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The siege of Paris took place from 19 September 1870 to 28 January 1871 and ended in the capture of the city by forces of the various states of the
North German Confederation The North German Confederation () was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated state (a ''de facto'' feder ...
, led by the
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...
. The siege was the culmination of the
Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
, which saw the
Second French Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...
attempt to reassert its dominance over
continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...
by declaring war on the North German Confederation. The Prussian-dominated North German Confederation had recently emerged victorious in the
Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...
of 1866, which led to the questioning of France's status as the dominant power of continental Europe. With a declaration of war by the
French parliament The French Parliament (, ) is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the French Fifth Republic, consisting of the Senate (France), Senate (), and the National Assembly (France), National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessi ...
on 16 July 1870, Imperial France soon faced a series of defeats at German hands over the following months, leading to the
Battle of Sedan The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Napoleon III, Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and ...
, which, on 2 September 1870, saw a decisive defeat of French forces and the capture of the French emperor,
Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...
. With the capture of Napoleon III, the Second French Empire collapsed and the
Third French Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France duri ...
was declared, provisionally led by the Government of National Defense. Despite German forces reaching and besieging Paris by 19 September 1870, the new French government advocated for the continuation of the war, leading to over four more months of fighting, during which Paris was continuously besieged. With the city fully encircled, the Parisian garrison attempted three unsuccessful break-out attempts and German forces began a relatively ineffectual artillery bombardment campaign of the city in January 1871. In response to the poor results of the artillery bombardment, the Prussians brought forth large-caliber
Krupp Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp (formerly Fried. Krupp AG and Friedrich Krupp GmbH), trade name, trading as Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century as well as Germany's premier weapons manufacturer dur ...
heavy siege artillery to attack the city beginning 25 January 1871. With the renewed artillery attack and an increasingly starving and ill Parisian population and garrison, the Government of National Defense would conclude armistice negotiations with the North German Confederation on 28 January 1871. While the armistice led to food shipments being immediately permitted into the city, the capture of their capital city and the disaster of the war itself would have a long-lasting impact on the French populace, Franco-German relations, and Europe as a whole. French defeat in the war would directly lead to a victorious North German Confederation unifying with still-independent South German states and declaring the
German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
as well as a disgruntled and radicalized Parisian population taking control of Paris and forming the
Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...
.


Background

As early as August 1870, the Prussian 3rd Army led by Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia (the future
Frederick III, German Emperor Frederick III (Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl; 18 October 183115 June 1888), or Friedrich III, was German Emperor and King of Prussia for 99 days between March and his death in June 1888, during the Year of the Three Emperors. Known informal ...
), had been marching towards
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. A French force accompanied by
Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...
was deployed to aid the army encircled by Prussians at the Siege of Metz. This force was crushed at the
Battle of Sedan The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Napoleon III, Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and ...
, and the road to Paris was left open. Personally leading the Prussian forces, King
William I of Prussia Wilhelm I (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 1861 and German Emperor from 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the first head of state of a united Germany. ...
, along with his chief of staff Helmuth von Moltke, took the 3rd Army and the new Prussian Army of the Meuse under Albert, Crown Prince of Saxony, and marched on Paris virtually unopposed. In Paris, the governor and commander-in-chief of the city's defenses, General Louis Jules Trochu, assembled a force of 60,000 regular soldiers who had managed to escape from Sedan under Joseph Vinoy or who were gathered from depot troops. Together with 90,000 ''Mobiles'' (Territorials), a brigade of 13,000 naval seamen and 350,000 National Guards, the potential defenders of Paris totaled around 513,000. The compulsorily enrolled National Guards were, however, untrained. They had 2,150 cannon plus 350 in reserve, and 8,000,000 kg of gunpowder. The French had expected the war to be fought mainly on German soil; it was not until the defeats at Spicheren and FrÅ“schwiller that the authorities began to take serious action in organizing the defenses of Paris. A committee under the leadership of
Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...
Vaillant was formed and given a budget of 12 million francs to strengthen the defenses. Barriers were put up around the city, 12,000 workers employed to dig earthworks, a barrage placed across the Seine, and select approaches to the city laid with electrically-triggered mines. Forests and houses were cleared to improve the firing sight lines, roads were torn up, and railroad and road entrances to the city blocked. The Paris Catacombs were sealed off, along with certain quarries and excavations outside the city to deny an entry-point to the Prussians. The authorities in Paris also attended to provisions and took steps to stockpile cereals, salted meat, and preserves for the population. Much of this was stored in the
Opéra Garnier The (, Garnier Palace), also known as (, Garnier Opera), is a historic 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from 1861 to 1875 at ...
. The
Bois de Boulogne The Bois de Boulogne (, "Boulogne woodland") is a large public park that is the western half of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. The land was ceded to the city of Paris by the Em ...
and Luxembourg Gardens were packed with livestock – the former received some 250,000 sheep and 40,000 oxen. The government believed it had enough flour and wheat to last for 80 days, more than enough based on the assumption, then prevalent, that the siege would be relatively brief.


