-B.
Mike Ballard wrote:
>
> *********************************************
>
> And, it should be remembered that many, many of the
Communards in leadershp
> positions were followers of the vanguardist,
political-revoulutionist Blanqui:
> **************
> Blanqui, as an experienced revolutionary might just
have provided some
> political cohesion but he had been picked up by
police and spent the second
> revolution of his lifetime in prison. Charles
Delescluze was the most notable
> political figure from the past to sit on the
commune. He had been a radical
> Jacobean figure in the 1848 revolution until forced
into exile and was
> imprisoned when he tried to return secretly. However
years on Devil's Island
> had ruined his health. He could only speak in a
croaking voice and stayed above
> the personal struggles and quarrels of the commune
until called upon to play a
> dignified but doomed role at the end, walking
deliberately to his death on a
> barricade at what is today is the Place de la
Republic.