The Franco-Prussian war which began in July 1870
causes the fall of Napoleon lll's Empire.
A Government of National Defence,
mostly made up of moderate Republicans,
seizes power in an attempt to pursue the war.
It ends in failure.
The Government signs an armistice,
against the will of the Parisians.
The Germans challenge its legitimacy
and demand a new one be elected to sign a peace treaty.
The elections of February 1871
bring back to power a strong majority of monarchists.
The Parisians express their discontent openly
" in what are called the "Red Clubs"."
From September 1870, District Committees
shape their claims into a counter-power
which throws Paris into a pre-revolutionary climate.
My name is Gerard Watkins
and I play a TV journalist
in this film which deals not only with the Paris Commune,
but also with the role of the mass media
in past and present society.
My name is Aurelia Petit
and I play Blanche Capellier, journalist for the Commune TV.
First, what was quite difficult was that
she's a credulous person, a naive optimist,
and knowing the end of this story
and the events of the Commune, it wasn't easy to keep smiling.
Secondly, she likes her work in front of the camera so much
that she forgets to denounce and question
the power of the media, which she represents entirely.
These premises are currently occupied by Armand Gatti
" and his troupe "La Parole Errante"."
In April of this year, Peter Watkins and 13 Production
started to construct a film set,
recreating the atmosphere of the 11 th District
during the Paris Commune.
We would now like to present
our work-place during these past three weeks.
Yesterday we finished the shooting
and the set is exactly as we left it
after the last scene.
The following text will be added a few months later.
Above the barricade,
flies the tricolour of the Government,
replacing the Commune's red flag, which hung there earlier.
On the left is what remains of the Town Hall,
where the revolutionary Sub-Committee,
enjoyed absolute power, until yesterday.
Outside,
a Government army officer sat at this table
with pen and ink,
sentencing hundreds of neighbourhood Communards
to instant death
by firing squad.
Beyond this table is the local courtyard
with its flies and cesspool,
and the cafe
where we filmed discussions with the actors
about revolution and contemporary society.
Behind it, the Mont-de-piete,
a Government pawnshop,
which kept the working class in permanent debt.
Precious goods:
mattresses, sheets, shoes,
kitchen utensils,
sold if the families could not buy them back.
A cannon bought with the community's meagre resources
stands abandoned.
Yesterday evening,
this open space was littered with corpses.
An execution squad fired and reloaded without ceasing.
Among the people killed,
were workers repairing rifles,
women from a workshop,
children aged 13 and 14
who fought on the barricades,
and the local baker and his wife.
We ask you to imagine that it is now
March 1 7, 1 871.
I'm grandfather Thibaudier.
There are 5 of us
living in a small room
in the 11 th District of Paris.
The 11 th is a very poor neighbourhood...
not an easy place to live.
Many kids
sleep out in the streets.
So our family is not among
the most miserable in this society.
But we have to change it one day.
My name is Henri Dubrieux.
I live in this courtyard, as you can see.
I came to Paris from Franche-Comte
24 years ago, during the economic crisis.
I lived through 1848,
and what's going on now reminds me of that period.
However, the circumstances aren't the same.
We've been defeated and humiliated by the Prussians
who proclaimed their Empire in Versailles last January 18.
On what's happening in Paris - it's a shame that
the newly elected National Assembly, representing the Provinces,
has passed a number of ridiculous decrees and laws,
like paying the rents.
We've just lived through a siege and very difficult circumstances,
it's no surprise that everyone is broke.
They could have waited and been more diplomatic.
I'm afraid it will all get worse.
We don't know where we're heading.
For work, I do odd jobs, but mainly I'm a public letter-writer.
I teach people, like little Marcel here.
He's my neighbours' son, very nice people.
He reproaches me for being strict
when I ask him to read, write and count.
But that's what it takes to become a free man.
I'm still a bit worried that things might get worse.
if things go bad on either side,
the one to laugh
will be that bastard Bismarck.
The peace plan strips France of Alsace-Lorraine,
imposes 5 billion fr. Compensation and,
supreme humiliation, allows the German army to enter Paris.
From 5:00 a.m.,
mothers are here with children crying in their arms.
It's sad, people had nothing to eat during the siege,
they ate rats, roots,
what they went through was awful.
And now, the children are sick,
we hear things at the bakery,
young children starving because the bread is of poor quality.
During the 6 month Prussian siege,
the Parisians were cold and hungry.
The mortality rate doubled.
The jobless join the National Guard for 30p. A day.
For 30p., in January 1871, one can buy
a lettuce or a dog's brain.
Yes, for the bread, we do what we can,
we are starting to get flour but it's not good quality.
So in order to make a lot we have to mix the flour.
We add buckwheat, rye,
we add bran to try and make bread
because people are hungry,
and we have to make a lot.
People want bread.
It's almost the only food you can find today.
I can't stand seeing people so miserable any longer.
These people crying, mothers crying.
It can't continue,
the people are suffering too much, they've had enough.
Nearly 300,000 strong, mostly opponents to the new Assembly,
the National Guard is a Federation of elected delegates.
lts aim: to defend the Republic
against a Prussian invasion or a monarchist Restoration.
'89 was a bourgeois revolution. Nothing changed for us.
Same for Haussmann's building works in the fancy areas.
Sure, we pass by shop windows with splendid suits
and hams hanging from the ceiling. But for who?
Three working lives couldn't buy that stuff.
We're as poor as ever.
I don't want my kids to live like that.
So I want to do something, I don't know what.
But being in the National Guard seems a good start.
Only 10% of Paris flats have drainage,
70,000 cesspools require sewage workers labouring at night.
Candle is the only source of light for 80% of Parisians.
My name is Constance Fillon,
I live here with my daughter Frederique.
The courtyard is like a family for her.
I've been a widow for 5 years...
and she's found her place
at the orphanage on Rue Oberkampf.
We were lucky to have the sisters of St-Vincent de Paul.
I'm a midwife. I couldn't take care of her.
Things are stirring in Paris now.
We elected the mayor - Mottu -
he's talking of organizing state schools.
We need schools, we need education,
we can't have kids on the streets.
The nuns are here, they were here during the siege,
they give us soup, medical attention.
You like it with them?
Yes, the sisters are very kind.
I'm afraid they'll shut the school.
My name is Francoise Boidard.
I'm a primary school teacher...
unemployed.
Unemployed voluntarily.
I refused to work.
I refused to swear allegiance
to an education I loathe.
An education based on religion,
which makes children withdraw into themselves...
and submit to authority.
"The Black Army moves in fury, peddling night and darkness."
"Each year state schools shut down by the hundreds,"
"and more religious schools open in their place."
"The plan for universal cretinisation is alive."
Blanqui, 1870
My name is Marie-Louise Beauger.
I'm a primary school teacher too.
I worked under Napoleon lll,
but I resigned because I had enough.
We had to make the young girls say prayers,
teach them sewing,
useless things,
bring them up like their mothers,
to be dressmakers, washerwomen, no more.
So I resigned.
My friend and I regularly read
a review published by the Society for New Education
and we firmly believe in what they say.
We want things to change.
These are very troubled times, everyone suffers enormously.
But we put our hope in the future.
We want all girls to learn to read and write,
to get a real profession.
We want to change all that.
The National Guard, a militia with elected officers,
is devoted to its democratic system.
A Central Committee, rejecting all government authority,
is elected on March 15.
More than just a military force,
it becomes a political power serving a revolutionary ideal.
Soldiers!
Enlisted men of the 66th and 140th Battalions!
I saw you assembling.
It's like a bordello...
Silence! Listen to your captain!
You're in the National Guard. At least show some respect!
Hold your noise!
- Obedience, discipline! - Shut up!
This morning, some of you came late again.
- Shut up! - You stop barking!
You're not at home. You're in the National Guard.
- We know that! - Stop this mess!
How much have you had?
I demand respect!
Silence!
We're not dogs! if you'd talk nice...
The sergeant's always drunk!
Now, we're going to listen to Captain Lemmonier,
with respect!
- Be quiet! - He said silence in the ranks!
Citizens!
- Citizens! - Go on, captain!
Our National Guard has now become a Federation
to face a Government
that has betrayed our aspirations.
We must unite against tyranny and human exploitation.
Death to them!
Long live universal brotherhood and solidarity!
They say that the government
wants to take the cannon we paid for.
Never! Let them come, we'll be waiting!
Thiers' government has already passed many unacceptable measures
against the Paris population
which has courageously endured a long siege.
Regardless,
they reinstalled the payment of rents and commercial debts.
We won't pay a penny!
They also decreed that the items left at the pawnshops
would be sold to the profiteers!
- They also banned our newspapers. - We want Thiers dead!
- It's intolerable! - Kill him!
They are violating our rights.
Be brave, be courageous,
and be vigilant, don't let them corrupt you!
Many merchants and craftsmen are in debt.
Rents and commercial commitments had been suspended.
But the new Assembly cancels this, causing 40000 bankruptcies
" and distress to the working class and "petite bourgeoisie"."
My name is Mme Theron.
My name is Emile Theron.
We have a little jewellery shop.
It's hard now because of the government's new decrees.
We must pay our rents and debts and we have little in reserve
so it will be very difficult for us over the next few weeks.
Look at this new government,
all the monarchists elected,
it's quite frightening.
And things have gotten worse since the siege.
For everyone around here,
there's more and more poverty. Really!
I'm very scared because since the start of these events,
a lot of National Guard Battalions have been formed.
There's a lot of unrest
and that scares me a lot.
Yes, we sense some catastrophe,
a civil war or something terrible.
Because people have nothing left to lose.
Many of them really have nothing to lose.
This is true. And I'm not going to fight against French people
because I'm French.
I won't join the Guard,
but we might have trouble with the others
from this area later on.
We'll see about that, but he certainly won't fight.
He won't go fight in the National Guard. I'll stop him.
Fearing the Parisians,
the new National Assembly moves to Versailles,
19 km from the capital.
Adolphe Thiers, Chief Executive,
stays in Paris with his Government.
On March 18, Thiers sends units of the regular army
to seize cannon held by the Guard.
He fears the weapons will be used against the Government.
There are a lot of you in Paris this morning,
what's going on?
The National Guard seized more than 300 cannon
when the Prussians entered Paris.
They are stored in Belleville, Montmartre
and other places in the capital.
These cannon symbolize the dissident National Guard's
independent military power.
Negotiations to recover the cannon having failed,
Mr Thiers' government
has decided to recover them.
What are you up to this morning?
We really don't know.
