thiers, the new
supreme head of the government, was compelled to realize that the
rule of the propertied classes - big landowners and capitalists -
was in constant danger so long as the workers of Paris had arms
in their hands. His first action was an attempt to disarm them. On
March 1 8, he sent troops of the line with orders to rob the National
Guard of the artillery belonging to it, which had been constructed
during the siege of Paris and had been paid for by public subscrip
tion. The attempt failed; Paris mobilized as one man for resistance,
and war between Paris and the French Government sitting at Ver
sai l l es was declared. On March 26 the Paris Commune was elected
and on March 28 it was proclaimed. The Central Committee of the
National Guard, which up to then had carried on the government,
handed in its resignation to the Commune afer it had first decreed
the abolition of the scandalous Paris "Morality Police." On March 30,
the Commune abolished conscription and the standing army, and
declared the sole armed force to be the National Guard, in which all
citizens capable of bearing arms were to be enrolled. It remitted all
payments of rent for dwelling houses from October 1 870 until April,
the amounts already paid to be booked as future rent payments, and
stopped all sales of articles pledged in the municipal loan office. On
the same day the foreigners elected to the Commune were con-
paris e raged 47
fi rmed in ofi ce, because "the fl ag of the Commune is the fl ag of the
Worl d Republ i c. " On Apri l 1 , i t was deci ded that the hi ghest sal ary
to be recei ved by any empl oyee of the Commune, and therefore al so
by its members themsel ves, was not to exceed 6, 000 francs (4, 800
marks) . On the fol l owi ng day the Commune decreed the separati on
of the church from the state, and the abol i ti on of al l state payments
for rel i gi ous purposes as wel l as t he transformati on of al l church
property i nto nati onal property; as a resul t of whi ch, on Apri l 8, the
excl usi on from the school s of al l rel i gi ous symbol s, pi ct ures, dog
mas, prayers - in a word, "of al l that bel ongs to the sphere of the
i ndi vi dual ' s consci ence" - was ordered and gradual l y put i nto
efect.
On Apri l 5, i n repl y to the shooti ng, day afer day, of captured
Commune fi ghters by the Versai l l es troops, a decree was i ssued for
the i mpri sonment of hostages, but it was never carri ed i nto exe
cuti on. On Apri l 6, the gui l l oti ne was brought out by the 1 37th bat
tal i on of the Nati onal Guard, and publ i cl y burnt, ami d great popul ar
rej oi ci n g. On Apr i l 1 2, the Commune deci ded t hat t he Vi ctory
Col umn on t he Pl ace Vendome, whi ch had been cast from captured
guns by Napol eon afer the war of 1 809, shoul d be demol i shed as
a symbol of chauvi ni sm and i nci tement to nati onal hatred. Thi s was
carri ed out on May 1 6. On Apri l 1 6, i t ordered a stati sti cal tabul ati on
of factori es whi ch had been cl osed down by the manufacturers, and
the worki ng out of pl ans for the operati on of these factori es by the
workers formerl y empl oyed i n them, who were to be organi zed i n
cooperati ve soci eti es, and al so pl ans for the organi zati on of these
cooperati ves i nto one great uni on. On Apri l 20, i t abol i shed ni ght
work for bakers, and al so the empl oyment ofi ces, whi ch si nce the
Second Empi re had been run as a monopol y by creatures appoi n
ted by the pol i ce-l abor expl oi ters of the fi rst rank; these ofi ces were
transferred to the mayoral ti es of the 20 arrondi ssements of Pari s. On
Apri l 30, i t ordered the cl osi ng of the pawnshops, on the ground that
they were a pri vate expl oi tati on of the workers, and were i n contra
di cti on wi th the ri ght of the workers to thei r i nstruments of l abor and
48 louise michel rebel l i ves
to credi t. On May 5, it ordered the razi ng of the Chapel of Atonement,
whi ch had been bui l t i n expi ati on of the executi on of Loui s XVI .
Thus from March 1 8 onwards the cl ass character of the Pari s
movement, whi ch had previ ousl y been pushed i nto the background
by t he fi ght agai nst t he forei gn i nvaders, emerged sharpl y and
cl earl y. As al most onl y workers, or recogni zed representati ves of the
workers, sat i n the Commune, i ts deci si ons bore a deci dedl y prol e
tari an character. Ei ther these deci si ons decreed reforms whi ch the
republ i can bourgeoi si e had fai l ed to pass sol el y out of cowardi ce,
but whi ch provi ded a necessary basi s for t he free acti vi ty of the
wor ki ng cl ass - such as t he real i zati on of the pr i nCi pl e that in
relation to the state, rel i gi on is a purel y pri vate matter -or the Com
mune promul gated decrees whi ch were i n the di rect i nterest of the
worki ng cl ass and i n part cut deepl y i nto the ol d order of soci ety. I n
a bel eaguered ci ty, however, i t was possi bl e t o make at most a start
i n the real i zati on of al l thi s. And from the begi nni ng of May onwards
al l thei r energi es were taken up by the fi ght agai nst the armi es
assembl ed by the Versai l l es Government i n ever-growi ng numbers.
On Apri l 7, the Versai l l es troops had captured the Sei ne crossi ng
at Neui l l y, on the western front of Pari s; on t he other hand, i n an
attack on the southern front on Apri l 1 1 t hey were repul sed wi th
heavy l osses by General Eudes. Pari s was conti nual l y bombarded
and, moreover, by the very peopl e who had sti gmati zed as a sac
ri l ege the bombardment of the same ci ty by the Prussi ans. These
same peopl e now begged the Prussi an Government for the hasty
return of the French sol di ers taken pri soner at Sedan and Metz, i n
order that t hey mi ght recapture Pari s for them. From t he begi nni ng
of May t he gradual arri val of these troops gave t he Versai l l es forces
a deci ded superi ority. Thi s al ready became evi dent when, on Apri l
23, Thi ers broke of the negoti ati ons for the exchange, proposed by
the Commune of the Archbi shop of Pari s and a whol e number of
other pri ests hel d as hostages i n Pari s, for onl y one man, Bl anqui ,
who had twice been el ected t o t he Commune but was a pri soner i n
paris mraged 49
Cl ai rvaux. And even more from the changed l anguage of Thi ers;
previ ousl y procrasti nati ng and equi vocal , he now suddenl y became
i nsol ent, threateni ng, brutal .
The Versai l l es forces took the redoubt of Moul i n Saquet on the
southern front on May 3; on May 9, Fort I ssy, whi ch had been com
pl etel y reduced to rui ns by gunfi re; on May 1 4, Fort Vanves. On the
western front they advanced gradual l y, capturi ng the n umerous
vi l l ages and bui l di ngs whi ch extended up to the city wal l , unti l they
reached the mai n defenses; on May 21 , thanks to treachery and the
carel essness of the Nati onal Guards stat i oned there, t hey suc
ceeded i n forci ng thei r way i nto the ci ty. The Prussi ans, who hel d the
northern and eastern forts, al l owed the Versai l l es troops to advance
across the l and north of the city, whi ch was forbi dden ground to them
under the armi sti ce, and thus to march forward, attacki ng on a wi de
front, whi ch the Pari si ans natural l y thought covered by the armi sti ce,
and therefore hel d onl y weakl y. As a resul t of t hi s, onl y a weak
resi stance was put up i n the western hal f of Pari s, i n the l uxury ci ty
proper; it grew stronger and more tenaci ous the nearer the i ncomi ng
troops approached the eastern hal f, the worki ng-cl ass ci ty proper.
It was onl y after ei ght days' fi ghti ng that the l ast defenders of the
Commune succumbed on the hei ghts of Bel l evi l l e and Meni l montant;
and then the massacre of defensel ess men, women and chi l dren,
whi ch had been ragi ng al l through t he week on an i ncreasi ng scal e,
reached i ts zeni th. The breechl oaders coul d no l onger ki l l fast
enough; the vanqui shed were shot down i n hundreds by mitraileuse
fi re. The "Wal l of the Federal s" at the Pere Lachai se cemetery, where
the fi nal mass murder was consummated, is sti l l standi ng today, a
mute but el oquent testi mony to the frenzy of whi ch the rul i ng cl ass
i s capabl e as soon as the worki ng cl ass dares to stand up for i ts
ri ghts. Then, when the sl aughter of them al l proved to be i mpossi bl e,
came the mass arrests, the shooti ng of vi cti ms arbitrari l y sel ected
from the pri soners' ranks, and the removal of the rest to g reat camps
where they awai ted tri al by cou rts- marti al . The Prussi an troops
50 louise michel rebel li ves
surroundi ng the northeastern hal f of Pari s had orders not to al low
any fugi ti ves to pass; but the ofi cers ofen shut thei r eyes when the
sol di ers pai d more obedi ence to the di ctates of humani ty than to
those of t he Supreme Command; parti cul ar honor is due to t he
Saxon army corps, whi ch behaved very humanel y and l et through
many who were obvi ousl y fi ghters for the Commune.
From: Fri edri ch Engel s, "I ntroducti on" t o The Civil War in France.
Louise Michel
life duri ng the Commune
I n Mont mart re, i n t he 1 8t h arrondi ssement , we organi zed t he
Montmartre Vigi l ance Committee. Few of i t s members sti l l suri ve,
but duri ng the si ege the committee made the reacti onari es trembl e.
Every eveni ng, we woul d burst out onto the streets from our head
quarters, someti mes si mpl y to tal k up the revol uti on, because the
ti me for dupl i ci ty had passed. We knew how l i ttle the reacti onary
regi me, in its death throes, val ued its promi ses and the l i ves of its
ci ti zens, and the peopl e had to be warned.
Actua"y there were two vi gi l ance committees in Montmartre, the
men' s and the women' s. Al though I presi ded over t he women' s
committee, I was always at the men' s, because i ts members i ncl uded
some Russi an revol uti onari es.
I sti l l have an ol d map of Pari s that hung on t he wal l of our
meeti ng room. I carri ed i t back and forth across t he ocean wi th me
as a souveni r. Wi t h i nk we had bl otted out the empi re' s coat of arms,
whi ch desecrated i t and whi ch woul d have di rti ed our headquarters.
The members of t he men' s Montmartre Vi gi l ance Commi ttee
were remarkabl e persons. Never have I seen mi nds so di rect, so
unpretenti ous, and so el evated. Never have I seen i ndi vi dual s so
cl earheaded. I don' t know how thi s group managed to do i t. There
were no weaknesses. Somet hi ng good and strong support ed
peopl e.
The women were courageous al so, and among them, too, there
were some remarkabl e mi nds. I bel onged to both commi ttees, and
the l eani ngs of the two groups were the same. Someti me i n the
future, the women' s committee shoul d have i ts own hi story tol d. Or
perhaps t he two shoul d be mi ngl ed, because peopl e di dn' t worry
about whi ch sex they were before they di d thei r duty. That stupi d
questi on was settl ed.
I n the eveni ngs I often was abl e to be at meeti ngs of both groups,
si nce the women' s, whi ch met at the offi ce of the j usti ce of the peace
on the Rue de l a Chapel l e, began an hour earl i er than the men' s.
Thus after the women' s meeti ng was over I coul d go to the l ast hal f
of the men' s meeti ng, and someti mes other women and I coul d go
t o t he enti re men' s meeti ng.
The Montmartre Vi gi l ance Commi ttees l ef no one wi thout shel ter
and no one wi thout food . Anyone coul d eat at the meet i ng hal l ,
al though as the si ege conti nued and food suppl i es became shorter,
it mi ght onl y be one herri ng di vi ded between fi ve or si x peopl e. For
peopl e who were real l y i n need we di dn' t hesi tate to di p i nto our
resources or to use revol ut i onary requi si ti oni ng. The 1 8th arron
di ssement was the terror of profi teers. When the reacti onari es heard
the phrase " Montmartre is goi ng to come down on you, " they hi d i n
thei r hol es. We chased them down anyway, and l i ke hunted beasts
they fl ed, l eavi ng behi nd the hi di ng pl aces where provi si ons were
rotti ng whi l e Pari s starved.
Ul ti matel y the Montmartre Vi gi l ance Commi ttees were mowed
down, l i ke al l revol ut i onary groups. The rare members sti l l al i ve
know how proud we were there and how ferventl y we fl ew the fl ag
of the revol uti on. Li ttl e di d i t matter to those who were there whether
t hey were beaten to the ground unnoti ced i n battl e or di ed al one i n
t he sunl i ght. I t makes no di ference how the mi l l stone moves so l ong
as the bread i s made.
Wi th the weakness of the French Army, the peopl e' s mi l i ti a, cal l ed
t he Nati onal Guard, took on greater i mporance in the defense of
Pari s. Prussi an troops advanced through France to the gates of the
French capi tal .
The Prussi an si ege conti nued ; the days became dark and the
trees l ost thei r l eaves. Hunger and col d reached more deepl y i nto
the houses of Pari s.
On October 31 , at the Hotel de Vi l l e, the peopl e procl ai med the
paris enraged 53
Commune. The Commi ttees of Vi gi l ance from al l over Par i s
organi zed t he demonstrati on, and t he peopl e no l onger cri ed out
"Long l i ve the republ i c. " They cri ed out "Long l i ve the Commune! "
Anot her mont h went by and condi t i ons became i ncreasi ngl y
bad . The Nat i onal Guard cou l d have saved t he ci ty, but t he
Government of Nati onal Defense feared supporti ng the armed force
of the peopl e.
