In
Honor Of The 145th Anniversary Of The Paris Commune-On The
Barricades- The Dwindling Days
Henri Broue was beside himself when he heard the alarm bell,
the bell that was used to warn of impending danger in front of the barricades
coming now from two sources, the dreaded Prussians who had the outpost
fortresses of the city under their control and now the dreaded revamped Theirs
governmental forces who were charging throughout the at various point. He
thought back to late March, late March when the now fallen Jean-Paul Dubois had
urged the section committee to pursue the Thiers troops and disband them before
they had a chance to regroup in Versailles. But that fervent brave voice was
not listened to was not heeded as the spirit of the time was not following a
military bend but a good riddance to bad company feeling after Theirs and
company had fled to Versailles. Now with the ringing of the alarm (three long
gongs, repeated) they were back, back seeking revenge, seeking blood, seeking
death.
Henri had been nothing but a young man the first time, his
first time, on the barricades back in those bloody June Days of ’48 when all
hell broke loose as the as the old forces tried to drown the new republic in
blood, and did so. And hell that was only a republic, not even a workers
republic like he and his comrades on barricade Marat (French Revolution, circa
1789, figured murdered by Corday) were trying to establish, establish through
the German defeat, the starvation blockade, the perfidy of the Theirs
government, their flight and now their vengeful return. The Commune had made
some headway, had stabilized things for a while but they forgot a few things
too, forgot they were not an isolated island in France but part of all France
and should have fought, fought like hell to link up with the other communes in
some kind of defensive league. Now they were being destroyed section by section
without any outside help, without, as well, any forces to hold the Prussians at
bay.
Henri Broue did not consider, despite his revolutionary past,
himself a brave man, or a great military fighter although he accounted himself
well back in the days. This he knew though, this he knew well, brave or a
coward, he was going to be on barricade Marat just as long as he held
breathe…
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