It's totally vague.
We're starving, that's all.
We don't have cigarettes.
And we're not allowed to talk.
Taking the cannon is OK by me, we need them to control Paris.
But they want us to fire on the people.
That I won't do! I don't agree!
Me neither!
I think this operation is a total mess -
if we're to recover the National Guard cannon,
where are the horses we need? We don't have any.
The cannon weigh two tons. Are we to carry them
on our backs? The officers think we're animals?
We have orders against men in arms grouping,
to stop them from moving into the city's popular areas,
where we are going
to recover the cannon.
if we must fight, we will fight.
if we do, there will be no mercy.
I fear that some of our soldiers
may refuse to fight Parisians.
Most of them are young recruits
who don't grasp the need for vigorous action
against the red elements.
I'm Marie-Louise Thibaudier.
I have 2 kids, Jacques and Celine.
My husband empties cesspools at night.
I do extra work for a big Paris department store
to supplement my pay.
I work as a dressmaker during the day.
I live here with my 2 children, my husband,
and Jules. He doesn't get any pension,
but he always gets something to eat.
Here in the 11 th District
there aren't many families like ours.
So many unemployed.
I still feel privileged.
Many women are looking for work.
They come every day to the shop
and it breaks my heart not to be able to help them.
Then again I can't go without work.
if I gave them what I do...
Mother, come see.
What's going on?
Please tell me what's going on!
- Stay inside! - No, tell me!
Stay home lady, it's nothing!
What? Don't close the shutters!
It must be the cannon, let's go see.
What's going on?
Come on, it's the cannon. Take your jacket.
Celine, put your shoes on. Come with us!
Are you coming?
The damned door won't open!
Nothing functions here!
The scenes in the 11 th District
were filmed in 13 days,
" mostly using long, 10-min."sequence shots","
and chronologically following the Commune events.
Look at all those people!
- Calm down! - We've got to see what's going on.
Go home!
They want to take our cannon!
The cannon are ours!
It's ours. We bought it!
We paid for it!
- Disperse! - No!
First warning. We will use force. Disperse!
Second and last warning.
We will use force. Disperse!
Long live Socialism!
Long live the Republic!
Fraternization with the army, led by the women of Montmartre,
foils an attempt to seize the National Guard cannon.
lnsurrection spreads spontaneously
throughout the working class areas of Paris.
By 9:00 a.m., government authority has vanished.
Two generals are captured, an officer is killed by the crowd.
His horse is hacked to pieces on the spot.
National TV Versailles. News flash.
According to information just received,
serious unrest has broken out in the capital
since the army's attempt
to recover cannon held illegally by the Guard.
Two of our generals, Lecomte and Clement Thomas
have been arrested by the crowd.
Their lives could be at stake. I repeat...
Well, hello, live from the 11 th District,
your reporter for National Television Versailles,
to brief you on the incredible events in Paris this morning.
lndeed, several movements of...
I'm from Versailles TV and we'd like to know what's happening...
Tell jackass Thiers to come back to the 11 th and we'll see!
You can see the strange atmosphere here in Paris.
You liar, back to Versailles!
It's very difficult to get answers.
Can you tell us what you think of this?
The situation is quite disconcerting...
in my opinion.
And who are you?
My name is Wickham Hoffman,
I'm assistant to US Ambassador
Washburne.
And what does the US think of the events in Paris?
Personally, I find the situation very serious.
With this insurrectionary crowd in the streets,
I'm quite worried.
For the property owners in Paris,
- it's very disturbing! - Thank you.
What do you think of the events unfolding in Paris?
I'm extremely anxious and very worried.
My husband is a doctor. What will happen to us?
I'm really very worried.
Do you think this riot could worsen?
Might it lead to civil war?
- I'm afraid so. - You fear that?
- And you Madame? - I'm shattered!
War was over, we had peace, and now this!
I can't understand it. I really can't.
- Will you stay here? - I must, I have workers,
I must protect my business.
- And you? - I'm frightened.
It's like civil war, it smells of trouble.
I'm very worried for all of us.
I refuse to panic. We've nothing to fear.
Who are these men? Ex-convicts, drunkards!
Our army will come and sort this out.
The women saved the cannon.
Things are stirring in the 11 th in Paris.
- Too much misery! - Leave it. They don't care!
There's too much misery.
- It can't go on. - No more privileges!
As you can see the atmosphere is hard to describe.
It seems that strong discontent prevails in the capital.
It's hard to grasp what's going on here.
It's a bourgeois TV, sold out to power!
We've had enough. We have journalists.
We must be able to set up a Commune TV.
Yeah, but you also need equipment!
We can't, we don't have any!
That's why we must do it together, in a different way!
- That would be great. - We have to stop censorship.
We need a TV for us, for the people!
You have to contact the National Guard Central Committee,
in charge of the people, of us.
See what happened today, why it worked?
- It was great. - So many of us!
The women spontaneously
- defended the cannon. - Up front with the kids.
- I was fuming against the runt. - We did it!
That means they'll stop at nothing...
We should stay together.
- They'll be back. - We must take the Town Hall.
- They'll be back! - It's not over.
- Defend the Republic! - Fight on.
The Royalists want to return.
They want to nick our Republic.
I understand them, but it's mad.
Now that they've defended
subscriptions to the cannon,
they can defend contributions to parish costs.
According to information just received,
serious unrest has broken out in the capital
since the army's attempt
to recover cannon held illegally by the Guard.
Two of our generals...
What's that? They must be joking!
That's not true, it's a bunch of lies!
- Liars! It's not true! - I want to know
how they take cannon without horses.
The Parisians paid for the cannon.
Is it possible to recover cannon, without horses?
It's just lies. Their two soldiers? There's nothing to fear.
The cannon are better here than there.
Popincourt Street, at one of the Paris barricades.
Tell the people in Versailles. We're going to fight.
We're not afraid to die.
We found microphones, if they work you'll hear us.
We'll interview people to explain the situation.
Hello. Who are you?
Charles Capellaro, of the Basfroi St. Sub-Committee.
What's going on here?
We're taking the Town Hall, to run things in this area.
- Who are you? - F. David, Sub-Committee.
lnto the Town Hall.
Two guards here!
11 th District Battalion Delegates from the Basfroi Sub-Committee.
In the Town Hall, a Municipal Delegation
is formed to run the local National Guard and the District.
What's going on here?
A new team is moving in. Next door.
- When did you arrive? - In September.
Hello, gentlemen. We'd like to know what's going on.
What are you doing now?
Today, the people of the 11 th District
are back in the Town Hall
to run their affairs themselves.
To fight against a Government of traitors!
Enough, their confiscating the revolution!
The events of '48 are over!
This revolution includes
all the National Guard.
- Who are you? - 11 th District citizens.
Elected National Guard Committee members!
Long live the social Republic!
Listen, citizens!
We will never yield
to attempts to overthrow the Republic.
No more alienation, no more Monarchy!
Only we and our common interest are legal now!
Last night, the people's conviction stopped fat Thiers.
Long live the Parisians and the new Republic!
Liberty! Equality! Fraternity!
What do you think?
I think that with today's popular energy, we will go very far.
The people are angry. They stopped the army,
this anger is legitimate!
It's exhilarating that they fraternized,
a great hope for the future. It's truly an exceptional day.
It's up to us to guarantee the power of the people,
to resist the old regime.
What about Thiers' actions?
They got what they deserved.
Worse than stealing bread. They stole their hope.
lmagine wanting to fire on the people,
on their own people. We'd never do that.
The bodies of Generals Lecomte and Thomas,
one of whom was partly responsible
for the bloody repression of 1848,
lie riddled with bullets.
An autopsy reveals that most shots came from Government army rifles...
National TV Versailles, latest news update.
Good evening.
With great sorrow
we report the disturbances in Paris since yesterday.
We have just been informed
that Generals Lecomte and Thomas
were savagely killed by the crowd
during the recovery of the cannon at Butte Montmartre.
The National Guard Central Committee
moves into the Town Hall and Ministries.
They seize the power left vacant by the flight of the Government,
and take over as city administrators.
They plan to elect a Paris Commune.
Citizens, hello!
We're proud to present our first programme.
We'll call it Commune TV,
as we're hearing a lot about the Commune.
We might have technical problems since we lack equipment.
- Gerard Bourlet. - Blanche Capellier.
" With us we have the "Pere Duchene" reporter,"
- Joachim Riviere. - Hello.
- So you're fictitious? - Completely!
I'm in this film as a witness to the role of the press
in this revolutionary process.
" The "Pere Duchene" was banned?"
" Yes. General Vinoy banned the "Pere Duchene" 10 days ago."
With the Central Committee now in the Town Hall,
we'll re-publish by tomorrow.
"Pere Duchene" was famous during the revolution."
With a circulation of 60000,
" the 1871 version renews the crude "bugger" formulas"
inspired by its predecessor's political repertoire.
" In the film we often quote from "Pere Duchene"
" and "Cri du Peuple". These are authentic."
We will begin our investigation.
lnterviews with people of the 11 th,
to find out what they need now that social changes are coming.
- Hi. - What do you need?
Rich or poor man's TV?
- We're from Commune TV. - OK.
We won't ask the rich anything, or make any claims,
because we have the weapons. Nobody's taking them back.
We're the people in arms, we'll take, occupy,
we won't beg Thiers for reforms. We don't want reforms!
Today's a revolution. We've been sweating for so long.
With the weapons we take what's ours.
OK, thanks a lot.
- What are you hoping for? - I want work.
I was a cook in a bourgeois family, but was fired.
I've got nothing left. What I want is work.
Washing, laundry, anything,
I want to be able to work.
And you?
Like everyone I'm hungry, but that's not all!
It's important to say we also hunger for knowledge.
We're fed up with education and learning
as privileges for people who use it to oppress us even more.
Equality means everyone has the right to education.
A right to culture. There's a bourgeois culture,
but we also have a sense of beauty and thought.
We should be able to criticize our world.
So we must learn, that's most important.
Thank you very much.
Hello, what do you expect from the recent changes?
Well, we want schools
to educate our children. We're tired of...
- We're unemployed. - ... kids in the streets.
There are empty premises and we want to put our children there.
We want girls to learn to read, write, get a real job.
Too many street-kids! Parents could bring them to us.
We must get organized.
I'll bring my child.
We also need parents to help plan these new schools,
a compulsory state education, free for all children.
- Thanks. - What are you hoping for?
What I'm hoping for?
For an end to slavery and exploitation. We're fed up!
We're treated worse than animals, it has to stop.
