"its existence too brief to have led to disillusionment" . . . They just can't help themselves. There is only one revolution permitted no disillusionment.
John On Fri, Apr 30, 2021 at 10:03 AM Kevin Lindemann and Cathy Campo < [email protected]> wrote: > > > https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/28/world/europe/france-protests-yellow-vests-paris-commune.html > > The Embers of a Long-Smoldering Revolution Are Stoked in FranceThe 150th > anniversary of the Paris Commune of 1871 has struck a chord, reviving calls > for better political representation and highlighting economic inequalities. > By Constant Méheut <https://www.nytimes.com/by/constant-meheut> > April 28, 2021 > [image: Silhouettes created by the artist Dugudus commemorated the 150th > anniversary of the Paris Commune in front of the Sacré Coeur Basilica in > Paris last month.] > Silhouettes created by the artist Dugudus commemorated the 150th > anniversary of the Paris Commune in front of the Sacré Coeur Basilica in > Paris last month.Anne-Christine Poujoulat/Agence France-Presse — Getty > Images > > PARIS — On a recent chilly morning, a hundred people flocked to a tiny > square near the Sacré-Coeur Basilica, at the top of the hill in Montmartre. > They were not the usual tourists drawn by the breathtaking panoramic views > over Paris, but left-wing demonstrators celebrating the 150th anniversary > of a revolution that started right where they stood. > > “We’re here, we’re here!” a guitarist sang, playing a tune popularized by > the Yellow Vest protesters who have in recent years faced off against the > government of President Emmanuel Macron, as red flags and banners fluttered > around him. > > Mr. Macron, the guitarist sang, was equivalent to his 19th-century > predecessor, Patrice de Mac Mahon > <https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/10/18/109712866.html?pageNumber=9>, > who crushed the revolution they had come to commemorate, the Paris Commune > of 1871 — a cataclysm that still consumes many on the French far left. > > “All the just causes of today were initiated by the Commune, by our > forefathers,” said Frédéric Jamet, 61, who proudly described himself as a > “Yellow Vest veteran.” Around him were other protesters wearing yellow > vests, communist militants wrapped in red scarves and a handful of amused > students and curious retirees. > > For decades, the memory of the Paris Commune, a short-lived revolution > that shook Paris from March to May 1871 before being suppressed by the > French Army, had faded in the country’s national history, left out of > school curriculums and kept alive mainly by communist militants. > > But as France has been rocked by a series of social movements in recent > years > <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/02/world/europe/france-yellow-vest-protests.html>, > the story of the Paris Commune has made a comeback, with protesters making > connections between today’s struggles and those of a century and a half > ago. “The Commune” has inspired calls for greater political representation > for people across France, been used to highlight contemporary economic > inequalities and even emerged as a reference for some feminist activists. > > Dozens of commemorations of the revolution’s 150th anniversary have been > organized since mid-March — they will continue until late May — revealing > the old beating heart of revolutionary Paris, with debates raging in > newspaper columns > <https://www.nouvelobs.com/idees/20210410.OBS42544/faut-il-commemorer-la-commune-le-debat-entre-pierre-nora-et-jean-luc-melenchon.html> > and > at City Hall over the legacy of an event marked by violence. > [image: Soldiers at a barricade in Paris in 1871. Thousands of insurgents > were killed in an uprising that in recent decades had largely faded from > memory.] > Soldiers at a barricade in Paris in 1871. Thousands of insurgents were > killed in an uprising that in recent decades had largely faded from > memory.Roger > Viollet Collection, via Getty Images > > “Over the past five years, this memory has totally warmed up,” said > Quentin Deluermoz, a historian of the Commune. “It is a historical event > that backs up new grass-roots demands in terms of reclaiming social, > political and economic power.” > > The Commune was born on March 18, 1871, when working-class Parisians > rejected a humiliating peace treaty following France’s defeat by Germany in > the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and rebelled against the central > government. They established their own socialist municipal government, or > “commune,” in the capital and enacted progressive policies that would > inspire much of the country’s legislation in the following decades. > > The separation of church and state was enforced, while schooling became > compulsory, free and secular. Day-care centers were placed near city > factories, labor unions were created by the dozen and night work for bakers > was banned. Participatory democracy and parity in pay were encouraged. > > After only 72 days, the Commune was besieged and then suppressed by the > French Army, with brutal acts of violence on both sides. At least 7,000 > insurgents were killed by army soldiers during the “bloody week > <https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/19/insider/1871-the-paris-agony.html>,” > while Commune fighters executed dozens of hostages and set fire to several > historic buildings. > > But it is perhaps the tragic and ephemeral nature of the Commune that has > most fueled the fascination