1-154-217 - Art Media-Private Collection/Heritage Images

Enlistment of volunteers into the National Guard, Place du Pantheon, Paris, Franco-Prussian war, 1870-1871. From a private collection. After the defeat of the French army at Sedan, the Prussians surrounded Paris on 9 September 1871. The National Guard (Garde Nationale) was an army recruited from the citizenry of Paris to defend it against any Prussian assault. They were instrumental in the overthrow of the government in March 1871 and the establishment of the Paris Commune. From a private collection.