Dignity for men and women,
there's no space for women. We need dignity.
There's no space for women.
Women need to speak, a newspaper.
People aren't aware of women's problems...
Whether it's work or speech...
We want a newspaper, a rag, anything!
An uncensored press.
- No censorship. - Children, work,
that's what counts!
Your hopes with these changes?
Work. Everyone here is waiting for bread.
What we want is work.
Work is dignity, that's what counts!
We need to find long-term solutions,
we'll never slave again like we used to...
Things have to change forever, for our future!
Well said!
Hello.
What are you doing?
We're here to find some work,
some people have jobs.
But that doesn't mean we're forgetting Versailles.
Because if we forget them, they won't forget us!
We've come to see our mates,
hoping to find a bit of work.
It can't go on like this.
What are your needs?
I need money to run the workshop...
And to get money, I need work.
I hope the future authorities will give me that.
Because I didn't have my mates come all the way from Picardy.
for nothing!
I have needs, but I want recognition
for all the women in the area,
because it's thanks to us
that the regular army didn't shoot.
So please, the Central Committee must acknowledge us,
so we can become members of this new assembly.
We're the heart of this revolution!
- And you? - You want to know?
- Just look at her. - Elisabeth!
That's what! I never want to see her again!
She exploited me for 20 years.
- You can't quit! - She dares to come...
while we queue for bread. Just listen...
You have a moral commitment.
I want out, I can't stand this!
- I gave you everything. - What?
A salary, a roof, everything.
I accommodated you and your family.
But I wiped her ass, she forgot that.
Even when she had her periods!
You'll fall back into prostitution and drunkenness...
I will pray for the soul of your son...
You never did anything for my son!
What do you want?
I'm really fed up! lndirectly,
I'm slaving for my husband's boss,
becoming my husband's slave, who's had enough.
I must go to the Town Hall
to get ration coupons, this can't go on!
Talking of work conditions, it's time for change.
We work night and day here without getting paid.
- What's up? - The pawnshop lady.
- It's shut. I just left. - But you know me!
Too late, come tomorrow.
I have the money for my sewing machine.
What sewing machine?
- I worked 2 months for the money. - The cart left for the auction.
" You know, the "fifth-quarter"."
I work 17 hours a day...
What you do at night is your business.
- It's all day. - Don't want to know!
Women are the hardest hit in the poor working class areas.
An average salary: 4 fr. A day for men and 2 fr. For women.
Many dressmakers only get from 50 centimes to 1.2 fr.
" 20-30,000 Parisian women practise the "fifth-quarter","
the time set for illicit prostitution,
in wine sellers' back shops, hotels, or their own homes.
At this hour, the Government has evacuated Paris.
Our army has withdrawn in marching order.
This information is completely false.
The troops retreated in such haste and chaos
that several regiments were forgotten in Paris.
The National Guard Battalions
have taken the Town Halls and barracks in east Paris.
We're approaching the National Guard.
Hello, we're from the Commune TV. What are your needs?
I'm very glad you're here.
We have the best men. Look at them.
We have the cannon, what we really need is ammunition, boots.
Look at them, they're barefoot!
We need uniforms, ammunition, modern rifles.
Our structure is very good, democratic and federal.
We're very pleased with it as it is.
But we need rifles and ammunition.
We have piston rifles from the start of the century.
They take 3-4 minutes to load,
the powder's damp, the shot never goes off.
Their troops have chassepot rifles firing 8 shots a minute.
How can we fight modern rifles with medieval ones?
It's totally crazy!
We'll massacre them, because they're bourgeois shit!
We'll beat them, take their guns and power!
It seems the National Guard Central Committee
has moved into the Town Hall
and put the capital in an insurrectionary position.
What are you watching?
National TV.
You mustn't watch National TV,
you must watch the TV that belongs to the people.
" We'll publish "Pere Duchene" tomorrow."
- We were banned. - Tomorrow!
" You must write to the "Pere Duchene"."
OK, but publish. We'll trust you,
but publish in full.
We'll publish!
What we really need is to attack Versailles,
because taking cannon without horses doesn't make sense.
To provoke an insurrection, they would have done just that.
And after insurrection? Repression.
Versailles is weakened, but not for long.
We must react right now,
before it's too late, or we'll be the suckers.
What are your needs?
We need a change of government,
we're fed up with sick rulers.
We want to speak, we can't stay silent!
You must talk about us, show our living conditions...
Enough religious oppression, stupid catholics.
You must talk about us, see how we live.
- You can't leave us like this. - We want bread every day.
She's got something to say, listen.
They make me ashamed of having syphilis. I have to hide.
The bourgeois have medicine, we want some too.
People avoid us like the plague.
After the revolution, maybe we can
eat, love, think, do other real things.
Good evening.
What do you intend to do?
We officers plan to offer our services to the new power.
It appears quite urgent to organize this great insurrection,
that is to say, to train, run, supervise and equip it
to defend the new power which is being set up.
Though the people showed intelligence and enthusiasm,
they still lack organization.
Our role is to set up an effective and disciplined Parisian army.
There is indeed confusion,
but there are many volunteer workers:
shoemakers and others...
but they have no experience. We'll make men out of them
to occupy the forts and attack Versailles.
Could you please introduce yourselves?
General Dombrowski.
Colonel Okolowicz.
Why are you here?
We have come to help the French
in this struggle against tyranny...
and to pursue the war we started years ago in Poland.
National TV, Laurent du Champetier.
Henri Gothie.
Good evening!
Tonight a special new programme
on a much debated topic: foreigners.
We know that the foreign camp
played a leading role in the insurrection.
I've heard these ludicrous names that come up in the Commune!
They come from all over.
At every meeting, in all the small groups,
foreigners all over, that's all I can say.
if we consider the National Guard, it's infested with Poles...
Yes, those Dombrowskis, Crapilinskis, Oklowisc
" - and all the other "skis" on earth. - Whatever they came for,"
they're not doing a very good job of it...
Any experience in this type of conflict?
Sure, urban warfare, guerrilla groups in Poland.
We have strong non-professional army experience.
Thank you.
As you know, we're in a rather special situation,
with a revolution on one side
and everyday life on the other.
We're in the St-Ambroise Church in the 11 th District.
I understand the fear, the anguished soul,
the refusal to suffer,
the anger of our friends and neighbours,
but to kill!
Why exchange even difficult dialogue
for murder without reason?
It's a triple error. A political one,
to kill without reason is to give martyrs...
We'd like to know how the Church is reacting
to yesterday's events.
The priest said people were killed,
" but the Church says: "Thou shall not kill"."
We killed 2 people, how many will come in reprisal?
Four, five, a whole neighbourhood, we don't know.
- What do you think? - Violence was never a solution.
But who let my 2 children die of cold and hunger, who?
They say that God is merciful.
These kids were innocent, they had no time to sin.
Where was the priest when I was raped by my boss?
It didn't stop him from kicking me out!
- You practise regularly? - Yes.
if you want to eat every day it helps.
We get some soup, and we can take food home.
I've been brought up like that. The priest told me
it was a sin to have an abortion.
What's the point of having kids, if they die?
left us free to choose what we do with the life He gave us,
but killing never solved problems.
God gave us life for living, not destroying.
So be it!
Hello ladies, you're not in Church.
- No, we're not! - No, really not!
For us, religion
keeps women ignorant and passive.
Have you noticed how they teach the children there? Heads down.
Those girls will never say:
"No, I'm against that, never!"
- They're taught hierarchy. - Submission!
- Church is power. - We're not taught to think!
- They get crumbs. - My son won't be a priest.
They teach them authority,
divine authority.
Hello, here we are again with Joachim Riviere.
"Pere Duchene" reporter, remember?"
I'm recording the opinion of the Guard
on elections by the Central Committee.
You have an interesting opinion, would you share it with us?
Raoul from the 140th.
The Central Committee played a big role
in the defence of Paris and the ousting of the Government,
but today its legitimacy is mainly military.
We must give it a stronger authority, and therefore vote
to elect a Commune to represent people more efficiently.
National TV Versailles, latest news update.
Good evening.
With great sorrow we report the disturbances
in Paris since yesterday.
We have just been informed that Generals Lecomte and Thomas
were savagely killed by the crowd
during the recovery of the cannon...
Madame, what are you doing here?
I own the clothing shop
and the wash-house.
What do you think of yesterday's events?
I don't understand, I'm stunned. Two generals killed, what for?
We hoped things were better, we'd get back to work.
Now what will happen? There are no more orders.
I would take orders from anyone at all
to pay my workers, I can no longer pay them.
- May we ask them some questions? - Of course!
- Do you work here? - Yes, when there's work available.
I've been here 3 days, there's never any work for me.
There's no food at home. What am I to do?
What do you think of recent events?
I think it's great...
Two generals were killed because...
we're dying of hunger.
It's our hope that killed 2 generals and poverty that's killing us.
It's time for change. I'm like my friend, waiting for work.
There's no work, no food, no education.
It's time for freedom and fraternity,
and the time is right, girls.
I work in the shop here. I'm quite old.
I've always been poor, I have a large family,
I've never been able to give them what I'd have liked.
My situation has always been dreadful.
I don't know what to think of all this,
but I would really like...
my children to live more decently than me.
I've really led a life of misery.
I'm happy they killed those generals.
It's a good thing they eliminated those mad dogs.
And I want it to go further, that they all be eliminated
so we can live in peace.
We want to work, eat, that's all...
The cannon are our blood, let's not cry over generals.
The owner, she has her nice sides,
but she's still a bourgeois.
The bourgeois stole everything.
Three revolutions and they even took over our good Lord.
That's enough!
We want respect,
access to schools for our children, and decent salaries.
- What do you think of your owner? - We're exploited.
We work for hours, late into the night,
we're exploited, we want to eat,
live a more decent life.
The difference is, she's our boss, OK, we respect her,
but she eats and profits, not us.
She eats and does nothing to help us get food.
I'd rather not speak!
I started a week ago but haven't been paid.
I don't know what to do,
I have nothing to eat.
How do you feel about that?
I have been doing my best.
I know they have kids, that their husbands have left.
They go home with no money to feed them,
but I have no more orders,
so what will happen toall of us?
We all want to share the wealth,
we want work, OK,
but we want to be paid. Enough's enough!
We work and have nothing, she keeps it all.
It's not true that she's helping us.
Sure, we come here all day like scumbags,
we depend on her. I'm not sure I'll get any work now,
having said this in her presence.
She could sell her necklace and share the money.
But that's not done.
