This was the name for the lower class that ran the Paris Commune.

This was the name for the lower class that ran the Paris Commune.

• A. Paris Communists
• B. The Directory
• C. The sans-culottes
• D. The philosophes

Answer: (C)

The term refers to the urban working class of revolutionary Paris who led the Paris Commune. Sans-culottes, literally meaning “without breeches,” were so named because they wore long trousers instead of the aristocratic knee-breeches, signaling their status and radical politics. They were the mass base that pressed for immediate democratic and social reforms—economic controls, direct political participation, and assistance for the poor—and in 1871 they effectively ran Paris, shaping the Commune’s aggressive, egalitarian program until it was suppressed. The other options don’t fit because they point to unrelated groups or periods: The Directory was the national government later in the Revolution, the philosophes were Enlightenment thinkers, and “Paris Communists” isn’t the standard historical label for this group.

The term refers to the urban working class of revolutionary Paris who led the Paris Commune. Sans-culottes, literally meaning “without breeches,” were so named because they wore long trousers instead of the aristocratic knee-breeches, signaling their status and radical politics. They were the mass base that pressed for immediate democratic and social reforms—economic controls, direct political participation, and assistance for the poor—and in 1871 they effectively ran Paris, shaping the Commune’s aggressive, egalitarian program until it was suppressed. The other options don’t fit because they point to unrelated groups or periods: The Directory was the national government later in the Revolution, the philosophes were Enlightenment thinkers, and “Paris Communists” isn’t the standard historical label for this group.