266, 1. The Siege of Berlin. This is a story of the Franco-Prussian
War, the war between France and Germany in 1870. War was declared in
July and the opening battle was fought the first of August before the
French had had time to complete their preparations. This battle, at
Wissemburg, resulted in a heavy loss for the French troops.
The fighting during August of 1870 covered much the same ground
contested during the World War. It is especially interesting to note
that it was at Sedan that the French met their great defeat in
September, 1870, and that Sedan was captured by the French shortly
before the signing of the Armistice in November, 1918.
The battle of Sedan in 1870 meant the total defeat of the French army,
and the Germans immediately began a four months' siege of Paris. After
terrible suffering the city surrendered to the enemy in January, 1871.
The territory of Alsace-Lorraine lost by France to Germany in the war
of 1870 was returned after the World War.
2. Arc de Triomphe. Sometimes called the Arc de l'Etoile. The great
triumphal arch at the head of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, begun by
Napoleon to celebrate his victories and completed by Louis Philippe.
After the Germans marched under it in triumph after the siege of Paris,
chains were stretched across the roadway and the order was given that
no one was to drive under the arch again until the lost provinces
should be restored to France. In the great celebration on July 14,
1919, the armies of the victorious French and their Allies marched up
the avenue under the Arc de Triomphe.
3. A cuirassier of the First Empire. A cuirassier is a cavalryman whose
body is protected by a cuirass, a piece of defensive armor, covering
the body from neck to girdle, and combining a breastplate and a back
piece. The First Empire was the Empire of France under Napoleon I,
1804-1814.
267, 1. Mac Mahon. The Marshal of France during the War of 1870.
269, 1. Mayence. The German town of Mainz, where one of the strongest
German fortresses is located.
273, 1. Invalides. The Hôtel des Invalides is an establishment in Paris
where French veterans are maintained at the expense of the state. Part
of the building is a great military museum where trophies of war are
exhibited. Among them are German guns captured in the World War.
Napoleon is buried in the Dome des Invalides, a chapel in this
building.
274, 1. The Tuileries. The palace of the French kings in Paris.
275, 1. Uhlans. Prussian cavalrymen.
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