Siege

The Prussian armies quickly reached Paris, and on 15 September Moltke issued orders for the
investment Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...
of the city. Crown Prince Albert's army closed in on Paris from the north unopposed, while Crown Prince Frederick moved in from the south. On 17 September a force under Vinoy attacked Frederick's army near Villeneuve-Saint-Georges in an effort to save a supply depot there, but it was eventually driven back by artillery fire. The railroad to
Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of ÃŽle-de-France, ÃŽle-de-France region in Franc ...
was taken, and then served as the 3rd Army's and eventually Wilhelm's headquarters. By 19 September the encirclement was complete, and the siege officially began. Responsible for the direction of the siege was General (later Field Marshal) Leonhard von Blumenthal. Prussia's chancellor
Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...
suggested shelling Paris to ensure the city's quick surrender and render all French efforts to free the city pointless, but the German high command, headed by the king of Prussia, turned down the proposal on the insistence of General von Blumenthal, on the grounds that a bombardment would affect civilians, violate the rules of engagement, and turn the opinion of third parties against the Germans, without speeding up the final victory. It was also contended that a quick French surrender would leave the new French armies undefeated and allow France to renew the war shortly after. The new French armies would have to be annihilated first, and Paris would have to be starved into surrender. Trochu had little faith in the ability of the National Guards, which made up half the force defending the city. So instead of making any significant attempt to prevent the investment by the Germans, Trochu hoped that Moltke would attempt to take the city by storm, and the French could then rely on the city's defenses. These consisted of the Thiers wall and a ring of sixteen detached forts, all of which had been built in the 1840s. Moltke never had any intention of attacking the city and this became clear shortly after the siege began. Trochu changed his plan and allowed Vinoy to make a demonstration against the Prussians west of the
Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...
. On 30 September Vinoy attacked Chevilly with 20,000 soldiers and was soundly repulsed by the 3rd Army. Then on 13 October the II Royal Bavarian Corps was driven from Châtillon but the French were forced to retire in face of Prussian artillery. General Carey de Bellemare commanded the strongest fortress north of Paris at Saint Denis. On 29 October de Bellemare attacked the Prussian Guard at
Le Bourget Le Bourget () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The commune features Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hosts the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Air and Space Museum). A very ...
without orders, and took the town. The Guard actually had little interest in recapturing their positions at Le Bourget, but Crown Prince Albert ordered the city retaken anyway. In the Battle of Le Bourget the Prussian Guards succeeded in retaking the city and captured 1,200 French soldiers. Upon hearing of the French surrender at
Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...
and the defeat at Le Bourget, morale in Paris began to sink. The people of Paris were beginning to suffer from the effects of the German blockade. On 31 October, the day the government confirmed the surrender of Metz and one day after Le Bourget's recapture was announced, an angry mob besieged and invaded the Hôtel de Ville, taking Trochu and his cabinet hostage. The insurgent leaders ( Gustave Flourens, Louis Charles Delescluze, Louis Auguste Blanqui among them) attempted to depose Trochu's government and form a new one led by themselves, but they could not come to an agreement. In the meantime, battalions of loyal National Guards led by
Jules Ferry Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Opportunist Republicans, Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 18 ...
and a detachment of ''Mobiles'' headed by the Prefect of Police, Edmond Adam, prepared to retake the building. Negotiations between the two sides concluded with a peaceful evacuation of the building by the insurgents early in the morning of November 1, and the release of the hostages. Despite promising no reprisals against the revolutionaries, the Government was swift to arrest and imprison 22 of the leaders, which further embittered the left-wing of Paris. Hoping to boost morale on 30 November Trochu launched the largest attack from Paris even though he had little hope of achieving a breakthrough. Nevertheless, he sent Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot with 80,000 soldiers against the Prussians at Champigny,
