324 



FRANCE. 



General Cluseret was blamed for this reverse, 

 and as he was, moreover, charged with plot- 

 ting against the Commune, he was arrested and 

 locked up in the Conciergerie. He was suc- 

 ceeded by Colonel Rossel. Simultaneously a 

 Committee of Public Safety, consisting of five 

 members (Arnaud, Meillet, Ranvier, Pyat, and 

 Gerardin), was formed. On the same day on 

 which the insurgents evacuated Fort d'Issy, 

 the communal elections took place throughout 

 France. In most places the Conservative Re- 

 publicans remained victorious. On April 25th, 

 the maires, adjuncts, and communal officers 

 of the places around Paris presented an ad- 

 dress to Thiers, in which they demanded an 

 armistice, a complete restoration of the com- 

 munal liberties, with the election of all maires 

 and adjuncts by the councils, and the final 

 establishment of the republic, and protested 

 against the bombardment as well as against all 

 reprisals. Thiers replied : '" The republic is in 

 existence. The Assembly actually maintains 

 the republic. Although the majority seems to 

 have received from the electors a monarchical 

 it has the wisdom to see that the 



republic to-day has become the best form of 

 government." At the same time, however, he 

 also declared: "No way of a possible compro- 

 mise is sought between a government proceed- 

 ing from elections so free as they have been 

 in France during the last forty years, and 

 between criminals who only represent disor- 

 der and rebellion, and three-fourths of whom 

 are foreigners." He guaranteed life and free- 

 dom to all who would lay down their arms, 

 excepting the murderers of Generals Thomas 

 and Lecompte, and declared himself ready 

 to leave for several days one gate open, " in 

 order to give the revolutionists an oppor- 

 tunity to leave Paris, and to seek a refuge 

 outside of France." The Commune declared 

 this to be an absolute refusal of reconciliation, 

 " which, however, can take place only through 

 a recognition of the rights which we defend, 

 and which we have received the mission of 

 defending by means of arms, if we are unable 

 by means of a compromise." A decree of the 

 Commune ordered the establishment of a new 

 line of defence within the limits of the city. 

 Montmartre and the Trocadero were to be 

 fortified more strongly, and to be garrisoned 

 with the heaviest cannon ; besides, the plateau 

 of the Panth6on was to be made a citadel. 

 The liability to military service was extended 

 to the fifty-fifth year of age, and severer meas- 

 ures were adopted against those who tried to 

 evade it. At the same time, however, internal 

 dissensions increased. A considerable minor- 

 ity of the Commune had opposed the appoint- 

 ment of a Committee of Public Safety; the 

 discharge and arrest of military commanders 

 became more frequent every day. In the first 

 days of May the troops of the Government oc- 

 cupied the railroad depot at Clamart, which 

 commands Fort Issy, and by a nightly surprise 

 the redoubt of Moulin Saquet. Clamart had 



been defended by the insurgents with the ut- 

 most obstinacy. The massacre in Moulin Saquet 

 had been very bloody; as the position was too 

 much exposed to the enemy's fire, the Versail- 

 lists had soon to abandon it, and to leave it 

 again to the insurgents. The castle of Issy had 

 three times been occupied, and only after they 

 had taken it for the fourth time could the Ver- 

 saillists maintain themselves in its possession. 

 The troops of the Government gave no quarter in 

 this battle, and on several other occasions pris- 

 oners were immediately shot by them. Thiers, 

 in a letter to the imprisoned Archbishop Dar- 

 boy, denied the truth of this charge, but many 

 foreigners living in Versailles declared the 

 complaints of the Communists not to be un- 

 founded, though exaggerated. At all events, 

 the combat on both sides assumed a more 

 savage character. The successes of the Ver- 

 saillists isolated the Fort of Issy to such a 

 degree that its speedy fall was regarded as 

 certain. In the night of May 8th the garri- 

 son began to attempt to escape in small 

 detachments, in the direction of Paris. On 

 May 9th, it was surprised and the fort cap- 

 tured. The insurgents soon abandoned a 

 further resistance; but, when the victory of 

 the troops of the Government was fully de- 

 cided, a bloody conflict arose between them 

 and the insurgents, a large number of whom 

 were massacred. 



The operations of the Government were 

 greatly aided by the progress of the internal 

 dissensions in Paris. On the same day on 

 which Issy had been taken, Rossel resigned, 

 and asked the Commune to give him a cell in 

 Mazas. This step he declared to have been 

 caused by the weakness of the Commune, and 

 of the Central Committee, who deliberated 

 when it was necessary to act, and by the petty 

 caprices of the commanders of the legions who 

 hindered the mobilization of the troops. A 

 decree of the Commune announced that reli- 

 gious instruction must cease in the Parisian 

 schools ; the teachers must remove all the 

 crucifixes, Madonnas, and other symbols, their 

 exhibition being a violation of religious lib- 

 erty. Several churches were closed, and their 

 valuables confiscated ; one church was de- 

 stroyed. It was also resolved to destroy the 

 works of art glorifying periods which, in the 

 opinion of the Commune, were disgraceful to 

 France: thus, on May 16th, the column of 

 Vendome was destroyed. Public placards 

 and articles in newspapers declared that the 

 Parisians would rather convert the whole city 

 into a heap of ruins than allow it to be occu- 

 pied by the Versaillists. 



The measures of the Commune increased 

 the irritation of the remainder of France against 

 it. At the same time, however, the opposition 

 of the Right against Thiers gained strength in 

 the Assembly. It was commonly believed that 

 a fusion between the Legitimists and the Or- 

 leanists had been effected. A manifesto of the 

 Count de Chambord, in which he declared his 



