ABSTRACT
Blaming the Empire’s repressive bureaucratic regime for France’s catastrophic defeat, they called for the decentralization of power and the creation of a democratically elected “Commune” to govern Paris. In March 1871, supporters of the Paris Commune uprising toppled the column in the place Vendome that honored Napoleon I. The Commune uprising might have been expected to favor the monarchist movement, just as the June Days uprising of 1848 had played into the hands of conservatives. The Commune uprising made them all the more determined to establish a government that would head off the danger of a proletarian revolution. Meanwhile, despite governmental efforts to harass them, the republicans continued to strengthen their political base. In Europe of 1875, however, the Third Republic’s adoption of universal suffrage and its rejection of monarchy remained exceptional. The hastily established Government of National Defense was barely able to maintain control of a capital boiling with agitation.
