hatred with which Thiers's government was regarded by the Republican fanatics. At Thiers's request, Marshal MacMahon had consented to take command of the troops for the National Assembly. He arrived at Versailles and assumed charge, after the first week in April. MacMahon was resolved to undertake no decisive movement till he had amassed the 150,000 fighting men which the German authorities had now consented to allow to Thiers's government. The former prisoners of war were still pouring into France, and had to be mustered in and organized anew. Several minor demon strations were made in the second half of April. By the first week in May, at length, 128 batteries had been mounted over the beleaguered city. Fire was opened on the Communists' defences on the Pont du Jour. Fort Issy was taken, with 109 guns, the insurgents evacuating it under cover of night. Fort Vauves was set on fire, and had also to be evacuated for a time, but was subsequently reentered by the forces of the Commune, to be held by them until the middle of May. Then it was recaptured and garrisoned by MacMahon's troops, the Communists making their escape by a subterranean passage. The siege had reached its last stage. To the north and east stood the grim barrier of the German forces, ready to bar any attempt at egress on the part of the pent-up insurgents. French regular troops lay encamped outside in the Bois de Boulogne. On May 21 it was discovered that the gate of St. Cloud had been left almost defenceless, and MacMahon's troops rushed in. Simultaneously the gate of Auteuil was stormed, and Marshal MacMahon, with all his forces, entered Paris. The city had to be taken street by street. The Communists murdered most of their remaining prisoners. No sooner had Paris been conquered than the victorious soldiers slaughtered their late foes in droves. Women were shot as well as men, for female incendiaries, known as pétroleuses, had helped to set fire to the public THIERS BECOMES PRESIDENT 1871 buildings and houses of the rich. The conflagration lasted several days, but by the efforts of the soldiers and a change of the wind it was at length subdued. The greater part of the Tuileries, the Library of the Louvre, and a portion of the Palais Royal had been consumed; also the Hotel de Ville, the Ministry of Finance, the Theatre Lyrique and Du Chatelet, a great part of the Rue Royale, and many other buildings. The Luxembourg was partially blown up, and the Column of Vendôme was upset. The ravages were far worse than those suffered from the prolonged German bombardment. The Commune has been immortalized in French letters by Victor Hugo's great poem "L'Année Terrible." The thrilling scenes of the Franco-Prussian war have been further perpetuated by the graphic tales of Guy de Maupassant, and by the historic canvases of such battle painters as Camphausen, Menzel, and Werner on the German side, and of Protais, Detaille, and De Neuville, in France. After the fall of the Commune, the National Assembly and its chosen chief, Louis Adolph Thiers, were left the only constituted power in France. Unauthorized they continued to rule the land on the basis of a parliamentary republic. Toward the end of June Thiers negotiated a loan of two and a half milliards of francs, which enabled France to pay the first part of her war indemnity to Germany, and thus free a great part of her territory from foreign occupation. On the last day of August Thiers was elected President of the Republic for three years, the National Assembly reserving the right to give the country a new constitution. During these troublous times, on May 13, occurred the death of Daniel François Esprit Auber, the French operatic composer. Auber's charming melodies, instinct with the national airs of France, together with his uniform grace and piquancy of orchestration, give him high place in the realm of light opera. XIXth Century-Vol. III-7 1871 THE CHICAGO FIRE In Japan a conference of the daimios in September arranged for their retirement to private life on one-tenth of their former incomes. The samurai, or fighting retainers of the daimios, were to be enrolled in the imperial army, or recompensed with money. On September 28 the Brazilian Chambers decreed that slavery should be abolished throughout the dominion of Brazil. For some time many of the slaves were still held in bondage, but facilities for emancipation were given. On October 8 a fire broke out in Chicago, started, it was said, by the overturn of a kerosene lamp in a cow-shed. The conflagration, which began on a Sunday night, raged until noontime of the following Tuesday. Five hundred persons lost their lives, and one hundred thousand were rendered homeless. About one-third of the city was destroyed, and the burnt area covered a space of 2,600 acres, involving a loss of more than $70,000,000 in real property. In New York great excitement resulted from the disclosures of political and financial corruption on the part of Bill Tweed and his associates as published by the New York "Times." Sums amounting to $3,000,000 had been squandered for county printing alone during the last three years. The new county court-house, instead of costing $2,500,000, As estimated, had actually cost over $12,000,000, the bulk of which was stolen. A vigilance Committee of Seventy citizens was formed to crush the Tammany Ring. Tweed, when confronted with the facts, insolently asked: "Well, what are you going to do about it?" About the same time news was received of the success of another famous newspaper enterprise. Henry M. Stanley had been sent to Africa by the New York "Herald" to obtain tidings of the long-lost missionary David Livingstone. Stanley reached Ungamyambe in West Central Africa, November 10, thence marched into Niji and found Livingstone. |