Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV THE THIKD REPUBLIC The Prussians were quick to follow up the signal victory of Sedan. They passed on to Paris, leaving Bazaine securely invested at Metz. Their progress was unresisted, for the French no longer had any armies to bring against them. Nearly one hundred thousand men had been captured at Sedan. Another hundred thousand were shut up in Metz. But the Government of the National Defence was full of energy. Thiers, Jules Favre, Jules Simon, and Gambetta were its leading members; and they were among the ablest men in France. They used every effort to put new armies in the field, Gambetta being particularly active in this direction. But their attempts were unavailing. Bazaiue surrendered Metz and his entire army after a short siege. The French recruits were no match for Prussia's disciplined battalions. So Paris, in spite of a brave resistance, could not be saved. The siege of the city began on September 19, 1870; on January 28, 1871, an armistice was agreed upon and resistance ceased. France, which had entered .into the war with so much elation, was utterly humiliated. Her capital was at the mercy of foreign soldiers. But peace, to be lasting, must be securely ratified. On February 8 elections were held to choose a National Assembly. The deputies met at Bordeaux and established a republican government to sit at Versailles, with M. GreVy as President, and Thiers as chief of the executive department. A few were in favor of continuing the war, but the vast majority followed the advice of Thiers, and accepted the terms which Germany offered. For, in December, King William of Prussia had been proclaimed German Emperor at Versailles. Thus the war which had prostrated France had created a new empire;and the vanquished nation had now to deal with the great power ...