1-154-315 - Art Media-Private Collection/Heritage Images

Soldiers of the Garde Nationale, Siege of Paris, 1870-1871. Two hungry soldiers filling up jerrycans with water and dreaming of having soup to eat. After the disastrous defeat of the French at Sedan and the capture of Napoleon III, the Prussians surrounded Paris on 9 September 1870, besieging the city until its eventual surrender in January 1871. The 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.