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Recollections
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General SummaryELIHU BENJAMIN WASHBURNE (1816–1887), a native of Maine and a resident of Illinois, had a distinguished career as representative in Congress during the ’fifties and ’sixties of the last century. General Grant, upon becoming president in 1869, made Washburne secretary of state. On account of ill-health, however, he soon resigned that office and accepted an appointment as minister to France. His term of service, which lasted over eight years, coincided with one of the most interesting and dramatic periods of French history. What he saw at this time he describes vividly and, it would seem, fairly.
152. Entry of the Germans Into Paris2
The treaty having provided for the entry of thirty thousand
German troops into Paris, accordingly on March 1, 1871, the
German soldiers entered the city. At nine o’clock in the forenoon
three blue hussars entered the Porte Maillot, proceeded up
the Avenue of the Grand Army, and walked their horses slowly
down the magnificent avenue of the Champs Élysées, with
carbines cocked and finger upon the trigger. These hussars
looked carefully into the side streets and proceeded slowly down
the avenue. But few people were out at that early hour in the
morning. Soon after this, six more hussars made their appearance
by the same route, and every few minutes thereafter the
number increased. Then came in the main body of the advanced
guard, numbering about one thousand men, consisting of
cavalry and infantry (Bavarian and Prussian), forming part of
the Eleventh Corps, under the command of General Kanamichi.
By this time the crowd on the Champs Élysées had increased
and met the advancing Germans with hisses and insults. A
portion of the German troops halted and with great deliberation
loaded their pieces, whereat the crowd, composed mostly
of boys and "roughs," incontinently took to their heels. According
to a previous understanding among the French, all the
shops and restaurants along the route had been closed; but
notwithstanding their vigorous asseverations that no consideration
whatever would induce them to look upon or speak to the
Prussians, I found, on going to the Champs Élysées at half-past
nine o’clock, a large number of them attracted thither by
curiosity, which they were unable to resist. In walking down
the avenue to the point where the main body of the force had
halted, in front of the Palace of Industry, I counted a body of
twenty-five French people, men, women and children, in the
most cordial fraternization with the German soldiers. . . .
From what I could learn, the great body of the German troops
were reviewed by the emperor at Longchamps, before their
entry into Paris. Instead, therefore, of the mass of the troops
entering at ten o’clock, as had been previously announced, it
was not until half-past one o’clock in the afternoon that the
Royal Guard of Prussia, in four solid bodies, surrounded the
Arc de Triomphe. Then a company of Uhlans, with their spears
stuck in their saddles, and ornamented by the little flags of blue
and white, headed the advancing column. They were followed
by the Saxons, with their light blue coats, who were succeeded
by the Bavarian riflemen, with their heavy uniform and martial
tread. Afterward followed more of the Uhlans, and occasionally
a squad of the Bismarck cuirassiers with their white
jackets, black hats and waving plumes, recalling to mind, perhaps,
among the more intelligent French observers the celebrated
cuirassiers of Nansouty and Latour Maubourg, in the
wars of the First Napoleon.
Now came the artillery, with its pieces of six, which must
have extorted the admiration of all military men by its splendid
appearance and wonderful precision of movement. Next fell
into line the Royal Guard of Prussia, with their shining casques
and glittering bayonets, which had been massed around the
world-renowned Arc de Triomphe, erected (and with what
bitter sarcasm it might be said) to the glory of the Grand Army!
. . . . A good many French people were on the sidewalks on
either side of the avenue. At first the troops were met with
hisses, cat-calls, and all sorts of insulting cries, but as they
poured in, thicker and faster — forming by companies, as they
swept down the avenue to the strains of martial music — the
crowd seemed to be awed into silence, and no other sound was
heard but the tramp of the soldiery and the occasional word
of command. The only disturbance which I saw was occasioned
by some individual advancing from the sidewalk and giving
his hand to a German cavalryman, whereat the crowd "went
for" him. But his backing seemed so powerful that the crowd
soon dispersed without any further disturbance.
The entry of the main body of the troops occupied about two
hours and after that they began to disperse into the various
quarters of the city to which they had been assigned, in search
of their lodgings.
2 Washburne, , vol. ii, pp. 9–12.
Contents:
Chicago: "Entry of the Germans Into Paris," Recollections in Readings in Modern European History, ed. Webster, Hutton (Boston: D.C. Heath, 1926), 356–357. Original Sources, accessed February 12, 2025, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=GX7CRWA5GTTTXSV.
MLA: . "Entry of the Germans Into Paris." Recollections, Vol. ii, in Readings in Modern European History, edited by Webster, Hutton, Boston, D.C. Heath, 1926, pp. 356–357. Original Sources. 12 Feb. 2025. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=GX7CRWA5GTTTXSV.
Harvard: , 'Entry of the Germans Into Paris' in Recollections. cited in 1926, Readings in Modern European History, ed. , D.C. Heath, Boston, pp.356–357. Original Sources, retrieved 12 February 2025, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=GX7CRWA5GTTTXSV.
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