Earl y i n December, I was arrested a second ti me. That second
arrest came when several women who had more courage than fore
si ght wanted to propose some unknown means of defense to the
government. Thei r zeal was so great that they came to the Women' s
Vi gi l ance Commi ttee i n Montmartre . . . We agreed to joi n them the
next day i n a demonstrati on i n front of the Hotel de Vi l l e, but we
made one reservati on. We tol d t hem we woul d go as women to
share t hei r danger; we woul d not go as ci ti zens because we no
l onger recogn i zed t he Government of Nati onal Defense. I t had
proved i tsel f i ncapabl e even of l etti ng Pari s defend i tsel f.
The next day we went to the rendezvous at the Hotel de Vi l l e,
and we expected what happened: I was arrested for havi ng organ
i zed the demonstrati on. I answered thei r charges by sayi ng that I
coul dn' t have organi zed any demonstrati on to speak to t he govern
ment, because I no l onger recogni zed that government. I added that
when I came on my own behal f to the Hotel de Vi l l e, i t woul d be wi th
an armed upr i si ng behi n d me. That expl anati on appeared
unsati sfactory to them, and they l ocked me up.
The next day four ci ti zens came t o cl ai m me " i n t he name of the
1 8th arrondi ssement. " At t hi s decl arati on, the reacti onari es became
fri ghtened . "Montmartre i s goi ng to descend on us, " they whi spered
to each other, and they rel eased me.
I t wasn' t unt i l January 1 9, when t he struggl e was al most over,
that the Government of Nat i onal Defense fi nal l y agreed to l et the
Nati onal Guard efect a sorti e to t ry to retake Montretout and Buzen
val . At fi rst the Nati onal Guard swept the Prussi ans before them, but
the mud defeated the brave sons of the peopl e. They sank i nto the
wet earth up to thei r ankl es, and unabl e to get thei r arti l l ery up on
the hi l l s, they had to retreat. Hundreds stayed behi nd, l yi ng qui etl y
i n death; these men of the Nati onal Guard - men of the peopl e,
arti sts, young persons -di ed wi t h no regrets for t hei r l ost l i ves. The
earth drank the bl ood of thi s fi rst Pari si an carnage; soon i t woul d
dri nk more.
Pari s sti l l di d not wi sh t o surrender t o t he Prussi ans. On January
22, the peopl e gathered i n front of the Hotel de Vi l l e, where General
Chaudey, who commanded the sol di ers, now had hi s headquarters.
The peopl e sensed that the members of the government were l yi ng
when they decl ared they were not thi nki ng of surrenderi ng.
We prepared a peaceful demonstrati on, wi t h Razoua command
i ng our battal i ons from Montmartre. Because our fri ends who were
armed were determi ned for the demonstrati on to be peaceful , they
wi thdrew wi th thei r weapons, even though peaceful demonstrati ons
are al ways crushed.
When onl y a di sarmed mul ti tude remai ned, sol di ers i n the bui l d
i ngs around the square opened fi re on us. No shot was fi red by t he
peopl e before the Breton Mobi l es fi red t hei r vol l eys. We coul d see
the pal e faces of t he Bretons behi nd the wi ndows, as a noi se l i ke
hai l sounded in our ears. Yes, you fi red on us, you untamed Cel ts,
but at l east i t was your fai th that made you fanati cs for the counter
revol uti on. You weren' t bought by the reacti onari es. You ki l l ed us, but
you bel i eved you were dOi ng you r duty, and some day we wi l l
convert you t o our i deal s of l i berty.
On February 22, the Commi ttees of Vi gi l ance were cl osed down,
and newspaper publ i cati on was suspended. The Versai l l es react i on
aries deci ded they had to di sarm Pari s. Napol eon I I I was sti l l al i ve,
and with Montmartre di sarmed, the entrance of a monarch, ei ther
Bonaparte or an Orl eani st, woul d have favored the army, whi ch was
either an accompl i ce of t he reacti onari es or was al l owi ng i tsel f to be
deceived. Wi th Montmartre di sarmed, the Prussi an Army, whi ch was
si tti ng in the surrendered forts around Pari s whi l e the armi sti ce
conti nued, woul d have been protected.
paris enraged 55
The decl arati on of the Commune i n March 1 871 l ed to ongoi ng
mi l i tary confl i ct. For three months, the peopl e of Pari s resi sted the
forces of General Thi ers.
Duri ng t he enti re t i me of t he Commune, I onl y spent one ni ght
at my poor mother' s. I never real l y went to bed duri ng that ti me; I j ust
napped a l i ttl e whenever there was nothi ng better to do, and many
other peopl e l i ved the same way. Everybody who wanted del i ver
ance gave hi msel f total l y to the cause.
Duri ng the Commune I went unhurt except for a bul let that grazed
my wrist, al though my hat was l i teral l y ri ddl ed wi th bul let h ol es. I di d
twi st my ankl e, whi ch had been spr ai ned for a l ong t i me, and
because I coul dn't wal k for three or four days, I had to requi si ti on a
carri age . . .
Whi l e I was goi ng to Montmartre for the funeral , I hadn't dared
to stop of at my mother' s, because she woul d have seen that I had
a sprai n. Several days before the funeral , though, I had come face
to face wi th her in the trenches near the rai l road stati on of Cl amart.
She had come to see i f al l the l i es I had wri tten to soot he her were
true. Fortunatel y, she always ended up bel i evi ng me.
I f the reacti on had had as many enemi es among wome n as it d i d
among men, t he Versai l l es Government woul d have had a more
di ffi cul t task subdui ng us. Our mal e fri ends are more suscepti bl e to
fai ntheartedness than we women are. A supposedl y weak woman
knows better than any man how to say: " I t must be done. " She may
feel ri pped open to her very womb, but she remai ns unmoved. Wi th
out hate, wi thout anger, wi thout pity for hersel f or others, whether her
heart bl eeds or not, she can say: "I t must be done. " Such were the
women of the Commune. Duri ng Bl oody Week, women erected and
defended the barri cade at the Pl ace Bl anche - and hel d it ti l l they
di ed.
I n my mi nd I feel t he sof darkness of a spri ng ni ght. It is May
1 871 , and I see the red refl ecti on of fl ames. I t i s Pari s afi re. That fi re
is a dawn, and I see it sti l l as I si t here wri ti ng. Memory crowds i n
on me, and I keep forgett i ng t hat I am wri ti ng my memoi rs.
I n the ni ght of May 22 or 23, I bel i eve, we were at the Montmartre
cemetery, whi ch we were tryi ng to defend wi th too few fi ghters. We
had crenel ated the wal l s as best we coul d, and , the posi ti on wasn' t
bad except for the battery on the Butte of Montmartre - now i n the
hands of the reacti onari es, and whose fi re raked us - the shel l s
were comi ng at regul ar i nterval s from the si de, where tal l houses
commanded our defenses. Shel l s tore the ai r, marki ng ti me l i ke a
cl ock . . .
I n spi te of my comrades' advi ce, I chose to wal k there several
ti mes. Always the shel l s arri ved too earl y or too late for me. One shel l
fal l i ng across the trees covered me wi th fl owered branches, whi ch
I di vi ded up between two tombs.
My comrades caught me, and one ordered me not to move
about. They made me si t down on a bench. But nothi ng i s as stub
born as a woman . I n the mi dst of al l t hi s, Jarosl av Dombrowski
passed i n front of us sadl y, on hi s way to be ki l l ed. " I t's over, " he tol d
me. "No, no, " I sai d to hi m, and he hel d out both hi s hands to me. But
he was ri ght.
Three hundred t housand voi ces had el ected t he Commune.
Fifeen thousand stood up t o t he cl ash wi th t he army duri ng Bl oody
Week.
We' ve counted about 35, 000 peopl e who were executed, but
how many were there that we know nothi ng of? From ti me to ti me
the earth di sgorges i ts corpses. I f we are i mpl acabl e i n the comi ng
fi ght, who i s to bl ame?
The Commune, surrounded from every di recti on, had onl y death
on its hori zon. I t coul d onl y be brave, and i t was. And i n dyi ng i t
opened wi de the door to the future. That was i ts desti ny.
From: Loui se Mi chel , Memoires (Trans. -Ed. )
Louise Michel
Letter to the Mayor of Montmarre,
Georges Cl emenceau
Sir,
Our Women's Republican Vigilance Committee in the 1 8th arron
dissement is wanting to play its part in our patriotic task.
Given the people's poverty, and no long';r able to bear the sight
of babes-in-arms who are dying of hunger, I ask you to take the
following initiatives:
Launch an immediate inquiry in each house in the 1 8th
arrondissement , in order to determine the number of old
people, infirm and children.
Immediately requisition all abandoned housing in the 1 8th
arrondissement, in order to house all homeless citizens and
establish shelters where children can be fed.
That all wine and coal in the cellars of abandoned houses
immediately be made available for the use of the infirm and
sick.
The complete abolition within the 18th arrondissement of all
brothels and workhouses for young girls.
Melt down the Bells of Montmartre to make cannon.
The acting president,
Louise Michel
24 rue Oudot, Montmartre
Louise Michel
Letter to the Editors of La Sociale newspaper
The women volunteering as ambulance drivers for the Paris Com
mune would like to take a moment to salute you.
They hope that you would publish the following declaration
because, at this moment , t he person who does not affirm their
position, like one who flees from conflict, is a coward:
The ambulance workers of the Commune declare that they do not
belong to any association whatever. They live their lives entirely for
the revolution. Their duty, even on the very field of battle, is to dress
the wounds made by the poisoned bullets from Versailles, or as the
hour requires, to take up a rifle like all the others.
In the case that the reaction triumphs - and we hope that this
wi l l never happen - their duty, which they will never forget, is to set
fire to the gunpowder. Wherever this happens, the revolution must
never be defeated.
Long live the Commune!
Long live the universal republic!
The volunteer ambulance workers of the Commune,
Louise Michel, Fernandez, Goull e, Poulain, Quartier Dauguet.
Xavi ere Gauthi er (ed. ) , Louise Michel,
chapter four: Wen the Women Decide
They Have Had Enough
Troughout the Commune, women organized themselves in local com
munit associations. Louise Michel played a leading role in mobilizing
women in support of the Commune. But in her Memoirs, Michel down
played her own leadership role as chair of the Women's Vigilance Committee
during the Commune's period of rule.
On April 1 1, 1871, just weeks afer the seizure of power by the Com
mune, a group of women issued "A call to the women citizens of Paris. "
Te pamphlet called for the creation of women's associations around Paris,
and led to the formation of the Union des Femmes pour la Deense de Paris
et les Soins aux Blesses (Association of Women for the Dense of Paris and
Aid to the Wounded). Key leaders included Nathalie Lemel (ater exiled to
New Cledonia with Louise Michel), and a young Russian activist, Elisabeth
Dmitriej who was a member of Karl Marx's First International. Dmitriej
was infuential in bringing women's demands to the Commune, seeking
resources so that women could organize for themselves.
Women activists like Dmitriej moved beyond basic demands to put
forard socialist proposals to the leaders of the Paris Commune. Tey called
for the implementation of the decree on abandoned workshops, issued by the
Commune on April 1 6, so that women could fnd work in factories
abandoned by bourgeois owners feeing the revolution.
In her classic s tudy Women, Resistance and Revolution, English
feminist Sheila Rowbotham argues that their experience in the Commune
pushed Parisian women toward a feminist view of the world.
Louise Michel
On women's ri ghts
In 1 870, the fi rst organi zati on of the Ri ghts of Women had begun to
meet on the Rue Thevenot. At the meeti ngs of the Ri ghts of Women
group, and at other meeti ngs, the most advanced men appl auded
the i dea of equal ity. I noticed -I had seen i t before, and I saw it l ater
- that men, thei r decl arati ons notwi thstandi ng, al though they ap
peared to hel p us, were al ways content wi th j ust the appearance.
This was the resul t of custom and the force of ol d prej udi ces, and i t
convi nced me that we women must si mpl y take our pl ace wi thout
beggi ng for i t. . .
The issue of pol i ti cal ri ghts i s dead. Equal educati on, equal
t rades, so that prosti tuti on woul d not be t he onl y l ucrative profession
open to a woman - that is what was real in our program. The
Russi an revol utionaries are ri ght: evol uti on i s ended and now revol
ution i s necessary or t he butterfl y wi l l di e i n its cocoon.
Heroi c women were found i n al l soci al cl asses. At the profession
al school, women of al l soci al l evels met together, and al l woul d
have preferred to di e rather t han surrender. They organi zed the
Society for the Vi cti ms of the War. They dispensed thei r resources the
best way they coul d, whi l e demandi ng that Paris resist, and conti nue
to resist, the Prussi an si ege . . .
Later, when I was a prisoner, t he fi rst vi si tor I had was Madame
Meuri ce from the Soci ety for the Vi cti ms of the War. At my l ast tri al ,
behi nd the handpi cked spectators, I spotted the shi ni ng eyes of two
other former members of the soci ety among those who had man
aged to squeeze i n.
I sal ute al l those brave women of the vanguard who were drawn
from group to group: the Women's Vi gi l ance Committee, the women's
when te women decide. . . 61
associ ations, and later the League of Women. The old world ought
to fear the day when those women fi nally deci de they have had
enough. Those women wi ll not slack of. Strength fi nds refuge i n
them. Beware of them!
Beware of those who go across Europe waving the flag of li b
erty, and beware of the most peaceful daughter of Gaul now asleep
i n the deep resi gnati on of the fi elds. Beware of the women when
they are si ckened by all that is around them and rise up agai nst the
old world. On that day the new world wi ll begi n.
From: The Red Virgin - Memoirs of Louise Michel.
Extracts from Par One, X-XIV.
