The Communards’ Wall () at the

Père Lachaise cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

is where 147 Commune soldiers along with another 19 officers were executed on May 28, 1871, during the

Semaine sanglante The ''Semaine sanglante'' ("") was a weeklong battle in Paris from 21 to 28 May 1871, during which the French Army recaptured the city from the Paris Commune. This was the final battle of the Paris Commune. Following the Treaty of Frankfurt ...

, the suppression of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

. The soldiers were buried in a common grave at the foot of the wall. The Père Lachaise cemetery was established in May 1804 on a land owned by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

for centuries, and where Père ("Father") Lachaise, confessor of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, lived the latter part of his life. The cemetery of the aristocracy in the 19th century, it also received the remains of famous people from previous eras. During the spring of 1871 the last of the combatants of the Commune entrenched themselves in the cemetery. The French Army, which was summoned to suppress the Commune, won control towards the end of the afternoon of May 28, captured the remaining Commune soldiers. As with other prisoners taken during the Commune, those captured with weapons in hand, numbering 147, were lined up and executed. Those executed at the wall also included a group of Commune officers, who had been captured earlier at other locations, imprisoned in two army barracks nearby, tried by military tribunals, sentenced to death, and delivered to the cemetery for execution and burial. This brought the total number to an estimated but unconfirmed 166. They were all buried in the same common grave.Tombs, Robert, "La Guerre Contre Paris" (2021), p.432-434 The number executed and buried at the wall there is not known exactly, but is estimated at 166 by historian Michele Audin.Audin,Michele, "La Semaine Sanglante - May 1871- Legendes et comptes (2021), Libertalia, p. 166 Other casualties were brought to the cemetery later from other parts of the city and buried in the cemetery. The wall is now the site of an annual commemoration of the Commune and its casualties.

Bibliography

* Audin, Michele, ''La Semaine Sanglante, Mai 1871, Legendes et Conmptes'', Libertalia Publishers (2021) (in French) *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Communards' Wall Walls in France History of Paris Paris Commune Cemeteries in Paris Buildings and structures in the 20th arrondissement of Paris

See also

Bibliography

References