On the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Paris Commune, join Wellred Books as we launch our latest title The Civil War in France by Karl Marx. Today, at 6pm GMT, Jules Legendre, a leading activist from Révolution – the IMT in France, will explain these inspiring events and draw out the lessons revolutionaries must take from the first time the working class took power. Register for free here!
Registration is free, but donations are welcome and comrades can also pay to have a discounted copy sent straight to their door, wherever in the world they live. UK orders will cost £8 and international orders will be £16.
With the explosive growth in radical movements across the world, there has never been a more important time to learn the lessons from the class struggles that have taken place throughout history. The Paris Commune is one of the most important episodes in the history of the working class, and the lessons from this struggle still remain relevant to this day.
For two months, between March and May 1871, the armed workers of Paris, surrounded by enemies on all sides, took their destiny into their own hands and demonstrated that it is possible for the workers to run society democratically, without capitalists, bankers or even a standing army. They put forward a number of measures on education, housing, the economy, and society in general – all of which were pointing in the direction of development towards a socialist society.
However, given the absence of a revolutionary leadership inside the Commune with a clear political and military programme, the Commune existed only for a short time before it was put down in blood by the French bourgeoise, with the enthusiastic support of the ruling classes of Europe.
In his brilliantly concise and penetrating addresses, written in the heat of the events themselves, Marx succeeds in distilling the experience of the Commune down to its most fundamental elements, drawing out in the process a programme for the revolutionaries of the future. 150 years on, this book remains a priceless resource for the workers of the world.