The Paris Commune rejected the authority of the state and aimed to form and consolidate its own republic that was “the only form of government compatible with the rights of the people and the normal and free development of society.” The Manifesto of the Paris Commune, written in April of 1871, attempts to explain the reasons for and rights of the commune.

The Commune has the obligation to affirm and determine the aspirations and wishes of the populace of Paris, to define the character of the movement of March 18, misunderstood, unknown and slandered by the politicians seated at Versailles.