The capitulation of Napoleon and his army at Sedan in September 1870 shook Paris to its foundations. The Second Empire was swept from power, and a Government of National Defence hastily put in its place. In truth, however, the French were still far from convinced the war was lost. Sedan was widely seen as the defeat of an unpopular Imperial regime and its private army, rather than that of France itself, and many felt that as long as the Germans remained intransigent the fight could and should be continued. To replace the professional army a 'war of the people' was called for.

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