Créteil Créteil () is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, dep ...
and Villiers. In what became known as the Battle of Villiers the French succeeded in capturing and holding a position at Créteil and Champigny. By 2 December the
XIII (Royal Württemberg) Corps The XIII (Royal Württemberg) Army Corps / XIII AK () was a corps of the Imperial German Army. It was, effectively, also the army of the Kingdom of Württemberg, which had been integrated in 1871 into the Prussian Army command structure, as had th ...
had driven Ducrot back into the defenses and the battle was over by 3 December. On 21 December, French forces attempted another breakout at Le Bourget, in the hopes of meeting up with General Louis Faidherbe's army. Trochu and Ducrot had been encouraged by Faidherbe's capture on 9 December of
Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...
, around 65 miles from Paris. The weather was extremely cold, and the well-installed, well-concealed Prussian artillery inflicted heavy casualties on the advancing French. Soldiers camped overnight with no fuel for warmth, as the temperature fell to 7°F (−14°C). There were over 900 cases of
frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when someone is exposed to extremely low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occ ...
, and 2,000 casualties on the French side. On the Prussian side, there were less than 500 dead. On 19 January a final breakout attempt was aimed at the Château of Buzenval in
Rueil-Malmaison Rueil-Malmaison () or simply Rueil is a Communes of France, commune in the western suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department, ÃŽle-de-France Regions of France, region. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is ...
near the Prussian Headquarters, west of Paris. The crown prince easily repulsed the attack inflicting over 4,000 casualties while suffering just over 600. Trochu resigned as governor and left General Joseph Vinoy with 146,000 defenders. During the winter, tensions began to arise in the Prussian high command. Field-Marshal Helmuth von Moltke and General Leonhard, Count von Blumenthal, who commanded the siege, were primarily concerned with a methodical siege that would destroy the detached forts around the city and slowly strangle the defending forces with a minimum of German casualties. But as time wore on, there was growing concern that a prolonged war was placing too much strain on the German economy and that an extended siege would convince the French Government of National Defense that Prussia could still be beaten. A prolonged campaign would also allow France time to reconstitute a new army and convince neutral powers to enter the war against Prussia. To Bismarck, Paris was the key to breaking the power of the intransigent republican leaders of France, ending the war in a timely manner, and securing peace terms favourable to Prussia. Moltke was also worried that insufficient winter supplies were reaching the German armies investing the city, as
disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...
s such as
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
were breaking out amongst the besieging soldiers. In addition, the siege operations competed with the demands of the ongoing Loire Campaign against the remaining French field armies. Air medical transport is often stated to have first occurred in 1870 during the siege of Paris when 160 wounded French soldiers were evacuated from the city by hot-air balloon, but this myth has been definitively disproven by full review of the crew and passenger records of each balloon which left Paris during the siege. During the siege, the only head of diplomatic mission from a major power who remained in Paris was
United States Minister to France The United States ambassador to France is the official representative of the president of the United States to the president of France. The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with France since the American Revolution. Relations w ...
, Elihu B. Washburne. As a representative of a neutral country, Washburne was able to play a unique role in the conflict, becoming one of the few channels of communication into and out of the city for much of the siege. He also led the way in providing humanitarian relief to foreign nationals, including ethnic Germans.


