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The Paris Commune

1871 · Paris (Paris, France)

From March to May 1871 the Paris Commune holds the capital against the Versailles government, governing through elected and revocable delegates until its suppression in the Bloody Week kills thousands. Marx, who had warned the rising was premature, hails it in The Civil War in France as the political form at last discovered for working class emancipation, and the Commune becomes the tradition's first image of its own rule.

Tagged: Marxism

The Event

Date
1871 (exact)
Era
Marx; Standard periodization of Marxist history
Location
Paris; today Paris, France
Traditions
Marxism
Streams
Marxism
Key figures
Karl Marx
Key texts
The Civil War in France

Connections

Illustration for Marx's Capital, volume one History Event Marx's Capital, volume one 1867 the rising Marx hailed as the working class in power

Primary Sources

  • The addresses of the General Council of the International Workingmen's Association, 1871; Marx, The Civil War in France.

Secondary Sources

  • Anderson, Perry. Considerations on Western Marxism. London: New Left Books, 1976.
  • Kolakowski, Leszek. Main Currents of Marxism. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978.
  • McLellan, David. Karl Marx: A Biography. London: Palgrave Macmillan, fourth edition, 2006.

Provenance: HIST-1453; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-30.

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