Photo foto May 11 1871 the Commune orders Thiers's house destruction

Jeudi 27 septembre 2007 4 27 /09 /2007 19:03

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May 11, 1871: the Commune orders the destruction of Thiers's house in Paris.

29 / 48°52'.42. N 2°20’15. E /11.05.2004 / 11h39-12h16 T.U.
Place Saint-Georges – 75009 Paris - Department of Paris - Île-de-France (region) - France
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Throughout April and May, government forces, constantly increasing in number - Prussia releasing French POWs to help the Thiers government -, carried out a siege of the city's powerful defences, and pushed the National Guards back. On 21 May a gate in the western part of the fortified city wall of Paris was forced and Versaillese troops began the reconquest of the city, first occupying the prosperous western districts where they were welcomed by those residents who had not left Paris after the armistice. It seems an engineer (who had spied regularly for the Thiers government) found the gate unmanned and signaled this to the Versaillais.

The strong local loyalties which had been a positive feature of the Commune now became something of a disadvantage: instead of an overall planned defence, each "quartier" fought desperately for its survival, and each was overcome in turn. The webs of narrow streets which made entire districts nearly impregnable in earlier Parisian revolutions had been largely replaced by wide boulevards during Haussmann's renovation of Paris. The Versaillese enjoyed a centralised command and had superior numbers. They had learned the tactics of street fighting, and simply tunnelled through the walls of houses to outflank the Communards' barricades. Ironically, only where Haussmann had made wide spaces and streets were they held up by the defenders' gunfire.

During the assault, the government troops were responsible for slaughtering National Guard troops and civilians: prisoners taken in possession of weapons, or who were suspected of having fought, were shot out of hand and summary executions were commonplace.

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