Commune
the unit or lowest division in the administration of France, corre- COMMUNION sponding in the rural districts to the English parish or township, and in towns to the English municipality. Each commune has a council elected by universal suffrage, and the council is presided over by a maire and one or more adjoints or assistants. In the larger communes the maire is selected by the central government out of the members of the council; in others he is appointed by the prefect of the department. The central government through its officials exercises generally a very large control over the affairs of the commune. The rising of the Commune of Paris in 1871 should not be confounded with COMMUNISM (q. v.). It was a revolutionary assertion of the autonomy of Paris, that is, of the right of self-government through its commune or municipality. The rising began on March 18, 1871, and was only suppressed 10 weeks later after long and bloody fighting between the forces of the commune and a large army of the central government; 6,500 Communists having fallen during May 20-30, and 38,578 been taken prisoners.
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