It's not, and when she speaks of the market,
she never shares the profits anyway.
We sweat for 13 hours, we have no food when we get home,
but she does, it's warm in her house.
Will things change now for the workers?
I'll take orders from anyone to be able to keep them, pay them
so they can feed the kids, but I need a market.
But why do we always work for you,
and you get the best out of life?
Why are we dying off, and not you?
We've always had bosses and workers.
" We'll end that "always"."
Times are changing starting now!
We're going to fight,
we'll go all the way, we won't stop!
We're the future.
All the way!
This street is ours now.
We need a doctor to take care of us.
What are your needs right now?
I've only one thing to say. I'm pregnant.
I don't want my kid to live like us,
I don't want him to eat rats,
I don't want him to be building barricades...
The sisters are coming!
- Where did you get your bread? - I stole it.
- Stole it? - Yes.
Go on, let the ladies through.
Come on. Blockheads!
You poor girls!
Ugly!
What are you hoping for?
To go to Versailles, to get ammunition
for the Central Committee to act.
I'll tell you what I want!
I want our working conditions changed.
Our kids, our 1 0, 1 2 year old children
work 12 hours a day.
We work like slaves - women, children and adults
for starvation wages,
we earn hardly enough to survive.
We create the wealth, where does it go?
What do you think of religious education?
We've got to stop religious oppression.
Hell isn't up there, it's right here.
It's not really their fault.
I went to the sisters' school,
what they stick in your head is crazy.
We need a state school.
Children must have
an education other than religious.
A revolutionary education,
we must teach them our principles today.
All children should be like those, with social principles.
They must fight with us. That's how we'll make a revolution,
it won't just happen, it'll take years.
We have to teach the kids to join us.
That's all.
Look, we have to take up rifles to earn respect,
but it's crazy, we're not thinking straight,
we should be normal school kids
yet we take up rifles, you find that normal?
One third of the children don't go to school.
Many young boys join the insurrection.
They supply the barricades and join in combat.
651 will be arrested by the Versaillais troops.
No statistics exist on the number killed.
Who gave me this rifle? The Guard.
- And I'm going to fight. - There's no other way.
- We'll use the rifle. - We'll kill them all!
That's all I have to say.
I have a message. My parents were bourgeois,
I came here, I split from home.
I want to tell them I never want to hear of you again!
Long live the Republic!
Long live the social Republic!
Hands!
To class!
Then with the women, it's almost the same story.
One of the leaders,
for example a certain Elisabeth Dmitrieff,
apparently a Russian aristocrat
sent by Karl Marx from God knows where,
is setting Paris on fire.
I haven't met her, she's said to be very pretty,
a hot number, excuse my language!
Paris is being set ablaze
by a great number of uncontrollable people.
Even Arabs in the Guard?
Yes indeed, the National Guard has Arabs as well.
They come from Algeria?
- From Arabia surely! - Of course.
What do you think of the upcoming elections?
We were talking about it with these ladies,
who are now getting into politics. Elections are useless.
As usual we have people saying:
"Trust us, we'll do things for you"."
A revolution is done with the people. Not above the people.
We have to get organized down here, set up committees,
because we have the weapons,
we have the real power, production power.
Political power is crap.
Who needs all those bourgeois, they know how to read and write.
Will there be a worker up there?
Precisely, now we have to build a popular government
of workers and revolutionaries...
people like us, who suffer
and know what exploitation means, who know what humiliation
and working for starvation wages means,
who can give people the means to take
their destiny into their own hands, to govern
and gain an autonomy to escape the slavery we're in.
And what do you think?
Well, personally, I don't have the right to vote,
so that's the first issue for these elections.
if you really want all the people to be involved,
women must also have the right to vote and participate.
We made this revolution together, so it has to continue.
As workers, we're ready to commit ourselves and to take action.
We can't vote, but we're organizing.
A lot of women workers throughout Paris
are mobilizing - they're ready to fight
for real changes.
And you?
I was in favour of burning down the Paris Town Hall
because the people there
took great pleasure in enslaving us.
Now we might start to get a taste
for sprawling in velvet armchairs,
so I'm not sure I trust future events.
Are we ready?
Citizens, good evening.
We're now in the Town Hall.
lmagine, it's my first time in this place.
Behind this door, there's a corridor,
at the end of it is the hall
where 20 Central Committee members, including E. Moreau, are meeting.
The Guard has no intention of holding onto power
and is organizing for elections next Wednesday.
It will soon be up to you, to decide with your votes
if there'll be a Commune.
And I quote Edouard Moreau:
"We must prepare the elections and give you"
"what you've always wanted, the birth of a true Republic."
He added that, meanwhile,
the Central Committee would stay in control in the people's name.
Jenny Talbot, married to a teacher of oratory,
lives in a quiet street near the Madeleine.
The Talbots read the Paris press:
"Le Temps", "Le Gaulois", "Le Siecle"."
Today, they'd certainly watch the TV news.
Mme Talbot writes regularly to her daughter Marie,
married to a civil servant in Versailles.
The letters show the life of an upper-class household
in Paris during the Commune.
Here I am in Paris with Government malcontents.
I loathe the Parisians being in constant revolt.
I cannot tell you what I think of a Government
that did nothing for 3 weeks
to recover the cannon from the rebels,
and then one morning decided to do that,
without taking the necessary steps to ensure success.
And having failed, fled to Versailles,
leaving the insurrection in control,
and without the slightest resistance.
The Communards are convinced
the Government wants to stop a socialist Republic,
by restoring the Monarchy.
In fact, Thiers, while humouring the monarchists,
is pursuing his plans in favour of a conservative Republic.
An upstart petit-bourgeois, Thiers, 73,
has been in politics for 40 years.
" Parisians hate him and call him "little runt"
" or "Thiers l, King of the Defeatists"."
A conservative Orleanist, advocate of law and order,
Thiers doesn't mind a Republic as long as he's President.
Gentlemen!
Thiers plans to create a united front at the Assembly.
The war against the Commune will serve as a pretext.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Amen.
Sit down and work well children.
Take your reading books and turn to page 1 1 1.
Celine, you start.
The title of today's reading is:
"Being happy means having a clear conscience"."
"Child, true bliss does not come from without."
"It comes from deep within our soul."
"From our conscience."
The Paris Town Hall in the 4th District.
March 28, 1871.
Citizens, good afternoon!
It's a wonderful day here in Paris!
The Town Hall square is now swarming with people.
Parisians of all classes
have come to witness the proclamation of the Commune.
The elected members are on the platform,
their red sashes echoing the red flags
covering the Town Hall facade.
The results: 80 elected members.
Only 12 seats are still vacant.
13 elected from the Central Committee,
4 radicals, 15 members of the Mayor's Party,
9 Blanquists, 4 Neo-Jacobins
and 11 lndependent Socialists.
" To quote the press, and first the "Pere Duchene":"
"Proletarians will finally claim their rights,"
"and reap the fruit of their labour."
" And the "Cri du Peuple": "The Commune"
"requites for 20 years of Empire, 6 months defeat and treason."
Long live the Commune! Now some interviews.
Hope you'll be able to hear us.
Hello. What's it like here today?
It's a wonderful day!
See that? The Republic and Socialism united at last.
See the flags! It's fantastic!
What a day! I'm so happy!
What will change?
Everything! I never dreamed of this!
Everything's going to change. Come, let's dance!
Thank you!
Hello! What do you think of all this?
Now it's the workers who are going to be the bosses.
Look at the poverty we live in.
Who cares about us workers?
We're treated like dogs.
So today, I say long live the Commune!
Thank you.
How do you feel about today?
They have reasons to revolt,
but I don't want it to get out of hand.
What do you mean? It's legal, they've been elected.
What do they want? They're being led by foreigners!
Our highest values are ridiculed.
What are these elections?
They're just a handful of rebels,
they don't represent the population. Not a bit!
I'm very frightened.
What's your business here?
We're Republicans but we want peace.
- We want calm. - Order and peace!
We're also members of the French nation!
These people think they're back in 1789.
It's grotesque and illegitimate.
They're lost.
- It's foreign-led manipulation. - Exactly, manipulation!
the Marseillaise is a revolutionary song, Madame.
What do you think of today?
It's great!
- Really! - A big change!
And at last Paris is ours, tell him!
Paris is ours... yes.. really!
What will change for you?
I was in the street for months, now I have shelter.
We'll have equality!
It's a real revolution for the people.
What's it like here today?
Very good! Long live the Commune!
- We won! We won! - We've had enough. We won!
Death to poverty!
Peace and work!
That is where our future lies.
The Republic will make France
the friend of the weak, the protector of the worker.
Hope...
hope for the oppressed of the entire world...
and the basis of a Universal Republic.
The Commune we establish today
will be a model for all Communes.
The country and the Government
will applaud this revolution,
the most fertile in our history!
Citizen Jourde wishes to speak for the Commune.
Citizens,
we, the elected members of the Central Committee,
now elected members of the Commune
by popular will of the Paris population,
hand over to the Commune Council,
in the name of the Central Committee,
the power which recent events vested in us.
- Now we'll hear... - I haven't finished!
The Central Committee
will again take up
the duties it originally held.
I thank you.
Citizen Varlin would also like to speak.
Your elected members will defend your freedom with energy
and for all time.
Brothers among you, let your brothers show you
the path to the future.
Make the task easier by helping in the necessary reforms.
Rally round your Commune with trust.
Our shared aim is a Universal Republic.
And with the women too!
Of course with women!
With everyone, children, women!
We won't forget them. Workers, everyone...
Long live the Commune.
Long live France!
The turnout at the polls is 48%.
Nearly the same as for the mayor in 1870.
The figure varies greatly with the Districts.
" In the "posh areas", fewer than 40% vote,"
compared with over 62% in the working class neighbourhoods.
So many workers elected to the Commune Council
is a first in European political history:
21 members are proletarian,
30 are journalists or men of letters,
13 are employees or craftsmen.
Different political trends try to coexist inside the Council:
1. Supporters of the revolutionary Auguste Blanqui,
2. Autocratic Jacobins,
who long for a return to 1789 and centralized power in Paris.
3. Socialists trying to create a network of federated Communes.
It's a disgrace. To hear the Carmagnole
after what happened in '89, 1830 and '48...
But Madame, it's a celebration!
They've been elected by only half the Parisians!
So what are you doing here?
We have a right to be here. We belong to this nation.
Aren't you moved by all this hope?
No.
They'll end up starving, Madame.
There'll be no-one left to pay them. Look at their kids!
