Communards
[2] 7,500 were jailed or deported under arrangements which continued until a general amnesty during the 1880s; this action by Adolphe Thiers forestalled the proto-communist movement in the French Third Republic (1871–1940).
[3] In January 1871, Otto von Bismarck and the French minister of foreign affairs, Jules Favre, decided that France would hold national elections.
In the early morning of March 18, the government stationed in Versailles sent military forces into Paris to collect a reserve of cannons.
The detachment was gathering the guns when units of the Paris national guard surrounded them, and killed two French army generals.
He taught newly released French soldiers the "evils" of the Communards as the government prepared for a battle.
The violence of The "Bloody Week" became a rallying cry for the working classes; some politicians would later proudly brag about their participation with the Commune.
The inquest concluded that the main cause of the insurrection was a lack of belief in God, and that this problem had to be corrected immediately.
After 1863, New Caledonia became the principal destination of convicts transported from France after French Guiana was deemed too unhealthy for people of European descent.
The escapees, who included Jourde, Henri Rochefort, Paschal Grousset, Olivier Pain, Achille Ballière, and Bastien Grandhille, boarded the boat under the cover of darkness and hid in the ship's hold until they cleared the harbor.
Reports of their escape and the strict conditions they had lived under were printed in newspapers in Australia, the United States, and Europe.
New rules forbade the prisoners from approaching the sea without permission, subjected them to daily roll calls, and banned them from entering the forests, even to collect firewood.
[16] Louise Michel looked to the Kanak youth for guidance and inspiration, and offered them moral support when they joined the 1878 insurrection.
She fully expected the achievements of the Kanak to match those of the French, though she wrote about them in very paternalistic terms that were common for her time period.
[17] Henri Rochefort gave a series of lectures that were published in the New York Herald Tribune while staying in the United States after his escape from New Caledonia.
In January 1879, the prime minister Jules Armand Dufaure granted mass pardons for the Communards in an attempt to stop the calls for amnesty.
A bill calling for total amnesty was introduced into the Chamber of Deputies by Louis Blanc and into the senate by Victor Hugo.
The legislation that was eventually pushed through ensured full civil rights to those not convicted of crimes beyond political, and officially ended the prosecution of Communards in military courts.
A committee of aid, headed by Louis Blanc and Victor Hugo, planned a dinner at which they dispersed a small amount of money to all who attended.
[25] Some Communards chose never to come back to France after having built successful lives in New Caledonia or adopting other countries, such as Australia, as home.
[26] Many Communards who did come back returned to public life, such as Louise Michel; however, many found the adjustment to freedom difficult.
The inquiry lasted two years, collecting the results of previous government studies, more than forty depositions, and testimonials to parliament by the Communards.
