A Letter to All Defenders of the Revolution – Paris Commune (1871)

1840-1945, Date, Defining the Enemy, God, Country, Property

This letter, written in 1871, calls on “the republicans of the world” to support the Paris Commune and rise up against the common enemy.

The war they will find will be that of a mass uprising, irregular corps, hidden marksmen, ambushes, surprises, shrubbery, ravines. It’s extermination by all means, the people in a fury, the unknown…

Manifesto of the Paris Commune (1871)

1840-1945, Defining the Enemy

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.

Abolishing the State – Paris Commune (1870)

1840-1945, Defining the Enemy

The Paris Commune in 1871 was a complete dismissal of the sovereignty of the state. This document, from September 1870, displayed the articles presented by the Federated Committees for the Salvation of France which aim to abolish the state and put power in the hands of the people.

Article One – The Administrative and governmental machinery of the state having become powerless, it is abolished. The French people remain in full possession of itself.