During the climactic battle of the Franco-Prussian War, theFrench Emperor, Napoleon III, was personally captured along withsome of his high ranking staff. When news got to Paris, hisgovernment was almost immediately overthrown, and he went intoexile in Britain. The Third Republic was formed. However, the warwith Prussia did not end immediately, and the powerful Prussianarmy besieged Paris.The siege was notable because a Communist-inspired governmenttook control of Paris. The Paris Commune was run by socialists andanarchist, and served as an inspiration for Karl Marx as he wrotethe books that would form the basis of modern Communist philosophy.However, the Commune was eventually crushed by the Republic'sarmies, and lots of Communards were killed, including manyleaders.