{"id":2997,"date":"2026-05-23T08:47:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T08:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/?p=2997"},"modified":"2026-05-23T08:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T08:49:10","slug":"the-paris-commune-the-grandeur-of-a-workers-experience-and-the-lessons-of-its-defeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cpiran.net\/english\/the-paris-commune-the-grandeur-of-a-workers-experience-and-the-lessons-of-its-defeat\/","title":{"rendered":"The Paris Commune, the Grandeur of a Workers\u2019 Experience and the Lessons of Its Defeat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The last week of May 2026 marks the one hundred and fifty-fifth anniversary of the defeat of the Paris Commune; an event that, even after more than a century and a half, remains alive in the historical memory of the global labor and justice-seeking movement. The Paris Commune was the first major experience of the working class directly taking political power and organizing a new society based on equality, direct democracy, and popular participation. It is precisely this characteristic that has made it one of the brightest and at the same time most painful chapters in the history of social struggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Paris Commune did not emerge in a vacuum. Its roots must be sought in decades of class struggle, the political and social crisis of France, the revolutions of 1848, the growth of workers\u2019 movements, and widespread dissatisfaction with bourgeois rule. From the late 1850s to the end of the 1860s, France witnessed strikes, protests, and the formation of workers\u2019 organizations. The urban working class, especially in Paris, was no longer merely a silent and scattered force; it was gradually becoming a political force demanding direct intervention in the destiny of society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final spark, however, was ignited by the crisis of the Franco-Prussian War. The crushing defeat of the French army against Prussia, the collapse of the empire of Napoleon III, and the advance of Prussian forces to the outskirts of Paris plunged French society into a deep crisis. Faced with this crisis, the French bourgeois government, instead of relying on the people, abandoned the capital and fled to Versailles. But the workers, laborers, women, radical intellectuals, and the people of Paris did not surrender. They took the defense of the city into their own hands, and within this resistance the Paris Commune was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The French government, which until yesterday had been at war with Prussia, allied itself with that same former enemy in order to suppress the workers of Paris. The Prussians released tens of thousands of French prisoners of war so that the Versailles government could organize a renewed army to attack Paris. This transnational class alliance was one of the most important lessons of the Commune: when the capitalist order and class property are threatened, the bourgeoisie sets aside even national borders and political hostilities in order to crush the workers\u2019 movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Paris Commune came to power in the spring of 1871 and for approximately seventy-two days presented a vision of a different society. This short but profound experience demonstrated that workers and ordinary people were not only capable of protest, but also capable of governing society. The Commune dissolved the professional army and entrusted the defense of the city to the armed people. The enormous salaries of officials were abolished, and it was decreed that no government official should receive more than the wage of a skilled worker. Executive and judicial officials became elective and could be recalled at any moment. This principle created a fundamental rupture with bureaucratic governments separated from the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commune also abolished the death penalty, and the guillotine, this symbol of state violence, was burned before the eyes of the people. Free and secular education was placed on the agenda. The church was removed from involvement in education and the judiciary, and religion was confined to the private sphere of individuals. Factories whose owners had fled Paris were handed over to workers\u2019 associations. These measures, although carried out in a short time and under the pressure of civil war, pointed toward a completely different horizon for organizing society; a society in which political power, wealth, education, and production could be removed from the monopoly of the ruling classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The political structure of the Commune also fundamentally differed from previous governments. Members of the Commune were elected from neighborhoods, were accountable to the people, and could be dismissed at any moment. The boundary between legislation and execution had largely been erased. In other words, the Commune was an attempt to smash the old state apparatus and replace it with a form of direct and council-based democracy. Karl Marx later regarded this very characteristic as one of the Commune\u2019s greatest achievements: \u201cThe working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery and wield it for its own purposes; rather, it must create a new form of political power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, the Commune was defeated. Its defeat was not solely the result of the enemy\u2019s military power, although this factor was highly decisive. The Versailles army, with direct and indirect support from Prussia, attacked Paris and during the Bloody Week of May 1871 slaughtered the Communards in the streets. Thousands were killed; it is said that around seventeen thousand workers and militants were massacred in the streets, and thousands more were executed, imprisoned, or exiled. But to understand the causes of the defeat, one must also pay attention to the internal weaknesses of the Commune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most important weaknesses was the absence of a cohesive and nationwide political organization. The Commune consisted of diverse forces: socialists, anarchists, radical republicans, organized workers, and revolutionary intellectuals. This diversity was on the one hand a strength, because it reflected the broad participation of social forces; but on the other hand, at decisive moments it prevented the adoption of a firm and coordinated policy. The Commune failed to quickly and cohesively seize military and political initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second weakness was hesitation in decisively confronting the Versailles government. After its initial victory, the Commune had the opportunity to attack Versailles before the enemy could reorganize itself and eliminate the center of counterrevolution. But this action was accompanied by delay, hesitation, and disorganization. This gave the fleeing government the opportunity to rebuild its army and, with Prussian assistance, prepare the final assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third factor was the relative isolation of the Commune. Although Paris was the revolutionary heart of France, the movement did not spread sufficiently to other cities and working-class regions. Attempts were made in cities such as Lyon and Marseille, but they did not endure. Without extending the revolution across the country, Paris became politically and militarily encircled. This experience demonstrated that even the most radical and advanced movements, if they remain geographically isolated, will remain vulnerable before the concentrated forces of the state and capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lessons of the Paris Commune remain alive today. Despite enormous historical differences, the contemporary world once again faces deep crises of capitalism. Growing inequality, devastating wars, privatization of public services, environmental destruction, repression of labor and popular protests, and the spread of new forms of poverty have become ordinary phenomena. Just as in 1871 the French and Prussian bourgeoisies united to suppress workers, today too governments and capitalist powers, despite their political and geopolitical rivalries, share a common logic in preserving the existing order against radical workers\u2019 and popular movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commune teaches us that the struggle for social justice cannot remain only at the level of scattered protest. Organization, linking economic and political demands, creating independent popular and workers\u2019 institutions, and extending solidarity beyond local and national borders are conditions for the survival and advancement of movements. Workers, teachers, retirees, women, youth, the unemployed, and marginalized people in every society, if they remain separated from one another, are more easily suppressed; but if they connect their demands within a shared horizon, they can become a decisive force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commune also reminds us of the importance of democracy from below. Its experience showed that an alternative to the existing order cannot be built merely by changing ruling faces; rather, the form of power, the method of decision-making, and the relationship of people to the administration of society must be transformed. The electability of officials, permanent accountability, the right of recall, limits on officials\u2019 salaries, popular control over public resources, and the direct participation of working people in decision-making are not matters belonging to the past; they remain among the most fundamental demands of every emancipatory movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the defeat of the Commune warns that courage and sacrifice alone are not enough. Popular movements, in order to succeed, require organization, strategy, preparedness, nationwide connection, and the ability to defend their achievements. The enemies of freedom and equality, when their interests are threatened, refrain from no violence. The Bloody Week of Paris is a reminder of this bitter truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, the Commune was defeated but not destroyed. What was drowned in blood in the streets of Paris remained alive in historical memory and inspired future generations. The Commune showed that another world is possible; a world in which workers and oppressed people are not objects of pity, but conscious makers of their own destiny. On the anniversary of the defeat of the Commune, the memory of the Communards of Paris is a call to rethink the present and build a more humane, equal, and free future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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