Flowers, Swords and France

The exact news that "the mob refused to obey the government's decree and planned to use street barricades to fight the government" was quickly passed to the highest level of the government, and this news did not surprise them - or rather, this was what they had expected. .

Late at night, the Supreme Executive Committee of the National Assembly urgently summoned the Minister of the Army, General Cavaignac, who was scheduled to be in charge of the operation to suppress the mob.

"General Cavaignac, as we expected, those people chose to resist the government's decree. Except for Mr. Ledru-Rollin, the members of the Executive Committee unanimously agreed to take emergency measures to restore national order, so you have been legally authorized." Amid the clamor, Francois Arago, the chairman of the Executive Committee and the actual head of the government, a 62-year-old man, calmly looked at the general standing in front of him, "According to the current situation, I can only order you to quell all riots as quickly as possible and restore law and order throughout the country. I firmly believe that although the task is arduous, you can accomplish this task. The whole country supports you, and we all stand behind you." \u003custe-ledru-rollin, 1807-1874), a French politician, became an opposition figure during the July Monarchy.

He successively hosted the "Century" and the Reform newspaper, advocating anti-dynasty ideas, and later became one of the leaders of the bourgeois republicans.

After the success of the February Revolution, he entered the government and became the leader of the "New Mountain Party (petty bourgeois republicans)". Later, after the establishment of the provisional government in early May, he was elected by the National Assembly to the five-member executive committee (the other four were Arago, Lamartine, Garnier-Page and Marly, all mentioned before). Since the others were bourgeois republicans or monarchists, Ledru-Rolland was regarded as a "decoration".

He once advocated class reconciliation and hoped to ease domestic conflicts with gradual reforms, but after the June Uprising, he took a radical stance again and called for the reform of the country. 】

This Mr. Arago is a famous scientist, a physicist and astronomer with many research results. But at the same time, he also supported the use of military means to suppress the mob, and personally authorized General Cavaignac to restore order to the country in any harshest way.

Not only him, when the Second Republic showed its butcher knife to the workers, it was not a brutal and violent military regime as people thought. Instead, its top leaders were filled with a group of famous scientists and intellectuals. Thiers was an excellent historian, Lamartine was a well-known and highly accomplished writer and poet, and even Marley was a good writer.

Although it sounds ridiculous, intellectuals actually hate the proletariat who rebel and disrupt order just like reactionary soldiers.

In this era, the vast majority of European intellectuals never stood on the side of the proletariat. The equality and freedom they advocated were equality between themselves and the old aristocracy, or equality between themselves and the bourgeoisie, but not equality between themselves and the proletariat - this will be proven in countless examples before and after.

Even Alexandre Dumas, who wrote The Count of Monte Cristo, was the battalion commander of the National Guard in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Seine-et-Oise in 1848. During the February Revolution, he was eager to lead his men to Paris to suppress the uprising and defend the dynasty.

Fortunately, his smart and well-behaved subordinates did not listen to him and refused to go to Paris to defend the poor King Louis Philippe. Otherwise, this lovely writer would have been exiled for [terrorism] and national crimes at that time, and would not have had the opportunity to turn around and run for the parliament of the Republic!

However, these subordinates would never forgive his recklessness that failed to see the situation clearly and almost killed people. They asked Alexandre Dumas to resign, and Alexandre Dumas's road to election was completely unsuccessful. So after 1848, this writer had to continue to give us many excellent works and could not indulge in politics.

In 1848, after the king was overthrown, these intellectuals believed that the top priority of the country was to put down the rebellious mobs; and in 1871, after the Second Empire collapsed due to the failure of the war, they, the same ones, still bowed to the Prussian army that invaded France to put down the Paris Commune. They have not changed in 23 years, and they have not changed in 230 years.

Now, they have issued a call to the soldiers as the leaders of the government:

Save the country and put down the mobs!

"I will do my best to complete the orders of you and the Executive Committee!" Under the gaze of Mr. Arago, General Cavaignac immediately straightened his back to show his determination, "The army is ready and can be dispatched at any time. Now our guns are loaded and our swords are unsheathed, just waiting to start!"

