Die Tage der Kommune

Tage der Kommune, Die, a play in 14 scenes with three songs by B. Brecht with music by Hanns Eisler, written in Zurich in 1948-9 and based on Die Niederlage (Nederlaget, 1937) by the Norwegian playwright Nordahl Grieg, who was killed during the 1939-45 War (Versuche, vol. 15, Vorspruch). Two of the songs were written in 1934-5 and included in the Svendborger Gedichte (1939). The play was first performed in November 1956 at Karl Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz) and has undergone no final revision. It was published posthumously in 1957.

The central place of action is Paris from January to May 1871, the month in which the French Republican government under Thiers ratified the peace ending the Franco-Prussian War (see Deutsch-Französischer Krieg). The ‘days of the Commune’ are mainly depicted in March, the last two scenes referring to the ‘blood-week’ in May in which the government succeeded in crushing the revolt of the proletarians. Only scene 10 is set outside France. It takes place in the Frankfurt opera house. During the performance of Bellini's Norma Jules Favre and Bismarck discuss the war indemnities. Bismarck generously assures Favre that these need not be paid until the ‘pacification’ of Paris and reminds him that the first cheque should be paid into his private account. Scene 13 shows the heroic resistance of the few remaining members of the Commune at the street barricades, ending with the sacrifice of the teacher Geneviève Guéricault, holding the red flag, with the words ‘Long live …’ (i.e. the Commune).