The Paris Commune

While the French Revolution of 1789 made significant strides toward the abolition of feudalism, its impact on the emancipation of the most oppressed segments of the French populace was dubious. Given that it did little to improve living conditions for the rapidly expanding working class during the Industrial Revolution, many later philosophers saw it as the end of feudalism and the start of industrial-era capitalism.

Nearly a century later, the Paris Commune of 1871 represented a different attempt that would be finally and brutally put down. It was begun by members of the National guard, a corps made up primarily of workers protecting the city, soon after Prussian forces had besieged Paris in 1870–1871; it lasted for two months before being put down by royalist forces. Along with various additional harsh actions against revolutionaries and other resistance groups in Paris, some estimates place the death toll at about 20,000.

Date: 18 March – 28 May 1871(2 months, 1 week and 3 days)
Location: Paris, France
Result: Revolt suppressed
Disbanding the Second National Guard by the French government