Wake up, wake up, you prisoners of hunger
Wake up the oppressed of the earth
Standing thunderous and screaming, justice is the last sentence
Birth became kolka, birth became kolka
A whole new world was born
-Eugene Pothiar, Translation: K Satchidanandan
This is a poem written by the revolutionary Eugène Pothier of the Paris Commune when the regime overthrew the Commune, the struggle did not end when his comrades were shot, and the hope that the coming fronts would make human liberation possible. Communist parties have accepted this poem as a national anthem. March 18 is the commemoration day of the Paris Commune, the first working-class movement in the history of struggle. For the first time, the workers, who had been subjugated by the royalists and their dependents, realized their power for the first time. That realization is revolutionizing history.
The second half of the 1800s was a time of power struggles for Europe. Germany (formerly Prussia) is unified under the leadership of Otto Bismarck. The region, divided into princely states, is united by past glory and nationalism. And with it, the desire to take over the whole of Europe is growing stronger in many places.
France was ruled by Napoleon III. France lost the war between Germany and France and forced Germany to sign the treaty humiliating the French people. This war adversely affected the majority of the workers. Their lives became more difficult. Armed workers protected Paris from German aggression. This labor force was known as the National Guards. After the war, Thaers, the representative of the landlords and capitalists in France, ordered the re-arming of the national guards. This angered the worker. Armed with cannons and guns, the proletariat stormed the centers of power in France. Bourgeois rule in France rested on this advance. Representatives of that capitalist government sought refuge in the outlying regions of Wales.
Elections to the Paris Commune were held on March 26 of the same year. 60 representatives were appointed through the election process. 15 of them were the vanguards of the First International held in 1876. 25 people who were declared as independent revolutionaries were part of this historical moment. 33 people were there as workers. On March 28th, Paris Coming was announced as coming into force. The streets of Paris were decorated with blood flags. The Paris Commune opened the door to new possibilities of democratic rule. The Paris Commune showed the French people the difference between capitalist rule and populist democracy. After the war, the Paris Commune granted special concessions to the suffering population. Six months of house rent was waived. The sale of steel on loan at administrative centers was stopped. The salary of officers was capped. Secular education was first popularized in France. The guillotine, a weapon used for beheading, was widely destroyed by fire. Child labor and night overtime were strictly prohibited. The Paris Commune put an end to the financial exploitation of private money transactions. Primary treatment centers and food distribution centers were established throughout the city. A shelter was established for orphans and a nursery for children.
The exploiting classes united to destroy the Paris Commune. All who were common enemies united to destroy the Commune. The combined armies of the capitalist class in France and Germany attacked the Commune. The fierce fighting that lasted till May 28 witnessed the greatest human toll in history. Superior weapons and military power helped them dominate the workers. That city was red with the blood of more than twenty thousand Paris Communes. If the high-profile shootings of workers in Chicago fueled Labor Day, the more horrific shootings took place in Paris. Marx evaluated the Paris Commune in a different way. Marx wrote that ‘it is not possible for the proletariat to simply take possession of the state prepared by its predecessors and use it as such for its own purposes’. But he remembered them as brave men who invaded heaven. The direction given by Paris to all the struggles to date is enormous. The Paris Commune is the foundation and beacon for all the revolutions that have shaken history.