The Paris Commune. The Bloody Week. Sunday, May 21. At the end of April, the Union des femmes (Union of Women) had called a meeting for this afternoon, but the meeting could not take place because the Versailles army entered Paris at three in the afternoon. They passed through the Point du Jour, which was unexpectedly left undefended. The army advanced along the streets of Passy and Auteuil and occupied the Place du Trocadero. (What will be called the “Semaine sanglante” – the “bloody week” – has begun, during which Communards and Parisians will be massacred in an undetermined number that, according to the most up-to-date studies, is estimated at 15,000 or 20,000 killed. Other estimates go as high as about thirty thousand). As the Versailles troops advanced, they left burned houses and immediately began shooting the first insurgents and federal guards. Today the last meeting of the Paris Commune assembly was held; its members are withdrawing to their respective districts to organize and participate in their defense.
