Long live the commune!

On that day the National Assembly moved to Versailles(1) where the bourgeoisie began to prepare an attack on rioting Paris(2).

The unsuccessful war with Prussia, unemployment among the workers and the impoverishment of the petty bourgeoisie, the people's discontent against the upper classes and the government which proved incapable(3) of protecting the Republic, and the reactionary composition of the National Assembly - all this could not but give rise to(4) a tense revolutionary situation in the country. As a matter of fact(5) France was pregnant with a revolution.

The immediate cause(6) which provoked the workers of Paris to take up arms was the attempt made by the government troops to disarm the National Guard by removing the cannons from Monmartre(7). The soldiers, however, did not succeed in doing so, they were stopped by the people of Paris which was awakened by a cannon shot. The generals commanding the government troops ordered that fire should be opened on the workers, but instead of obeying the order the soldiers shot their commanders and sided with the rebels. By the evening, on March 18, the National Guard had occupied all Governmental buildings and other important points. Red flags were hoisted here and there. The first proletarian revolution had triumphed. Eight days later elections were held to the Council of the Commune, the supreme authority which was composed of the toiling people, workers playing the leading role in it(8). Soon afterwards a new government was proclaimed. The revolutionary people celebrated the event with great rejoicing(9), and when in the city square in front of the Hotel de Vine the National Guard declared that it was handing power over to the Council, everyone greeted the announcement with shouts of "Long live the Commune!"

The new state was confronted with a number of urgent tasks. It was necessary to do away with(10) the principal force of class oppression - the standing army and the police force, and also to smash the bourgeois state apparatus. The Paris Commune undertook certain measures

aimed at(11) organising the country's economy and improving the living and working conditions of the toiling people, it ensured the handing over to the workers of all the enterprises whose owners had fled from Paris. It established control over pay rates(12) and cancelled all lines on the workers. The church was separated from the state, and an order was issued that education

was to be free(13) and compulsory. New schools and nurseries were opened and various social mass organisations were formed. In its creative work for the good of the people the Commune proved successful. Yet, it was not free of some errors. One of its weak points was that it failed to establish an alliance between the working class and the poor peasantry. Largely due to(14) the propaganda carried on by the counter-revolutionaries, the peasants did not support the workers' uprising. Moreover, the Commune allowed Versailles Government to have a breathing space(15) and thus to collect fresh forces in the meantime.

On May 20 the Government troops started the general storming of Paris. Those days have come down in history(16) as a matchless example of heroism on the part of the Communards who fiercely fought on the barricades defending every inch of the ground(17). Surrounded on all sides by the enemy, and cut off from the rest of the country, the Commune remained isolated.

Eventually, the Commune was mercilessly crushed. How did it come that18 it suffered defeat? There were several reasons for that. Stricly speaking, the conditions for the complete victory of the proletarian revolution in France were not ripe; the proletariat was not numerous, nor did it have a revolutionary party. There was no alliance between the working class and the peasantry, the dictatorship of the proletariat was far from being complete and firm(19).

Notes

I Versailles ['veasai] - Версаль

2rioting Paris- (зд.) революционный Париж

3 proved incapable - оказалось неспособным

4 to give rise to = to bring about - вызвать

5 as a matter of fact - фактически, no сути дела

6 immediate cause - (зд.) непосредственный повод

7 Moninartre - Монмартр, район Парижа

8 workers playing the leading role in it - при этом ведущую роль в ней сыграли рабочие

9 with great rejoicing - с большой радостью

10 to do away with = to put an end to = to eliminate – покончить, ликвидировать

11 measures aimed at + герундий - мероприятия, имеющие целью или направленные на что-л.

12 pay rates - (зд.) оплата труда, зарплата

13 to be free (of charge) - бесплатный

14 largely due to (thanks to) - в значительной степени благодаря

15 a breathing [i:] space - (зд.) передышка

16 to come down in history - войти в историю

17 every inch of the ground - каждый клочок земли (букв. дюйм).

18 How did it come that...? - Как случилось, что ...?

19 was far from being complete and firm - была далеко не полной и не прочной