Une histoire de la Commune de Paris - 1er volet. Vers l'insurrection

This first section covers the period leading up to the outbreak of the Paris Commune on 18 March 1871. This period allows us to trace the contours of an insurrectionary Paris, a popular and republican Paris in a country that was still very rural, but also a country where a population was developing in urban and working-class areas that sometimes took part in the first attempts at insurrection (the first Communes of Lyon in 1870 and 1871). A people defending itself in times of war with Prussia/Germany. A Paris under siege and bombardment. A Paris where poverty reigned but where, at the same time, forms of social self-organisation were emerging and a democracy that was not just parliamentary was being tested. Documentary produced by the CHS, directed by Jeanne Menjoulet. The historians interviewed are Jean-Louis Robert and Ludivine Bantigny. Jean-Louis Robert is the author of a Nouvelle histoire de la Commune de Paris in 3 volumes (1583 pages), Ludivine Bantigny is the author of La Commune au présent, published in 2021 by La Découverte. Guillaume Fernandez (a history MA student at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales) is also taking part in the production of this documentary series. As part of an internship, his participation made it possible to include in this documentary sequences of actors and witnesses from the Paris Commune, testimonies taken from major works of French literature as well as unpublished archives.