. >> tech 24, presented by julia seeger and peter oh brian.and france24.com. ♪ >> time for french connections come our weekly look at the intricacies of life in france. today, we have a history lesson. this is a defining page in french history. this is the paris commune, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. >> let's look at our expression du jour. it was a revolutionary socialist government that controlled paris from the 18th of march until the 20th of may, 1871. it started as a bloody insurrection and ended in a brutal civil war with parts of paris burnt to the ground. it was also a social laboratory that experimented with concepts very central to modern-day france. it was called la commune, and those who participated were called -- >> you have to go back a little further in french history to the end of the franco-prussian war and the defeat of napoleon the third. >> the new government of the third republic not only conceited victory to the prussians but allowed them to march down the champs-elysees and pay hefty reparations. thi