Holidays in France - Paris Commune Day

March 18 marks the Day of the Paris Commune - the first revolutionary government of the rebellious working masses during the events of 1871, which existed in Paris for 72 days. It was formed a few months after the defeat of the French army led by Napoleon III near Sedan during the Franco-Prussian War. The failure of the French revealed the entire essence of the Bonapartist monarchical system and completely exposed the betrayal of the national interests of the state by its government. As a result, on September 4, 1870, an uprising began in the capital, imperialism fell, and France again became a republic. A month before these events, the National Guard was formed to defend Paris from the Prussian army, the first participants of which were small entrepreneurs, office workers, etc. At the same time, representatives of the working class, fleeing hunger in the besieged city, began to voluntarily join the troops, soon forming a large part of the army. But in fact, a few days later, the confrontation for the defense of the capital turned into serious disagreements between two social classes: the workers and the bourgeoisie. In October of this and January of the following year, mass armed uprisings took place in Paris demanding the proclamation of the Commune, but the government army managed to suppress them. After France established a truce with Prussia, unrest continued in the capital, which later developed into a revolution. As a result of the uprisings, self-government was formed, which lasted 72 days. The commune was headed by members of the anarchist and socialist movements. The leaders of both parties declared the Paris Commune to be the main example of state power of the international proletariat. And, despite the fact that the revolution was suppressed at the end of May, Commune Day became a sign of the victory of the working class in the struggle to govern the country. This event went down in world history as the realization of the first uprising of the proletariat. Until 1917, the holiday was celebrated in Russia at prohibited meetings of the working class and revolutionary societies. For the first time, this revolutionary day began to be celebrated after the central committee of the International Organization for Assistance to Fighters of the Revolution (MOPR) in 1923 proclaimed the Day of the Paris Commune as its official holiday.