with this revolution today, its existence too > brief to have led to disillusionment. > > Mr. Deluermoz said that because the Commune involved so many different > elements of revolutionary movements, it had fueled a wide variety of > analyses. > A Yellow Vest protest in Paris in December 2018. Supporters of the > movement have invoked the memory of the Paris Commune during their > protests.Abdulmonam > Eassa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images > > The Commune was long invoked as a model of class warfare — Marx and Lenin > saw it as the harbinger of working-class revolutions — until its memory > began to fade in the 1980s, along with communist ideology. > > Demonstrators during the Nuit Debout protests > <https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/30/world/europe/france-nuit-debout-protests-paris.html> > in > 2016, a French version of the Occupy movement, renamed the Place de la > République in Paris as the Place de la Commune. Yellow Vest protesters > <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/03/world/europe/france-yellow-vest-protests.html> > in > 2018 chanted slogans like “1871 reasons to believe.” > > “The problem is that we are experiencing things, injustices again, that’s > what’s awakening the spirit of the Commune,” said Sophie Cloarec, pointing > to the new economic insecurity and exploitation engendered by the gig > economy > <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/16/business/uber-eats-deliveroo-glovo-migrants.html> > . > > Ms. Cloarec, on a recent Saturday afternoon, was participating in a > feminist march honoring women who played a major role in the 1871 > revolution. Around her, groups of women were papering walls with posters of > famous female Commune fighters, such as the teacher Louise Michel > <https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1882/12/17/103430007.html?pageNumber=5> > or > Victorine Brocher, who kept a canteen during the siege of Paris. > > It was the latest sign of the revolution’s enduring resonance, as feminist > groups are emerging as a powerful force > <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/13/world/europe/paris-france-feminist-posters.html> > in > France against the backdrop of a delayed #MeToo movement > <https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/world/europe/france-metoo-sandra-muller.html> > . > > Mathilde Larrère, a historian of 19th-century French revolutions, said the > Commune “was a feminist movement because women embraced it” to obtain new > rights like better access to education and pensions for unmarried widows. > > Jean-Pierre Theurier, a member of the Association of the Friends of the > Commune <https://www.commune1871.org/>, said he had been surprised by the > renewed public interest in the revolution. He said more people were > attending the walking tours he organizes in the Père Lachaise cemetery, > where a bloody battle took place between the graves and where some 150 > Commune fighters were executed; bullet holes are still visible on some > walls. > > “There’s a return of the repressed,” Ms. Theurier said, referring to the > decades-long omission of the Commune from textbooks and official discourse. > Rue de Rivoli in Paris after the French Army suppressed the > revolutionaries in 1871.Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis, via Getty Images > > But in a country where historical anniversaries are often more divisive > than unifying, and where revolutions are often a point of national pride, > the Commune’s “return” has also revived old ideological quarrels over its > legacy. > > The fighting began at Paris City Hall > <http://event.paris.fr/Datas4/conseil/494591_60181d0890028/> in February, > when conservative city councilors accused the left-wing majority of > exploiting the anniversary to political ends while ignoring the Commune’s > own acts of violence and destruction. Historians > <https://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/pierre-nora-les-identites-communautaires-ont-remplace-les-memoires-minoritaires-20210317> > and > politicians then clashed over the need to commemorate the event, and the > French press took sides. > > But perhaps the fiercest attack came from the least expected side: the > left. > > On a chilly March morning, City Hall officials organized the first > commemorative event, gathering about 50 Parisians at the foot of the > Montmartre hill to carry life-size silhouettes of famous Commune fighters. > Anger roared above them, in the tiny square near the Sacré-Coeur Basilica, > where left-wing demonstrators had organized their own event, boycotting the > official celebration. > > “You Versaillais!” a man shouted to the crowd down the hill, using the > name given to people living in Versailles, the city where the central > government regrouped during the Commune, and the home to French kings until > the French Revolution of 1789. > > “Those down there, they’re the privileged few,” said Mr. Jamet, the Yellow > Vest veteran. > > Standing a few feet away, Catherine Krcmar, a 70-year-old seasoned leftist > activist, smiled as she watched the protest around her. “Revolutionary > Paris is not dead,” she said. > > > > > -- "All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks." Sarah Moore Grimke, abolitionist (1792-1873) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#8296): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/8296 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/82467998/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