After hearing the general's answer, the gray-haired old man clapped his hands happily.

"Okay, let's start!"

Then he lowered his voice again.

"General, don't worry. I don't care about this position. Once you have restored peace to the country, I will naturally hand it over to those who have the energy and ability to defend the country..."

After hearing the hint from the chairman of the Executive Committee, General Cavaignac could not help but become more excited. He seemed to have seen the golden light on his future path, which was the supreme power of a country and the glorious position that everyone strived for.

This country has been urgently entrusted to him and his subordinates with guns and cannons. Next, they can do whatever they want in this city and punish the mob resistance by destroying it.

"After the cannon noise, the country will soon be quiet!"

The general shouted loudly, then turned and left the office. Prepare to give his subordinates the order to attack.

The political axe army will soon enter the city.

At this moment, the battle that took place in June 1848 officially began.

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After one of the workers' leaders and a director of the left-wing group "Central Republican Society", Boujol, angrily delivered a speech at Gref Square at around 10 o'clock, calling for the construction of barricades and preparation for armed struggle, the insurgents quickly took action.

Barricades were quickly built in the eastern and southeastern districts of Paris (starting from the Baussonnier district and the Faubourg Baussonnier district). According to the plan previously drawn up by the workers' leaders, fortifications were generally built on Saint-Denis Street, Saint-Martin Street, Rambuteau Street, Faubourg-Baussonnier Street, and the key points on the south bank of the Seine leading to the Faubourg Saint-Jacques and Faubourg Saint-Marceau - Saint-Jacques Street, La Harpe Street, La Euchette Street and the adjacent bridges.

Since the July Monarchy, the fortifications built by the Paris workers have never been so thorough and planned as this time, almost turning several blocks into fortification areas. Early in the morning, people began to build barricades quietly. These barricades are higher and stronger than any previous barricades.

At the entrance to the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, a large red flag was flying on a barricade, symbolizing the determination of the insurgents to resist to the end.

The city was divided into two camps. Starting from the northeastern suburbs of the city, from Montmartre down to the Porte Saint-Denis, and from here along the Rue Saint-Denis, through the Cite Island, along the Rue Saint-Jacques to the city gate, a dividing line was formed. The entire area east of the dividing line was occupied by workers and fortified. The government axe army and the National Self-Guard Army attacked from the west to the east until the suburbs, and received reinforcements from the west, while the insurgents resisted stubbornly in the east of the city.

Next, we will see that under the attack of the government axe army, which had the most advanced equipment on the earth at that time, with powerful firepower and superior manpower, the insurgents could only choose to stick to the isolated island-like barricades, and could not contact and communicate with each other, nor could they provide support to other areas, let alone mobile defense.

The original text is in the six # 9 @book/bar!

From the beginning, they were doomed to fail, although it was a failure after fierce resistance.

People often accuse them of not "fighting alone and without unified command", which is completely a paper talk that is not familiar with the actual situation. The June insurgents were able to fight so tenaciously in front of the absolutely superior government-axe army and persist for several days. What else can be blamed?

……………………

In any sense, the June incident should not be so unknown in history.

This massacre with a huge disparity in power also opened a new page in world history.

Before the June incident, the revolutions in European countries were the common people fighting to overthrow the feudal aristocracy and the feudal dynasty; while the June incident was a bloody massacre of the proletariat that they had originally used by the bourgeoisie spontaneously after "overthrowing the feudal aristocracy and winning the ruling position".

It was not until sixty years after the Great Revolution that people discovered that the word "common people" actually had such a different meaning!

Most of the instigators of this massacre, Arago, Lamartine, Marly, Thiers and others; the executors of this massacre, military General Cavaignac, General Du-Vivier and General Damem and others, were not of noble origin.

The king has been overthrown, and there is no way to whitewash it by saying “overthrow the king”.

Since the June incident, the whole society has truly been divided into two hostile camps. The unity of the February Revolution, the poetic unity full of charming fantasies and seductive lies, has suddenly disappeared.

This is the first general contest between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat in history, but it is so obscure in history.

If similar events happen in other countries in the future, the outcome will probably be similar, right? (To be continued.)