Thank you.
Hello. What do you think of this day?
It's fantastic, I'm very moved.
I hope this will be the start of something new.
We've waited so long for this.
I hope this means something exceptional,
but I'm not too sure. I'm scared.
Near Versailles is the military camp of Satory,
where the Government is busy regrouping its demoralized army...
What are you doing here?
I had to... I needed the money,
without it I can't survive.
if your parents were watching you on TV,
what would they think?
Well, precisely, I'm here to save...
save my farm and bring home money, but still...
ls saving France something too?
Well yes, but getting into this situation is something too.
In exactly 2 months,
the Versailles army and its young provincial recruits
will be facing the people of Paris...
and their children.
"When Francinet was alone,"
"he thought through..."
Go on!
"... all that had happened since the previous day."
Louder! Start again!
"It happened to be just at that time, the day before..."
Come now!
"... his heart was so full of gall and jealousy..."
Recently M. Thiers
" suggested that newspapers like "Le Gaulois" and "Le Soir"
be distributed among your soldiers,
to boost troop morale.
Do you think this is a good idea?
It's very important that this mental confusion stop.
Don't forget the Commune was built on crime.
Two of our generals were executed.
Our army has been disgraced by...
the rabble in Montmartre.
We, the army, as well as the Government,
must explain the nature of our struggle.
What we have here are yobbos.
They behave like good-for-nothings.
We'll show them who's in charge.
The soldiers will understand this.
We're not leaving Paris to this cosmopolitan scum.
Yobbos, probably led by a handful of...
foreign agitators. We have to make this quite clear.
The point isn't fighting French people, it's law and order.
French or not, it's the same.
A soldier's task is easy.
The Republic is in danger, and we respond.
We're trained for that.
Does everyone agree on this?
French people have a right to know,
France is watching right now.
ls the army united behind its leaders?
Yes, absolutely.
No question, we'll have law and order.
No compromises.
You can guarantee that these soldiers
from all over the country
will bring France victory?
We must defend freedom, show what the Commune is:
terror, crime...
things the Republic cannot accept.
It's disorder!
We're not enemies of France or the French people.
The Communards are creating unrest.
That's all there is to it.
We'll intervene and improve things!
French people will understand. No one wants to live in chaos.
We are the guarantors of law and order,
and will act accordingly.
We shall use all means necessary.
With these good words we leave you. France is counting on you.
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
It's a wonderful day here in Paris.
The Town Hall square is now swarming with people.
Parisians of all classes
have come to witness the proclamation of the Commune...
Despite the enthusiasm sparked by the election,
the fear of centralized power is in the air.
"March 27, "Pere Duchene" writes:"
"... a recipe against returning traitors,"
"... in use at the time... the Committee of Public Safety! "
During the revolution of 1789, the Committee of Public Safety
was an infamous instrument of political terror.
To talk of this Committee in 1871 revives sinister memories.
TV Communale's editorial staff
"has decided not to mention the "Pere Duchene" article,"
for fear of negative reactions...
We talk about the Committee of Public Safety and you don't.
I don't understand why.
It's quite clear.
We're talking about the proclamation...
of the Commune,
we're talking about people's hopes...
It's not the time to mention the Committee.
It's a celebration,
everyone's happy and wants to enjoy the moment.
All in good time.
Rejoice, OK, but you must develop a critical attitude.
There's no analysis, you give the info plain.
It's important to produce analysis, proposals.
Yes, but it's a bit tricky because we also try
to let people express themselves.
We show extracts...
Look, there, we let the bourgeois women speak.
Frankly, we're not going to talk about that because there's no way
the members of the Commune are going to establish
a Committee of Public Safety, ever.
You have the right to disagree,
but why don't you say so and explain your point of view.
It's a bit tricky.
We've chosen to go towards
getting the people to express their opinions.
We don't give our opinion, the people...
We ask the opinion of the bourgeois, the priest, etc.,
to create controversy in the situation.
You can criticize while supporting the Commune.
In my opinion, it's important to underline problems
if they are to be solved.
It's also true that your interviews are very interesting.
Since people have things to say...
They speak for the first time.
But it's too short, you've got to give them more time.
But you need to have rhythm
to win people's attention on television.
It has to be fast paced like that for people.
if we have debates going on forever, they'll just turn off the TV.
Wait... it's their revolution!
But this way,
we allow everyone to express themselves.
It's chopped up anyway.
"Take any "Pere Duchene" quote:"
"No mercy for jackasses!" It's always like that in the news."
Of course, if you pick on one quote.
It's not one quote, everything's written like that.
Well, it's the same for our TV shots.
Read the whole paper.
Excuse me, are you journalists?
Are you aware of the new insurrection
that started last January in Algeria,
after the return of the Spahis?
The Spahis?
The Spahis are...
a kind of National Guard, or native police force
which was supposed to operate on Algerian territory
but was forced to fight against the Prussians.
When they returned after the war, - return isn't the right word -
since a lot of them were killed on the spot,
used as cannon fodder,
that's actually what sparked things off.
It's a disaster over there.
Who are they fighting?
The French troops in Algeria.
It's tough, it never stops...
And that's not all.
Since they arrived in North Africa they've never stopped
confiscating people's land and possessions
to further European colonization.
Now the people have nothing left,
they are manhandled by the French soldiers,
they're helpless, they've got nothing.
They're killed.
It's total misery.
In 1870, in an attempt to avoid defeat by the Prussians,
War Secretary Leon Gambetta
issued orders for the mobilization of the Algerian Spahis.
Several Algerians from a Paris detachment rally to the Commune.
"The Spahis are not regular soldiers,"
"but a type of National Guard or police force"
"... their tasks are essentially sedentary"
"... they can only be deployed within Algerian borders."
"... This order has violated a tacit and traditional agreement."
Oran Prefect to Gambetta.
General Emile Eudes of the Blanquist National Guard
picks an orderly from the Paris based Algerian Spahis.
He calls him Nigger because of the colour of his skin.
Citizens, good evening.
Live from outside the Town Hall Council,
we will inform you of the ensuing debates.
Rather difficult,
as the first decision has been to close the meetings to the public!
There's been tension between the Commune and the Central Committee
on the question of power sharing.
Delegates Chalin and Mortier
apparently asked the Central Committee
to disband and hand over its power to the Commune.
One question remains:
who governs France - the Commune or the Versailles Assembly?
"For the "Cri du Peuple", it's clear:"
"if the Versailles Assembly had an ounce of common sense"
"it would admit its mandate is over,"
"and retire in favour of the country's true elected members."
"The "Pere Duchene":"
"Prove you've got guts by ordering the National Assembly to dissolve."
"Dismiss and disband it, crush them if they resist."
"Force is yours, but only by law."
The Commune passed the following decrees:
suspension of payment for rents,
and a ban on all gambling.
All dice, roulette, lottery gamblers
will be arrested and brought to police headquarters.
That the debates are not made public is intolerable.
The Guard will ensure that all sessions are open to the public.
Not military matters.
We know what military secrets lead to!
Elected citizens, speak up, it's the start of secrecy, trickery!
People want to know. What do you say?
Why are they trying to confiscate
the power we just won?
- We're reproducing the old system. - Exactly, enough!
No one can confiscate our power
and stop us attending the debates.
We want the power for the people, they should decide!
Exactly the same old system.
What's the point if you copy the old system?
I'm for having debates open to the public.
Then do something! We can't, that's why we elected you!
The citizen is with us if he helps us.
What we really want is to attend the debates,
it's our right.
Not absurd decrees
on dice and lottery!
Good morning. April 3, very early in the morning,
the Guard are preparing to march on Versailles.
There seem to have been attacks on Corbevoie yesterday.
Can you explain what you're up to?
We're off to Versailles, we've waited for 10 days.
The Central Committee guys are incompetent.
They gave the Versailles guys time to get ready.
I fully agree with my comrade.
We're leaving with few resources,
I'm practically weaponless, I hardly have ammunition or food.
The Central Committee isn't aware of these problems.
But I think that we're on our way
to fraternizing with our Versailles comrades
who are still unaware of the great popular tide in Paris.
We'll explain, and show them what's going on.
We must explain the Commune values,
and that the Parisians support it.
I think any citizen can understand.
Look what happened on March 18.
One lowered his rifle, then they all did.
I still believe in man. It's possible...
No Stephane, watch out.
Last time they were lads from and around Paris.
This time we've got a monarchist army on our hands.
Led by aristocrat officers.
There are 400 monarchists in Thiers' Assembly, it's their army.
The monarchy's back to pinch the Republic.
Yeah, and we have to watch Thiers,
he's a manipulator. We've given him far too much time.
But come on, the real enemy is Bismarck,
the Prussian's our enemy!
What about the Vendee monarchists with the king's banner?
The white flag.
Thank you very much.
Citizens Morterol and Heuzey, how's our police?
Well my friend, we're organizing a new police.
New, because until now
its job was to protect and preserve bourgeois interests,
whereas our task will be to preserve,
protect, serve the people's interests. Hell of a difference, no?
We're expecting the people to be their own police with our help
and the help of the National Guard.
Our methods will differ totally from those of the lmperial Police.
Thank you.
One thing to know -
this may sound a bit like denouncing,
but when it comes to protecting the people,
that's beside the point...
At this very moment in Paris
a certain number of policemen have dropped their uniforms
to spy among us.
It's going to be a problem, they're busy transmitting the information
they pick up in cafes, and it can do us a lot of harm.
So we have to be on our guard.
And vigilant, extremely vigilant!
"Did you hear of the "sortie"
and the decree on the separation of Church and State?
It would be great if Church and State were really separated.
But Versailles will never leave it at that.
That's when things'll get rough.
The Versailles clergy will never permit
the separation of Church and State.
- We must struggle. - We'll struggle.
Citizens, have you read the French Republic's first principle?
Freedom!
Freedom of conscience is the first of those liberties.
Article 1: Church is separated from State.
Article 2: The religious budget is cancelled.
More money for us!
Knock on the door!
Can I help you?
What do you think about the Church-State separation?
Now's not the time.
Surely you have an opinion.
That may be, but this is not the time.
One can be a believer, but not necessarily in an institution
that keeps making you feel guilty,
particularly us women.
We never have the right to speak.
They have no right to tell us what to do. Enough of that!
I'm a believer and I go to Mass.
The Church should take care of religious matters,
but not meddle with mine and tell me what to do.
They told me not to abort. They never stop making us feel guilty,
I don't think it's their business.
"Know what the priest said? "What, madame, no baby this year?"
