The destruction of the Vendôme Column honouring the victories of Napoleon I, topped by a statue of the Emperor, was one of the most prominent civic events during the Commune.
It was voted on 12 April by the executive committee of the Commune, which declared that the column was "a monument of barbarism" and a "symbol of brute force and false pride."
The idea had originally come from the painter Gustave Courbet, who had written to the Government of National Defence on 4 September calling for the demolition of the column.
In October, he had called for a new column, made of melted-down German cannons, "the column of peoples, the column of Germany and France, forever federated."
Courbet was elected to the Council of the Commune on 16 April, after the decision to tear down the column had already been made.
The ceremonial destruction took place on 16 May. In the presence of two battalions of the National Guard and the leaders of the Commune, a band played "La Marseillaise" and the "Chant du Départ".
The first effort to pull down the column failed, but at 5:30 in the afternoon the column broke from its base and shattered into three pieces.
The pedestal was draped with red flags, and pieces of the statue were taken to be melted down and made into coins.

On 12 May another civic event took place: the destruction of Thiers' home on Place Saint-Georges.
Proposed by Henri Rochefort, editor of the Le Mot d'Ordre, on 6 April, it had not been voted upon by the Commune until 10 May. According to the decree of the Commune, the works of art were to be donated to the Louvre (which refused them) and the furniture was to be sold, the money to be given to widows and orphans of the fighting.
The house was emptied and destroyed on 12 May.
The destruction of the Vendôme Column honouring the victories of Napoleon I, topped by a statue of the Emperor, was one of the most prominent civic events during the Commune. It was voted on 12 April by the executive committee of the Commune, which declared that the column was "a monument of barbarism" and a "symbol of brute force and false pride." The idea had originally come from the painter Gustave Courbet, who had written to the Government of National Defence on 4 September calling for the demolition of the column. In October, he had called for a new column, made of melted-down German cannons, "the column of peoples, the column of Germany and France, forever federated." Courbet was elected to the Council of the Commune on 16 April, after the decision to tear down the column had already been made. The ceremonial destruction took place on 16 May. In the presence of two battalions of the National Guard and the leaders of the Commune, a band played "La Marseillaise" and the "Chant du Départ". The first effort to pull down the column failed, but at 5:30 in the afternoon the column broke from its base and shattered into three pieces. The pedestal was draped with red flags, and pieces of the statue were taken to be melted down and made into coins.
On 12 May another civic event took place: the destruction of Thiers' home on Place Saint-Georges. Proposed by Henri Rochefort, editor of the Le Mot d'Ordre, on 6 April, it had not been voted upon by the Commune until 10 May. According to the decree of the Commune, the works of art were to be donated to the Louvre (which refused them) and the furniture was to be sold, the money to be given to widows and orphans of the fighting. The house was emptied and destroyed on 12 May.
Paris Commune