Food & fuel shortages

As the siege wore on, food supplies dwindled, and prices skyrocketed. The authorities instituted price controls on certain staple foods at the beginning of the siege, but these were rendered ineffective by a lack of enforcement and the rampant black market in the city.Horne, 1965; p. 181 Until mid-October there was no rationing of any kind, and afterwards only meat was subject to rationing (bread was rationed at the very end of the siege). There were also no attempts to limit hoarding and speculation. Many of the wealthier residents were well-placed to weather the siege since they had put aside stores of food before it began. Infant mortality soared because of the lack of fresh milk. Poor women and their children suffered the most of anybody. Their husbands had the relative advantage of their 1.50 francs per day National Guard pay, "little enough of which reached their wives", and the fact that they were occupied, because "anyone who was occupied – even the National Guardsman warming himself in the bistro while his wife queued for food – had a better chance of survival." Parisians turned first to
horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 milli ...
in early-October to supplement their dwindling supplies of fresh meat. By mid-November, fresh meat had truly run out in the city, and butchers began offering
dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...
and cat meat. People also turned to rats for meat, although the numbers of rats consumed was relatively low due to fear of disease, and the expense of preparing rat meat in order to make it edible. Once the supply of those animals ran low, the citizens of Paris turned on the zoo animals residing at
Jardin des plantes The Jardin des Plantes (, ), also known as the Jardin des Plantes de Paris () when distinguished from other ''jardins des plantes'' in other cities, is the main botanical garden in France. Jardin des Plantes is the official name in the present da ...
. Even
Castor and Pollux Castor and Pollux (or Polydeuces) are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi. Their mother was Leda, but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of ...
, the only pair of elephants in Paris, were slaughtered for their
meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...
. A Latin Quarter menu contemporary with the siege reads in part: : * Consommé de cheval au millet. (horse) : * Brochettes de foie de chien à la maître d'hôtel. (dog) : * Emincé de rable de chat. Sauce mayonnaise. (cat) : * Epaules et filets de chien braisés. Sauce aux tomates. (dog) : * Civet de chat aux champignons. (cat) : * Côtelettes de chien aux petits pois. (dog) : * Salamis de rats. Sauce Robert. (rats) : * Gigots de chien flanqués de ratons. Sauce poivrade. (dog, rats) : * Begonias au jus. (flowers) : * Plum-pudding au rhum et à la Moelle de Cheval. (horse) The increasing hunger of the Parisians coincided with bitterly cold winter weather and a dire lack of fuel for heat.
Coal gas Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal and supplied to the user via a piped distribution system. It is produced when coal is heated strongly in the absence of air. Town gas is a more general term referring to manufactured gaseous ...
, because of its essential use for the balloons, was strictly rationed and mostly replaced by oil. On November 25, oil itself was requisitioned.Horne, 1965; 219–220 This left people reliant on increasingly scarce supplies of wood. By late December, the inhabitants of working-class Belleville were so desperate for wood they had felled the street trees of their neighborhoods and were moving into the wealthier areas of western Paris, cutting down trees along the Champs Élysées and Avenue Foch. By January, 3,000–4,000 people were dying per week from the effects of cold and hunger. There were sharp rises in cases of
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
,
typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...
, and especially
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
. Typhoid came because the siege forced Parisians to turn to the Seine for much of their drinking water.


Bombardment

In January, on Bismarck's advice, the Germans fired some 12,000 shells into the city over 23 nights in an attempt to break Parisian morale. The attack on the city itself was preceded by the bombardment of the southern forts from the Châtillon Heights on 5 January. That day, the guns of forts Issy and Vanves were silenced by a relentless barrage, allowing the Prussian artillery to be moved up to 750 yards closer to Paris. This made a crucial difference, as from their previous position the guns were only capable of reaching the fringes of the city. The first shells fell on the
Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...
that same day. Prussian artillerymen aimed their guns at the highest angles possible and increased the charges to obtain unprecedented ranges. Even so, although shells reached the Pont Notre-Dame and the
Île Saint-Louis Île Saint-Louis (), in size, is one of two natural islands in the Seine river, in Paris, France (the other natural island is the Île de la Cité, where Notre-Dame de Paris is located). Île Saint-Louis is connected to the rest of Paris by fo ...
, none made it to the Right Bank. Up to 20,000 refugees fled the Left Bank, putting a further strain on the already overburdened food supplies of the Right Bank ''arrondissements''. The domes of the
Panthéon The Panthéon (, ), is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, Paris, Latin Quarter (Quartier latin), atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was built between 1758 ...
and the
Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides (; ), commonly called (; ), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and an old sold ...
were frequent targets of the artillerymen, and the vicinities of those buildings were particularly damaged as a result. Shells also struck the Salpetrière Hospital and the Théâtre de l'Odéon (then being used as a hospital), leading some to believe that the Prussians were deliberately targeting hospitals. Moltke, in response to a complaint on this matter from Trochu, responded that he hoped to soon move the artillery closer so that his gunners could better identify the
Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
flags. About 400 perished or were wounded by the bombardment which, "had little effect on the spirit of resistance in Paris." Delescluze declared, "The Frenchmen of 1870 are the sons of those Gauls for whom battles were holidays." In actuality, the level of destruction fell short of what the Prussians had expected. The shells often caused little damage to the buildings they struck, and many fell in open spaces away from people. An English observer, Edwin Child, wrote that he "Became more and more convinced of the impossibility of effectually bombarding Paris, the houses being built of such solid blocks of stone that they could only be destroyed piecemeal. One bomb simply displaces one stone, in spite of their enormous weight..."


Armistice and surrender

On 25 January 1871,
Wilhelm I Wilhelm I (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 1861 and German Emperor from 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the first head of state of a united Germany. ...
overruled Moltke and ordered the field-marshal to consult with Bismarck for all future operations. Bismarck immediately ordered the city to be bombarded with large-caliber
Krupp Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp (formerly Fried. Krupp AG and Friedrich Krupp GmbH), trade name, trading as Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century as well as Germany's premier weapons manufacturer dur ...
siege guns. This prompted the city's surrender on 28 January 1871. Secret armistice discussions began on January 23, 1871 and continued at Versailles between Jules Favre and Bismarck until the 27th. On the French side there was concern that the National Guard would rebel when news of the capitulation became public. Bismarck's advice was to "provoke an uprising, then, while you still have an army with which to suppress it". The final terms agreed on were that the French regular troops (less one division) would be disarmed, Paris would pay an indemnity of two hundred million francs, and the fortifications around the perimeter of the city would be surrendered. In return the armistice was extended until February 19. Food supplies from the provinces, as well as shiploads from Britain and the United States, began to enter the starving city almost immediately. Britain sent ships from the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
loaded with Army food provisions, while private organizations like the
Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...
's Relief Fund and the London Relief Committee made significant donations. According to the British representative responsible for distributing the foodstuffs, at the beginning of February the London Relief Committee donated "nearly 10,000 tons of flour, 450 tons of rice, 900 tons of biscuits, 360 tons of fish, and nearly 4,000 tons of fuel, with about 7,000 head of livestock". The United States sent around $2 million worth of food, but much of it was held up at the port of
Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
because of a shortage of workers for unloading the ships. The arrival of the first British convoy of food at
Les Halles Les Halles (; 'The Halls') was Paris' central fresh food market. It last operated on 12 January 1973 and was replaced by an underground shopping centre and a park. The unpopular modernist development was demolished yet again in 2010, and replac ...
sparked a riot and pillaging, "while for seven hours the police seemed powerless to intervene". Thirty thousand Prussian, Bavarian and Saxon troops held a brief victory parade in Paris on March 1, 1871 and Bismarck honored the armistice by sending trainloads of food into the city. The German troops departed after two days to take up temporary encampments to the east of the city, to be withdrawn from there when France paid the agreed war
indemnity In contract law, an indemnity is a contractual obligation of one party (the ''indemnitor'') to compensate the loss incurred by another party (the ''indemnitee'') due to the relevant acts of the indemnitor or any other party. The duty to indemni ...
. While Parisians scrubbed the streets "polluted" by the triumphal entry, no serious incidents occurred during the short and symbolic occupation of the city. This was in part because the Germans had avoided areas such as Belleville, where hostility was reportedly high.