Parsian Women
A cal l to the women citi zens of Pari s
(Apri l 1 1 , 1 871 )
. . . The fratricidal madness that has taken possession of France, this
duel unto death, is the final act in the eternal antagonism between
right and might, labor and exploitation, the people and their tyrants!
The privileged classes of the present social order are our
enemies; those who have lived by our labor, thriving on our want.
They have seen the people rise up, demanding: "No obligations
without rights! No rights without obligations! We want to work but we
al so want the product of our work. No more exploiters. No more bos
ses. Work and security for all - The people to govern themselves
- We want the Commune; we want to live in freedom or to die
fighting for it! " . . .
Women of Paris, the decisive hour has come. The old world must
come to an end! We want to be free! And France has not risen up
alone. The civilized nations of the world have their eyes on Paris.
They are waiting for our victory to free themselves in their turn . . .
[ signed]
A group of Parisian women
NOTI CE:
We invite patriotic women citizens t o meet today, Tuesday, April 1 1 . . .
in order to take concrete measures toward the formation of commit
tees, in each arrondissement, aimed at organizing a women's move
ment for the defense of Paris, in the event that reaction and its
gendarmes should attempt to capture it.
We require the active collaboration of all the women of Paris who
when the women decide. . . 63
real ize that the sal vati on of our capi tal depends on the outcome of
thi s confl i ct; who know that the present soci al order bears i n i tsel f
the seeds of poverty and the death of freedom and of j usti ce; who
therefore wel come t he advent of the rei gn of l abor and of equal i ty
and are prepared at t he hour of peri l to fi ght and to di e for the
tri umph of t hi s revol uti on, for whi ch our brothers are sacri fi ci ng thei r
l i ves!
From: Joural Ofciel (Commune) . Apri l 1 1 , 1 871 .
Women Citizens of Paris
Request for organizational assistance from the
Commune
To: Executive Commission of the Paris Commune
April 14, 1871
Considering:
That it is the duty and the right of everyone to fight for the sacred
cause of the people, that is, for the revolution;
That danger is imminent and that the enemy are at the gates of
Paris;
That union makes strength; in time of danger all individual eforts
must combine to form a collective, invincible resistance by the whole
population;
That the Commune -representing the principle of extinction of
all privilege and all inequality - should therefore consider all legi
timate grievances of any section of the population without discri
mination of sex, such discrimination having been made and en
forced as a means of maintaining the privileges of the ruling classes;
That the success of the present conflict, whose aim is to put an
end to corruption, and ultimately to regenerate society by ensuring
the rule of labor and justice, is of as much significance to the women
as it is to the men of Paris;
That many among them are resolved that in the event of the
enemy breaking into Paris, they will fight to the finish in defense of
our common rights;
That efective organization of this revolutionary element into a
vigorous defensive force for the Paris Commune can only be ach
ieved with concrete aid from the government of the Commune itself;
when the women decide... 65
Consequently, the delegates of the women citizens of Paris
request the Executive Commission of the Commune:
1. To order all district town halls to make available in each district
a room that can serve as headquarters of the committees;
2. To request that they provide large premises for meetings of
women citizens;
3. To have the Commune subsidize the printing of circulars,
posters and notices that these committees decide to distribute.
For the members of the Central Committee of Women Citizens,
[Signed by seven women workers and E. Dmitrieff
From: Joural Oficiel (Commune). April 14, 1871.
Elisabeth Dmitrief
Letter from the Associ ati on of Women
to the Commune's Commi ssi on of Labor
and Exchange
The Associ ati on of Women have consi dered the fol l owi ng:
There i s onl y one way of reorgani zi ng l abor so that t he producer i s
guaranteed t he product of hi s own work, and that i s by setti ng up
free producer associ ati ons whi ch wi l l share out the profits from t he
vari ous i ndustri es.
The setti ng up of these associ ati ons woul d put an end to the
expl oi tati on and ensl avement of l abor by capi tal , and woul d at l ast
guarantee the workers the management of t hei r own afai rs. It woul d
si mul taneousl y faci l itate urgentl y needed reforms, i n both producti on
and producer rel ati onshi ps, to i ncl ude the fol l owi ng poi nts:
1 ) Vari ety of work i n each trade - conti nual l y repeated manual
movement damages both mi nd and body.
2) A reducti on i n worki ng hours -physi cal exhausti on i nevi tabl y
destroys man' s spi ri tual qual i ti es.
3) An end to al l competi ti on between mal e and femal e workers
-thei r i nterests are i denti cal and thei r sol i darity is essenti al to the
success of the fi nal worl dwi de stri ke of l abor agai nst capi tal .
The associ ati on therefore wants:
1 ) Equal pay for equal hours of work.
2) A l ocal and i nternati onal federati on of the vari ous trade sec
ti ons i n order to ease the movement and exchange of goods by
central i zi ng the i nternati onal i nterests of the producers.
The general devel opment of these producer associ ati ons requi res:
1 ) I nformi ng and organi zi ng the worki ng masses . . . The conse-
whcn |hcwcmcndccidc. . . 67
quence of thi s wil l be that every association member wil l be expec
ted to bel ong to the International Working Men' s Association.
2)State assistance in advanci ng t he necessary credit for setting
up these associations: l oans repayabl e in yearl y instal ments at a
rate of five percent.
The reorganization of femal e l abor is an extremel y urgent matter,
when one considers that in the society of the past it was the most
expl oited form of al l .
Faced by t he present events, with poverty increasing at an al arm
i ng rate, and seei ng t he u nwarranted hal t i n al l work, it is to be
feared that t he women of Paris, who have become momentaril y
revol utionary i n spirit, may as a resul t of the state of conti nual priva
tion, rel apse into the more or l ess reactionary and passi ve position
which the social order of the past marked out for them. That woul d
be a di sastrous st ep backwards whi ch woul d end anger t he
revol uti onary and i nt ernational i nterests of the wor ki ng cl ass ,
thereby endangeri ng the Commune.
For t hese reasons t he Central Committee of t he Association of
Women requests the Commune' s Commission on Labor and Ex
change to entrust it with the reorganization and al l ocation of work
for the women of Paris, in the first instance providing the association
with production of mil itary suppl i es.
This work wil l natural l y not be sufficient for the majority of working
women, so i n addition the Central Committee requests t he commis
sion to pl ace at the disposal of the federated producer associations
the sums of money necessary for the working of the factories and
workshops abandoned by t he bourgeois and compri si ng those
crafs mainly practised by women, like:
Brush-maki ng
Bandage- maki ng
Haberdashery
Passementerie (tri mmi ngs)
Flower and pl ume work
Embroi dery
Assembl y of umbrel l as, straw hats, banners and fl ags
Cap- maki ng
I l l umi nati ng
Fan-maki ng
Typographi ng
Typesetti ng
Col or i ng
Maki ng of pasteboard arti cl es
Gl ass bl owi ng ( pearl s)
Button-maki ng
Mi l l i nery
Li ngeri e ( undercl othi ng)
Book-sti tchi ng
Bookbi ndi ng
Launder i ng
Kennel -wor k
Porcel ai n-pai nt i ng
Corset- maki ng
Wreath-maki ng
Wai stcoat-maki ng
Dol l - dressi ng
Ti e- maki ng
For t he Executi ve Commission,
The Secretary General E. Dmitrieff.
chapter five: Te First Dress
Rehearsal in World Histor
Te Paris Commune, which only lasted between March and May 1871, has
taken on legendary importance for a range of anarchists, socialists and
communists. Karl Marx published his famous pamphlet The Civil War in
France just days afer the Commune was crushed, and the revolt of the
Paris workers was later analyzed by theorists fom different political
traditions.
Here are some excerts about the Commune by Krl Marx and Friedrich
Engels, authors of The Communist Manifesto; anarchist leaders Peter
Kropotkin and Mikhail Bakunin; English artist and socialist William Morris;
V.I. Lenin, leader of the Russian Bolshevik Party; and contemporr social
ists and historians like Howard Zinn, Paul Foot and Sheila Rowbotham.
All these writers and political activists celebrte the Commune as the
frst major example of a workers ' government - but they draw diferent
lessons about the role of political organization, how workers can organize
themselves, and whether to abolish the institutions of the state.
Karl Mar
The worki ng cl ass di d not expect mi racl es from the Commune. They
have no ready-made utopi as to i ntroduce. They know that i n order
to work out thei r own emanci pati on, and al ong wi th it that hi gher form
to whi ch present soci ety is i rresi sti bl y tendi ng by its own economi cal
agenci es, they wi l l have to pass through l ong struggl es, t hrough a
seri es of hi stori c processes, transformi ng ci rcumstances and men.
They have no i deal s to real i ze, but to set free the el ements of the
new soci ety wi th whi ch the ol d col l apsi ng bourgeoi s soci ety i tsel f i s
p regnant . . .
When the Pari s Commune took t he management of t he rev
ol uti on i n i ts own hands; when pl ai n worki ng men for the fi rst ti me
dared to i nfri nge upon the governmental pri vi l ege of thei r "nat ural
superi ors" and, under ci rcumstances of unexampl ed di ffi cul ty, per
formed thei r work modestl y, consci entiousl y and efi ci entl y . . . the ol d
worl d wri thed i n convul sions of rage at t he si ght of the red fl ag, the
symbol of the republ i c of l abor, floati ng over the Hotel de Vi l l e.
And yet, t hi s was t he fi rst revol uti on i n whi ch t he worki ng cl ass
was openl y acknowl edged as the onl y cl ass capabl e of soci al
i ni ti ati ve, even by t he great bul k of the Pari s mi ddl e cl ass - shop
keepers, tradesmen , merchants - the weal thy capi tal i sts al one
excepted .
From: Karl Marx, The Civil War in France.
Fredrch Engels
From the very outset the Commune was compel l ed to recogni ze that
the worki ng cl ass, once come to power, coul d not go on managi ng
wi th the ol d state machi ne; that i n order not to l ose agai n i ts onl y
j ust-conquered supremacy, thi s worki ng cl ass must, on the one hand,
do away wi t h al l t he ol d repressi ve machi nery previ ousl y used
agai nst i t , and, on the other, safeguard i tsel f agai nst its own depu
t i es and offi ci al s, by decl ari ng them al l , wi thout excepti on, subject
to recal l at any moment.
What had been t he characteri sti c attri bute of the former state?
Soci ety had created i ts own organs to look afer its common i nter
ests, ori gi nal l y through si mpl e di vi si on of l abor. But these organs, at
whose head was t he state power, had i n the course of t i me, i n
pursuance of t hei r own speci al i nterests, transformed themsel ves
from the servants of soci ety i nto the masters of soci ety.
Thi s can be seen , for exampl e, not onl y in the heredi tary monar
chy, but equal l y so i n the democrati c republ i c. Nowhere do "pol i
ti ci ans" form a more separate and powerful secti on of the nati on than
preci sel y i n Nort h Ameri ca. There, each of the two maj or parties
whi ch al ternatel y succeed each other i n power i s i tsel f i n turn con
trol l ed by peopl e who make a busi ness of pol i ti cs, who specul ate
on seats in the l egi sl ati ve assembl i es of the uni on as wel l as of the
separate states, or who make a l i vi ng by carryi ng on agi tati on for
thei r party and on its vi ctory are rewarded wi th posi ti ons. It is wel l
known how the Ameri cans have been tryi ng for 30 years to shake
of thi s yoke, whi ch has become i ntol erabl e, and how i n spi te of it
al l they conti nue to si nk ever deeper in thi s swamp of corrupti on.
I t i s preci sel y i n North Ameri ca that we see best how there takes
pl ace this process of the state power maki ng itself i ndependent in
rel ati on to soci ety, whose mere i nstrument it was ori gi nal l y i ntended
to be. Here there exi sts no dynasty, no nobi l i ty, no standi ng army,
beyond the few men keepi ng watch on the I ndi ans, no bureaucracy
wi th permanent posts or the ri ght to pensi ons. And neverthel ess we
find here two great gangs of pol i ti cal specul ators, who al ternatel y
take possessi on of the state power and expl oi t i t by the most corrupt
means and for the most corrupt ends - and the nation i s powerl ess
agai nst these two great cartel s of pol i ti ci ans, who are ostensi bl y i ts
servants, but i n real ity domi nate and pl under i t.
From: Fri edri ch Engel s, " I ntroducti on" to The Civil War in France.
Nkhd/ Bdkunn
I am a supporter of the Paris Commune, which for al l the bl ood
l etting it suffered at the hands of the monarchical and clerical reac
tion, has nonethel ess grown more enduring and more powerful i n
t he hearts and mi nds of the European prol etariat. I am its supporter,
above al l , because it was a bol d, cl earl y formu l ated negation of the
state. It is i mmensel y significant that this rebel l ion against the state
has taken pl ace in France, which had been hitherto the l and of
pol itical central ization par excel l ence, and that it was precisel y
Paris, the l eader and t he fountainhead of the great French civiliza
tion, which took the initiative in the Commune.
The smal l group of convinced social ists who participated i n the
Commune were in a very difficul t position. Whil e they felt the l ack of
support from the great masses of the peopl e of Paris, and whi l e the
organization of the I nternational Working Men's Associ ation, itself
imperfect, comprised hardly a few thousand persons, they had to
keep up a dail y struggl e agai nst the Jacobin majority. In the mi dst
of the conflict, they had to feed and provide work for several thous
and workers, organize and arm them, and keep a sharp l ookout for
the doings of the reactionaries. Al l this in an immense city l ike Paris,
besi eged, facing the threat of starvation, and prey to al l the shady
intrigues of the reaction, which managed to establ ish itsel f in Ver
sail l es with the permissi on and by the grace of the Prussians. They
had to set up a revol uti onary government and army agai nst the gov
ernment and army of Versai l l es; in order to fight the monarchi st and
cl erical reaction they were compel l ed to organize themsel ves i n a
Jacobin manner, forgetti ng or sacrificing t he fi rst conditions of
revol utionary social i sm . . .
