Quotes from John M. Merriman

One of these photos stuck in my mind—that of elegant upper-class Parisians returning to the French capital after their armies had crushed the Paris Commune during Bloody Week (May 21–28, 1871). They applauded the terror organized by the French state, which had crushed Parisians aspiring to freedom.

Further diffusing its authority, the Commune established executive commissions, the equivalent of ministries, each run by a delegate. Commissions were to convene twice a day at the Hôtel-de-Ville, and these long and increasingly contentious meetings often lasted well into the night and wasted considerable time discussing issues of little to no importance.