322 



FRANCE. 



for so many had abstained from voting, that 

 only minority elections were effected, which, 

 nevertheless, were declared to be valid by the 

 Commune. This situation of affairs encour- 

 aged the hope for compromises. The City 

 Council sent peace commissioners to Thiers, 

 but their mission failed, as the Council de- 

 manded the highest degree of self-government 

 for the city, while Thiers insisted upon an un- 

 conditional recognition of the authority of the 

 Government and the adoption of the town 

 law, which had been voted by the National 

 Assembly. Subsequent attempts at mediation 

 made by the Paris merchants, the Ligue 

 de Vunion republicaine des droits de Paris, 

 and the Freemasons, were equally unsuccess- 

 ful. The Commune, in a manifesto of April 

 19th, declared that the conflict between Paris 

 and Versailles was' one of those which could 

 not be ended by illusory compromises. The de- 

 mands of the Commune and the new town 

 law were in fact irreconcilable. The National 

 Assembly had at first shown a disposition to 

 leave the election of maires to the town coun- 

 cils ; but, when Thiers declared that in this 

 case he would resign, a compromise was 

 agreed upon, according to which the Govern- 

 ment received the right to appoint the maires 

 in all towns with more than 20,000 inhabit- 

 ants. The Commune, on the other hand, de- 

 manded f6r every town of France the most 

 absolute independence of the Commune, which 

 should have no other limit than the same right 

 of other communes, the association of which 

 must secure the unity of France. As rights be- 

 longing to the Commune, the following were 

 claimed: "The vote on the communal budget, 

 receipts, and expenditures : the assessment of 

 taxes; the direction of all the branches of 

 local administration ; the organization of the 

 courts, of the police, and education ; the 

 disposal of goods belonging to the Com- 

 mune; the appointment of the communal 

 magistrates, or officers of every degree ; an un- 

 limited guarantee of personal liberty; freedom 

 of conscience and of labor ; constant partici- 

 pation of the citizens in communal affairs, by 

 the free expression of their ideas and the 

 defence of their interests ; guarantee for these 

 expressions of opinion to be given by the Com- 

 mune ; the organization of the defence of the 

 city, and of the National Guard, which elects 

 its leaders, and which alone watches over the 

 maintenance of order in the city. In the ex- 

 ercise of her freedom of action, Paris reserves 

 to herself the right to carry through within her 

 limits all the administrative and economical 

 reforms which the population demands; to 

 found such institutions as she may regard as 

 fitted to develop and extend education, pro- 

 duction, exchange, and credit ; to generalize 

 the power of Government, and the right of 

 property, according to the exigencies of the 

 moment, the wishes of all the parties inter- 

 ested, and the light gained by experience. 

 The political unity demanded by Paris is the 



voluntary association and cooperation of all 

 individual forces for a common aim the well- 

 being, freedom, and security of all. The com- 

 munal revolution of March 18th opens an era 

 of experimental, positive, and scientific poli- 

 tics ; it puts an end to the old governmental 

 and clerical world, to the military and admin- 

 istrative hierarchies, to the reign of monopo- 

 lies and privileges to which are due the servi- 

 tude of the proletariat and the misfortune and 

 defeat of the country." Thiers, on the other 

 hand, confined himself to the renewed assur- 

 ance that he would not act in opposition 

 to the republic, and to the demand that the 

 authority of the national Government be rec- 

 ognized by Paris as well as by the remainder 

 of the country. 



The military operations against Paris made 

 but slow progress. Thiers, in a proclamation 

 of April 16th, declared that the Government 

 delayed an attack, as it desired to collect so 

 large a force as to make a further resistance 

 impossible, and also to give time to the misled 

 Parisians to listen to the voice of reason . Public 

 opinion suspected that the Government did not 

 trust a large portion of the troops, and was 

 waiting for the return of the prisoners of war 

 from Germany. At all events, Marshal Mac- 

 Mahon proceeded with the utmost caution. 

 The transfer of his headquarters to Fontenay- 

 aux-Koses was regarded as the beginning of 

 an assault upon the outside, the former attacks 

 having been confined to the west and south- 

 west. The first successes were, however, ob- 

 tained on the west side. On April 15th, Cas- 

 tle B6con was captured, where the insurgents 

 shortly before had successfully repulsed an 

 attack. The position was of great importance, 

 because it commanded Asnieres, where Dom- 

 browski had concentrated the main force. On 

 April 18th Asnieres also fell into the hands of 

 the Government, and the insurgents were 

 driven back upon the other bank of the river. 

 The forts on both sides maintained a constant 

 fire, which, on the whole, cost but few lives, 

 but caused an immense damage to property. 

 Repeated assaults of the troops of the Govern- 

 ment upon the forts of the insurgents were 

 repulsed, and the former began the regular 

 siege of Fort Issy. The sorties of the insur- 

 gents likewise failed ; occasionally they gained 

 a little ground, but they were too weak to act 

 vigorously on the offensive. A part of their 

 troops could not be relied upon, and the Com- 

 mune found it necessary to disarm several bat- 

 talions. Fort Issy became more and more 

 the centre of the battle. The insurgents de- 

 fended themselves with great obstinacy ; but, 

 on the afternoon of April 30th, they had to 

 leave it, because it had suffered too much from 

 the unceasing fire. The troops of the Govern- 

 ment, however, did not dare to occupy it, partly 

 because they feared the fire of the batteries of 

 Vaurigard, partly because they believed the 

 fort to be undermined. Thus the insurgents 

 found it possible to return to the fort. As 



