"The Horror of 1871"

During Tuesday’s class, we briefly discussed the events of the Paris Commune that took place in 1871. We discussed how the city of Paris became isolated from the rest of France by the Communards and how some of the ideas of communism came from this time, but we did not the discuss the political horror that was the commune. I would describe it as the period of McCarthyism in the US on steroids. Anyone accused of betraying or even not whole-heartedly supporting the Commune was imprisoned and killed. To show the scale of the horror, the Commune lasted for exactly two months: from 28 March – 28 May, 1871. During that time of just two months, approximately 10,000 people were killed with some estimates going as high as 20,000-40,000. What is fascinating is the role of the iconic Parisian “concierge,” what we would call an apartment superintendent in America. The concierges, often older women, played an outsize role in navigating the realities of the Commune. They would often warn their tenants who had been accused of being traitors that the Communards were knocking on the door and would use their superior knowledge of their apartment building and surrounding Paris to hide the suspected traitor from being captured and killed. Conversely, some concierges played the opposite role and aided the Communards in their search, using their intimate knowledge of the hidden nooks and secret places of the building to seek out and find the hiding tenant. The concierges of the Commune are an incredible example of the small-scale political impact that people can have through their knowledge of architecture, especially considering they were often women in a society that at the time didn't afford them equal standing with men. 

Happy International Women's Day!