Evening star., 1914-08-16
German ENTRY Into Paris
Recalled by Present Wan

THAT the German armies are striv-
ing. tooth and nail. to duplicate
their wonderful feat Of 1871 and
thunder down upon Paris as swiftly as
the power Of their great war machine
can carry them Is now clear to the
world.
In that war, the imperial armies of
Napoleon III were overthrown at Sedan
on September 6-barely six weeks after
the declaration Of war between France
and Prussia. But It was not until the
following February that Paris. herself.
after terrific siege of more than a
hundred days. surrendered to the Ger
man guns. For the new republic Of
France, hastily declared upon the ruins
Of the empire at Sedan. put up q tre-
mendous resistance. compelling the Ger
mans to bring up well nigh million
men before they could batter their way
into the French capital.
The Germans in 1871 desired Paris not
SO much for the military as for the
moral effect upon the world. It had
been the habit Of Napoleon the Great.
in the capital city Of the enemy. Bis
marck, that shrewdest OF Eurpean
statesmen Of his time. realised the tre-
mendous effect 1t would have upon the
this example and dictate terms in the re-
gal city Of Paris, the self-styled mistress
Of world cities.
Accordingly, when the city was form
ally surrendered in February. 1871. to
the beleaguering German forces. the
Rothschilds and other great banking
houses. who had vast interests in
France. offered huge sums of money,
running far into the millions, If the
Germans would not actually enter Paris
If the sacred city were left inviolate
from the "defling footprint of the Prus-
sian invader" But the sturdy Bismarck
would listen to none of it, no matter how
great the sum offered. There still ran
killed. in his breast the humiliations that
the first Napoleon had put upon the
of Tilsit, when he had all but insulted
the proud and noble Queen Louise Of
Prussia. Into Paris the Germans should
go, said Bismarck, even though he should
lose the fruits Of the whole war.
Yet the Iron Chancellor, as he was
rightly called. was not cruel man. He
desired the actual entry. Of the Germans,
not for the purposes Of loot and rapine,
merely for the moral effect: for, like
Napoleon, he believed that imagination
ruled the world. 1t was sufficient for his
purposes that merely a single army
corps entered the city for a few days.
That would produce the proper mora
effect-and his purpose was achieved.
Hence, he voluntarily limited the Ger
man occupation of Paris to thirty thou
sand soldiers for perid of not more
than thirty days.
Accordingly 1t was arranged that the
entry of these troops should be made
upon the first day of March. At that
time Elihu Washburne, at one time
Secretary of State under President Grant.
was our minister to France. During the
war he had. in the absence of all other
diplomats, assumed the charge Of the
entire affairs of Europe within the
French capital. With him was a young
daughter. who. years after. gave the
following account of the entry of the
Germans into the city on that memor-
able day:
TT was soon after o'clock in the
morning on the first OF March when we
left the legation" she said. mere
temporary quarters in most unfash-
ionable part of the city; for. during the
bombardment, we had been compelled to
move time and time again. We went
up on the Champs d'Elysees. along
which we heard the Germans would come