The Paris Commune and the Birth of Modern France

After the fall of Napoleon III and the trauma of the Franco-Prussian War, Parisians rose up in March 1871 to establish a radical new government. The Paris Commune was not just a rebellion; it was a laboratory for direct democracy, social reform, and secularism that terrified the European elite. In this episode, we explore the ten weeks that redefined French identity. We meet Louise Michel, the fiery teacher who became the Commune’s most famous martyr, and examine the policies they enacted, from separating church and state to abolishing night work in bakeries. We also look at the brutal suppression during La Semaine Sanglante, or the Bloody Week, when the French Army under General Louis Jules Trochu and Admiral Pierre-Louis Dupleix marched into the city to crush the uprising. This confrontation left tens of thousands dead or exiled, creating a deep political rift that would shape the Third Republic for decades. We discuss how the myth of the Commune persists today as a symbol of resistance and why the French government still struggles to reconcile its revolutionary past with its current institutions. #ParisCommune #LouiseMichel #LaSemaineSanglante #TroisiemeRepublique #FrenchHistory #1871 #BloodyWeek #DirectDemocracy #Secularism #FrenchRevolution #SocialistHistory #VersaillesGovernment #AdolpheThiers #LouisBlanc #BastilleDay #FexingoHistory #EuropeanHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo