The Paris Commune uprising of 1871 was a first, dramatically failed attempt to implement socialist ideas for a more just society on a broad front. However, the significant female participation in this movement is often overlooked. Wilfrid Lupano therefore depicts in several volumes how women also took to the barricades: with determination and stubbornness, and sometimes quite unconventional means. For example, Elisabeth Dmitrieff - as the illegitimate daughter of a noble Russian officer and landowner, she became acquainted with exploitation and injustice on her father's estate, which she came to know and hate. Thus, she seizes the opportunity of a sham marriage early on and travels to Geneva, where she quickly makes contact with the local exile community of Russian revolutionaries.