Order for Trial, Louise Michel, 1871
The Order for Trial of Louise Michel following the Paris Commune and Bloody Week, December 1871
1871 Paris Commune
During the 1871 Paris Commune, the people of Paris created the world’s first socialist state.
It was a moment of high drama in French history, where the suffering of the people under Louis-Napoleon III’s Second Empire, followed by the starvation, hunger and violence of the Prussian Siege, saw the people of Paris spontaneously seize power in a ‘peaceful’ Revolution.
What followed was a ten-week blossoming of social measures for the benefit of the people, including the secularisation of schools, the abolishment of the death penalty, measures for the education of girls and women, the introduction of social pensions, fair work measures introduced into workplaces, and a cap on the salaries of all elected representatives.
The ousted government in Versailles returned to attack the Commune only weeks later, and after eight weeks of civil war, somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 people were killed in one week in May, in what became known as ‘Bloody Week’. The Commune was defeated.
After Bloody Week, another 40,000 prisoners were taken to trial in Versailles, including 8,000 poor women, known as ‘pétroleuses’ (petrol girls), who were accused of setting fire to Paris.
Louise Michel turned herself in during Bloody Week, and represented herself spectacularly during her trial. She was exiled to New Caledonia for her brave and iconic role in the Paris Commune.
Portraits of the Petroleuses
The petroleuses of the Paris Commune The pétroleuses remain one of the most enduring and controversial myths of the 1871 Paris Commune. According to the accounts of the Versailles government and conservative press at the time, these were working-class women who supposedly roamed the city during the Bloody Week (Semaine Sanglante), when the Versailles army killed forty … Read more
Portraits of the Communards
Portraits of the Communards This gallery gathers the faces of the Paris Commune, a brief but transformative seventy-two-day period where the working class of Paris seized the reins of power. These portraits of the Communards offer a window into a small sample of the people who sought to build a “Universal Republic.” Some of these … Read more
The Trial of Louise Michel – Paris Commune 1871
The stunning gazetted report of the trial of Louise Michel, along with her testimony, for her involvement in the 1871 Paris Commune as a pétroleuse.
The Pétroleuses
A gallery of 1871 Paris Commune pétroleuse portraits – the world’s first photographic ‘mug shots’ – taken of the alleged petrol girls, by photographer E. Appert.
The Communards
A gallery of Appert portraits of the Communards, taken for the military trials after Bloody Week and the Paris Commune 1871.
Children of the Paris Commune
Hundreds of children fought for the Paris Commune alongside their parents. More than 600 were imprisoned afterwards and held to account for their “crimes”.
Victorine Gorget
Petrol girl Victorine Gorget was accused of setting fire to Paris. Here is her interview with Captain Briot after the 1871 Paris Commune.
Maps of Paris during the Paris Commune 1871
A collection of maps of Paris and Versailles during the 1871 Paris Commune, as well as Second Empire Paris, and after Bloody Week.
Hortense David
Petrol girl Hortense David was accused of setting fire to Paris. Here is her interview with Captain Briot after the 1871 Paris Commune.