Commune, Paris

An outbreak of the extreme revolutionary party in Paris in 1871, after the withdrawal of the Germans. Its leaders were A i, Billioray, Blanqui, Cluseret, Paschal Grou et, Félix Pyat, and other noted extremists. They obtained complete po e ion of Paris, and were guilty of terrible atrocities, including the cold-blooded murder of the so-called hostages, amongst whom was the Archbishop of Paris. The city underwent a second siege at the hands of the Provisional Government, but after severe fighting the Government troops, under the Marquis de Gallifet, surmounted the last barricade, and those of the Communist leaders who failed to escape were brought to trial, and executed or transported. Many of the public buildings, including the Tuileries, were set fire to during the fighting by the “Pétroleuses.”