Contrary to t he bel ief of authoritarian communi sts - which I
deem compl etel y wrong -that a social revol ution must be decreed
and organized either by a dictatorship or by a constituent assembl y
emerging from a pol itical revol ution , our friends, the Paris socialists,
bel i eved that revol ution coul d neither be made nor brought to its ful l
devel opment except by the spontaneous and continued action of the
masses, the groups and the associations of the peopl e. Our Paris
fri ends were right a t housand times over . . . the soci al revol ution
shoul d end by granting ful l l i berty to the masses, the groups, the
communes, the associ ations and to the i ndividual s as wel l ; by
destroying once and for al l the historic cause of al l viol ence, which
i s the power and indeed the mere existence of the state. Its fal l wil l
bring down wi th it al l the i nequities of the l aw and al l the l ies of the
vari ous rel i gions, since both l aw and rel i gi on have never been
anyt hing but the compul sory consecration, ideal and real , of al l
vi ol ence represented, guaranteed and protected by the state.
From: Mi khai l Al eksandrovi ch Bakuni n,
The Paris Commune and the Idea of the State
( New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1 871 ) .
William Moris
I t shoul d be noted that the risi ngs whi ch took pl ace in other towns
in France were not so much vanquished by the strength of the bour
geoisi e, whi ch at fi rst found i tsel f powerl ess before the peopl e, but
rather fel l through owi ng to a want of ful l er development of soci al ism
and a more vi gorous procl amati on of i ts pri nci pl es.
The whol e revol t was at l ast drowned i n the bl ood of the wor
kers of Paris. Certai nl y the i mmedi ate resul t was to crush soci al ism
for the ti me by t he destruction of a whol e generati on of i ts most
determi ned recrui ts. Neverthel ess the very viol ence and excess of
the bourgeois revenge have, as we can now see, tended to strength
en the progress of soci al ism, as they have set the seal of tragedy
and heroi sm on the mi xed events of the Commune, and made its
memory a ral l yi ng poi nt for al l fut ure revol utionists.
From: Wi l l i am Morri s, "The Pari s Commune of 1 871 ,
and the Conti nental Movement Fol l owi ng I t, "
Socialism Frm The Roots Up ( i n Commonweal,
Vol ume 2, No. 38, October 2, 1 886) 2 1 0.
Peter Kro
p
otkin
The Commune of 1 871 coul d be nothi ng but a fi rst attempt. Begi n
ni ng at t he cl ose of a war, hemmed i n between two armi es ready to
j oi n hands and crush the peopl e, i t dared not unhesi tati ngl y set forth
upon the path of economi c revol uti on; i t nei ther bol dl y decl ared i tsel f
soci al i st, nor proceeded wi th t he expropri at i on of capi tal or the
organi zati on of l abor. I t di d not even take stock of the general
resources of the ci ty. Nor di d i t break wi th t he tradi ti on of the state,
of representati ve government. It di d not seek to establ i sh wi thi n the
Commune that organi zati on from the si mpl e to the compl ex whi ch
i t i naugurated by procl ai mi ng the i ndependence and free federati on
of the communes. Yet i t i s certai n t hat i f the Pari s Commune had
l i ved a few months l onger i t woul d i nevi tabl y have been dri ven by
the force of ci rcumstances toward both these revol uti ons.
Let us not forget t hat the bourgeoi si e took four years of a revol
uti onary peri od t o change a l i mi ted monarchy i nto a bourgeoi s
republ i c, and we shoul d not be astoni shed t hat t he peopl e of Pari s
di d not cross wi th a si ngl e bound the space between the anarchi st
Commune and the government of robbers. But l et us al so bear i n
mi n d that the next revol uti on, whi ch i n France and certai nl y i n Spai n
as wel l wi l l be communal i st , wi l l t ake up t he work of t he Par i s
Commune where i t was checked by the massacres of t he Versai l l es
Army.
The Commune was defeated , and too wel l we know how the
mi ddl e cl ass avenged i tsel f for the scare gi ven i t by the peopl e when
they shook thei r rul ers' yoke l oose upon thei r necks. It proved that
there real l y are two cl asses i n our modern soci ety; on one si de, the
man who works and yi el ds up to t he monopol i sts of property more
than hal f of what he produces and yet l i ghtl y passes over the wrong
the frst dress rehearsal in world histor 77
done hi m by his masters; on the other, the i dl er, the spoi l er, hati ng
his sl ave, ready to ki l l hi m l i ke game, ani mated by the most savage
i nsti ncts as soon as he is menaced i n his possessi on.
From: Peter Kropotki n, ''The Commune of Pari s, "
Freedom Pamphlets No. 2 (London: W. Reeves, 1 895).
Based on the ori gi nal French versi on publ i shed i n
Le Revolte, March 20, 1 880.
V. l Lenin
Forty years have passed si nce the procl amati on of the Pari s Com
mune. I n accordance wi th tradi ti on, the French workers pai d homage
to the memory of the men and women of the revol uti on of March 1 8,
1 871 , by meeti ngs and demonstrati ons. At the end of May they wi l l
agai n pl ace wreaths on the graves of the Communards who were
shot, the vi cti ms of the terri bl e " May Week, " and over thei r graves
they wi l l once more vow to fi ght unt i ri ngl y unt i l thei r i deas have tri
umphed and the cause they bequeathed has been ful l y achi eved . . .
[ I ] n spi te of its bri ef exi stence, the Commune managed to promul
gate a few measures whi ch sufi ci entl y characteri ze i ts real si gni fi
cance and ai ms. The Commune di d away wi th the standi ng army,
that bl i nd weapon in the hands of the rul i ng cl asses, and armed the
whol e peopl e. I t procl ai med the separat i on of church and state,
abol i shed state payments to rel i gi ous bodi es (Le. , state sal ari es for
priests) , made popul ar educati on purel y secul ar, and i n thi s way
struck a severe bl ow at the gendarmes i n cassocks. I n the purel y
soci al sphere the Commune accompl i shed very l i ttl e, but thi s l i ttl e
neverhel ess cl earl y reveal s i t s character as a popul ar, workers' gov
ernment. Ni ght work i n bakeri es was forbi dden; the system of fi nes,
whi ch represented l egal i zed robbery of the workers, was abol i shed.
Fi nal l y, there was the famous decree that al l factori es and work
shops abandoned or shut down by thei r owners were to be turned
over to associ ati ons of workers that were to resume producti on. And,
as i f t o emphasi ze i ts character as a trul y democrati c, prol etari an
government, the Commune decreed that the sal ari es of al l admi ni s
t rative and government offi ci al s, i rrespecti ve of rank, shoul d not
exceed the normal wages of a worker, and i n no case amount to
more than 6, 000 francs a year ( l ess than 200 rubl es a month) .
Al l these measures showed cl earl y enough that t he Commune
was a deadl y menace to the old world founded on the ensl avement
and expl oi tati on of t he peopl e. That was why bou rgeoi s soci ety
coul d not feel at ease so l ong as the Red Fl ag of the prol etari at
waved over the Hotel de Vi l l e i n Pari s. And when the organi zed
forces of the government fi nal l y succeeded i n gai ni ng the u pper
hand over the poorl y organi zed forces of the revol uti on, the Bona
parti st general s . . . organi zed such a sl aughter as Pari s had never
known. About 30, 000 Pari si ans were shot down by the best i al sol d
i ery, and about 45, 000 were arrested, many of whom were afer
wards executed, whi l e thousands were transported or exi l ed. I n al l ,
Pari s l ost about 1 00, 000 of i ts best peopl e, i ncl udi ng some of the fi n
est workers i n al l trades . . .
The memory of the fi ghters of the Commune i s honored not onl y
by the workers of France but by the prol etari at of the whol e worl d.
For t he Commune fought , not for some l ocal or narrow nati onal ai m,
but for t he emanci pati on of al l toi l i ng humanity, of al l t he downtrod
den and oppressed. As a foremost fi ghter for the soci al revol uti on,
the Commune has won sympathy wherever there is a prol etari at
suferi ng and engaged i n struggl e. The epi c of i ts l i fe and death, the
si ght of a workers' government whi ch sei zed the capi tal of the worl d
and hel d i t for over two months, the spectacl e of the heroi c struggl e
of the prol etari at and the torments i t underwent after its defeat - al l
t hi s rai sed t he spi ri t of mi l l i ons of workers, aroused thei r hopes and
enl i sted thei r sympathy for t he cause of social i sm. The thunder of the
cannon i n Pari s awakened the most backward secti ons of the prol e
tari at from thei r deep sl umber, and everywhere gave i mpetus to the
growth of revol uti onary soci al i st propaganda. That is why the cause
of the Commune i s not dead . I t l i ves to the present day i n every one
of us . . .
From: V. 1 . Leni n & Karl Marx, The Civil War in France:
The Paris Commune, (New York: I nternati onal Publ i shers, 1 940).
Howard Zinn
There i s sti l l a wi despread popul ar bel i ef, heavi l y stressed on the
Readers' Digest l evel , that Marxi sm bel i eves in the supremacy of the
state over the i ndi vi dual , whi l e democracy bel i eves the opposi te. I n
fact, the exi stence of oppressi vel y overbeari ng states i n the worl d,
wh i ch cal l t hemsel ves Marxi st , rei nforces t hi s i dea. But a t r ue
radi cal i sm woul d remi nd peopl e i n bot h soci al i st and capi tal i st
cou ntri es of Marx' s and Engel s' hope, expressed ear l y i n t he
[Communist] Manifesto, t hat some day "the publ i c power wi l l l ose i ts
pol i ti cal character" and "we shal l have an associ ati on i n whi ch the
free devel opment of each i s the condi tion for the free devel opment
of al l . " Thi s i s not j ust a youthful aberrati on (there i s a fad about the
young romanti c Marx and the ol d , practi cal Marx) because 27 years
l ater, Marx, i n hi s Critique of the Gotha Prgram, says: " Freedom
consi sts i n converti ng t he state from an organ superi mposed upon
soci ety i nto one compl etel y subordi nate to i t. " Here al so he says, on
t he subject of t he state g i vi ng educati on t o the peopl e, " t he state has
need, on t he contrary, of a very stern educati on by t he peopl e. " And
Engel s, a year after Marx's death, i n 1 884, wri tes i n hi s Origin of the
Family, Private Prperty and the State:
The soci ety that wi l l organi ze producti on on the basi s of a free
and equal associ ati on of the producers wil l put the whol e
machinery of state where i t wi l l then bel ong: i nto the museum
of antiqui ti es, by the si de of the spinni ng wheel and the bronze
axe.
Thei r atti tude to the state is made even cl earer and more speci fi c i n
Marx's book on The Civil War i n France, and Engel s' " I ntroducti on"
to i t; where both of them poi nt admi ri ngl y to the Pari s Commune of
earl y 1 87 1 . The Commune al most i mmedi atel y abol i shed conscri p
ti on and the standi ng army; decl ared uni versal sufrage and the ri ght
of ci ti zens to recal l thei r el ected offi ci al s at any ti me; sai d al l ofi ci al s,
hi gh or l ow, shoul d be pai d the same wage as recei ved by other
workers, and publ i cl y burned the gui l l oti ne.
The New Lef i s anti -authori tari an; i t WOUl d, I expect, burn draf
cards i n any soci ety. I t i s anarchi sti c not j ust i n wanti ng t he ul ti mate
abol i ti on of t he state, but i n its i mmedi ate requi rement that authori ty
and coerci on be bani shed i n every sphere of exi stence, t hat the end
must be represented i mmedi atel y i n the means. Marx and Bakuni n
di sagreed on thi s, but the New Lef has t he advantage over Marx of
havi ng an extra century of hi story to study. We see how a di ctatorshi p
of the prol etari at can easi l y become a di ctatorshi p over the prol e
tari at, as Trotsky warned, as Rosa Luxemburg warned. The New Lef
shoul d remi nd the soci al i st states as wel l as the capi tal i st states of
Marx' s l etter of 1 853 to the New York Tribune sayi ng he d i dn' t know
how capi tal puni shment coul d be j ustifi ed " i n a society gl oryi ng i n
i ts ci vi l i zati on. "
From: Howard Zi nn, "The New Radi cal i sm, "
The Howard Zinn Reader
Writings on Disobedience and Democrcy
( New York: Seven Stori es, 1 997).
Paul Foot
Mi l l i ons of words have been wri tten about t he Commune but the
most exhi l arati ng and accurate account i s sti l l that of Karl Marx. Hi s
Civil War in France, whi ch he wrote as the Commune was bei ng
defeated , and whi ch i ncl udes a gl ori ous passage of sustai ned i nvec
t i ve agai nst Thi ers, is one of t he cl earest and most passi onate pol i ti
cal pamphl ets ever written . I t i s i mpossi bl e to read i t 1 30 years l ater
wi thout bei ng i nspi red by the vi si on and appl i cati on of the Commu
nards, whose si mpl e aspi rati ons contrast so grotesquel y wi t h t he
compl acent and corrupt behavi or of moder n pol i t i ci ans on both
si des of the [ Engl i sh) Channel .
