"The time has come to resolve": in 1880, Léon Gambetta pleaded for amnesty for the Communards
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Léon Gambetta at the podium of the Chamber of Deputies. Excerpt from an illustration created in 1890, eight years after his death. lacollection.eu
For 72 days, from March 18 to May 28, 1871, the Paris Commune rose up against the Prussian siege of the capital. Nine years later, Léon Gambetta, one of the founding fathers of the Third Republic and president of the Chamber of Deputies, called for a total amnesty for the Communards and to rid France of "this rag of civil war."
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I subscribeIt was a hive of activity on June 21, 1880, in the hemicycle of the Palais-Bourbon, which the National Assembly had returned to a year earlier after a period of siege in the South Wing of the Palace of Versailles. Imposing build, long beard and curly hair combed back, black suit, waistcoat and bow tie, Léon Gambetta descended from the rostrum. He had left his seat as President of the Chamber of Deputies to personally defend the amnesty of the Communards in order to rid France of "this rag of civil war." The deputies cheered and applauded him at length. Many of them left their seats to crowd around him and congratulate him.
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