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by JPLeRouzic 1773 days ago
> the Paris Commune, which was the furthest thing from authoritarian.

For the two months it ran, there was an organized government [0] (conseil de la Commune) which made decrees, there was an army of ~200,000 soldier [1] and there was a Jacobine police which assassinated many people (including other "Communards") without trials [2].

This radicalization in a very short time (two months) was denounced by many other "Communards" and people like Victor Hugo [3]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commune_Council_(Paris)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune#National_Guard_t...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Rigault

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Hugo#Political_life_and...

Citation:

Victor Hugo was harshly critical of the atrocities committed on both sides. On 9 April, he wrote in his diary, "In short, this Commune is as idiotic as the National Assembly is ferocious. From both sides, folly."

Yet he made a point of offering his support to members of the Commune subjected to brutal repression.

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Ann%C3%A9e_terrible