The objecti on to parl i amentary democracy is not that it is demo
crati c or representati ve, but that it is nothi ng l i ke democrati c or repre
sentati ve enough . The revol ut i onary wri ter and fi ghter Karl Marx
wrote 1 30 years ago about t he revol uti onary Pari s Commune i n
1 871 . He noted t hree central features. Fi rst, i t was freel y el ected by
a majority. Second, its representati ves got the same wages as the
peopl e who el ected them. And t hi rd , t he el ected government formed
the executi ve as wel l as the l egi sl ati ve power. That means that i t not
onl y passed the l aws, usual l y i n the form of decrees, but al so carri ed
them out. The forms of the new power made i t possi bl e to convert
pol i ti cal promi ses i nto pol i ti cal acti on.
Si mi l ar al ternati ves t o ordi nary parl i amentary i nsti tuti ons have
occurred agai n and agai n t hrough the 20th century - i n Russi a i n
1 905 and 1 9 1 7, i n Germany and Hungary i n 1 91 9 and the ensui ng
years, i n Spai n i n 1 936, i n Hungary i n 1 956, and i n Portugal i n 1 974.
I n the best cases workers threw up organi zati ons based on el ected
counci l s, with thei r representati ves pai d the same and subj ect to
i nstant recal l . These counci l s were more efi ci ent and efective repre
sentati ves than thei r parl i amentary equi val ents because they were
more democrati c. They formed t hemsel ves qui te natural l y i n the
struggl e for emanci pati on by t he expl oi ted masses. And they al l
emerged at ti mes of revol uti on. The reason for that i s very si mpl e.
The exi sti ng power structure, i ncl udi ng parl i amentary democracy, i s
tol erated by t he control l ers of weal th onl y as l ong as t hat control i s
not threatened.
It fol l ows that the onl y real democrati c al ternati ves to parl i amen
tary democracy can emerge when the mi nori ty control of t he capi tal
i sts i s chal l enged. I n each of these cases of revol uti on, the pendul um
swung back t o di ferent poi nts of reacti on - ei ther t o terri bl e tyran
ni es or t o parl i amentary democraci es every bi t as feebl e as before.
The chi ef reason for t hi s decl i ne was the fai l ure of t he revol
uti onary forces t o organi ze t hei r new strength, t o unite t hei r forces
powerful l y enough to stave of the reacti on and move forward to a
new soci al order. It is a gri m i rony of hi story that on the one occasi on
where the revol uti onari es were l ed by a party - Russi a i n October
1 9 1 7 - the worki ng-cl ass base of that party was destroyed i n ci vi l
war before i t coul d consol i date i ts advances.
The l essons are pl ai n. There are democratic al ternati ves to par
l i ament, but they are onl y l i kel y to emerge when there is a chal l enge
from bel ow to the economi c rul e of the mi nority.
How can we encourage such a chal l enge? Revol ut i ons cannot
be created out of t hi n ai r. They can onl y ari se i n an atmosphere of
confi dence. So the onl y way to work for a revol uti on and a more
democrati c soci ety is to rel ate to the day-to-day struggles t hat al ways
absorb the expl oi ted l i ves of the worki ng peopl e. Every stri ke, every
demonstrati on, every mani festati on of revol t carri es wi th it the seed
of revol uti on . The pompous and sel f-absorbed acti vi ti es of the repre
sentati ves of parl i amentary democracy work agai nst such a revol
uti on because t hey constantl y dampen down, mock and humi l i ate
l i ve protest. They pretend they are democrats, but by thei r acti ons
prove the opposi te. The seeds of a new, more democrat i c soci ety
can onl y be sown in struggl e agai nst the old one.
From: Paul Foot: "Last t i me Pari s went l ef, "
The Guardian, London. March
2
0, 2001 .
Sheila Rowbotham
The i dea of a march of women to Versai l l es t o stop t he bl oodshed
spread i n Apri l 1 871 . Beatri ce Excofon, the daughter of a watch
maker who l i ved wi th a composi tor, tol d her mother she was l eavi ng,
ki ssed her chi l dren, and j oi ned the processi on at t he Pl ace de l a
Concorde. There were about 700 t o 800 women. Nobody was cl ear
about the ai ms of the march or knew defi ni tel y what they shoul d do,
but t here were pol i ti cal rather t han stri ctl y economi c moti ves.
Some tal ked about expl ai ni ng to Versai l l es what Pari s wanted.
Others tal ked about how t hi ngs were a hundred years ago when the
women of Pari s had gone to Versai l l es to carry of the baker and the
baker' s l i ttl e boy, as they sai d then .
Al so the rol e of women had been rai sed. There was a di spute
about whether women coul d onl y ask for peace or whether they
shoul d defend thei r country as much as the men. For al though the
women had been taki ng act i on, they had been taki ng acti on from
thei r tradi ti onal posi ti on as women. Rather si mi l ar was the way i n
whi ch they wal ked ahead of t hei r men i n t he Commune to meet the
soldi ers, sayi ng "Wi l l you fi re on us? On your brothers, our hus
bands? Our chi l dren?"
These acti ons were sti l l from a qui te customary defi ni t i on of
womanl i ness. Al though revol ut i onary pol i ti cal i deas were i mpi ngi ng
on these women and al though t hey acted wi t h consci ous hi stori cal
memory, they were not chal l engi ng i n any way thei r rol e as women.
However, very easi l y i n such moment s t he new concept i on of
commi tment coul d upset what had been regarded as t he woman's
sphere. A head-on cl ash coul d ensue between what the women fel t
to be thei r duty and what the men fel t i t to be, as wi ves, daughters,
mothers. Thus in 1 792 when the women' s battal i ons were formed i n
t he French Revol ut i on t here was opposi t i on from t he men . I n
chal l engi ng the men' s sol e ri g ht to patri oti sm and gl ory the revol
uti onary women moved i nto a form of femi ni sm. There was a si mi l ar
devel opment i n 1 871 . One source of femi ni st consci ou sness here
came from the attempt to equal i ze revol uti onary struggl e. A women's
battal i on was not al l owed but the women of the Commune accom
pani ed thei r h usbands or l overs and often fought wi th t hem. La
Sociale report ed on Apr i l 5 : "A band of women ar med wi t h
chasse pots today passed by the Pl ace de l a Concorde. They were
goi ng to j oi n the Commune fi ghters. "
Ofen t he di vi di ng l i nes between nursi ng at one of t he fi rst ai d
posts, servi ng as a cantiniere or bei ng a sol di er were not cl ear. On
the battl efi el d Loui se Mi chel , a school teacher promi nent i n t he
Commune, l ooked afer the wounded and took part i n t he fi ghti ng.
The account s t hese women l eave descri be t hei r compl ete
commi tment to the Commune. They l i ved onl y for the revol uti on i n
a way whi ch i s onl y possi bl e i n ti mes of extreme cri si s. But they were
not al ways wel l regarded by t he oficers. Andre Leo, a revol uti onary
femi nist who was a j ournal i st, descri bed how obstacl es were put i n
t hei r way by t he offi cers and surgeons who were hosti l e even
t hough the troops were i n favor of them. She bel i eved that th i s
di vi si on was because t he offi cers sti l l retai ned t he n arrow con
sci ousness of mi l i t ary men whi l e t he sol d i ers were eq ual l y
revol uti onary ci ti zens. She fel t thi s prej udi ce had had seri ous pol i
ti cal consequences.
I n the fi rst revol uti on women had been excl uded from freedom
and equal i ty; they had returned to Cathol i ci sm and reacti on . Andre
Leo mai ntai ned that t he republ i cans were i nconsi stent. They di d not
want women to be under the sway of the pri ests, but they were upset
when women were freethi nkers and wanted to act l i ke free human
bei ngs. Repu bl i can men were j ust repl aci ng t he a ut hori ty of
emperor and God wi th thei r own. They sti l l needed subj ects, or at
l east subjected women. They di d not want to admi t anymore than the
revol uti onari es of the 1 790s that woman was responsi bl e to hersel f.
" She shoul d remai n neutral and passi ve, under the gui dance of man.
She wi l l have done nothi ng to change her confessor. "
Yet thi s was the very anti thesi s of al l the cl ai ms of revol uti onary
i deas. It was evi dent that, "The revol uti on i s the l i berty and responsi
bi l ity of every human bei ng, l i mi ted onl y by the ri ghts of al l , wi thout
pri vi l ege of race or sex. " Thus by taki ng the revol uti on seri ousl y the
women of the Commune al so found themsel ves forced to take up
femi ni st posi ti ons i n that they had to struggl e not onl y agai nst the
enemy at Versai l l es but to confront the prej udi ce and suspi ci on of
some of the men on thei r own si de. The experi ence was one whi ch
was subsequentl y to be repeated i n other revol uti onary movements.
I t i s at the poi nt when the revol uti on starts to move women out
of thei r passi vity i nto the consci ous and acti ve rol e of mi l itants that
t he mockery, the cari catures, the l aughter wi th strong sexual under
tones begi n. It is one of the most efecti ve weapons agai nst women' s
emergence. I t i s one thi ng to be the object of hatred and i nsul ts, and
another to be the object of scorn and hi l ari ty as wel l . I t produces its
own sel f-mocki ng defenses and its own pecul i ar paral ysi s.
I f there was some ambi gui ty i n the atti tude of the men of the l eft
there was none i n that of the men of the ri ght . Here cl ass hatred,
pol i t i cal el i t i sm and sexual aut hori t ari ani sm uni ted i n hysteri cal
denunci ati on and acts of atroci ty. Li sten to Maxi me du Camp on the
women :
"Those who gave t hemsel ves t o t he Commune - and there
were many - had but a si ngl e ambi ti on: to rai se themsel ves above
the l evel of man by exaggerati n g hi s vi ces. There they found an
i deal they coul d achi eve. They were venomous and cowardl y. They
were al l there agitati ng and squawki ng: i nmates from Sai nt-Lazare
out on the spree . . . the vendors of modes a la tripe de Caen; the
gentl emen' s seamstresses; t he gent l emen's shi rtmakers; the teach
ers of grown-up school boys . . . What was profoundl y comi c was that
these absconders from the workhouse u nfai l i ngl y i nvoked Joan of
Arc, and were not above compari ng t hemsel ves to her . . . Duri ng the
fi nal days, al l of these bel l i cose vi ragos hel d out l onger than the
men di d behi nd the barri cades. Many of them were arrested , wi th
powder-bl ackened hands and shoul ders brui sed by t he recoi l of
thei r ri fl es; they were sti l l pal pi tati ng from the oversti mul ati on of
battl e. "
The penal t i es were severe. Besi de t he names whi ch are wel l
known, l i ke Loui se Mi chel , sentenced to transportation t o a penal
settl ement, t here were i nnumerabl e others. A conci erge, Loui se
Noel ; a parasol -maker, Jeanne Laymet; a cook, Eugeni e Lhi l l y; the
seamstress, Eul al i e Papavoi ne; El i zabeth Reti ffe, a cardboard
maker; t he rag-pi cker Mari e Wol f - they were transported , gi ven
hard l abor and executed. They had gone to joi n thei r l overs on the
barri cades or they had been moved by the si ght of the wounded .
They l oved t he republ i c, hated the ri ch, and rose agai nst the years
of humi l i ati on they had experi enced as workers and as women.
Captai n Jouenne began t he i ndi ctment at thei r t ri al by cal l i ng
them, "unworthy creatures who seem t o have taken i t on themsel ves
to become an opprobri um to thei r sex, and to repudiate the great
and magni fi cent rol e of woman i n soci ety . . . a l egi t i mate wi fe, the
object of our affecti on and respect, enti rel y devoted to her fami l y . . .
But i f, desert i ng t hi s sacred mi ssi on, the nature of her i nfl uence
changes, and serves none but the spi rit of evi l , she becomes a moral
monstrosi ty; t hen woman i s more dangerous than the most dan
gerous man. "
There was a change t oo i n the way she was treated by t he
gentl emen of t he rul i ng cl ass. El i see Recl us, t he geographer taken
pri soner, descri bed one of the women canteen workers:
"The poor woman was in the row in front of mi ne, at the si de of
her husband. She was not at al l pretty, nor was she young: rather a
poor, mi ddl e-aged prol etari an, smal l , marchi ng wi th di fi cul ty. I nsul ts
rai ned down on her, al l from ofi cers pranci ng on horseback al ong
the road. A very young ofi cer sai d , 'You know what we' re goi ng to
do wi th her? We' re goi ng to screw her wi th a red hot i ron. ' A vast
horri fi ed si l ence fel l among the sol di ers. "
Here expressed i n a parti cul arl y i ntense and repul si ve form was
the hypocri sy whi ch the young Marx had exposed so vehementl y.
Here is the real nature of the sensi bi l ity and gal l antry of the men of
t he upper cl asses toward femi ni ni ty.
From: Shei l a Rowbotham,
Women, Resistance and Revolution
(London: Pengui n, 1 972).
chapter si x: "The Interationale"
Te events of the Paris Commune inspired the famous revolutionar hymn
- "Te Internationale. " Eugene Pottier wrote the original French lyrics
in June 1871 while in jail afer the defeat of the Commune. Pottier, a fabric
designer, had participated in the 1848 revolt in France and was elected to
the Paris Commune in March 1871 . He was a close fiend of the French
painter Gustave Courbet, an admirer of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (the
campaigner for anti-authoritarian socialism) and a member of the First
International. Following the Commune, Pottier fed to England and the
United States and was condemned to death in his absence by the French
authorities.
Pottier's poem was set to music by Pierre Degeyter in 1888, one year
afer his death. Te song rapidly became a favorite of the European workers'
movement and the hymn of socialists and communists, to be sung at
conferences of the First and Second Internationals. It was adopted as the
frst National Anthem of the Soviet Union, then the anthem of the (third)
Communist International, until Stalin changed it during World War I
However, as sung by the Chinese students and workers at Tienanmen
Square in Beijing, it remains a song of protest and revolt.
liThe Interationale"
Words by Eugene Potti er (Pari s 1 871 )
Musi c by Pi erre Degeyter (1 888)
Ari se ye workers from your sl umbers
Ari se ye pri soners of want
For reason i n revol t now t hunders
And at l ast ends the age of cant.
