The Paris Commune: A Revolution in Democracy
For two months in 1871, the workers of Paris took control of Europe’s most celebrated capital city. When they established the world’s first workers’ democracy—the Paris Commune—they found no ready-made blueprints, and no precedents to study for how to run their city without princes, prison wardens, or professional politicians. All they had was the boundless revolutionary enthusiasm of Paris’s socialists, communists, anarchists, and radical Jacobins, all of whom threw their energies into creating a new society.

As the city’s bakers, industrial workers, and other “ruffians” built new institutions of collective political power to overturn social and economic inequality, their former rulers sought to thwart their efforts by any means necessary—ultimately deciding to drown the Communards in blood.

By paying particular attention to the historic problems of the Commune, critical debates over its implications, and the glimpse of a better world the Commune provided, Gluckstein reveals its enduring lessons and inspiration for today’s struggles.

Donny Gluckstein is author of The Nazis, Capitalism and the Working Class and The Tragedy of Bukharin. He is a lecturer in history in Edinburgh and is a member of the Socialist Workers Party.


1101063644
The Paris Commune: A Revolution in Democracy
For two months in 1871, the workers of Paris took control of Europe’s most celebrated capital city. When they established the world’s first workers’ democracy—the Paris Commune—they found no ready-made blueprints, and no precedents to study for how to run their city without princes, prison wardens, or professional politicians. All they had was the boundless revolutionary enthusiasm of Paris’s socialists, communists, anarchists, and radical Jacobins, all of whom threw their energies into creating a new society.

As the city’s bakers, industrial workers, and other “ruffians” built new institutions of collective political power to overturn social and economic inequality, their former rulers sought to thwart their efforts by any means necessary—ultimately deciding to drown the Communards in blood.

By paying particular attention to the historic problems of the Commune, critical debates over its implications, and the glimpse of a better world the Commune provided, Gluckstein reveals its enduring lessons and inspiration for today’s struggles.

Donny Gluckstein is author of The Nazis, Capitalism and the Working Class and The Tragedy of Bukharin. He is a lecturer in history in Edinburgh and is a member of the Socialist Workers Party.


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The Paris Commune: A Revolution in Democracy

The Paris Commune: A Revolution in Democracy

by Donny Gluckstein
The Paris Commune: A Revolution in Democracy

The Paris Commune: A Revolution in Democracy

by Donny Gluckstein

Overview

For two months in 1871, the workers of Paris took control of Europe’s most celebrated capital city. When they established the world’s first workers’ democracy—the Paris Commune—they found no ready-made blueprints, and no precedents to study for how to run their city without princes, prison wardens, or professional politicians. All they had was the boundless revolutionary enthusiasm of Paris’s socialists, communists, anarchists, and radical Jacobins, all of whom threw their energies into creating a new society.

As the city’s bakers, industrial workers, and other “ruffians” built new institutions of collective political power to overturn social and economic inequality, their former rulers sought to thwart their efforts by any means necessary—ultimately deciding to drown the Communards in blood.

By paying particular attention to the historic problems of the Commune, critical debates over its implications, and the glimpse of a better world the Commune provided, Gluckstein reveals its enduring lessons and inspiration for today’s struggles.

Donny Gluckstein is author of The Nazis, Capitalism and the Working Class and The Tragedy of Bukharin. He is a lecturer in history in Edinburgh and is a member of the Socialist Workers Party.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781608461189
Publisher: Haymarket Books
Publication date: 07/26/2011
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 260
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Donny Gluckstein’s previous books include The Nazis, Capitalism and the Working Class (Bookmarks, 1999) and The Tragedy of Bukharin (Pluto, 1994). Donny is a lecturer in history in Edinburgh and is a member of the Scottish Socialist Party.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • 1. The Commune's Achievements
  • 2. The Capital of the Human Race
  • 3. War and Seige
  • 4. Fighting and Civil War
  • 5. Bloody Week
  • 6. Interpretations: Critics and Champions
  • Notes
    Appendices
    Index
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Related Subjects

History
European History
French History
General & Miscellaneous French History
History
European History
French History
General & Miscellaneous French History

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