4 September 1870
Proposes taking down the Vendôme Column
On 4 September 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, Courbet wrote to the Government of National Defense asking for permission to dismantle the column in the Place Vendôme, a monument devoid of artistic value that perpetuated the ideas of war and conquest; he suggested moving it to a place such as the Invalides. The government did nothing, but the proposal was not forgotten.
18 March 1871
The Paris Commune
After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War a revolutionary government, the Paris Commune, briefly took power in the city on 18 March 1871. Courbet played an active part.
5 April 1871
Courbet organizes the Federation of Artists
Some three to four hundred painters, sculptors, architects and decorators attended the Federation's first meeting in the Grand Amphitheater of the School of Medicine. Courbet chaired it and proposed reopening the Louvre and the Musée du Luxembourg, holding a Salon free of government interference and awards, and abolishing the École des Beaux-Arts and other state institutions.
16 April 1871
Elected delegate for the 6th arrondissement
In special elections on 16 April Courbet was elected delegate for the 6th arrondissement of Paris; he was given the title of Delegate of Fine Arts and on 21 April was also made a member of the Commission on Education.
16 May 1871
The fall of the Vendôme Column
On 16 May 1871, nine days before the fall of the Commune, the column whose removal Courbet had requested back in September 1870 was pulled down in a large ceremony with military bands and photographers and broke into pieces. Some witnesses said Courbet was there, others denied it.
1873
Leaves for Switzerland to escape the debt for the column
In 1873 the newly elected president of the Republic, Patrice de MacMahon, announced plans to rebuild the column at Courbet's expense. Unable to pay, he went into self-imposed exile in Switzerland to avoid bankruptcy and remained there until his death.