The Communards’ Wall (french: Mur des Fédérés) at the

Père Lachaise cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

is where, on May 28, 1871, during " Bloody Week", the final fighting of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defende ...

, one-hundred and forty-seven '' fédérés'' or Commune soldiers, captured by the French army, were executed and buried in a common grave at the foot of the wall, along with another nineteen officers. The Père Lachaise cemetery was established in May 1804 on a land owned by the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

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

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

, 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. The number executed and buried at the wall there is not known exactly, but is estimated at 166 by historian Michele Audin. Other casualties were brought to the cemetery later from other parts of the city and buried in the cemetery. Tombs, Robert, "La Guerre Contre Paris" (2021), p.432-434 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 History of Paris Paris Commune Cemeteries in Paris Buildings and structures in the 20th arrondissement of Paris

See also

Bibliography

References