362 



GERMAN-FRENCH WAR. 



which was not held as prisoners. In return for 

 the surrender, which was not yet absolutely 

 necessary, from military reasons, the Germans 

 prolonged the armistice for five days, and 

 extended it to Southeastern France. On the 

 other hand, however, the line of demarcation 

 had to be drawn further south, in consequence 

 of the protracted resistance of the fortress, 

 than Avould have been the case if the French 

 Government at the beginning of the armis- 

 tice had consented to the capitulation. The 

 departments of Cote-d'Or and Doubs were 

 abandoned wholly, the department of the Jura 

 almost wholly, to the Germans. The possession 

 of the latter was of special importance, because, 

 in case of a continuation of the war, it opened 

 to the German troops a way into the valley of 

 the Rhone, since, south of the Jura, the obstruc- 

 tions, which still would have arrested a march 

 of the German troops upon Lyons, had been 

 removed. These important concessions, in ex- 

 change for a prolongation of the armistice of 

 five days, indicated that the French Govern- 

 ment had renounced all idea of resuming the 

 war. 



On February 21st the negotiations concern- 

 ing the preliminaries of peace were begun at 

 Versailles, between Bismarck and Thiers, the 

 latter being assisted by fifteen commissioners 

 of peace, appointed by the National Assembly 

 of Bordeaux. At the expiration of the armis- 

 tice, a full understanding had not been ar- 

 rived at, but there was no doubt that it would 

 be reached, and consequently the armistice 

 was once more prolonged from February 24th 

 to the evening of February 26th. In fact, on 

 February 25th, all the conditions were agreed 

 upon, and on the 26th the preliminaries of 

 peace were signed. Two days later, they were 

 laid by Thiers before the National Assembly 

 of Bordeaux, which, on March 1st, ratified 

 them by 546 against 107 votes. The ten arti- 

 cles of the preliminaries contained substan- 

 tially the following conditions : France aban- 

 dons, in favor of the German Empire, German 

 Lorraine, inclusive of the fortress of Metz, and 

 nearly the whole of Alsace. France pays to 

 the Emperor of Germany five milliards of 

 francs ; one milliard, at least, has to be paid 

 during the year 1871 ; the remainder in the 

 course of three years. Paris, as well as all 

 the territory occupied by the Germans on the 

 left bank of the Seine, must be evacuated 

 immediately after the ratification of the pre- 

 liminaries by the National Assembly of Bor- 

 deaux. The French troops withdraw behind 

 the Loire, which they are not allowed to 

 cross before the signing of the definitive treaty. 

 The garrison of Paris, which is not to exceed 

 40,000 men, and the garrisons indispensable 

 for the safety of the fortresses, are excepted 

 from this condition. The evacuation of the 

 departments between the right bank of the 

 Seine and the eastern frontier, by the German 

 troops, will gradually take place after the rati- 

 fication of the definitive treaty and the payment 



of the first half milliard, the beginning being 

 made with the departments next to Paris, and 

 will be continued in proportion as the subse- 

 quent payments of the contributions may be 

 made. After the payment of two milliards, 

 the German occupation will be confined to the 

 departments of the Marne, the Ardennes, the 

 Upper Marne, the Meuse, the Yosges, and the 

 Meurthe, and to the fortress of Belfort and its 

 territory, which together shall serve as surety 

 for the remaining three milliards, and where the 

 number of the German troops shall not exceed 

 50.000 men. No obstacle will be put in the 

 way of the voluntary emigration of inhabitants 

 of the ceded territory by the German Govern- 

 ment. The prisoners of war shall be exchanged 

 immediately after the ratification of the pre- 

 liminaries. The opening of the negotiations 

 concerning the definitive treaty will take place 

 at Brussels immediately after the mutual rati- 

 fication of the preliminaries. In accordance 

 with these provisions, the German troops, 

 which had entered Paris on March 1st, left the 

 city and the forts on the left bank of the Seine 

 on the next day, and the march homeward was 

 begun. On March 4th the partial demobiliza- 

 tion of the German army was ordered ; on the 

 next day the general governments at Ver- 

 sailles, Rheims, and Nancy, were dissolved; 

 and, on March 9th, the fleet was ordered to be 

 reduced to a peace footing. On March 12th 

 Versailles was evacuated ; on the next day the 

 German Emperor left the castle of Ferrieres, 

 in order to return to Germany. At Nancy, 

 the Emperor, on March 15th, took leave, by 

 an army order, of the armies ; on the same 

 day, at 11 o'clock A.M., he arrived on German 

 soil, at Saarbriick, when he was presented, 

 by delegations from 3,000 communities of the 

 German Rhine provinces, with an address of 

 welcome, and a golden laurel crown of sur- 

 passing splendor. The line of return from Saar- 

 bruck to Berlin, where the Emperor arrived 

 on March 17th, was an uninterrupted chain of 

 grand ovations. When, on March 18th, a revo- 

 lution broke out in Paris, General de Fabrici 

 informed by telegraph Jules Favre and General 

 Schlottheim, the revolutionary government in 

 Paris, what steps had been taken for the de- 

 fence of the German interests. On March 26th 

 the fortress of Bitche was occupied by the Ger- 

 man troops. 



On March 28th the conference of peace was 

 opened at Brussels. After the conclusion of the 

 preliminaries, the Government of France had 

 made the utmost efforts to obtain a modifica- 

 tion of the conditions of peace. With regard 

 to the payment of indemnification, in particu- 

 lar, propositions had been made, so surprising 

 to the Germans that they began to suspect the 

 honesty of the designs of France. It was be- 

 lieved that Thiers was relying on foreign in- 

 tervention. Prince Bismarck, therefore, gave 

 the French to understand that, only if the de- 

 finitive treaty was soon agreed upon, a furthei 

 consideration of the wants of the French Gov- 