Is that a normal thing for a priest to say?
She doesn't agree.
I come from the province of Picardy.
The priest was fine, he helped the poor.
In Paris, the local priest is the only one to help us.
if they go, what about us poor? There'll be nobody to help us.
It's true that the nuns help us.
But it's not their job. Anyway, the Republic will give us work.
And take care of you as well.
We have to go to Versailles to save the Republic.
With courage, even if it's hard!
What do you think about the military situation?
We don't know much about it.
And that's why I think we should go
to Versailles, to find out.
There's a call to women in the newspapers. Listen:
"Let's tell Versailles about the Revolution."
"Paris made the Commune because we want freedom."
"The Government's responsible for our brothers' blood,"
"we hold it accountable for our grief."
That's beautiful.
"Let's meet at noon at Concorde, and go to Versailles."
Let's go to Versailles.
You want to go to Versailles?
Yes, but to talk, without weapons. We must speak to them.
On the 18th, Versailles troops refused to fire on the Guard.
We must convince them once more.
The situation was different. They were in Paris, outnumbered.
They had problems with the cannon, we rushed in the breach.
It's totally different today.
The Versailles army is powerful now.
Our enemy has one idea in mind, to massacre us!
No, they won't fire on women.
We've been in a state of siege for several months.
We can't repeat it, we're isolated.
We must open ourselves to the Provinces, spread the word,
so more people follow us. We can't go right now.
You're naive, think they'll listen when you're there?
They've been putting bad ideas in their heads for a week:
we're barbarians to be eliminated.
You're crazy to go to Versailles, they're armed!
But don't get the enemy mixed up.
It's not the people who face us... Thiers is our enemy.
We must tell them they're our brothers and our sons.
You don't grasp military organization,
Versailles is ready for us!
We must go armed. I can tell you,
I know what handling a weapon means. And we can all handle weapons.
There's no reason to separate men and women.
I don't want violence or bloodshed.
Even so, we need more women with the battalions,
there's work for 4 women per battalion, why am I alone?
Andre Leo, journalist and active socialist,
rises against the misogyny within Commune staff, and notes:
"... on the part of officers and surgeons,"
"an absence of sympathy, curtness, insult,"
"a bourgeois, authoritarian, narrow and mean mind."
La Sociale, May 6.
Hello, gentlemen!
The women we've been speaking to would like to help the army.
- What do you think? - What's that?
Women would like to help the army, join you in your attack.
Of course, we welcome all volunteers...
in the army, women are very glorious, determined and brave,
and they are more than welcome,
I believe them to be good combatants.
We need all the help we can get.
And what do you think?
Did I get this right? Women in the army? Is this a joke?
It's out of the question. Did you hear that Brunet?
Listen, I honestly think
there are more important issues at stake right now,
this matter can wait.
No, we've got to go to Versailles.
Let's be practical, the women can be used to cook, sew,
perhaps in the infirmary, certainly behind the curtains
to help warriors rest. That's all!
As a doctor with the National Guard, are you going to Versailles?
That's my duty sir.
Would you be ready to accept women,
for example as ambulance helpers?
Madame, I'm afraid
that women on the field of operations is inopportune
for the moment.
Why should our presence by the side of our wounded be inopportune?
They're our husbands.
Based on the ethics of a military situation,
our oaths do not include
recruiting women to the battlefield.
But some women have been trained to become doctors.
They don't have a diploma, but they could help.
Don't you understand that we're on the verge of civil war?
Sure we understand, of course we do.
Your brothers and husbands will die.
That's why we should be there.
They're your kids, brothers, husbands.
These are bourgeois methods to make us
feel guilty for sending them off. The men are free.
Free to fight if they wish.
Don't you mind sending them off to die?
We're not!
You're sending everyone.
They decided, and you people will kill them.
if you feel guilty, go to Versailles and speak to them.
But you see, we didn't go to Versailles. We stayed here with you.
You're with us, but don't want us to take part.
We don't want you to send your husbands and brothers off.
That's our business. Now we must go to the barricades
to look after these people.
We're offering help and support,
but if nobody wants it, we'll do it alone.
Maybe later it'll be organized and you'll help.
"What's this "later"? It's happening now,"
not in 10 years' time!
Where's your husband, has he left?
But my husband... I'll try to find him and help you...
He's your God, not ours!
- Why so upset over the Good Lord? - Jesus was an anarchist,
the carpenter always on strike.
Jesus the artist, the leader...
You have made him the God of the bourgeois.
And our beautiful Virgin Mary,
the Virgin Mary of my youth, with her little blue veil,
and her little Jesus, you've raped her!
Want to ask a question or get an answer?
Bastards!
Shame on you, preaching order and family.
Enough with order, family, husbands,
we want to be free, free at last.
But nobody forces you to get married!
You are parasites living on the people's back.
Church money should belong to the people.
That luxury is a disgrace.
But it's not our money, it belongs to God's people...
To those who wish to come...
To teach us to bend our heads!
Come on, fight for the Commune.
You won't solve the problem with a gun.
On the right end of the gun you think you're right!
if it's the other way round! Will it mean you're no longer right?
Well, we'll grab his gun.
if he fires first, you'll die for nothing. Reason is no gun.
Excuse me, Madam Defer, you seem quite annoyed?
Yes, I'm completely shattered by this.
My husband died during the war.
What can I do all alone in front of this mob?
I'm worried.
We must save the work tools.
What'll we do if everyone attacks us like this?
I'm off to the countryside, I'm scared.
Scared?
Well yes. Because these women can't reason at all.
It's impossible to speak with them, so what'll happen?
They could at least listen.
We've been silent for years, so we're angrier than usual!
But we're women just like you.
What will happen next? Maybe you'll kill me.
Maybe. If you're not with us, maybe.
Take off your dress, put on some pants, we'll see if you're a man.
Clubs, small popular gatherings,
flourishing in Paris since the siege,
are set up in the churches.
Night services are suspended,
the faithful replaced by apprentice orators,
including many elated women.
"The priests should be shot,"
"they're the ones who stop us from living as we want."
"Women shouldn't go to confession; I should know."
"l urge all women to seize all parish priests"
"and burn their ugly mugs."
Gabrielle, 17, St. -Sulpice.
Battalion, on my command...
Attention!
Citizens!
Silence!
The Sub-Committee delegation informs you...
that monarchist conspirators have moved to the attack.
Despite our restrained position, they attacked.
This morning, soldiers from Vendee, Brittany, and the police force
showered the innocent village of Neuilly with grapeshot and shells.
They've started a civil war against our National Guard.
Many were killed or wounded.
As elected representatives of the Paris population,
our duty is to defend the city against aggressors.
We will defend it with your help.
We depend on your courage and determination
to repel the Versailles troops. Long live the Commune!
Citizens!
Let the Versailles spies lurking among us tell their masters
of the energy glowing in our breasts!
Show them a brave population,
an army ready to spill its blood for our country.
Long live the Commune!
Women citizens. Listen!
Let your husbands and children do their duty.
To Versailles!
Battalion, on my command, to the right. Right!
Women of the 11 th District,
you have the honour of carrying the flag.
Battalion, to Versailles, forward march!
To Versailles!
It'll be tough but we'll get them.
What do you think of the National Guard?
We think these soldiers are full of enthusiasm.
But they lack training and equipment.
They're not well enough organized yet.
We think this will probably... cause heavy losses.
On the other hand, we have no choice,
the soldiers must train on the field.
Why are you in France? How did you get here?
You see, the situation in Poland is very difficult.
For us... do you mind if I speak Polish?
No, of course.
After the defeat of the insurrection of '63...
we were sentenced to exile to Siberia.
But we escaped on the way to Siberia...
and chose France as our country of refuge...
and offered our services to the French army
in the war against the Prussians.
Are you concerned for what's going on right now?
For us, our participation...
in the National Guard forces
is a continuation of the struggle
we've been waging in Poland for years.
First of all, because Poland
has not been independent for a very long time,
and we have always supported the insurrections.
In our capacity as military professionals,
we've always helped
revolutionary movements.
After our departure from Poland,
we offered our military help
to the French forces
who were then fighting the Prussians.
So our participation in the National Guard
is a consequence of our participation
in the battle of Paris.
Also, many of our colleagues fought
against the Prussians in ltaly, with Garibaldi.
For us, it's something of a tradition.
I was born in France, my father came here after the defeat
of another Polish insurrection in 1831...
So I feel as much French as Polish.
What's more, I think Poland won't be free
without a change in France.
That's why the Commune must win.
if you want to change Europe,
you must change its unjust social order. It's our goal.
"The "Great Sortie" is a disaster."
The army puts the Guard to rout with its artillery fire,
many prisoners are executed on the spot,
including Communard Generals Duval and Flourens.
The surviving prisoners are brought to Versailles.
I have very little to say to this Assembly.
But what I can communicate is so satisfactory -
if there can be anything satisfactory...
in a civil war -
so satisfactory, I was saying,
that the brevity of the account cannot diminish its importance.
Louder! We can't hear!
I ask the Assembly to forgive me,
my voice is faint.
I am extremely tired,
and it will be very difficult for me to be heard
at a distance from this gallery.
Yesterday, as we all know,
we had to fight these poor souls, who...
led astray by perverts,
wish to follow foreign war with civil war.
The army has proven its deep sense of duty
and, like the country itself,
its understanding of the situation.
The army has shown...
its remarkable vigour and worth.
Here are the traitors! Kill them!
Shoot them! Murderers!
General Flourens' body is taken to Versailles in a wheelbarrow.
Bourgeois ladies poke at his brains with their umbrellas.
It's awful, it's real savagery here.
Women hitting wounded prisoners with umbrellas and spitting on them.
It was hard to stop them.
I've never seen anything like this, I'm shocked!
Anyone else, you?
I was frankly completely stunned by the behaviour of the citizens
we fought for.
I really never could have imagined such a thing.
Had we not been there, they'd have been executed.
You were really angry back there.
These people only understand things the hard way.
They are the shame of France.
It's a great humiliation. France sold to anarchy, foreigners.
- It's unbearable. - No red dictatorship!
Anyway, this is intolerable.
It's a disgrace for us, Sir!
I was with friends. I got carried away by violence.
They made us leave Paris. I don't know what they want.
What's happening here? They respect nothing!
They want our wealth or what?
There's a risk of dictatorship, we'll stop it!
The Prussians besiege Paris, they take advantage
of our defeat, of the Emperor's sickness.
They take advantage... to bring chaos. It's a disgrace!
