The Paris Commune. Tuesday, May 16. In front of a festive crowd, the Vendôme Column was demolished today. Its demolition had been scheduled for May 5, on the anniversary of Napoleon's death, whose commemorative statue stands atop the column, but it could not be done due to the military situation. "The Paris Commune considers that the imperial column in Place Vendôme is a monument of barbarism, a symbol of brute force and false glory, an affirmation of militarism, a denial of international law, a permanent insult from the victors to the vanquished, a continuous attack on one of the three great principles of the Republic: fraternity!"
