THE SIEGE OF PARIS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1295, 10 September 1914, Page 4

THE SIEGE OF PARIS.

The siege of Paris by the Germans in 1870 71 began on September 19, 1870, with the occupation by the Germans of the heights on the left bank of the river Seine, and the capture of the unfinished redoubt of Chatillon. Two days later the investment was complete. General Trochu, head of the French Government and Governor of the city, had under his command 400,000 men, a force which ought to have been able to hold out against the 240,000 Germans by whom it was besieged, had it not been composed, for the most part, of hurried levies of raw soldiers with inexperienced officers and of national guards, who, never having been subjected to strict military discipline, were a source of weakness rather than strength. ; The partial successes which the French obtained in engagements on both sides of the river, were rendered useless by the Germans recapturing all the best positions. The severity of winter told heavily on the garrison, and the armies in the provinces, which were to have co-operated with it were held in t check by the Germans in the west and south. The city was also insufficiently provisioned tor the increase of population caused by the influx of refugees, and was already suffering the horrors of famine. In obedience to public opinion a great sortie was undertaken, but accidental circumstances combined with the indecision of the leaders to render the enterprise a failure. Despatches sent by balloon to the army of the Uoire, instructing it to make a diversion, reached their destination too late. Another sortie, made towards the north on December 21, was repulsed, and the besieged lost the Avron plateau, the key to the positions which they still held on that side. The bombardment began on December 17. In Janury, 1871, a third and last sortie was attempted, but resulted in hopeless retreat. An armistice was signed on January 27, the capitulation on the 28th, and on March 1 the Germans entered Paris.