The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-03-18
BUILD MASS UNITED FRONT T0FREE ALLNAZS VICTIMS
THE HISTORY OF THE
PARIS COMMUNE
BY +. BROWN

"Proletarian Paris with its Com
mune will be forever celebrated as
the most glorious prelude of a new
society. Its martyrs are enShrined i'll
the great heart of the working class.
History already has nailed to the
stocks its destroyers, and the prayers
Of all their priests will not succeed
in saving them"
SO concluded Karl Marx more than
80 years ago in his memorable appeal,
exalting the tremendous Importance
OF the Commune, "the Sphinx that
put the bourgeoiSie to such hard
test and marked in blood the ma
tionaI treachery of the corrupt
government.
It is already the Sind year that the
revolutionary proletariat not only
celebrates the epic struggle Of the
precursors of the new society, but on
the basis Of the experiences of this
great struggle fights new battles.
New conmunes have arisen, new pro-
letarian martyrs; thousands of new
Conlmunards of the communes of
Russia, Hungary, Bavaria, Canton,
have united themselves with the
ylorious fallen heroes of Paris.
Victories and defeats have enriched
the international revolutionary pro-
letariat with most valuable expert
ences. The union Of COmmunes, the
Soviet Union, now in its sixteenth
year, withstands in ever greater
strength the attacks Of international
capital, and is building perSistently
he new society the lighthouse that
Eliminates for the exploited all over
the world the road that leads to the
complete emancipation Of the work
lEg class.
Historic Events
The monstrous, bureaucratic and
military organization with its com
plicated State machine, the French
chauvinisin of Napoleon who was
aiming at the left border Of the
Rhine, was crushed in Sedan. AS
Napoleon's army was beaten, part
made prisoner, another part crushed
at Metz, Bismarck the chauvinist
Junker, ordered the PruSsian troops
to march on Paris.
At this moment, the fourth of Sep
TENDER, the masses of Paris were in
1nsurerction, ready to defend their city
The empire was a IIapSing like a
house of cards. The Republic was
proclaimed. The Paris Deputies con-
stituted the provisional government
Of national defense, the government
which later became the traitor to
France. The masses of Partisan
toilers took up weapons, entering the
National Guard, ready for defense.
Frightened by Workers
The national government was
frightened, not by the approach of
Bismarck's armies but because OF the
tphalanXes of the national guard in
arms, composed in large part of
workers. The national government
started to deal with the enemy.
Soon the struggle between the gov
eminent and the proletariat in arms
came to 3 clash. On the thirty-firSt
Of October the workers battalion at
tackled the City Hall and made some
of the government members prisoners.
Through the treachery Of some bat
tallions Of petty bouTgeoisie, the ar
rested succeeded in escaping.
On the tWenty-eighth Of January
the hungry city Of Paris capitulated
Theirs, one OF the most villainous fig
ureS in history, concluded an armis-
tice with the PrusSians. To the Prus-
slams were given the fortresses; the
wall Of the city was disarmed and
even the arms of the regular soldiers
we're given up.
However, the National Guard kept
its guns and cannon, and the Ger
mans did not dare to enter Paris in
triumph. They satisfied themselves
with the occupation Of some of the
fortresses around the wall.
ProIetariat In Arms
So Paris remained surrounded for
13l days. The Prussians remained
stationary at their places, not daring
to go one step forward, so much awe
was evoked in them by the proIetariat
in arms, ready to fight in a different
way than the regular armies of
Napoleon.
Theirs understood that the prolet-
ariat in arms constituted a grave
danger for the ruling classes and
tried. accordingly to disarm it. On
the eighteenth OF March he gave in
structions to the regular troops for an
attack against the artillery of the Ma
tional Guard aiming to steal the ar
tillery, which had been built up dur
ing the siege on the basis of national
subscription. But this project failed
and Paris, indignant, rose as one man
in insurrection ready to defend itself
against the treacherous bourgeoisic.
And SO it came to the war between
proletarian Paris and the bourgeois
government which moved its head
quarters to Versailles.
Regular Army Abolished
on the twenty-sixth of March the
deputies of the Commune were
elected. The National Guard trans
ferred its power into the hands of the
new government. On the twenty
eighth the Commune was proclaimed,
to the acclaim of the population.
With this date the history of the
Commune starts, the history of new
form of government that based itself
on the exploited masses, on the pro-
letariat in arms. On March Both the