History of the Paris Commune of 1871 Index History of the Paris Commune of 1871 Publisher’s Note Introduction Preface Prologue 1. The Prussians enter Paris 2. The coalition opens fire on Paris 3. The eighteenth of March 4. The Central Committee calls for elections 5. Reorganization of the Public Services 6. The mayors and the Assembly combine against Paris 7. The Central Committee forces the mayors to capitulate 8. Proclamation of the Commune 9. The Commune at Lyons, St. Etienne and Creuzot 10. The Commune at Marseilles, Toulouse and Narbonne 11. The Council of the Commune wavers 12. The Versaillese beat back the Commune patrols and massacre prisoners 13. The Commune is defeated at Marseilles and Narbonne 14. The weaknesses of the Council 15. The Commune’s first combats 16. The Manifesto and the germs of defeat 17. Women of the Commune and the opposing armies 18. The work of the Commune 19. Formation of the Committee of Public Safety 20. Rossel replaces Cluseret 21. Paris bombarded: Rossel flees 22. Conspiracies against the Commune 23. The ‘Lefts’ betray Paris 24. The new Committee at work 25. Paris on the eve of death 26. The enemy enters Paris 27. The invasion continues 28. The street battles continue 29. On the barricades 30. The Left bank falls 31. The Commune’s last stand 32. The Versaillese fury 33. The fate of the prisoners 34. The trials of the Communards 35. The executions 36. The balance-sheet of bourgeois vengeance Appendices Glossary All Pages Page 43 of 43GlossaryArrondissements – The 20 administrative districts, each with a mayor, into which Paris was divided.Brassardiers – Arm-band wearers.Cantiniere – Canteen woman attached to each battalion.Catafalques – Decorated coffins used in funeral processions.Chassepots – An early type of rifle.Code Napoleon – The French legal code upholding bourgeois property and rights drawn up under Napoleon I but still the basis of the French legal system.Corps Legislatif – Legislative Assembly.Enceinte – The wall around the old city of Paris.Faubourgs – Suburbs.Feuilles-de-route – Travel document issued to a soldier giving the route to be followed and destination, and used for passing from one army unit to another.Franc-tireurs – Irregular soldiers.Gallicans – The Church faction which wanted the independence of the Church in France and questioned the appointment of bishops. (Cf. Ultramontanes below.)Girondists – The right wing of the Revolution in 1793, opposed by the Jacobins.Hôtel-de-Ville – The central town hall of Paris.Lettres de cachet – The famous order by which the monarchs of the old regime could have people imprisoned indefinitely in the Bastille or other prisons.Levée en masse – The general mobilisation of the populace for battle.Mairie – Town hall of each arrondissement.Montagnards – a name for the Jacobins – the left wing of the bourgeois revolution – deriving from the high benches they occupied in the revolutionary assembly of 1791-2.Octrois – Local taxes levied at the city limits.Pekin – Term for civilian used by the military.Procureur de la République – Public Prosecutor.Pupilles de la Commune – Orphans – largely of men who had died in the fighting – who were taken care of by the Commune.Rappel – The call to arms.Rurales – Provincials.Sbirri – Police thugs.Sergents-de-ville – Municipal police.Tabellionat – Scriveners (a category of members of the legal profession).Tirailleurs – Riflemen.Turcos – Algerian units of the French army, so called by the Russians in the Crimean War who took them for Turks.Ultra-montanes – Church faction which looked to Rome.Vareuse – Cross-fastening jacket. Prev