Air mail

Balloon mail Balloon mail is the transport of mail (usually for weight reasons in the form of a postcard) carrying the name of the sender by means of an unguided hydrogen or helium filled balloon. Since the balloon is not controllable, the delivery of a bal ...
was the only means by which communications from the besieged city could reach the rest of France. The use of balloons to carry mail was first proposed by the photographer and balloonist Felix Nadar, who had established the grandiosely titled ''No. 1 Compagnie des Aérostatiers'', with a single balloon, the ''Neptune'', at its disposal, to perform tethered ascents for observation purposes. However, the Prussian encirclement of the city made this pointless, and on 17 September Nadar wrote to the Council for the Defence of Paris proposing the use of balloons for communication with the outside world: a similar proposal had also been made by the balloonist Eugène Godard. The first balloon launch was carried out on 23 September, using the ''Neptune'', and carried of mail in addition to the pilot. After a three-hour flight it landed at Craconville from Paris. Following this success a regular mail service was established, with a rate of 20 centimes per letter. Two workshops to manufacture balloons were set up, one under the direction of Nadar in the Elysée-Montmartre dance-hall (later moved to the
Gare du Nord The Gare du Nord (; ), officially Paris Nord, is one of the seven large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station is served by trains that run between the capital and northern France via the Paris–Lille railway, as well ...
), and the other under the direction of Godard in the Gare d'Orleans. Around 66 balloon flights were made, including one that accidentally set a world distance record by ending up in Norway. The vast majority of these succeeded: only five were captured by the Prussians, and three went missing, presumably coming down in the Atlantic or Irish Sea. The number of letters carried has been estimated at around 2.5 million. Some balloons also carried passengers in addition to the cargo of mail, most notably
Léon Gambetta Léon Gambetta (; 2 April 1838 – 31 December 1882) was a French lawyer and republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government. Early life and education Born in Cahors, ...
, the minister for War in the new government, who was flown out of Paris on 7 October. The balloons also carried
homing pigeon The homing pigeon is a variety of domestic pigeon (''Columba livia domestica''), selectively bred for its ability to find its way home over extremely long distances. Because of this skill, homing pigeons were used to carry messages, a practice ...
s out of Paris to be used for
pigeon post Pigeon post is the use of homing pigeons to carry messages. Pigeons are effective as messengers due to their natural homing abilities. The pigeons are transported to a destination in cages, where they are attached with messages, then the pigeo ...
. This was the only means by which communications from the rest of France could reach the besieged city. A specially laid telegraph cable on the bed of the Seine had been discovered and cut by the Prussians on 27 September, couriers attempting to make their way through the German lines were almost all intercepted, and although other methods were tried, including attempts to use balloons, dogs, and message canisters floated down the Seine, these were all unsuccessful. The pigeons were taken to their base, first at
Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
and later at
Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...
, and when they had been fed and rested were ready for the return journey. Tours lies some from Paris and Poitiers some distant. Before release, they were loaded with their dispatches. Initially the pigeon post was only used for official communications but on 4 November the government announced that members of the public could send messages, these being limited to twenty words at a charge of 50 centimes per word. These were then copied onto sheets of cardboard and photographed by a M. Barreswille, a photographer based in Tours. Each sheet contained 150 messages and was reproduced as a print about in size: each pigeon could carry nine of these. The photographic process was further refined by
René Dagron René Prudent Patrice Dagron (17 March 1817 – 13 June 1900) was a French photographer and inventor. He was born in Aillières-Beauvoir, Sarthe, France.
to allow more to be carried: Dagron, with his equipment, was flown out of Paris on 12 November in the aptly named '' Niépce, '' narrowly escaping capture by the Prussians. The photographic process allowed multiple copies of the messages to be sent, so that although only 57 of the 360 pigeons released reached Paris more than 60,000 of the 95,000 messages sent were delivered. (some sources give a considerably higher figure of around 150,000 official and 1 million private communications, but this figure is arrived at by counting all copies of each message.)


