The fires of Paris during the Paris Commune of 1871 refer to the widespread destruction of public monuments and private buildings in the city, particularly during "Bloody Week" (Semaine sanglante), which took place from 21 to 28 May 1871. This was the period when government forces from Versailles recaptured Paris from the Communards.
Most of the fires were set by members of the Commune, known as Communards or Federates, between 22 and 26 May. Notable buildings damaged or destroyed included the Tuileries Palace, the Palais-Royal, the Palais de Justice, and the Hôtel de Ville. Some landmarks, such as Notre-Dame de Paris, were spared. In addition to symbolic sites, private residences were also set ablaze, often as a defensive measure to hinder the advance of government troops.
The use of fire by the Communards has been interpreted in various ways: as a desperate military tactic, a symbolic act of political defiance, or a form of revolutionary expression. The decision to destroy these buildings was made in the final days of the Commune, when centralized control had largely broken down and many actions were taken on local initiative amidst the chaos of the Commune's collapse.
In the aftermath, the fires became a central element in the contested memory of the Commune. For supporters of the Versailles government, the destruction was cited as evidence of the Communards' alleged savagery, with particular emphasis placed on the role of women, leading to the emergence of the pétroleuses myth—female incendiaries accused of setting fires. The ruins of the destroyed buildings were not immediately rebuilt, and many became subjects of artistic and touristic interest. Numerous photographs captured the extent of the destruction. The loss of archives and official records in the fires also contributed to a significant erosion of historical documentation, leaving gaps in Paris's institutional memory.
Paris under siege (September 1870-May 1871)
Prussian bombing and the barricade France declared war on Prussia on 19 July 1870, initiating the Franco-Prussian War. Following the surrender of Napoleon III at the Battle of Sedan in early September, Parisians proclaimed the establishment of the Third Republic on 4 September 1870. However, hostilities continued, and from 20 September 1870, Paris came under siege by Prussian forces. During the siege, Prussian artillery regularly bombarded the city, particularly affecting the Left Bank, where numerous residential buildings were destroyed. The continuous cannonade instilled fear among the city's inhabitants. Fighting around Paris in the autumn and winter of 1870–1871 led to widespread destruction, with both French and Prussian forces responsible for the burning of buildings, bridges, farms, haystacks, and forested areas. In January 1871, a series of fires broke out in Paris as a result of the shelling, although these incidents were quickly contained.
The fear of Paris being destroyed by an invading force—an anxiety rooted in the legacy of the French Revolution, which served as a key ideological reference for the Paris Commune—was a recurring theme among 19th-century Parisian revolutionaries. This fear gradually transformed into a revolutionary resolve among some Communards to reshape and, if necessary, destroy the existing urban landscape. A central element of this approach was the barricade, which played both a defensive and symbolic role during the Commune. Beyond its military function, the barricade served to reconfigure public space, often constructed from everyday materials, including furniture and household items. This erasure of boundaries between private and public space marked the beginning of a broader revolutionary impulse to transform the city, ultimately culminating in the deliberate burning of parts of Paris during the final days of the Commune.
The siege of the Versailles army Following the uprising of 18 March 1871, which marked the beginning of the Paris Commune, France entered a period of civil conflict. On one side was the national government, led by Adolphe Thiers and based in Versailles with the support of the National Assembly; on the other was the Commune, which exercised authority over Paris, despite unsuccessful efforts to inspire similar revolutionary movements in the provinces.
The second siege of Paris, this time led by government forces, lasted from 11 April to 21 May 1871. Thiers adopted a cautious, methodical strategy to surround and isolate the city. Paris, still fortified by the defensive walls originally commissioned by Thiers decades earlier, was treated as a military stronghold. The Versailles government proceeded carefully to avoid a military setback that might result in political instability, including the risk of army disintegration, uprisings in other major cities, or foreign—particularly Prussian—intervention.
The Versailles army subjected the Parisian suburbs and surrounding forts to sustained bombardment, surpassing even the intensity of the Prussian shelling during the earlier siege. The objective was to disable Paris’s outer defenses and breach its walls. This escalation in violence further galvanized the Communards, some of whom viewed the potential destruction of the city as preferable to surrender.
Fires broke out in several western and suburban areas, including Auteuil, Passy, Courbevoie, Asnières, Levallois-Perret, Clichy, Gennevilliers, and Montrouge. These were caused either by artillery strikes from the Versailles forces or deliberate actions by Communard fighters. Although incendiary plans reportedly existed for Bagneux and Vanves, the rapid advance of the Versailles army prevented their implementation. In total, relatively few fires were set in the western parts of Paris.
The fires of Bloody Week During Bloody Week, the chronology of destruction by fire is that of the recapture of Paris by Versailles troops, from west to east, from Sunday 21 May to Sunday 28 May 1871.
West, Monday, 22 May
Following an initial fire at the Champ de Mars barracks, a more significant blaze broke out on the evening of Monday, 22 May 1871, in the attic of the Ministry of Finance and later along rue de Rivoli, According to several accounts, the fire was initially triggered by shells fired by Versailles troops. It was subsequently extinguished by the Commune’s fire brigade.
