* * * * * At this point let us pause a moment to notice with what great rapidity the French were overcome. On the 4th of August the Germans crossed the frontier; by the 22nd of the same month Bazaine was shut up in Metz; and on the 2nd of September Napoleon and 80,000 men surrendered at Sedan. Thirteen days later the siege of Paris began. Bazaine surrendered at Metz on the 27th of October, and when Paris fell on the 30th of January all was over. The whole campaign, from the moment the first gun was fired to the day Paris fell, lasted only six months. As we shall see later, the Germans believed that what they did in 1870-71 they could do again in 1914. [Illustration: The Defence of Paris. [This picture does not represent an actual scene, but is intended to illustrate the heroism of the defenders who freely gave their lives for their city and country. France is shown in the centre of the picture as a female figure. The angel of destruction, attended by a carrion crow is seen on the upper corner on the left.] _From the picture by J. L. Meissonier._] [Footnote 113: Independent Grand Duchy (area 997 sq. m.) between France, Belgium, and Germany. It forms a low plateau, and is drained by the Moselle and its tributary the Sauer. Mining and iron smelting are the chief occupations of the people.] [Footnote 114: _Vōzh._ You will see their position on the map. The highest point (4,680 ft.) is at the south end. The western slopes of the mountains are thickly wooded, and the valleys give pasturage to many cattle.] [Footnote 115: _Bāl_, largest and richest town of Switzerland, on the north bank of the Rhine, where it sweeps eastward.] [Footnote 116: _Lor-rān´, āl-säs´._] [Footnote 117: _Say._] [Footnote 118: Born 1856; died 1879. After 1870 he lived with his mother at Chislehurst in Kent, and entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich.] [Footnote 119: _Zar´brūk-en_, on left bank of Saar, 38 miles east of Metz, in a coal-mining district.] [Footnote 120: _Vīs´en-boorg_, 33 miles north-east of Strassburg.] [Footnote 121: Born 1808; died 1893. He was made duke and field-marshal after saving the day at Magenta (see p. 88).] [Footnote 122: _Vaert_, village, 12 miles south of Weissenburg.] [Footnote 123: From Algeria (_Al-jē´ri-a_), African colony of France fronting the Mediterranean Sea, inhabited chiefly by Moors.] [Footnote 124: _Fross-ar_, born 1807; died 1875. He had been a colonel in the Crimean War.] [Footnote 125: _Stīn´mets_, born 1796; died 1877. Was in command of the Prussian army which gained victories over the Austrians in 1866.] [Footnote 126: _Baz-ane´_, born 1811; died 1888. Marshal of France; previously saw service in Algeria, Spain, Italy, Morocco, the Crimea and Mexico. In 1873 he was denounced as a traitor and sentenced to death, but let off with twenty years' imprisonment. In August 1874 he escaped to Madrid, where he died.]