Semaine sanglante

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Semaine sanglante
Part of the aftermath of the Siege of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune
Fight for the barricade on Rue Saint-Antoine (25 May)
Date 21–28 May 1871 (1 week) Location Paris, France Result French Army victory; recapture of Paris
Belligerents
French Third Republic French Armed Forces	Paris Commune National Guard Communards
Commanders and leaders
Patrice de MacMahon Ernest Courtot de Cissey	Louis Charles Delescluze † Jarosław Dąbrowski †
Casualties and losses
877 killed 6,454 wounded 183 missing	10,000-15,000 killed 43,000 captured

The semaine sanglante ("Bloody Week") was a weeklong battle in Paris from 21 to 28 May 1871, during which the French Army recaptured the city from the Paris Commune. This was the final battle of the Paris Commune.

Following the Treaty of Frankfurt and France's loss in the Franco-Prussian War, on 18 March the new French government under Prime Minister Adolphe Thiers attempted to remove a large number of cannon from a park in Montmartre, to keep them out of the hands of the more radical soldiers of the Paris National Guard. In the confrontation that followed, two French generals were seized and executed by the National Guard. Thiers, the army commander Patrice de MacMahon and the French government hurriedly left the city, and established their headquarters in Versailles, and prepared plans to recapture the city. The Paris Commune made an unsuccessful attack on Versailles under the leadership of Louis Charles Delescluze. Between 8 and 20 May, French forces had retaken the territory surrounding Paris and began bombarding the city. On 21 May, French forces entered the city and began the Semaine Sanglante.

During the week of combat, an estimated ten to fifteen thousand Commune soldiers were killed in combat or executed afterwards.^[1] The Communards took and executed about one hundred hostages, including Georges Darboy, the Archbishop of Paris, and committed arson against many Paris landmarks, including the Tuileries Palace, the Hôtel de Ville,^[2] the Palais de Justice building, the Cour de Comptes, and the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur. Fighting continued until 28 May, when the last Communard soldiers surrendered.

43,522 Communards were taken prisoner, including 1,054 women. More than half were quickly released. Fifteen thousand were tried, 13,500 of whom were found guilty. Ninety-five were sentenced to death, 251 to forced labor, and 1,169 to deportation (mostly to New Caledonia). Thousands of other Commune members, including several of the leaders, fled abroad, mostly to England, Belgium and Switzerland. All the prisoners and exiles received pardons in 1880 and could return home, where some resumed political careers.^[3]