The historiographic struggle over the representation of the Paris Commune, as begun by the daily press in 1871 and continued in the works of many subsequent scholars, is in fact part of a larger ideological battle. This thesis argues that in order to understand the significance of the Commune, it is necessary to return to contemporary writings. It studies the bourgeois reaction to the Paris Commune using as source material diaries, correspondence and monographs of upper class observers of the Commune. Through these writings, the Commune is seen as a socialist threat to bourgeois stability, and a sign of the disintegration of the ideals of the French Revolution.

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