The Franco-German War of 1870-71

by Graf von Helmuth Moltke

The whole condition of France, political and military, and above all the situation in Paris, was such as to cause the Government the gravest anxiety.

Since the return of Monsieur Thiers from his diplomatic tour, it was certain that no mediatory interposition by any foreign power could be expected. The distress of the capital had become more and more severe. Scarcity and high prices had long borne heavily on its population; provisions were exhausted, and even the stores of the garrison had been seriously encroached on. Fuel was lacking in the lasting cold, and petroleum was an inefficient substitute for gas. When the long-deferred bombardment of the south side of Paris was had recourse to, the people took refuge in the cellars or fled to the remoter quarters of the city; and when it was also begun on the northern side the inhabitants of St. Denis crowded into the capital.

The great sortie of the 19th had proved a total failure, and no relief was to be hoped for from outside since Gambetta had sent news of the disaster at Le Mans. The Paris Army, of whose inactivity he complained, was reduced to a third of its original strength by cold, sickness, and desertion, and the heart taken out of it by repeated miscarriages. Its horses had to be slaughtered to provide meat for the inhabitants, and General Trochu declared any further offensive movements to be quite hopeless; the means even of passive resistance were exhausted.

Hitherto the Government had been able to keep the populace in good humour by highly-coloured reports, but now the disastrous state of affairs could no longer be concealed. All its projects were now denounced.

There was a large class of people in Paris who were but little affected by the general distress. Numbers of civilians had been armed for the defence of their country and were fed and well paid by the authorities, without having too much to do in return. They were joined by all the dubious social elements, which found their reckoning in the disorganized situation. These had been quite satisfied with the condition which the 4th of September had created, and a little later they displayed themselves in the hideous form of the Commune. Already some popular gatherings had been dispersed only by force of arms, and even a part of the National Guard were not free from mutinous tendencies. The revolutionary clubs, too, supported by the press, clamoured for further enterprises, even a sortie en masse of all the inhabitants of Paris. Thus the feeble Government, dependent as it was on popular favour alone, was under pressure from the impossible demands of an ignorant mob on the one hand, and, on the other, the inexorable force of actual facts.

There was absolutely no expedient possible but the capitulation of the capital; every delay intensified the necessity, and enforced the acceptance of harder terms. Unless all the railways were at once thrown open for the transport of supplies from a very wide area, the horrors of famine would inevitably fall on a population of more than two million souls; and later it might not be practicable to cope with the emergency. Yet no one dared utter the fatal word "capitulation," no one would undertake the responsibility for the inevitable.

A great council of war was held on the 21st. In it all the elder Generals pronounced any further offensive measures to be quite impossible. It was proposed that a council of the younger officers should also be held, but no decision was arrived at. As, however, some one must be made answerable for every misfortune, General Trochu, originally the most popular member of the Government, was dismissed from his position as Governor, and the chief military command was entrusted to General Vinoy. General Ducrot resigned his command.

All this did nothing to improve the situation, so on the 23rd, Monsieur Jules Favre made his appearance at Versailles to negotiate in the first instance for an armistice.

On the German side there was readiness to meet this request; but of course some guarantee had to be forthcoming that the capital, after having been reprovisioned, would not renew its resistance. The surrender of the forts, inclusive of Mont Valérien and the town of St. Denis, as well as the disarmament of the enceinte was demanded and acceded to.

Hostilities were to be suspended on the evening of the 26th, so far as Paris was concerned, and all supplies to be freely given. A general armistice of twenty-one days was then to come in force on the 31st of January, exclusive, however, of the departments of Doubs, Jura, and Côte d'Or, and the fortress of Belfort, where for the time operations were still being carried on, in which both sides were hopeful of success.