L'Echo français - journal politique quotidien. Deuxième année, dimanche 21 mai 1871.

First edition.
A small crease mark, otherwise very good condition.
In addition to existing titles, more than 70 newspapers were created during the 70 days of the Commune. But press freedom was restricted from April 18, and on May 18 the Committee of Public Safety banned newspapers favorable to the Thiers government which withdrew towards Versailles. The most influential newspapers then were 'Le Cri du Peuple' by Jules Vallès, 'Le Mot d'ordre' by Henri Rochefort, 'L'Affranchi' by Paschal Grousset, 'Le Père Duchesne' by Versmersch, 'La Sociale' with Madame André Léo, 'Le vengeur' by Félix Pyat, 'La Commune'. It was especially in May that the fight against the pro-Versailles press gained vigor: thus, between May 5 and 18, 21 newspapers were suppressed. It is quite evident that the Parisian pro-Commune press could not be distributed in the provinces due to the vigilance of the Thiers government.
L'Echo français, a "daily political" newspaper is an example of a Versailles newspaper. It sometimes published articles from other newspapers of its political persuasion and reprinted those from pro-Commune dailies in order to discredit them.