Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The association between the National Guard of Paris and the area of the city known as Montmartre did not become distinct or linked with revolution until 1871. The Marquis de Lafayette created the National Guard of Paris, a militia made up of Parisian middle-class (bourgeois) men, and served as its commander from 1781 to 1791. By 1848, its members supplied some of the leaders of the insurrection known as the June Days , encouraging Emperor Louis-Napoleon III to disband the National Guard in 1852. In 1860, historically independent Montmartre, a village formerly outside the boundaries of Paris, officially became part of the city. Montmartre's population grew with the migration of workers from the city's center, pushed out with the emperor's reconfiguration of the city. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1 and its siege of Paris called for the reestablishment of the National Guard, its members then called fédérés , and Montmartre's enlistments came from the working classes. During the war, as Paris endured siege, starvation, and bombardment for more than four months, government leaders and many bourgeoisie fled Paris. This exodus, and the draw of National Guard pay, meant that the popular classes of men and women remained to defend Paris and increasingly filled the ranks of the Guard, altering its composition to one leaning toward revolutionary change. The Franco-Prussian War ended ... log in or subscribe to read full text