Finally, it was stipulated that the German Army should have the satisfaction of marching into Paris, and remaining there till the ratification of the treaty; but would be restricted to the section of the city from Point du Jour to the Rue du Faubourg St. Honoré. The entry was made on March 1st, after a parade at Longchamps before his Majesty of 30,000 men, consisting of 11,000 of the VIth, 11,000 of the IInd Bavarian, and 8000 of the XIth Army Corps. On the 3rd and 5th of March this force was to have been relieved by successive bodies of the same strength, but M. Thiers succeeded by March 1st in getting the National Assembly at Bordeaux to accept the treaty, after the deposition of the Napoleonic dynasty had been decreed. The exchange of ratifications took place in the afternoon of the 2nd, and on the 3rd the first instalment of troops of occupation marched out of Paris back into its quarters.
The Homeward March of the German Army.
By the IIIrd Article, the whole territory between the Seine and the Loire, excepting Paris, was to be evacuated with as little delay as possible by the troops of both sides; the right bank of the former river, on the other hand, was only to be cleared on the conclusion of the definitive treaty of peace. Even then the six eastern departments were still to remain in German possession as a pledge for the last three milliards; not, however, to be occupied by more than 50,000 men.
The marching directions were drawn up in the supreme Headquarter, with a view as well to the comfort of the troops as to the reconstitution of the original order of battle, and the possibility of rapid assembly in case of need.
The forces detailed for permanent occupation of the ceded provinces marched thither at once.
The Reserve and Landwehr troops at home were to be disbanded, as well as the Baden Division, which, however, for the present was to remain there as a mobilized force. The Governments-General in Lorraine, Rheims, and Versailles were to be done away with, and their powers taken over by the local Commanding-Generals. In the maintenance of order in the rear of the army, the VIth and XIIth Corps, as well as the Würtemberg Field Division, were placed at the direct disposition of the supreme Headquarter.
By March 31st the Army had taken full possession of the new territory assigned to it, bounded on the west by the course of the Seine from its source to its mouth.
The Ist Army was in the departments of Seine-Inférieure and Somme, the IInd in front of Paris in the departments of Oise and Seine et Marne, the IIIrd in the departments of Aube and Haute Marne, the Army of the South in the districts most lately hostile. The forts of Paris on the left bank were given up to the French authorities; the siege park and the captured war material had been removed. In consideration of the desire of the French Government that the National Assembly might be allowed as early as possible to sit at Versailles, the supreme Headquarter was removed to Ferrières, even sooner than had been agreed. On March 15th his Majesty left Nancy for Berlin.