1871 Paris Commune elections

1871 Paris Commune elections

← 1870 March 26, 1871 (1871-03-26) 1871 →
Registered	484,569
Turnout	48%

The Paris Commune of 1871 was established on March 26, 1871, following elections held by the Central Committee of the National Guard [fr]. This revolutionary government was inspired by the earlier Paris Commune of 1792 and realized the aspirations of the social movement. The Commune saw the formation of an assembly representing all republican factions of the era, though the more moderate members soon left, leaving control to the more radical elements who drew upon Jacobinism, Blanquism, socialism, and anarchism.^[1] The elected members served on the Commune Council.

After the events of March 18 and the withdrawal of legal authorities to Versailles, the Central Committee of the National Guard assumed control in the capital.^[2] Surprised by their easy victory and reluctant to take on the political responsibilities of the situation, the Central Committee quickly decided to organize new municipal elections, initially scheduled for March 22.

However, the date had to be postponed to March 23 and then to March 26 due to two events:

• Firstly, efforts at conciliation by district mayors and Parisian elected officials (including Clemenceau, Millière, Tolain, Cournet, Lockroy, and Malon) who were attempting to avoid a confrontation between the National Assembly and the National Guard.
• Secondly, the demonstrations on March 21 and 22 by the "party of order" and the occupation of certain district town halls by bourgeois battalions of the National Guard.

A total of 92 councillor positions were up for election, with each district receiving one councilor per 20,000 inhabitants and an additional councilor for any fraction exceeding 10,000. The distribution was as follows:^[3]

• 2 for the 16th arrondissement
• 3 for the 14th and 15th arrondissements
• 4 for the 1st, 2nd, 7th, 8th, 12th, 13th, 19th, and 20th arrondissements
• 5 for the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, and 17th arrondissements
• 6 for the 10th arrondissement
• 7 for the 11th and 18th arrondissements

The campaign was brief, with three main factions dividing public opinion. The government supporters advocated for abstention, the conciliators backed the moderate candidacies of current mayors or their deputies, and the Commune party included the Central Committee of the National Guard, the Central Republican Committee of the Twenty Arrondissements, and the Internationalists. Reports consistently indicated that the voting process proceeded calmly and without coercion in most areas.

Paris had 484,569 registered voters at the time. The number of participants was 229,167, resulting in an abstention rate of 52%, which is comparable to the 1870 municipal elections.^[4] Participation was significantly higher in the eastern and northern parts of Paris than in the affluent western districts.

The election of six candidates who were poised to be elected but did not reach the 12.5% threshold of registered voters was validated. These candidates were Brunel, Langevin, Rigault, Vaillant, Arnould, and Allix.^[5] Six seats remained vacant due to multiple elections benefiting the same candidate, plus the seat allotted to Blanqui, who was still in prison.

The revolutionary majority included at least 60 councilors (15 of whom belonged to the Central Committee of the National Guard). The moderate minority was represented by 16 members of the mayor's party and 4 radicals. There was also a notable presence of around fifteen members of the Internationalists. Clemenceau was defeated in the 18th arrondissement, receiving only 752 votes out of 17,443 voters.

The Commune Council was quickly reduced to 62 members following the collective resignation of the mayor's party, the subsequent resignation of the radicals, and the deaths of Gustave Flourens and Duval, who were executed by the Versaillais after the first battles in April.

On March 28, during a large public demonstration at the Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville, the Central Committee of the National Guard handed over the powers it had held for the past ten days to the newly elected officials. However, the National Guard continued to exercise parallel authority, particularly in military operations.

Initially scheduled for April 5, the supplementary elections, intended to fill vacant or abandoned seats, were held on April 16, 1871. An additional seat was allocated to the 20th arrondissement following a revision of its population count. 32 councilors were to be elected, but there were few candidates, and the abstention rate exceeded 80%. Under these circumstances, only 14 seats were filled, bringing the total number of councilors to 79 out of 93 seats.

The results of the supplementary elections on April 16 were published in the Journal officiel on April 20, 1871.

The following month, the Commune fell during the Semaine sanglante.