Besançon Commune

{{Expand French|Commune de Besançon|date=July 2023}}

{{Infobox military conflict

| conflict = Besançon Commune

| partof = the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War

| image = Quai Battant (Besançon) - années 1860.jpg

| image_size = 300px

| caption = Besançon-Battant, in 1860's.

| date = April – June 1871

| place = Besançon, France

| result =

| combatant1 = {{flagicon|France|1794}} French Republic

| combatant2 = {{flagicon image|Socialist red flag.svg}} Communards
{{flagicon image|Socialist red flag.svg}} National Guards
{{flagicon image|FRE-AIT.svg}} IWA

| commander1 =

| commander2 = {{plainlist}}

• {{flagicon image|Socialist red flag.svg}} Séverin Robert
• {{nowrap|{{flagicon image|Socialist red flag.svg}} Vladimir Ozerov}}

{{endplainlist}}

| strength1 =

| strength2 =

| casualties1 =

| casualties2 =

| campaignbox =

}}

The Besançon Commune (in French Commune de Besançon) was a short-lived revolutionary movement conceived and developed in 1871, aiming at the proclamation of a local autonomous power based on the experiences of the Paris and Lyon Communes.{{Cite book |first=Michel |last=Cordillot |title=La naissance du mouvement ouvrier à Besançon - la Première internationale 1869-1872 |language=fr |trans-title=The birth of the labor movement in Besançon - the First International 1869-1872 |location=Besançon |publisher=Cahier d'Études comtoises |date=1990 |isbn=2251604197}} It originates from social upheavals which metamorphosed the cityBernard H. Moss, Aux origines du mouvement ouvrier français : le socialisme des ouvriers de métier, 1830-1914, Presses Universitaires de Franche-Comté, 1985, 236 pages. and with the emergence of unions including a section of IWA in connection with the future Jura Federation.{{cite book |first=Oscar |last=Testut |title=Association internationale des travailleurs |language=fr |trans-title=International Workers' Association |publisher=Vingtrinier |date=1870}}Alcan-Lévy, Les Mystères de l'Internationale, etc, British Library, 1871, 120 pages.Société des études pratiques d'économie sociale, Unions de la paix sociale, Société international de science sociale, Études sociales - volume 10, 1885, 580 pages.{{cite web |url=https://maitron.fr/spip.php?article69875 |title=Séverin Robert |website=le Maitron |date=3 June 2020 |archive-url= |archive-date=}} The course of events was precipitated by the Franco-Prussian War, the fall of the Second Empire, and the advent of the Third Republic.{{cite book |first=Jean |last=Desfrane |title=Histoire d'une ville, Besançon : le temps retrouvé |language=fr |trans-title=History of a city, Besançon: time regained |publisher=Cêtre |date=1990}} While many notables testify to an insurrectionary context{{cite book |first=Alexandre |last=Estignard |title=La République et la guerre à Besançon. Par un patriote comtois, Imprimerie et Lithographie de J. Jacquin |language=fr |trans-title=The Republic and the war in Besançon. By a Comtois patriot, Printing and Lithography by J. Jacquin |date=1872}} and armed support from Switzerland being organized,{{cite book |first1=Arthur |last1=Lehning |first2=Michel |last2=Bakounine |author2-link=Mikhail Bakunin |title=Théorie et pratique du fédéralisme anti-étatique en 1870-1871 |language=fr |trans-title=The theory and practice of anti-state federalism in 1870-1871}}Fernand Rude, De la guerre à la Commune, Éditions Anthropos, 1972, 611 pages. the correspondence left by James Guillaume and Mikhail BakuninComité historique du centre-est, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Université de Clermont-Ferrand I, Université des sciences sociales de Grenoble, Université de Lyon II, Université Jean Moulin, Université de Saint-Étienne, Centre universitaire de Savoie, Cahiers d'histoire - volumes 24 à 25, 1979.Arthur Lehning, Œuvres complètes de Bakounine: Michel Bakounine sur la guerre france-allemande et la révolution sociale en France 1870-1871, Éditions Champ Libre, 1979. attest to a planned release between the end of May and the beginning of June 1871. However, with the start of the Semaine sanglante on 21 May and the pursuit of an internal campaign until 7 June, any attempt was seriously compromised. Despite the hope of a restart, in the following weeks and months the idea of an insurrection was definitively abandoned, later reinforced by the extinction of groups and activities described as "anarchist" from 1875.