Away wi th al l your supersti ti ons
Servi l e masses ari se, ari se
We' l l change henceforth the ol d tradi ti on
And spurn the dust to wi n the pri ze.
Chorus:
So comrades, come ral ly
And the l ast fi ght l et us face
"The I nternati onal e" uni tes the human race.
So comrades, come ral ly
And the l ast fi ght let us face
"The I nternati onal e" uni tes the human race.
No more deluded by reaction
On tyrants only we'll make war
The soldiers too will take strike action
They'll break ranks and fight no more
And if those cannibals keep trying
To sacrifice us to their pride
"the interationale" 91
They soon shall hear the bullets flying
We'll shoot the generals on our own side.
No savior from on high delivers
No faith have we in prince or peer
Our own right hand the chains must shiver
Chains of hatred, greed and fear
E'er the thieves will out with their booty
And give to all a happier lot.
Each at the forge must do their duty
And we'll strike while the iron is hot.
V. l Lenin
The workers' anthem
In 1 91 3, on the 25th anniversary of Pottier' s death, the Russian
revolutionar Vladimir Lenin stated:
This song has been translated into all European and other lan
guages. In whatever country a class-conscious worker finds himself,
wherever fate may cast him, however much he may feel himself a
stranger, without language, without friends, far from his native
country - he can find himself comrades and friends by the familiar
refrain of "The I nternationale."
The workers of all countries have adopted the song of their fore
most fighter, the proletarian poet, and have made it the worldwide
song of the proletariat.
From: V. 1 . Leni n, Colected Works, Volume 36
( Moscow: Progress Publ i shers, 1 966), 223-224.
Origi nal l y publ i shed in Pravda, January 3, 1 9 1 3.
chapter seven : Exile in
New Caledonia
Afer her trial, imprisonment and deportation, the islands of New Caledonia
became Louise Michel's home for more than six years.
In exile, Louise Michel took up teaching both French settlers and the
indigenous Kanak population. She had an Enlightenment faith in reason,
science and art as ennobling the condition ofhumanit. Troughout her lie,
she took a great amateur interest in scientifc experiment, botany, biology
and nutrition. With plent of spare time during her exile, she conducted a
range of botanical studies and scientifc experiments taking extensive
records of the new Pacifc fora and fauna, and experimenting with the
vaccination of papaya trees against jaundice.
During the 1878 Kanak revolt, most of the Communards exiled in New
Caledonia rallied to the French state, but Louise Michel took up defense of
the Knnak cause. Her Memoirs highlight her antiracist sentiments and her
contempt for notions of European superiority.
Louise Michel
The Kanaks were seeki ng the same l i bery we
had sought i n the Commune . . .
The hope for l i berty and bread was i n the hearts of the Kanaks. They
rebel l ed i n 1 878, seeki ng l i berty and di gni ty. Not al l of my comrades
approved of thei r rebel l i on as strongl y as I di d. One day Bauer and
I were tal ki ng about the revol t of the Kanaks, a bur ni ng questi on on
the Ducos peni nsul a. We started speaki ng so l oudl y that a guard
ran over from the post ofi ce t hi nki ng that a ri ot had broken out. He
wi thdrew, very di sconcerted , when he saw there were onl y two of
us.
That argument was about not onl y the Kanaks, but al so about a
Kanak pl ay. Bauer accused me of wanti ng to put on a Kanak pl ay,
and I di dn't deny it. We deportees had a theater on the hi l l above
Numbo. It had its di rectors, its actors, its stagehands, its sets, and
i t s board of di rectors. Thi s theater was a masterpi ece, gi ven t he con
d i ti ons under whi ch we were l i vi ng. Every Sunday we used t o go to
the theater. We put on everyt hi ng there: dramas, vaudevi l l e, oper
ettas. We even sang fragments of an opera, Robert the Devil,
al though we di dn't have al l the score.
True, the l eadi ng women usual l y had deep, boomi ng voi ces,
and thei r hands kept searchi ng i n thei r ski rt pockets as i f they were
l ooki ng for a ci gar. Even my court- marti al d ress, whi ch was very
l ong, l ef thei r feet uncovered to the ankl es, for some of our l eadi ng
l adi es were tal l . They l engthened thei r ski rts fi nal l y, and t hen nothi ng
was l acki ng in thei r cost umes. Wol owski trai ned the chorus.
They were tal ki ng about an orchestra when I l ef t he peni nsul a
for Noumea. I had my own i deas for an orchestra: I wanted t o shake
pal m branches, strike bamboo, create a horn from shel l s, and use
exile in new caledonia 95
the tones produced by a l eaf pressed agai nst the l i ps. I n short , I
wanted a Kanak orchestra, compl ete wi th quarer tones. Thanks to
knowl edge I had gotten from Daoumi and the Kanak who brought
suppl i es, I bel i eved I knew enough t o try. But my pl an was bl ocked
by the Commi ttee of Li ght Cl assi cal Theater. I ndeed, they accused
me of bei ng a savage.
To some comrades I seemed to be more Kanak than the Kan
aks. They argued a bi t , so to make the si tuati on a l i ttl e more i nter
esti ng, I spoke of putti ng on a Kanak pl ay whose text was weari ng
out my pocket. I even tal ked about performi ng the pl ay d ressed i n
bl ack ti ghts and I added a few more detai l s desi gned t o exasperate
those peopl e: the i nci dent took its normal course, rousi ng my ad
versari es and amusi ng me deep wi thi n.
The revol t of t he tri bes was deadl y seri ous, but i t i s better i f I say
l i ttl e about i t. The Kanaks were seeki ng the same l i bert y we had
sought i n the Commune. Let me say onl y that my red scarf, the red
scarf of the Commune that I had hi dden from every search, was
di vi ded in two pi eces one ni ght. Two Kanaks, before going to j oi n the
i nsurgents agai nst the whi tes, had come to say goodbye to me. They
sl i pped i nto t he ocean . The sea was bad, and they may n ever have
arri ved across the bay, or perhaps they were ki l l ed i n the fi ghti ng. I
never saw ei ther of t hem agai n, and I don' t know whi ch of the two
deaths took t hem, but they were brave with the bravery that bl ack
and white both have . . .
The Kanak I nsurrecti on of 1 878 fai l ed. The strength and l ongi ng
of human hearts was shown once agai n, but the whi tes shot down
the rebel s as we were mowed down i n front of Bastion 37 and on
the pl ai ns of Satory. When they sent Atai ' s head to Pari s, I wondered
who the real headh unters were. As Henri Rochefort had once written
to me: "the Versai l l es Government coul d gi ve the nati ves l essons i n
canni bal i sm" . . .
Earl y i n 1 879, the aut hori ti es al l owed me to l eave t he Ducos
peni nsul a and move to Noumea. Those who had a professi on and
coul d be sel f-supporti ng were gi ven a measure of freedom; so I went
to Noumea to teach. There I taught not onl y the chi l dren of the white
col oni sts, but al so the Kanaks , and among those I taught was
Daoumi ' s brother.
I t was fitti ng that I shoul d teach hi m, because Daoumi was the
fi rst Kanak I had met i n New Cal edoni a. Afer that fi rst meeti ng wi th
Daoumi , I saw hi m agai n many t i mes. To practi se European l i fe he
got a j ob at the canteen on the Ducos peni nsul a, and when I tal ked
to hi m I got hi m to tel l me the l egends of the Kanakas, and he gave
me vocabul ary l i sts. For my part, I tri ed to tel l hi m the thi ngs I bel ieved
i t was most i mporant for hi m to know. There were many l egends that
I l earned from Daoumi and hi s brother.
Daoumi ' s brother and I al so spoke of the shor future that l oomed
before hi s race, when untutored and unarmed men faced our greed
and our i nnumerabl e means of destructi on. Seei ng the l ofy, resol ute
mi nd and the courageous and ki nd heart of Daoumi ' s brother, I
wondered whi ch of us was the superi or bei ng: the one who assi mi
l ates forei gn knowl edge through a thousand difi cul ti es for t he sake
of hi s race, or the wel l -armed whi te who anni hi l ates those who are
l ess wel l armed. Other races gi vi ng way before our arms is no proof
of our superi ority. I f ti gers and el ephants and l i ons suddenl y covered
E urope and attacked us, t hey woul d tri umph in a storm of des
tructi on and woul d seem superi or to us.
From: Loui se Mi chel , Memoires
(Trans. -Ed. )
Lousc Nchc/
PO0f& C| 00C0 0f & f0&0 0f 8
New wonders wil l come from science, and change must come. Time
raises up volcanoes under ol d conti nents, and time al l ows new
feel ings to grow. Soon there wil l be neither cruelty nor exploitation,
and science wil l provide al l humanity with enough food, with nour
ishing food. I dream of the time when science wil l give everyone
enough t o eat. I nstead of the putrefied fl esh which we are accus
tomed to eating , perhaps science will give us chemical mixtures
containing more iron and nutrients than the blood and meat we now
absorb ...
With the abundance of nourishing food in that future worl d, there
must be art, too. In that coming era, the ars wil l be for everyone. The
power of harmoni ous col ors, the grandeur of scul pted marbl e -
they wil l bel ong to the entire human race. Genius wil l be developed ,
not snufed out. I gnorance has done enough harm. The privil ege of
knowl edge is worse t han the privil ege of weal th.
The arts are a part of human rights, and everybody needs them.
Neither music, nor marble, nor col or, can by itsel f procl aim the Mar
seil l aise of the new world. Who wil l sing out the Marsei l l aise of art?
Who wil l tell of the thirst for knowl edge, of the ecstasy of musical
harmonies, of marbl e made fl esh, of canvas pal pitating l ike life? Art ,
l ike science and l iberty, must be no l ess availabl e t han food.
Everyone must take up a torch to l et the coming era wal k in l ight.
Art for all ' Science for al l ' Bread for all !
From: Loui se Mi chel , Memoires
(Trans. -Ed. )
Lousc Nchc/
L6tt6f pf0t6St| Hg f0m0V& f0m Num00 C&mp
Exiled to New Caledonia, the leaders of the Commune were i ni tially
detained al the Ducos peni nsula at Numbo. Tether with other women of
the Commune, Michel refsed to be separated fom her male comrades.
Numbo, May 20, 1 875
Deportee Loui se Mi chel , No. 1 , protests agai nst the ru l i ng whi ch
assi gns al l femal e deportees t o housi ng far away from the Numbo
camp, as i f thei r presence was causi ng a scandal . Gi ven that the
same l aw appl i es to both men and women who were deported, there
is no need to add thi s undeserved i nsul t .
For my part, I wi l l not go to t hi s new home unl ess the reasons
for whi ch we are bei ng sent are made publ i c i n a poster, together
wi th detai l s of the manner i n whi ch we' l l be treated there.
Deportee Loui se Mi chel decl ares t hat , i f t he reasons for t hi s
change are an i nsul t, she wi l l protest ri ght t i l l the end , whatever
happens to her.
Loui se Mi chel , No. 1
je vous ecris de ra nuit (Trans. -Ed. )
chapter ei ght: Authority Vested
in One Person is a Crme
In the afermath of the Paris Commune, tens of thousands of Communards
were massacred by the troops of Versailles. Surviving leaders of the
Commune, including Louise Michel, were brought before militar tribunals.
Michel received a sentence of lietime deortation and was sent to the French
colony of New Caledonia in the South Pacifc in August 1873. After a
general amnesty in 1880, Michel was pardoned.
Years of exile in New Caledonia had not dimmed her contempt of
authority and she returned to France to resume her agitation. She con
tinued to scorn arbitrar authorit: in 1882, Michel was brought before a
Paris court for insulting police, and in 1883 she was arrested for leading a
demonstration across Paris, carring a black fag, during which bread was
taken fom three bakeries.
Louise Michel
Statement to the mi l itary tri bunal afer the
Paris Commune, 1 871
I do not wi sh to defend mysel f, I do not wi sh to be defended . I
bel ong compl etel y to the soci al revol ut i on and I decl are that I accept
compl ete responsi bi l i ty for al l my acti ons. I accept i t compl etel y and
wi thout reservati ons.
You accuse me of havi ng taken part i n t he murder of the gen
eral s? To that I woul d repl y -yes, i f I had been i n Montmartre when
they wi shed to have the peopl e fi red on. I woul d not have hesi tated
to fi re mysel f on those who gave such orders. But I do not under
stand why they were shot when they were pri soners, and I l ook on
t hi s acti on as arrant cowardi ce.
As for the burni ng of Pari s, yes, I took part i n i t. I wi shed to oppose
t he i nvaders from Versai l l es wi t h a bar r i er of fl ames. I had no
accompl i ces i n thi s acti on. I acted on my own i ni ti ati ve.
I am tol d that I am an accompl i ce of the Commune. Certai nl y,
yes, si nce the Commune wanted more t han anythi ng el se the soci al
revol uti on , and si nce t he soci al revol ut i on i s t he dearest of my
desi res. More t han that, I have t he honor of bei ng one of t he i nsti ga
tors of the Commune, whi ch by the way had nothi ng - nothi ng, as
i s wel l known - to do wi th murder and arson. I who was present at
al l the si tti ngs at the Town Hal l , I decl are that there was never any
questi on of murder or arson.
Do you want t o know who are real l y gui l ty? I t i s t he pol i ti ci ans.