They dishonour this country.
They're manipulated, that's all!
We had to flee to Versailles. We lost everything.
And the stink. The lack of privacy.
No more Church, State, nothing.
- Generals killed. - Back to Paris.
- They deserve death. - I want my mansion back.
We know they're manipulated by foreigners,
we know where these foreigners come from. It's the Garibaldi mob.
The Emperor gave them permission to go to London,
these are ungrateful people.
That's typical, give them a hand, they'll take your arm!
A handful of so-called enlightened persons,
and masses who only know brawn, when they agree to work.
They are manipulated by foreigners.
"They destroy everything, then want bread;"
they've destroyed their work, the industry,
it's all gone, too bad. Back to work,
food for them later. There'll be food for their kids.
- They're lost without us. - We surrendered?
Let 'em wave cannon at the Prussians.
- Who gives them work? - Did they resist the Prussians?
I didn't see any real sign of resistance.
What we want in Germany
is peace, a stable government,
in order to get back to business,
that's what counts, business!
The two governments should work together.
And we want to sign a peace treaty,
that's the most important.
You can count on Bismarck.
There can be important
business agreements between France and Germany,
if we crush this wretched Commune and its workers...
Bismarck even released French prisoners of war.
You don't understand, Germany isn't the enemy,
you're killing yourselves,
it's a Franco-French war.
This must stop right away,
all the Communards must be crushed
and killed, they're killers themselves.
The military rout and the execution of prisoners by the army
thrusts the Commune into a state of war.
Draft dodgers are arrested, weapons and resources requisitioned
to equip the National Guard.
On April 4, the Archbishop of Paris, Mgr Darboy, is arrested.
What's going on?
- Says he's a journalist. - He is!
What proof?
"I'm a journalist for the "Pere Duchene"."
Think I'll simply believe you?
Maybe you're a spy too. He's a spy!
"He works for "Pere Duchene"."
Don't speak to me like that!
He's with the press. You've no right to attack him...
if so, then by tomorrow we want to see you write
about youth as you never have in your old newspaper!
We want to take part in these elections...
Write about the pawnshops, it's a disgrace to the Commune.
We want them closed!
if we don't get our article tomorrow we'll find you my lad, you hear?
"As the Versailles government openly tramples on"
"the rights of humanity and the conventions of war,"
"The Paris Commune decrees: Article 1:"
"All persons charged with complicity with Versailles"
"will be immediately indicted and imprisoned."
"Article 5: Any execution of a war prisoner"
"or a partisan of the Commune lawful government"
"will be immediately followed by the execution"
"of 3 times the number of hostages."
This macabre decree legalizes the people's call for revenge.
It will never be implemented.
Only in the last days of the Bloody Week
will certain hostages suffer popular fury,
a desperate reaction to massacres by the Versaillais.
Bloody hell! It's madness! We know the real hostages:
Bank of France, state property.
The Commune ignores 3 billion francs from the Bank of France.
Anxious to keep a stable currency, finance Delegate Jourde
contents himself with small advances: 17 million francs in all.
The Bank is more generous with Versailles: 257 million francs.
War is never the solution, though it may be necessary for the moment.
The Commune, the Revolution can't forget
education and children.
Look around you, kids hanging out in the street.
They must be taken care of.
The Commune needs to open nurseries to help the women.
All the daily chores
have exhausted and degraded them, this can't go on.
The Commune must take care of kids,
from a very early age,
even before they're old enough to go to school.
The children must be socialized. It's the only way...
We're now in the heart of the Commune military system,
the office of General Cluseret,
who's just been made War Secretary and Commander-in-Chief.
He's assisted by prestigious foreign officers,
including General Dombrowski, a regular Polish soldier
held in high esteem by Garibaldi.
He is made Commander of Paris and the Neuilly sector.
In the same spirit of internationalism,
Dombrowski has given command
to General La Cecilia of ltalian origin,
and to Generals Wroblewski and Okolowicz.
We met your husband, how is he?
Not so well. He's exhausted.
He's trying to rest, but as you probably know,
war has been declared with Versailles.
He'll have to leave again.
We're a bit depressed.
You're worried about him?
Yes, I'm really scared.
Why only foreign generals in this army?
ltalians, Spaniards, Poles, they couldn't find a French one?
So, what's the problem?
Who's going to defend the interests of the people?
They're perfectly capable, why not?
It's not the first time a foreigner defends French interests.
What's Theron doing to fight, to defend the Commune?
I'm not joking, he's the youngest of us all!
What about the freedom to choose to fight or not to fight?
Shouldn't we have that choice? Really!
- It's unfair. - Why doesn't he fight?
Why must others die while he hides in his jeweller's shop? That's crap.
Come with us to the barricades! Come!
- Mother doesn't agree. - What do your family think?
Mother's against it. She thinks it's dangerous.
But come on, Dad and Grandpa want us to go.
The young ones go and fight and Theron stays here.
It's outrageous. It's a disgrace!
Of course we'll go if we must.
I fought in Crimea, so there!
Didn't you see what happened in Versailles?
Bloody hell, see how worried Agnes is?
Want to fight right here in the courtyard?
Is that it? Why not kill him!
Present arms!
Attention! Present arms!
General salute!
Thiers aims to build an army powerful enough
to crush the Paris rebellion.
His army of 40,000 is reinforced by returning prisoners,
accelerated by a peace treaty signed on May 10.
He will soon have a trained and equipped army of 130,000 men.
How are things going?
I'm very happy. Our boss has opened the workshop and wash-house,
though we're not getting a salary increase.
Still, there's a bit of work, that's a good start.
Some have nothing.
Enough of empty stomachs!
I'll save up for my mattress.
What do you think of the present situation?
The thing is, the more work we get the less we get paid.
I fixed a price with the owner,
but now she'll only pay half what she promised.
I can't live on that,
I don't have time for all the work.
I think we should have a place to meet.
Some have no work, others have too much, some sleep outside.
We need a place to meet and discuss all this.
Discuss! What for, we have to act!
We must have solidarity.
We must act. Talking won't make things better.
Let's organize. I'll take the kids, or do other things.
Getting organized is fine, but we must act now.
It's no good waiting around.
Give us work.
All we have is our work.
I can only give what I've got. Everyone's off fighting.
I know I'm paying less, but I'm doing what I can.
You're talking money, I'll show you real solidarity.
This sheet belongs to a woman who's too old to work,
so I do it for her.
As for the salary, well, she needs it more than me.
Maybe the Town Hall will give you the 11 th District...
military linen to wash.
- And the pay! - I'm negotiating.
- It's work. - What's the use if we're not paid?
Let me speak for a second, you never let me.
I am negotiating with the Town Hall
to get the contract for the officers' shirts.
But it's not easy, with the administration.
Here in the 11 th District
a municipality has been organized since we last came.
Who are you and what are you doing here?
My name is Baux-Picard and I'm in charge of the registry office
as well as setting up a commission
for war widows' pensions,
and, as of now, financial assistance for the needy.
Citizen Verdure, why are you here?
As an elected member of the Commune
and 11 th District, I carry out administrative tasks.
Today we'll celebrate our first Republican baptism.
It's a big event!
What do you do here?
I keep the civil register, control security,
and draw up information sheets.
- What's your name? - Blanche Capellier.
What are you doing here?
I'm citizen Patey, Delegate for subsistence.
I distribute food stamps,
with a meal...
and 500 grams of bread for each person who's registered.
That's my role at the Town Hall.
And what do you do?
I'm his assistant.
This procedure was set up during the siege,
but we had little to give then. Now we have something.
We're from TV Commune. What are you doing?
I'm Charles Capellaro, municipal Delegate,
in charge of National Guard supplies:
equipment, weapons, food stamps.
As a matter of fact, this Guard came for food stamps.
The problem is he doesn't have an inventory form.
A document. My commander didn't give me one.
Ask him to give you the document.
Come back and I'll help you!
Along with registry and National Guard supplies,
the Town Hall is in charge of the revolutionary police,
and denunciations against bourgeois enemies and draft evaders.
Who you are?
Henri Appollon Guillaume. I'm in charge of law and order:
requisitions, searches, arrests,
and sometimes denunciations too.
What are you doing here?
I'm a member of the civilian delegation Sub-Committee.
I register statements
for the arrest of draft evaders, searches and requisitions.
What's going on here?
We're interrogating this citizen who hangs around bars,
spreading lies. He's a draft evader.
So, citizen!
What has he done?
He was spreading lies and making defeatist remarks.
He was completely drunk last night.
He was in the 11 th, because bars are cheaper here than in Versailles.
Any comment?
I don't know, I just woke up. I was in the bar yesterday,
and now I'm here with you. What's this spy thing?
I was just in the bar, what do you want?
Without morals, man is lost. Save yourself and help the Republic.
"I'm preparing the first issue of "Le Proletaire","
which we'll publish as soon as we find funds.
What will you write?
Whatever the people of the 11 th want,
within a certain political frame, defending certain ideas.
I'll give you an example of our political line:
"We, the proletariat, defend solidarity, union, equality."
"We want all privileges and monopolies to be replaced"
"by the law of capacity,"
"so the worker may truly profit from the product of his labour."
"We want free, compulsory, and public primary education."
"We want the elected delegate to always be accountable."
That's what we want, and will debate in the streets, meetings,
and in this newspaper very soon.
Leontine Rombert. You asked me to arrest her.
How dare you treat women so?
The Paris police have asked the 11 th District Town Hall
to collect information concerning certain citizens
who are in contact with Versailles.
As police superintendent for the 11 th, I'll apply
these measures in the most radical, even if unpopular, way -
to establish a tight, systematic surveillance
of all activities in the District.
What about my husband? I already said...
Start again!
He went to Versailles to do his duty.
What for? The Commune is the government now.
It's his job and his business!
I've a house to run, kids to raise.
Do you think it's easy?
Divorce, citizen!
You won't have to queue and you'll get 3 days' rations...
Citizen Vatrin Gerard and citizen Desgranges Marie
declare their wish to place their child Lucien
under the protection of the legal authorities,
elected by popular will.
You wish to give as special protection to your child,
citizen Lazare Stephane
and citizen Davis Lucie as godparents,
who accept the responsibility, should his parents ever fail him.
May he respect democratic institutions,
develop necessary moral, human and civic qualities,
so that when he comes of age, he may become...
a citizen with ideals of brotherhood, understanding,
respect for freedom and solidarity for his fellow men.
Gentlemen,
today we have launched an offensive
against Forts lssy and Vanves.
