First-time designer Fred Serval writes about the historical context for his upcoming design on the Paris Commune…
In 1872, Victor Hugo published a series of poems called L’Année Terrible (the Terrible Year), dealing with 3 significant events in the writer’s life: the fall of the Second Empire, the loss of his son, and the events of the Paris Commune. This year was indeed terrible, not only for Victor Hugo but also for Parisians and most of the French population. After the fall of Napoleon the third, the famous author could finally come back from exile to his home city only to witness the Prussian Siege of 1870, the humiliating end of the war, foreign troops parading in Paris, and, finally, the brutal repression of the Paris Commune during the Bloody Week.
Only a few wargames depict those events, and almost all of them focus on the first months of the 1870 war that saw the rapid and total collapse of the French army. On the 19th of July, after months of increased tension between Prussia and France, the Second Empire declared war. The French military had good hopes of winning the war, superior numbers, some technological advantages, and a blind sense of nationalistic pride. What they did not understand was that their military doctrine was decades behind the modern approach to warfare that existed in the Prussian military. The result was brutal: on the 19th of August, the fortress of Metz falls, and 155,000 french soldiers get trapped; on the 1st of September, Sedan is taken, and the Emperor himself is captured. In just a couple of months, the Second Empire is obliterated, its army ridiculed, and around 300,000 soldiers are made prisoners.
The war does not end with the reign of Napoleon the third, and the Prussians push their advantage and start the siege of Paris. A provisional government is formed on the French side with two missions: command what is left of the French army and start negotiating with Prussia. Unfortunately, not everyone agreed on what should be done. Some leaders, like Gambetta, had good hopes that the French army could counter-attack and, if not win the war, get in a better position to negotiate peace, but others were very much inclined to put an end to the conflict and move on. Jules Favre, minister of foreign affairs in the gouvernement de défense nationale and in charge of negotiating with Prussia, was very much in favor of the latter.
From the 17th of September to the 26th of January 1871, the city of Paris was besieged. General Trochu, head of the provisional government, organized the defense of the city, and 40,000 men entered the Capital. This siege would have a crucial social impact on the Parisians as they were cut off from the rest of the country. Everyday life got harsh; food was a significant issue, and rats, dogs, cats, and even animals from the zoo were eaten. Politically, this siege also enhanced the divide between working-class Parisians and its political elites as they witness the increased collaboration between the provisional government and the Prussian invaders.
When the war ended in January, the siege was lifted, and the Prussian troops were allowed to symbolically occupy les champs Elyseées from the 1st to the 3rd of March. However, beyond the military defeat, the political outcomes of this terrible year would have ripple effects for decades and potentially the century that followed. In December 1870, in the highly symbolic city of Versailles, the German Empire was founded, resulting in the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine. This territorial grab from the newly formed empire would constitute a major element leading to the First World War. A large part of the French population saw this as a humiliation that the 3rd Republic would have to repair. This movement had a name: le revanchisme.
“Vous n’aurez pas l’Alsace et la Lorraine” is a French Revanchist song, detailing the spirit of the French people to retake the lost territories in the East. The region was highly contested between France and the German States since the collapse of Burgundy. The annexation in 1870 was so traumatic that even French schools would black out Alsace-Lorraine on their maps of Europe in the period between the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War.
Ludography:
- The first modern wargame on the war was published by SPI in 1972: The Franco-Prussian War a hex and counter game, covering eastern France from Strasbourg to Chalons
- French publisher Vae Victis did quite a few wargames on the Franco-Prussian war over the years: from the strategic scale with 1870-71 la campagne de l’armée de l’Est focusing on the French attempt at a counter-attack, to the tactical scale with games such as Wissembourg & Spicheren 1870, simulating the first 2 battles of the war
- At Any Cost: Metz 1870 by GMT that depicts, on a brigade scale, the battle of Metz, the first major victory of the Prussian army
Author: Fred Serval
A war that has not gotten the attention it deserves. Would love to find out more about this game.
Very true. You should find out more about the game VERY soon.
I would have thought that you might have at least mentioned something about the game system. For example is this another COIN game? It is difficult to tell whether the Paris Commune is the subject of the game or simply an indicator of the time period covered.
Hi Lynn, this article series is just to provide an historical context to the game for people not familiar with the event of Paris Commune. As soon as the game will be added to the P500 you’ll have all the informations about the game system. It won’t be a COIN game as I don’t think that the system is adapted for that event.