And perhaps, later, l i ght wi l l be brought onto al l these events whi ch
today i t i s found quite natural to bl ame on al l supporters of the soci al
revol uti on . . .
eu|hcri|yccs|cdincncpcrson. . .
1 01
But why shoul d I defend mysel f? I have already decl ared that I
refuse to do so. You are men who are going to judge me. You sit
before me unmasked . You are men and I am only a woman, and yet
I look you in the eye. I know quite well that everything I coul d say
wil l not make the least difference to your sentence. So a singl e l ast
word before I sit down. We never wanted anything but the triumph
of the great pri ncipl es of the revol ution. I swear i t on our martyrs who
fel l at Satory, by our martyrs whom I accl aim l oudly, and who wil l one
day have their revenge.
Once more I bel ong t o you. Do with me as you pl ease. Take my
life i f you wish. I am not t he woman t o argue with you for a moment. . .
What I cl aim from you , you who cal l yoursel ves a Council of War,
who sit as my judges, who do not disguise yoursel ves as a Commis
sion of Pardons, you who are mil itary men and del iver you r judgment
i n the sight of al l , is Satory where our brothers have already fal l en.
I must be cut of from society. You have been tol d t o d o so. Wel l ,
t he Commissioner of t he Republ ic i s right. Since i t seems that any
heart whi ch beats for freedom has the right onl y to a smal l lump of
l ead, I demand my share. If you let me live, I shal l never stop crying
for vengeance, and I shall avenge my brothers by denouncing the
murderers i n the Commission for Pardons.
President of the Cour: I cannot all ow you to continue speaking if you
conti nue in this tone.
Louise Michel: I have finished . . . I f you are not cowards, kil l me.
Sixth Court Martial Board (Versailles)
Report of Loui se Mi chel 's tri al for i nsul ti ng
pol i ce, 1 882
Loui se Mi chel was the fi rst accused cal l ed . The val i ant ci ti zen was
ent i rel y sel f-possessed , and in her own voi ce she answered the
j udge' s questi ons i n a very preci se manner.
"You are charged wi th i nsul ti ng pol i cemen, " sai d M. Puget, the
j udge.
"On the contrary, it is we who shoul d bri ng charges concerni ng
brutal ity and i nsul ts, " Loui se Mi chel sai d, " because we were very
peaceful . What happened, and doubtl ess the reason I am here, i s
t hi s: I went to the headquarters of the pol i ce commi ssi oner and
when I got there, I l ooked out a wi ndow and saw several pol i cemen
beati ng a man . I di d not want to say anyt hi ng to those pol i cemen
because they were very overexci ted , so I went up to the next floor
and found two other pol i cemen who were cal mer. I sai d to them, ' Go
down qui ckl y. Someone i s bei ng murdered' . "
The j udge sai d: "That story does not agree wi th the deposi ti ons
of wi tnesses we' re about to hear. "
Loui se Mi chel answered: "What I ' ve sai d i s the truth. When accu
sati ons agai nst me have been true, I 've admi tted thi ngs far more
seri ous than t hi s. "
The first wi tness cal l ed was a pol i ce constabl e named Conar. He
sai d that when he got to the pol i ce commi ssi oner's he found two
women, one of whom was Lou i se Mi chel . He testi fi ed that she sai d
to hi m: "You are ki l l ers and l oafers. "
"That's a l i e, " sai d Loui se Mi chel . The pol i ce constabl e persi sted
in cl ai mi ng his account was true. Loui se Mi chel repeated that she
was tel l i ng the truth and coul d say nothi ng more.
authority vested in one person. . . 1 03
Regardl ess of the pol i ce constabl e' s story bei ng a l i e, the court
sentenced Loui se Mi chel to two weeks i n pri son for vi ol at i ng Arti cl e
224 of the Penal Code.
From: Report publ i shed i n the newspaper
L'lntransigent. January 7, 1 882.
Louise Michel
Tel egram to organizers of the
Les I nval ides protest
In March 1883, police began searching for Louise Michel afer she led a rally
ofunemployed people at Les Invalides in Paris, during which some bakeries
were looted. She was invited to speak at a number of public meetings aer
the rally, but kept a low profle, as indicated in the teleram sent to meeting
organizers on March 1 0.
Dear ci ti zens and fri ends,
I t seems that the pol i ce are prepari ng to di srupt my presentati on to
the meeti ngs thi s eveni ng. Pl ease excuse me for not attendi ng, i n
order t o avoi d gi vi ng pl easure t o Mr. Camescasse [the pol i ce com
mi ssi oner] .
When they bri ng me before t he courts, I wi l l go there by mysel f,
wi thout the need for my fri ends who are defendi ng me to be arrest
ed as wel l .
Loui se Mi chel
March 1 0, 1 883
Xavi ere Gauthi er (ed. ) , Louise Michel,
je vous ecris de ma nuit. (Trans. -Ed. )
Louise Michel
Les I nval i des Tri al , 1 883
Louise's contempt for the authorities is evident in her statement to the court
at her 1883 trial, afer which she was sentenced to six years in solitar con
fnement.
What i s bei ng done to us here i s a pol i ti cal proceedi ng. It i sn't we
who are bei ng prosecuted, but the Anarchi st Party throug h us . . .
What i s surpri si ng you , what i s appal l i ng you , i s that a woman
i s dari ng t o defend hersel f. Peopl e aren' t accustomed to seei ng a
woman who dares to t hi nk. Peopl e woul d rather, as Proudhon put
i t, see a woman as ei ther a housewife or a courtesan .
We carri ed the bl ack fl ag because the demonstrati on was to be
absolutel y peaceful , and t he bl ack flag i s the fl ag of stri kes and the
fl ag of those who are hungry. Coul d we have carried any other fl ag?
The red fl ag i s nai l ed up i n t he cemeteri es, and we shoul d take i t
up onl y when we can protect i t. Wel l , we coul dn't do that . I have tol d
you before and now I repeat: i t was an essenti al l y peaceful demon
strati on.
I went to the demonstrati on. I had to go. Why was I arrested? . .
I ' ve gone t hroughout Europe sayi ng that I recogni ze n o borders,
sayi ng that al l humanity has the right to the heritage of humanity. That
i nheritance wi l l not bel ong to us, because we are accustomed to
l i vi ng in sl avery. It wi l l bel ong to those persons in the future who wi l l
have l i berty and who wi l l know how to enjoy i t.
When we are tol d that we are the enemi es of the republ i c, we
have onl y one answer: We founded it upon 35, 000 of our corpses.
That i s how we defended the republ i c . . .
I sn't i t si mpl y a l aw of mi ght makes ri ght whi ch i s domi nati n g us?
We want to repl ace i t wi th t he i dea that ri ght makes ri ght. That i s the
extent of our cri me.
1 06 louise michel rebel lives
Above the courts, beyond the 20 years i n pri son you can sen
tence us to - beyond even a l i fe sentence - I see the dawn of
l i berty and equal ity breaki ng.
Knowi ng what i s goi ng on around you, you too are ti red of i t , di s
g usted by i t. How can you remai n cal m when you see the prol etari at
constantl y sufferi ng from h unger whi l e others are gorgi ng them
sel ves?
We knew that the demonstrati on at Les I nval i des woul d come to
nothi ng, and yet i t was necessary to go there. At thi s ti me i n hi story
we are very badl y of. We do not cal l t he regi me that rul es us a
republ i c. A republ i c is a form of government whi ch makes progress,
where there i s justi ce, where there i s bread for al l . How does the
republ i c you have made di fer from the empi re? What i s thi s tal k
about l i berty i n the courts when fi ve years of pri son waits at the end?
I do not want the cry of the workers to be l ost. You wi l l do with me
what you wi sh, but i t' s a questi on of more than me al one. I t' s a matter
t hat concerns a l arge part of France, a l arge part of the worl d, for
peopl e are becomi ng more and more anarchi st i c . . . There is no
doubt that you wi l l see sti l l more revol uti ons, and for that we wi l l
march confi dentl y toward the future.
When one person al one no l onger has authori ty, there wi l l be
l i ght, truth and j usti ce. Authority vested i n one person i s a cri me.
What we want i s authori ty vested i n everyone . . .
Peopl e recogni ze homel ands onl y to make them a foyer for war.
Peopl e recogni ze borders onl y to make them an object of i ntri gue.
We concei ve homel ands and fami l y i n a much broader sense. These
are our cri mes.
We l i ve in an age of anxi ety. Everybody is tryi ng to fi nd hi s own
way, but we say anyhow that whatever happens, i f l i berty i s real i zed
and qual ity achi eved, we shal l be happy.
Superior cour of the Seine District, June 21, 1 883.
Louise Michel
Letter to the Commi ssi oner of Pol ice
Sir,
I have constantly protested against the infamy of being granted a
pardon.
I do not know why you are inflicting this insult on me, and I
declare again that I will not leave prison unless all the others are
released.
Please receive my respect,
L. Michel
Saint-Lazare, January 1 4, 1 886.
chapter ni ne: Emma and Louise
Emma Goldman - feminist, activist, organizer - was profundly infuenced
by the example ofLouise Michel. Born in Russia, Goldman migrted to the
United States at age 1 6, where she lectured, wrote and protested on issues
of militarism, fee speech, women's rights and civil liberties.
"Red Emma " spent much of her life traveling between Europe and the
United States, promoting her philosophy of anarchism. During these travels
in 1895, she frst met Louise Michel, whom she later described as "the
priestess ofpit and vengeance. " In 1899, both women spoke together in
London in support of the Haymarket martyrs - anarchists condemned for
the death of Chicago policemen in the My Day bombing of1886.
In her autobiography, Living my Life, Emma Goldman spells out the
impact that Louise Michel had on her life. In later polemics with other
writers, she also addressed the issue of public women and homosexualit,
in response to a German article about Louise and lesbianism.
Emma Goldman
There was spi rit and youth in her eyes
One of my ai ms i n vi si ti ng Engl and was to meet the outstandi ng
personal i ti es i n t he anarchi st movement . . . Loui se Mi chel I met
al most i mmedi atel y upon my arri val . The French comrades I stayed
wi th had arranged a recepti on for my fi rst Sunday i n London. Ever
si nce I had read about the Pari s Commune, its gl ori ous begi nni ng
and i ts terri bl e end, Loui se Mi chel had stood out subl i me i n her l ove
for humani ty, grand i n her zeal and courage. She was angul ar,
gaunt, aged before her years ( she was onl y 62) but there was spi ri t
and youth i n her eyes, and a smi l e so tender that i t i mmedi atel y won
my heart .
Thi s, then, was the woman who had survi ved t he savagery of the
respectabl e Pari s mob. I ts fury had drowned the Commune i n the
bl ood of the workers an d had strewn the streets of Pari s wi t h
thousands of dead and wounded . Not bei ng appeased, i t had al so
reached out for Loui se. Agai n and agai n she had courted death; on
the barri cades of Pere Lachai se, the l ast stand of the Communards,
Loui se had chosen the most dangerous posi ti on for hersel f. I n court
she had demanded t he same penal ty as was meted out to her
comrades, scorni ng cl emency on t he grounds of sex. She woul d di e
for t he cause.
Whether out of fear or awe of t hi s heroi c fi gure, the murderous
Pari s bourgeoi si e had not dared to ki l l her. They preferred to doom
her to a sl ow death i n New Cal edoni a. But they had reckoned wi th
out the forti tude of Loui se Mi chel , her devoti on and capaci ty for con
secrati on to her fel l ow sufferers. I n New Cal edoni a she became the
hope and i nspi rati on of the exi l es. I n si ckness she nursed t hei r
bodi es; i n depressi on she cheered t hei r spi rits. The amnesty for the
1 1 0 louise michel rebel lives
Communards brought Loui se back wi th the others to France. She
found hersel f the accl ai med i dol of the French masses. They adored
her as thei r Mere Loui se, bien aimee. Shortl y after her return from
exi l e Loui se headed a demonstrati on of unempl oyed to the Espl a
nade des I nval i des. Thousands were out of work for a l ong ti me and
hungry. Loui se l ed t he processi on i nto the bakery shops, for whi ch
she was arrested and condemned to fi ve years' i mpri sonment. I n
court she defended the ri ght of the hungry man to bread, even i f he
has to "steal " i t. Not the sentence, but the l oss of her dear mother
proved the greatest bl ow to Loui se at her tri al . She l oved her wi th
an absorbi ng afecti on and now she decl ared that she had nothi ng
el se t o l i ve for except the revol uti on. I n 1 886 Loui se was pardoned,
but she refused to accept any favors from t he state. She had to be
taken forci bl y from pri son i n order to be set at l i berty.
Duri ng a l arge meeti ng i n Le Havre someone fi red two shots at
Loui se whi l e she was on the pl atform tal ki ng. One went t hrough her
hat; the other struck her behi nd the ear. The operati on, al though very
pai nful , cal l ed forth no compl ai nt from Loui se. I nstead she l amented
her poor ani mal s l ef al one i n her rooms and the i nconveni ence the
del ay woul d cause her woman fri end who was wai ti ng for her i n the
next town. The man who nearl y ki l l ed her had been i nfl uenced by
a pri est to commi t the act, but Loui se tri ed her utmost to have hi m
rel eased. She i nduced a famous l awyer t o defend her assai l ant and
she hersel f appeared i n court t o pl ead wi th t he j udge i n hi s behal f.
Her sympathi es were parti cul arl y sti rred by the man' s young daughter,
whom she coul d not bear to have become fatherl ess by the man' s
bei ng sent to pri son. Loui se' s stand di d not fai l to i nfl uence even her
fanati cal assai l ant.