The cause of the fire at the Ministry of Finance became a point of contention in the aftermath of the Paris Commune. As the first major fire during the final days of the conflict, it was viewed by both sides as a symbolic and strategic turning point. Each faction accused the other of initiating the act, which was seen as a precedent for the larger-scale fires that followed. Many exiled Communards attributed the fire to bombardment by Versailles artillery, a claim echoed by some Versailles sympathizers, including the writer Catulle Mendès. In contrast, anti-Communard author Maxime Du Camp alleged that there were two separate incidents at the Ministry: the first, on 22 May, caused by government shelling and extinguished by the Communards; and a second, on the following day, allegedly set intentionally by the Communards themselves.
The first major fires: Tuesday, 23 May Until 23 May 1871, Versailles forces encountered relatively little resistance in their advance into Paris. However, the first major fires began that evening, coinciding with intensified defense efforts by the Communards. Following preparations completed around 6 p.m., several significant buildings were set ablaze during the night of 23–24 May, including the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur, the Palais d'Orsay (which housed the Cour des Comptes), the Caisse des Dépôts, the Tuileries Palace, and multiple nearby streets. Rue de Lille was among the most heavily affected. In response, the Versaillais temporarily halted their advance, opting to resume operations the following day to avoid the fires.
The Tuileries Palace served as the headquarters of the insurgent general Jules Bergeret, who commanded approximately 600 men. As Versailles troops approached, Bergeret, along with Alexis Dardelle, Étienne Boudin, and Victor Bénot, ordered the palace to be set on fire. Dardelle, appointed governor of the Tuileries by the Commune on 22 March 1871, oversaw the operation. On 23 May, flammable materials—including gunpowder, liquid tar, turpentine, and petroleum—were brought in and used to soak drapes, curtains, and wooden floors. Barrels of gunpowder were also placed in key locations, such as the Salon des Maréchaux and at the base of the Grand Staircase. Dardelle organized the evacuation of horses, harnesses, and valuable items, instructing staff to leave in anticipation of the imminent explosion. The fire was ignited using large flaming torches, and Dardelle and Bergeret later observed the blaze from the terrace of the Louvre. The Tuileries Palace continued to burn until Friday, 26 May.
The same evening, the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur was also set on fire. The act was attributed to Émile Eudes, reportedly following orders from the Comité de Salut Public. Another individual, Émile Gois, was named during a trial in 1872 as having issued the order, although definitive evidence is lacking. Elsewhere, fires in the Madeleine district and at the Croix-Rouge crossroads were used as defensive measures to slow the advance of Versailles troops. These areas were defended by Communard leaders Eugène Varlin and Maxime Lisbonne.Carrefour de la Croix-Rouge is now Place Michel-Debré
Around the City Hall, Wednesday, 24 May
On 24 May 1871, during the final days of the Paris Commune, widespread fires broke out across the city. Notable sites affected included the Louvre Palace—despite General Bergeret's later claims of opposition— as well as houses on rue Saint-Honoré, rue de Rivoli, and rue Royale, where seven people died of asphyxiation. The Palais-Royal (lightly damaged), the Hôtel de Ville (destroyed), the Palais de Justice, the Conciergerie, the Préfecture de police, the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin (destroyed), and the Théâtre Lyrique were also targeted. Arsonists reportedly prepared the sites with pyres, barrels of gunpowder, and petrol. The fire at the Palais de Justice was partly caused by the collapse of a large water-filled calorifier used for heating, which ruptured and flooded the building. A report by Édouard Gerspach, chief of staff at the Ministry of Fine Arts, described the state of the Tuileries and the Louvre that same day.
The Hôtel de Ville was set on fire by order of Jean-Louis Pindy, its governor since 31 March. Théophile Ferré ordered the burning of the Préfecture de Police and the Palais de Justice around 10 a.m. Victor Bénot played a key role in the fire at the Palais-Royal and was reportedly responsible for setting fire to the Louvre library. A fire at Place du Château d'Eau that day hindered the Versailles advance. In the afternoon, Maxime Lisbonne detonated the powder magazine in the Luxembourg Garden.
Fires were also set on 23–24 May in houses near barricades, including on rue Saint-Florentin, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, rue du Bac, rue Vavin, place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville, and boulevard de Sébastopol. Additional buildings destroyed or damaged included the Archives de la Seine, the artillery headquarters on Place de l’Arsenal, the Protestant temple on rue Saint-Antoine, and the barracks on Quai d'Orsay.
East of Paris, 25 and 26 May On Thursday, 25 May 1871, the fire at the Hôtel de Ville was extinguished, while a new blaze began at the Greniers d’Abondance, a food storage facility located on Boulevard Bourdon.
On Friday, 26 May, fires broke out at the docks in La Villette, where large quantities of explosives were stored. Flames also surrounded the July Column in Place de la Bastille. The following day, 27 May, fires were reported in Belleville and at the Père-Lachaise Cemetery.