Next to the bandstand, on the central reservation of Boulevard Blanqui, opposite No. 11.

A lively and politically active neighbourhood

In 1864, Napoleon III tentatively liberalised his regime: he granted the right to form coalitions, but the right of association for groups of more than 20 people remained prohibited. That same year, workers organised themselves on an international level with the creation in London of the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA),  also known as the First International, spearheaded by Karl Marx, centred on the idea that ‘the emancipation of the working class must be the work of the workers themselves’. In 1867, the first ‘trade unions’ were formed; strikes broke out over the 10-hour working day and wages. In 1868, Napoleon authorised public meetings, officially devoted to ‘social’ issues: the right to education, divorce, etc.

The 13th arrondissement had large public halls, and meetings organised by active groups drew hundreds, sometimes thousands of people — at the Belle Moissonneuse (31 Rue Nationale), the Alcazar Italie (190 Avenue de Choisy), the Salle de la Fraternité (27 Avenue d’Italie), or on Rue de la Glacière. On 20 February 1869, 800 people gathered at the Belle Moissonneuse to discuss ‘education and instruction’; a fortnight later, there were a thousand; the following month, 2,000 people gathered on Avenue d’Italie to discuss an educational cooperative. The participants were workers in caps and smocks. “The only hat was that of the police commissioner in charge of monitoring the hall.”

The IWA became the bane of the police: trials, heavy fines, prison sentences. Many leaders of the Commune, including several from the 13th arrondissement, had been to prison before 1870. In January 1870, the plebiscite organised by Napoleon to consolidate his authority was telling: the 13th arrondissement voted NO, as did all the working-class districts of Paris. The countryside voted overwhelmingly YES. This result already reflects the geography of the Commune.

Still in the same place (the bandstand)

The general situation before the Commune

In September 1870, a government of national defence was elected, but the people of Paris felt it was seeking an armistice at any cost. As early as 31 October, Blanquists attempted a coup, seized the town hall and hoisted the red flag there. Paris endured a terrible siege: bombardments, hunger, cold. But Paris resisted and is proud of it. On 22 January 1871, whilst the mayors were deliberating at the Hôtel de Ville, the crowd demanded all-out war. The regular army fired on the crowd: 50 dead. The armistice was signed on 28 January; a National Assembly, elected within a week at Bismarck’s request to ratify it, turned out to have a conservative, even monarchist, majority.

For the Parisians, it was a betrayal.