Later Loui se was to parti ci pate i n a great stri ke i n Vi enna, but
she was arrested at the Gare du Lyon as she was about to board
the trai n. The cabi net member responsi bl e for the massacre of the
worki ngmen i n Fourmi es saw i n Loui se a formi dabl e force that he
had repeatedl y tri ed to crush. Now he demanded her removal from
emma and louise 1 1 1
j ai l to an i nsane asyl um on the ground that she was deranged and
dangerous. I t was thi s fi endi sh pl an to di spose of Loui se that i nduced
her comrades to persuade her to move to Engl and.
The vul gar French papers conti nued to pai nt her as a wi l d beast,
as "La Vi erge Rouge" [The Red Vi rgi n] wi thout any femi ni ne qual i
ti es or charm. The more decent wrote of her wi th bated breath . They
feared her, but they al so l ooked up to her as somethi ng far above
thei r empty soul s and hearts. As I sat near her at our first meeti ng, I
wondered how anyone coul d fai l to fi nd charm in her. I t was true that
she cared l ittl e about her appearance. I ndeed, I had never seen a
woman so utterl y obl i vi ous of anythi ng that concerned hersel f. Her
dress was shabby, her bonnet anci ent. Everythi ng she wore was i l l
fi tti ng. But her whol e bei ng was i l l umi ned by an i nner l i ght . One
qui ckl y succumbed to the spel l of her radi ant personal i ty, so com
pel l i ng i n i ts strength, so movi ng i n i ts chi l dl i ke si mpl i city. The after
noon with Loui se was an experi ence unl i ke anythi ng that had hap
pened t i l l t hen i n my l i fe. Her hand i n mi ne, its tender pressure on
my head, her words of endearment and cl ose comradeshi p, made
my soul expand, reach out toward the spheres of beauty where she
dwel t.
From: Emma Gol dman, Living my Life
( New York: AMS Press, 1 970), 1 66.
Emma Goldman
Louise Mi chel was a compl ete woman
Dear Dr. Hi rschfel d:
I have been acquai nted wi t h your great works on sexual psychol ogy
for a number of years now. I have al ways deepl y admi red your
courageous i nterventi on on behal f of the ri ghts of peopl e who are
by thei r natural di sposi ti on unabl e to express thei r sexual feel i ngs
i n what i s customari l y cal l ed the " normal " way. Now t hat I have had
t he pl easure of maki ng your personal acquai ntance and observi ng
your efforts at fi rst had, I feel more strongl y than ever the i mpress
of your personal ity and spi ri t whi ch has gui ded you i n your di fi cul t
undertaki ng.
Your wi l l i ngness t o pl ace your peri odi cal at my di sposal , gi vi ng
me the opportunity to present a cri ti cal eval uati on of the essay by
Herr von Levetzow on t he al l eged homosexual ity of Loui se Mi chel ,
i s proof - i f such proof were ever requi red - that you are a man
wi t h a deep sense of j usti ce and i nterested onl y i n the truth . . .
Above al l , I feel obl i ged to preface my response to the statements
of the above-menti oned author with a few brief comments. In chal
l engi ng what I regard as erroneous presupposi ti ons on the part of
Herr von Levetzow, I am i n no way moti vated by any prej udi ce ag
ai nst homosexual ity i tsel f or any anti pathy toward homosexual s i n
general . Had Loui se Mi chel ever mani fest ed any type of sexual
feel i ngs i n al l those rel ati onshi ps wi t h peopl e whom she l oved and
who were devoted to her, I woul d certai nl y be the l ast to seek to
cl eanse her of thi s "sti gma. "
I t i s a tragedy, I feel , t hat peopl e of a di fferent sexual type are
caught i n a worl d whi ch shows so l i ttl e understandi ng for homo
sexual s, i s so crassl y i ndi fferent to t he vari ous gradat i ons and
emma and louise 1 13
vari ations of gender and thei r great si gnifi cance in l i fe. Far be it for
me to seek to eval uate these peopl e as inferior, l ess moral , or i ncap
abl e of hi gher feel ings and actions. I am the l ast person to whom i t
woul d occur to "protect" Louise Mi chel , my great teacher and com
rade, from the charge of homosexual i ty. Louise Mi chel's servi ce to
humani ty and her great work of soci al l i beration are such that they
can be nei ther enl arged nor reduced, whatever her sexual habi ts
were.
Years ago, before I knew anythi ng about sexual psychology and
when my sol e acquaintance wi th homosexuals was l i mi ted to a few
women I had met i n prison (where I was hel d because of my pol i ti cal
convi ctions) . I spoke up in no uncertai n terms on behal f of Oscar
Wi l de. As an anarchi st, my pl ace has always been on the si de of
the persecuted . The enti re persecution and sentencing of Wi l de
struck me as an act of cr uel i nj usti ce and repulsi ve hypocri sy on t he
part of t he soci ety whi ch condemned this man. And this alone was
the reason whi ch prompted me to stand up for hi m . . .
From al l of t his, you r readers may recogni ze that any prej udi ce
or anti pathy toward homosexuals is total l y forei gn to me. On the
contrary! Among my mal e and femal e fri ends, there are a few who
are of ei ther a compl etel y Urani an or a bisexual disposi ti on. I have
found these indi vi duals far above average in terms of i ntel l i gence,
abi l i ty, sensi ti vi ty and personal charm. I empathi ze deepl y wi th them,
for I know that thei r suferi ngs are of a l arger and more compl ex sort
than those of ordinary peopl e.
But there exists among very many homosexuals a predomi nant
intel l ectual outlook whi ch I must seri ousl y chal l enge. I a m speaki ng
of the practise of cl ai mi ng every possi bl e prominent personal i ty as
one of thei r own, attri buti ng thei r own feel i ngs and character trai ts
to these peopl e.
I f one were t o bel i eve t he assurances and cl ai ms of many
homosexuals, one woul d be forced to the concl usi on t hat no trul y
great person i s or ever was to be found outsi de the ci rcl e of persons
1 1 4 louise michel rebel lives
of a di ferent sexual type. Soci al ostraci sm and persecuti on i nevi tabl y
spawn sectari ani sm; but thi s outl ook, narrow i n i ts perspecti ve, ofen
renders peopl e unjust i n thei r prai se of others. Wi thout wi shi ng to
ofend Herr von Levetzow i n any way, I must say that he seems to
be strongl y i nfl uenced by the sectari an spi ri t of many homosexual s,
perhaps unconsci ousl y so.
Beyond that, he has an anti quated concepti on of the essence of
womanhood. He sees in woman a bei ng meant by nature sol el y to
d el i ght man wi th her attracti veness, bear hi s chi l dren, and other
wi se fi gure as a domesti c and general househol d sl ave. Any woman
who fai l s to meet these shopworn requi rements of womanhood i s
promptl y taken as a Urani an by thi s wri ter. I n l i ght of t he accompl i sh
ments of women to date i n every sector of human i ntel l ectual l ife and
i n efforts for soci al change, thi s tradi ti onal mal e concepti on of
womanhood scarcel y deserves regard any l onger.
I nonethel ess feel compel l ed to pursue the outmoded vi ews of
thi s writer concerni ng Loui se Mi chel to some extent, i f onl y to show
t he reader what nonsensi cal concl usi ons can be reached if one
proceeds from nonsensi cal presupposi ti ons . . .
Modern woman i s no l onger sati sfi ed to be the bel oved of a man;
she l ooks for understandi ng , comradeshi p; she wants t o be treated
as a human bei ng and not si mpl y as an object for sexual grati fi cati on.
And si nce man in many cases cannot ofer her thi s, she turns to her
si sters.
[My onl y desi re is to see Mi chel ] portrayed as she actual l y was:
an extraordi nary woman, a si gni fi cant thi nker and a profound soul .
She represented a new type of womanhood whi ch i s nonethel ess
as ol d as the race, and she had a soul whi ch was permeated by an
al l -encompassi ng and al l -understandi ng l ove for humani ty.
In short , Loui se Mi chel was a compl ete woman , free of a" the
p rejudi ces and tradi ti ons whi ch for centuri es hel d women i n chai ns
and degraded them to househol d sl aves and objects of sexual l ust.
emma and louise 1 1 5
The new woman cel ebrated her resurrecti on i n the fi gure of Loui se,
the woman capabl e of heroi c deeds but one who remai ns a woman
i n her passi on and in her l ove.
From the 1 923 arti cl e by Emma Gol dman in the Yearbook for Sexual
Intermediate Types, i ssued by the Sci entific-Humani tari an Committee,
Germany' s l eadi ng homosexual ri ghts organi zati on
( http: //www. angel fi re. com/ok/Fl ack/emma. ht ml ) .
resources
Books in Engl i sh
Bul l i tt Lowry and El i zabeth El l i ngton Gunter ( eds) , The Red Virgin
- Memoirs of Louise Michel (Al abama: Uni versi ty of Al abama
Press, 1 981 ) .
Gay Gul l i ckson, Unruly Women of Paris - Images of the
Commune ( I thaca: Cornel l Uni versi ty Press, 1 996) .
Eugene Schul ki nd, "Soci al i st Women duri ng t he 1 871 Pari s
Commune, " Past and Present, No. 1 06 ( 1 985) .
Edi th Thomas, Louise Michel ( Montreal : Bl ack Rose Books, 1 980) .
Edi th Thomas, The Women Incendiaries (London : Secker and
Warburg, 1 967) .
George Woodcock, Anarchism ( London: Pel i can, 1 962) . Especi al l y
Chapter 1 0: "Anarchi sm i n France. "
Books i n French
Loui se Mi chel , Memoires (Ari es: Edi ti ons Sul l i ver, 1 998) . Ori gi nal l y
publ i shed i n 1 886.
Loui se Mi chel , La Commune - histoire et souvenirs ( Pari s:
Edi ti ons La Decouverte, 1 999) . Ori gi nal l y publ i shed i n 1 898.
Loui se Mi chel , Aux amis d'Eurpe et Legendes et chansons de
gestes canaques ( Noumea: Edi ti ons Grai n de Sabl e, 1 996) .
Ori gi nal l y publ i shed i n 1 885.
Loui se Mi chel , Souvenirs et aventures de ra vie (Pari s: Edi ti ons
La Decouverte/Maspero, 1 983) . Ori gi nal l y publ i shed i n 1 905.
resources 1 1 7
Xavi ere Gauthi er, Louise Michel, je vous ecris de ma nuit -
Corespondance Generale 1 850-1 904 (Pari s: Les edi ti ons de
Pari s, 1 999). Col l ected l etters from 1 850 unti l her death.
Xavi ere Gauthi er, La Vierge Rouge - biographie de Louise
Michel (Pari s: Les edi ti ons de Pari s, 1 999)
Chri sti ne Roi beyrei x, Louise Michel quand {'aurre se levera
(Peri gueux: La Lauze, 2002) .
Edi th Thomas, Les Petroleuses (Pari s: Gal l i mard, 1 963).
Edi th Thomas, Louise Michel ou la Veleda de {'Anarchie ( Pari s:
Gal l i mard, 1 971 ) .
On the Paris Commune
Stewart Edwards, The Paris Commune, 1871 (London: Eyre and
Spotti swoode, 1 971 ) .
Karl Marx, The Civil War in France (Beij i ng: Forei gn Lang uage
Press, 1 971 ) .
Karl Marx and Fri edri ch Engel s: On the Paris Commune ( Moscow:
Progress Press, 1 971 ) .
Jacques Rougeri e, Paris Insurge - l a Commune de 1871 ( Pari s:
Decouvertes Gal l i mard, 1 995) .
Eugene Schul ki nd (ed) , The Paris Commune of 1871 - The View
Frm the Lef (London: Jonathon Cape, 1 972).
Websites and Fi l m
The Siege and Commune of Paris, 1 870-71 :
http: //www. 1 i brary. northwestern . ed u/spec/si ege/
Thi s si te contai ns l i nks to over 1 , 200 di gi ti zed photographs and
i mages recorded duri ng the Si ege and Commune of Pari s c. 1 871 .
The Li brary' s Si ege & Commune Col l ecti on contai ns 1 , 500
cari catures, 68 newspapers i n hard copy and fi l m, hundreds of
1 1 8 louise michel rebel l ives
books and pamphl ets and about 1 , 000 posters.
Pari s Commune websi te:
http: //www. arts. unsw. edu. au/pari scommune/i ndex. html
I ncl udes extracts from Austral i an newspapers reporti ng on the
Commune.
Anarchy archives l i nks:
http: //dwardmac. pi tzer. edu/anarchi st_archi ves/pari scommunet
Pari scommunehi story. html
Karl Marx's The Civil War in France:
http: //www. marxi sts. org/arch i ve/marx/works/ 1 871 /ci vi l -war-france/
i ndex. htm
In French -background from Loui se Michel High School :
http: //www. ac-cretei l . fr/Loui se/l oui se/l oui se. htm
I n French -good l ist of websites about Louise:
http: //enj ol ras. free. fr/l i ens. ht ml
http: //mel i or. uni v-montp3 . fr/ra _foru m/fr/i n d i vi d us/m i cheUou i se/
i ndexJhtml
Briti sh di rector Peter Watki ns has produced an ambi ti ous
345- mi nute fi l m, La Commune (Paris 1871), avai l abl e on DVD and
vi deo. For further i nformati on, see Part I I I of Peter Watki ns fi l m si te:
http: //www. peterwatki ns. l tlvaryk. htm
BI OGRPHY/POLITI CS/wOMEN' S STUDI ES
US$1 1 . 95
I S B N 1 -8 7 6 1 7 5 -7 6-1
ocea n
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Louise Michel

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also publ i shed in the rebel lives series:

Helen Keller, edited by John Davis

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