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The reasons for the failure of the Paris Commune

Subjectively speaking, the failure of the Paris Commune was due to the political immaturity of the French working class at that time. After the revolution of March 18, the Commune did not take advantage of the victory to march into the Versailles counter-revolutionary lair and wipe out the reactionary army of the Thiers government that was on the verge of collapse. .

The Commune’s repression of bourgeois counter-revolutionary activities was not resolute enough, and it did not even outlaw the counter-revolutionary press published in Paris.

In the war with Versailles, the Commune lacked a unified military command center and erroneously adopted a strategy of passive defense.

The Commune did not confiscate the Banque de France to strengthen its economy and use it to exert political pressure on the Versailles government.

The commune had insufficient awareness of the importance of uniting the peasantry and failed to build an alliance between workers and peasants.

In addition, within the commune committee, the necessary concentration was neglected, an authoritative leadership core was never formed, and a lot of time and energy were wasted in sectarian struggle, thus weakening the power of the revolution.

But the fundamental reason for the failure of the revolution was that the French proletariat still lacked the objective historical conditions for the victory of the revolution. In the early 1970s, France was still in the “youth age” of capitalism, small production still had an absolute advantage, and the state of economic development was not yet mature enough to eradicate the capitalist mode of production. Therefore, the capitalist mode of production to be eliminated by the communal revolution still has a historical basis for its existence.

Historical meaning

The Paris Commune was the first attempt in the world to directly seize urban power by armed proletariat violence. It enriched and developed the Marxist theory on class struggle and socialism, and wrote a glorious, great and tragic page on the international communist movement.

It has epoch-making significance. It is the first great attempt by the proletariat to overthrow the rule of the bourgeoisie and establish a proletarian regime. It dealt the first heavy blow to capitalism and ushered in a new period in the struggle of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie.

It is true that due to the constraints of the political and economic conditions at that time, capitalism in the world is in a period of rising and great development, and the bourgeoisie is in the final stage of struggle against feudal forces. Class uprisings cannot carry out their aspirations to overthrow capitalist rule and realize scientific socialism.

The main reason for the failure of the commune was the lack of correct leadership of a revolutionary party armed with Marxist theory, so that serious mistakes in major policies and tactics were inevitably made after the establishment of the commune, which resulted in the subsequent failure of the commune. Another important reason for the failure of the commune was the lack of an alliance of workers and peasants, which did not win the support of the majority of peasants.

But, as a feat, it brings us education and reflection. It profoundly shows that democracy in capitalist society is only democracy within the bourgeoisie. When the struggle of the proletariat threatens the interests and safety of the bourgeoisie, the bourgeoisie will not hesitate to throw the proletariat into a pool of blood. The principle of the commune is eternal, and because it reflects the general laws of the proletarian revolution, it cannot be destroyed. Until the liberation of the working class, these principles will be manifested again and again. For example, the victories of the October Revolution in Russia and the New Democratic Revolution in China are repeated manifestations and new victories of these principles.

Although the Paris Commune failed, its historical achievements were indelible. Marx once said: “The Paris of the workers and its commune will always be admired as the shining precursors of the new society. Its heroes will always be remembered in the great heart of the working class.”