THE RISE OF THE PARIS COMMUNE FOLLOWING THE SIEGE Colleague Sebastian Smee. By March 1871, following a winter of starvation where Parisians ate rats and zoo animals, the city's radical Republicans revolted against the provisional government. The radicals, frustrated by the government's failure to break the Prussian siege and the subsequent humiliating surrender terms, seized cannons and established the Commune. This new government aimed for localized, democratic control but was viewed by the national government, now retreated to Versailles under Adolphe Thiers, as an insurrection. The Commune was libertarian and progressive but faced immediate isolation. Having survived the Prussian siege, the Communards now found themselves besieged by French government forces, setting the stage for a brutal civil conflict where the "brother fought brother" narrative of the 19th century would reach a violent climax. NUMBER 4
1890