Illustration showing some 'Red Republican Conspirators' attacking the Fireman's Station at Belleville, Paris. Socialist agitators were already a force in Paris and tried to proclaim a new republic, Commune, in October 1870. The Commune actually took charge in Paris between 26th March and 21st May 1871, after the end of Franco-Prussian War, but were then brutally suppressed by the National Guard.