Both must be neutralized
for us to begin the siege from the other side of the Seine.
if the Fort lssy doesn't fall at the start of the offensive,
the risk, because of its dominating position,
is that it may rake the besiegers.
The Fort Vanves must also be silenced,
as it can bring artillery support to its neighbour.
Once the two forts are neutralized,
the main attack shall aim for the south-west angle
of the defence line
at the Point du Jour, where the wall is weakest.
Gentlemen of the press?
Is it true that you plan to bombard Paris?
No sir, absolutely not.
It is a bombardment?
No sir, the artillery has never bombarded Paris.
It has simply fired a few shells!
Anyhow, the situation is simple.
I am currently working with a private corps of engineers
who are setting up a battery on the hill,
to reduce Fort lssy to silence.
So that our troops may enter through the Point du Jour.
I created the Paris ramparts,
I should know how to destroy them.
We have Mr. Hoffman, assistant
to the Plenipotentiary Minister for the USA in Paris, on the line.
The US legation is the only foreign representation
in Paris, not with the government in Versailles.
Mr. Hoffman, can you explain your country's position?
Yes, Minister Washburne believes
that our interests would be better served
by staying in Paris.
So we'll remain here despite the danger.
But do you truly sense danger?
The legation was hit by shrapnel 20 feet from my office.
Yesterday, according to the Minister,
the Arc de Triomphe was hit 27 times.
Have there been many casualties?
Yes, I believe so, but I don't have any reliable figures.
There are casualties among the civilians.
Just yesterday a 70 year-old lady
lost both her legs due to shell fire at the entrance of a church.
Even if one cannot predict the outcome
of the unhappy events unfolding...
we may hope that individuals won't suffer
from the excesses of the looters
which the Commune carries in its wake,
because they're too busy fighting at the front.
The arrests of some clergy
and the looting of a few coffers
seem to quench their thirst.
Mr. De Gobineau had to abandon his flat on Josephine St.,
shells were falling there.
Paris is undergoing a real revolution.
Can you tell us what's happening in Algeria?
Let's be honest here!
Since the French army arrived
in Algeria in 1830, their only aim has been
to plunder the country's wealth.
It's true!
It began with confiscation of properties,
and dispossession of land, and ended with deprival of rights.
The Algerian citizen is reduced to slavery.
The loss of his identity!
What can people do? Everything's been taken from them.
He was over there...
He just returned from Algeria.
People were being killed there, massacred.
They were shelling everywhere. They broke into homes.
He says that the repression was terrible.
He confirms what's just been said
about the dispossession of the land...
and the repression.
He fled.
He managed to flee?
Yes, but it wasn't easy.
The uprising has spread. From east to west.
Especially in the east because...
But our comrade is saying the repression is ruthless.
Villages being burned.
Over there for example...
His brother had his land stolen.
People are being killed, we must react.
My family for example, they've been merchants for centuries.
They stole their land and their property.
Do you think that's normal? We must resist...
this injustice.
The land is no longer ours, but the wheat is.
The bread you eat comes from our wheat.
I've been travelling around the world for years.
I went to poor countries, Algeria, Africa.
I saw lands plundered by colonization.
How they plunder people and culture in those countries.
And today? Money circulates and rules the world.
Goods circulate.
But the people from poor countries are denied entry.
"They tell them: "Stop, no entry."
"We'll rob you, but you can't come in."
- That's true! - We must fight against that.
They deny our right to our culture, they want to wipe it out.
On March 1 8, 1 996,
"350 "illegal aliens" from a Montreuil hostel"
occupy St. -Ambroise Church to denounce the state's refusal
to regularize their administrative situation.
Mgr Lustiger, Archbishop of Paris, visits the occupants,
"to voice his "solicitude" and the "mercy" of his Church."
The next day, the religious authorities
ask the Home Office to eject them.
They justify lifting the inviolability of holy places,
on the excuse of a foreign cult practising in the Church.
March 24, state security police invade the building
with a violence and force usually reserved for hijackings.
Men, women and children are brutally evacuated.
"A victory for terminology: the media now speak of the "paper-less"."
Battalion, on my command. Attention!
There's a preparatory and an executory command.
A preparatory command prepares for what's next. At ease!
Attention!
Citizens, hello. It is the 11 th of April,
a new National Guard Battalion leaves for the front.
We remind you of the headlines:
Thiers attacks Paris, shells hit the Arc de Triomphe,
but troop morale is good.
We now speak with Agnes Noiret, whom we met a few days ago.
It's hard for us to cover both the events, the interviews,
and keep you informed of decisions at the Town Hall.
Your husband's still at the front?
- For 3 days. - You know where?
No, I have no news at all. I'm really worried.
All I know is there are many dead.
I must try to find out...
How will you do this?
I was told to go to the Legion.
The children must be told something.
It's so hard.
Thank you. Good luck!
To counter unceasing rumours of defeat and panic,
the Commune has banned Versailles oriented newspapers
advocating private property and social hierarchy.
The reactionary press slanders the Commune.
That's why information such as ours is so important.
Journalists query the bannings,
"Cri du Peuple":"
"We can resort to common law for liars and agitators,"
"but we demand absolute liberty of the press."
"Pere Duchene":"
"The revolution is solid enough to let our foes write against it."
"Freedom for all, including our enemies, will prove our strength."
On the pretext of war,
censorship will shut down
"not only 30 "reactionary" newspapers,"
but also certain critical pro-Commune papers,
"such as Jean-Baptiste Milliere's "La Commune"."
Mark time.
March!
We whose lamps are lit With the crowing of the cock
We whose poverty Drags us to the anvil before dawn
We who struggle endlessly With our entire being
With no shelter From the cold and old age
Let us love each other And if we may, unite
To share a drink
Whether the cannon ls silent or roaring
Let us drink!
To universal independence!
Let us love each other And if we may, unite
To share a drink
Whether the cannon ls silent or roaring...
Listen!
I wish to announce the birth of the Women's Union
for the Defence of Paris and Care for the Wounded,
under the presidency of citizen Elisabeth Dmitrieff.
The aim of the Women's Union is to rally the working women of Paris,
to unite in support of the Commune
in its struggle against all tyrannies.
Long live the Commune!
We must mobilize quickly
because Paris and the Homeland are in danger.
It's not foreigners invading France. No.
The French are slaying people and liberty!
They are the privileged,
all those who profit from our hunger, our struggle,
our sweat, our misery.
We want no more masters and exploiters,
but government for the people and well-being for all.
We want work, to profit from it,
and become free human beings.
Citizens, we must act fast.
We must get organized
to help our husbands, sons and brothers who have left to fight,
but we must also protect the Commune
and end the slavery we've endured for so long.
Long live freedom!
The Commune doesn't depend only on those at the Town Hall,
but also on us,
on our will to build a world and a future that belong to us.
Each District must have its own local committee.
I invite you to form the Women's Union of the 11 th District.
The Town Hall should be giving us a room soon.
The next meeting place and date will be posted by tomorrow.
I'd like to see the Legion officers.
What for?
I'm seeking news of my husband who's in the National Guard.
The Guard? Where exactly?
The 66th Battalion.
I'll go ask.
A lady wants information about her husband who's at the front.
Fine, tell her to wait.
I come from Neuilly bridge, we've been holding for days.
I sent couriers for reinforcements: no reply. What's going on?
Captain, we receive 50 to 60 couriers a day,
and we've got no time to answer. Just wait!
The men are demoralized. We're isolated.
if your men didn't take orders
from the Town Hall, without our permission...
Orders are here, we're in charge.
I need men in good shape, equipped.
You'll get the 138th Battalion tomorrow.
Unless the Sub-Committee use it for parade.
You want efficiency? You'll get it.
General Cluseret gave very precise instructions.
From now on, all Battalion captains must arrest draft dodgers.
Start right now.
Here's an order for Berco, rue Folie-Mericourt.
Hope for support like this?
You'll keep order in your Battalion.
We'll establish a disciplinary committee. Tell the men
who miss roll-call there'll be no pay. Dismissed!
People won't like the Commune this way!
Let the citizen in.
Citizens, I need 3 guards
to fetch a guy called Lucien Berco, 34, Folie-Mericourt.
I'm looking for my husband.
He's in the 66th Battalion.
What company?
D Company.
- What Battalion? - 66th.
- Your husband's name? - Jean Lebert.
At which front?
I don't know.
In Asnieres. I thinks he's there.
- Let's see, Lebel... - Lebert.
I think it's Asnieres.
On a proposal by citizen Jourde, finance Delegate:
To widows, married or not, of Guards killed in action
for the people's defence, a 600 franc pension
and 375 francs for the children, legitimate or not,
after an enquiry establishing these rights.
I have here a declaration from a group of women:
"The gauntlet is down, we must conquer or die."
"Let those who say, 'what good is victory if I lose those I love', "
"be persuaded that the only way to save those you love, "
"is to take part in the struggle."
The Commune makes an appeal on behalf of schools.
All interested citizens are invited to present themselves,
with documents, at the Town Hall Education Commission.
Two days after the next scene,
Agnes Noiret will find her husband, dead, at an ambulance post.
She will receive a widow's pension for herself and her children,
as decreed by the Commune on April 11.
We're back from the Legion, they didn't know.
- No news? - I said he left days ago.
I could come with you to the Sub-Committee...
if that's OK with you?
- Can you take the kids? - Leave them with me.
Shall we go? I know where it is.
Kids, you stay with me.
Hello, citizens.
We're looking for citizen Lucien Berco.
- Don't know him. - I was told he lives here, no?
Fair-haired?
34, Folie-Mericourt. No Berco?
Over there, in the house across the street.
On the ground floor.
And you, citizen Theron, watch out.
You're not with us yet, it'll be your turn soon.
E. Theron, the jeweller, will be taken for questioning,
but released with the advance of the Versailles army.
The Therons will shelter a Communard during the Bloody Week.
They will be denounced by a neighbour,
and executed by a Government firing squad.
This is war, we must stick together!
Citizen Berco, come out of there!
We know you're there!
Shall we try the other door?
- What is it? - It's for the Sub-Committee.
- Who? - Sub-Committee.
And who are you?
- 11 th Legion officers. - You blind?
It's the Legion, for the Sub-Committee...
What's going on here?
- Leave me alone! - What's she done?
I'm the law here, I ask the questions. Let us through.
The Paris police fled Paris after the insurrection,
often leaving their wives behind to take care of the furniture.
This is the case for Leontine Rombert,
arrested with other citizens for secret dealings with the enemy.
End of part 1