Aftermath

Late in the siege,
William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...
was proclaimed as German Emperor on 18 January 1871 at the
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. The kingdoms of
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,
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, and
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, the states of
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and
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, and the free cities of
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and
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were unified with the
North German Confederation The North German Confederation () was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated state (a ''de facto'' feder ...
to create the
German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
. The preliminary peace treaty was signed at Versailles, and the final peace treaty, the Treaty of Frankfurt, was signed on 10 May 1871.
Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...
was able to secure Alsace-Lorraine as part of the German Empire. The continued presence of German troops outside the city angered Parisians. Further resentment arose against the French government, and in March 1871 Parisian workers and members of the National Guard rebelled and established the
Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...
, a radical socialist government, which lasted through late May of that year.


In popular culture

'' Empires of Sand'' by David W. Ball (
Bantam Dell Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin Jr., Sidney B. K ...
, 1999) is a novel in two parts, the first of which is set during the Franco-Prussian war, more particularly the Siege of Paris during the winter of 1870–71. Key elements of the siege, including the hot-air balloons used for reconnaissance and messages, the tunnels beneath the city, the starvation and the cold, combine to render a vivid impression of war-time Paris before its surrender. '' The Old Wives' Tale'' by
Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist, who wrote prolifically. Between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaborati ...
is a novel which follows the fortunes of two sisters, Constance and Sophia Baines. The latter runs away to make a disastrous marriage in France, where after being abandoned by her husband, she lives through the Siege of Paris and the Commune. '' The King in Yellow'', a short story collection by Robert W. Chambers, published in 1895, includes a story titled "The Street of the First Shell" which takes place over a few days of the siege.


References


Books

* * * * * * * * * *


Journals

*


Further reading

* Baldick, Robert. ''The Siege of Paris'' (B.T. Batsford, 1964) * * Richardson, Joanna. "The Siege of Paris, 1870–71" ''History Today'' (Sep 1969), Vol. 19 Issue 9, pp 593–599 * Richardson, Joanna (editor). ''Paris Under Siege 1870–71'' (Folio Society, 1982)


External links


The French Army 1600–1900

Map of European situation at the time of the Siege of Paris (omniatlas.com)

The Siege and Commune of Paris, 1870–1871: Photographs in the Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections at Northwestern University

Website of the Bry-sur-Marne's Museum
– Collections of the Museum Adrien Mentienne, related to the major events that occurred in Bry-sur-Marne, including the Battle of Villiers in 1870, during the Siege of Paris (English version available) {{DEFAULTSORT:Paris 1870-1871 1870 in France 1871 in France Military history of Île-de-France Paris Commune Siege 1870 September 1870 October 1870 November 1870 December 1870 January 1871 Conflicts in 1870 Conflicts in 1871 Sieges involving France Sieges involving Prussia