L'illustration, journal universel, 3 June 1871, p. 312-313. "Paris en feu"
and "Les incendies de Paris."
Karl Marx saw the Paris Commune of 1871 as an example of the people rising up
against the "bourgeois Republicans" who had corrupted the ideals of the French
Revolution. The insurrection had taken place on 18 March 1871, during the
Franco-Prussian War. The German army had Paris surrounded, and the capital had
capitulated. The revolutionary element in the city rose up against the National
Assembly and proclaimed a "Commune" formed of "the elixir and chosen men of
sansculottic patriotism", on the model of the Commune of 1792. The
Communards proceeded to burn the Palace of the Tuileries and other public
buildings, and put to death some "enemies of the people". Clergymen in
particular were targeted; even the Archbishop of Paris was executed.
The regular French troops re-grouped at Versailles and, under the watching
eyes of the German army, suppressed the Commune, executing most of the leaders.
The engravings show some of the "incendiares" being led along, under
arrest; some of them being executed; and some of the bodies and coffins laid
out.
