André Léo
“Toutes Avec Tous”, La Sociale, 12 April 1871
During the first siege sustained by Paris against a less barbaric enemy, the spirit of the population for national defence was, as we know, of a vivacity, of an enthusiasm, which gave M. Trochu much difficulty.[1] The women, naturally, participated like the men, and I received letters from many of them that ardently expressed their desire to fight, weapon in hand, for the defence of their city and their homeland.
There was then no shortage of defenders in Paris. There were only too many, alas! Witness the mobiles.[2] The enlistments into the national guard were stopped, and all the energy that could have been used to win was devoted to tempering its ardour.
No need was therefore felt for a legion of women, and I urged my correspondents to keep the courage than drove them for the supreme struggle, for the street battles, against the enemy, if it took place.
Nevertheless, soon after green posters appeared calling for the Amazons of the Seine, and the same newspapers which occasionally reported the heroism of Jeanne Hachette[3], showered such an idea with sarcastic lines. It lacked, in effect, tact, appropriateness. Unless there is prejudice, it must be recognised that every great interest excites the same feelings in every human heart, and that, unless they are merely negative phenomena, women must necessarily feel the same passions in such crises as men.
The democrats who deny this fact and do not take it into account are quite blind. It is especially through women that the democracy has been defeated so far, and the democracy will only triumph with them.
In this day and age, it is the idea rather than strength of arms that wins battles. Every human being has the instinct for self-preservation, and it is not the beard that overcomes this instinct; but a superior passion.
Now Parsian women currently have this passion.
Today it is not about national defence; but, instead of shrinking, the field of battle has expanded. It is about humanitarian defence, of the rights of freedom.
Currently, Paris is far from having too many fighters; the bravest are decimated daily in an unequal struggle – while some still hesitate – at this moment when the fate of right in this world is linked with the fate of Paris. Now the participation of women becomes necessary. It is up to them to give the signal with one of those sublime impulses that overcome all hesitation and all resistance. They are known to be concerned, enthusiastic, ardent, their souls committed to the vicissitudes of combat, their eyes more filled with fire than tears, giving themselves entirely (the women of the people above all) to the great cause of Paris. Let them therefore enter into the struggle with as much activity as they have heart.
Many wish to do so and many can do so, Louise Michel, Madame de Rochebrune, many others, have already set an example, and are the pride and admiration of their brothers in arms, whose ardour they double. When daughters, wives, mothers fight alongside their sons, their husbands, their fathers, Paris will no longer have the passion for freedom, it will be delirious for it. And these soldiers, already shaken, who are being deceived with slander, will be forced to recognise that what they have in front of them is not a facetious party, but an entire people, whose conscience, raised against a despicable impression, cries out through the voice its women as well as its mean, death or freedom and whose children, born to parents animated by such love, would grow up seeking vengeance.
However, not every woman can lighten, by sharing, the task of the combatants; but all of them, except the young mother who watches over her cots, can actively contribute to the heroic struggle of our battalions. The men who endure such great fatigue in the face of death are poorly fed and poorly assisted. Care for the wounded is neither prompt enough nor abundant enough; food is most insufficient. I saw, at Porte Maillot, a battalion which had spent three days in battle outside the city walls, receiving only bread and raw bacon for food. There are restaurants there; but always and everywhere, the restaurant is the enemy of the purse.
Is it not lamentable that these brave men, whose heroism stirs our admiration and is entitled to so much gratitude from us, are lacking the necessities of life at our gates? And is there anyone whose heart beats who would not be honoured to serve them?
No, women are full of good will, of ardour.
The majority suffer from their inaction. Organisation alone is lacking.
Let General Cluseret immediately open three registers under these titles: Armed action, relief posts for the wounded, mobile kitchens. Women will register in droves, happy to use the holy fever that burns their hearts.
And the petty historian who attacks the grand city will be forced to add this paragraph to his history chapters:
“There was then in Paris such a frenzy for freedom, right, justice, that women fought with men, and that there was found in this city of two millions souls, enough moral strength and energy to balance the rest of France and defeat the material effort of two armies.”
[1] The siege of Paris took place from 19 September 1870 to 28 January 1871 and ended in the capture of the city by Prussian forces. With the capture of the French emperor, Napoleon III, at the Battle of Sedan (2 September 1870), the Second French Empire collapsed and the Third French Republic was declared (4 September 1870), led by the Government of National Defence. The new government continued the war, leading to over four more months of fighting during which Paris was continuously besieged and fully encircled by German troops. After the proclamation of the Commune, Paris was again besieged, this time by French troops. (Translator)
[2] The Garde mobile (“Mobile Guard”) was an emergency militia based in a specific area and used to supplement the professional army or replace casualties taken by it. (Translator)
[3] Jeanne Laisné, better known as Jeanne Hachette, is an emblematic figure in the resistance of the French city of Beauvais to the siege in 1472 by Charles the Bold, helping to repel an attack with a hatchet. (Translator)