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Photo, Print, Drawing General Staff of the Place Vendôme, under the Commune. tat-major de la Place Vendôme, sous la Commune

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About this Item

Title

  • General Staff of the Place Vendôme, under the Commune.

Other Title

  • tat-major de la Place Vendôme, sous la Commune

Summary

  • The Franco-Prussian War was brought about by rising tensions between France and Prussia in the 1860s. France, under Emperor Napoleon III, was determined to check the growth of Prussian power and avenge what it saw as a series of diplomatic humiliations. Prussia, under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, believed that a Prussian-led war of the German states against France would be a decisive act leading to creation of a unified German empire. The conflict began on July 19, 1870, when France declared war. The French army proved woefully unprepared and suffered a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Sedan, leaving open the road to Paris. By September 19, the Germans had completely surrounded the city and begun a siege that was to last more than four months. Cut off from supplies from the countryside, the Parisians held out by eating dogs, cats, and even most of the animals in the Paris zoo. The trees on the Champs-Elysées and in parks were cut down and burned for fuel. On January 5, the German armies began a bombardment of the city, which lasted several hours each night for a period of 23 nights. About 12,000 shells fell on Paris neighborhoods, killing some 400 people. Paris surrendered on January 28, effectively ending the war. The French defeat was followed by a popular uprising and the establishment, in March 1871, of the Paris Commune, a revolutionary government formed in accordance with anarchist and socialist principles. The Commune was bloodily suppressed in May 1871 by French troops under the government of Adolphe Thiers. During the brief period in which the communards controlled Paris, they dismantled the imperial column in the Place Vendôme. The suppression of the Commune resulted in further extensive damage to the city, as the communards set fire to the Tuileries Palace, the Louvre, and other buildings, and as desperate fighting between the communards and counterrevolutionary forces destroyed or damaged many other structures. Siege de Paris: 1870--1871 (The siege of Paris: 1870--1871) is an album of 110 photographs by Auguste Bruno Braquehais (1823--75), a French photographer and pioneering photojournalist, documenting the siege and the effects of the bombardment, as well as destruction that took place during the Paris Commune. The album is from the Thereza Christina Maria Collection, which was assembled by Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and given by him to the National Library of Brazil.

Names

  • Braquehais, Bruno, 1823-1875 Photographer.

Created / Published

  • [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], [1870 to 1871]

Headings

  • -  France--Île-de-France--Paris
  • -  1870 to 1871
  • -  Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871
  • -  Group portraits
  • -  Memory of the World
  • -  Military officers
  • -  Place Vendome (Paris, France)
  • -  Portrait photographs
  • -  Soldiers

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 1 photograph : albumen paper, black and white ; 16 x 21.1 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: National Library of Brazil.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Source Collection

  • The Siege of Paris: 1870--1871

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021669272

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Braquehais, Bruno, Photographer. General Staff of the Place Vendôme, under the Commune. Paris Île-De-France France, 1870. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, to 1871] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021669272/.

APA citation style:

Braquehais, B. (1870) General Staff of the Place Vendôme, under the Commune. Paris Île-De-France France, 1870. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, to 1871] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021669272/.

MLA citation style:

Braquehais, Bruno, Photographer. General Staff of the Place Vendôme, under the Commune. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, to 1871] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021669272/>.