On the basis of the agreement of January 28th a line of demarcation was drawn, from which both parties were to withdraw their outposts to a distance of 10 km. The line ran south from the mouth of the Seine as far as the Sarthe, crossed the Loire at Saumur, followed the Creuse, turned eastward past Vierzon, ClamÉcy and Chagny, and then met the Swiss frontier, after bending to the north of ChÂlons sur SaÔne and south of Lons le Saulnier and St. Laurent. The two departments of Pas de Calais and du Nord, as well as the promontory of Havre, were particularly excluded.

The fortresses still held by French troops in the districts occupied by the Germans were assigned a rayon in proportion to their importance.

In carrying out the details of the agreement a liberal interpretation was in most instances allowed. The arrangements had the sanction of those members of the Government of National Defence who were in Paris; while the delegates at Bordeaux, who had hitherto conducted the war, at first held aloof, and indeed, as yet had not been made acquainted with the detailed conditions. Gambetta, it is true, allowed the suspension of operations, but could not give the commanders more precise instructions.

General Faidherbe was thus without orders with regard to the evacuation of Dieppe and Abbeville. General von Goeben, however, refrained from taking immediate possession of these places. On the west of the Seine, the Grand Duke was forced to proclaim that the non-recognition of the line of demarcation would be followed by an immediate recommencement of hostilities.

The commandant of the garrison at Langres also raised difficulties, and only withdrew within his rayon on February 7th, as did General Rolland later at BesanÇon. Auxonne was at first unwilling to give up control of the railway. Bitsch, which had not been worth the trouble of a serious attack, repudiated the convention; the investment had therefore to be strengthened, and only in March, when threatened with a determined attack, did the garrison abandon its peak of rock.

Nor did the volunteers acquiesce at once, and there were collisions with them at various points. But after the conditions were finally settled, no more serious quarrels occurred between the inhabitants and the German troops during the whole course of the armistice.

All the German corps before Paris occupied the forts lying in their front, more specifically the Vth took over Mont ValÉrien, and the IVth the town of St. Denis. Between the forts and the enceinte there lay a neutral zone, which civilians were allowed to cross only by specified roads placed under control of German examining troops.

Apprehensive as it was of the indignation of the populace, the French Government had hesitated so long to utter the word "capitulation," that now, even with the resumption of free communication, Paris was threatened with an outbreak of actual famine. The superfluous stores in the German magazines were therefore placed at the disposal of its authorities. The respective chief-Commands, the local Governments-General, and the Etappen-Inspections received instructions to place no difficulties in the way of the repair of the railways and roads in their districts, and the French authorities were even allowed to make use, under German supervision, of the repaired railroads which the invaders used to supply their own army. Nevertheless, the first provision-train only arrived in Paris on February 3rd, and it was the middle of the month before the French had succeeded in remedying the prevalent distress in the capital.

The German prisoners were at once given up. The surrender of arms and war-material followed by degrees, also the payment of the 200 million francs war-contribution imposed on the city.

But it was still doubtful if the party of "war to the bitter end" in Bordeaux would fall in with the arrangements made by the Paris Government, and whether the National Assembly about to be convened would finally ratify the conditions of peace imposed by the conquerors. The necessary measures in case of the resumption of hostilities were therefore taken on the French as well as on the German side.

The distribution of the French forces at the establishment of the armistice was not favourable.

By General Faidherbe's advice the Army of the North was wholly disbanded, as being too weak to face the strength opposing it. After the XXIInd Corps had been transported by sea to Cherbourg, the Army of Brittany under General de Colomb was composed of it, the XXVIIth and part of the XIXth Corps, and, including Lipowski's volunteers, Cathelineau's and other details, its strength was some 150,000 men. General Loysel with 30,000 ill-armed and raw Gardes-Mobiles remained in the trenches of Havre.

General Chanzy, after his retreat on Mayenne, had made a movement to the left, preparatory to a new operation with the IInd Army of the Loire from the Caen base, which, however, was never carried out. The XVIIIth, XXIst, XVIth, and XXVIth Corps stood between the lower Loire and the Cher from Angers to ChÂteauroux, in a strength of about 160,000 men strong, the XXVth under General Pourcet was at Bourges, and General de Pointe's Corps at Nevers. The Army of the Vosges had withdrawn southward of ChÂlons sur SaÔne, and the remains of the Army of the East assembled under General CrÉmer at ChambÉry as the XXIVth Corps.

The total of all the field-troops amounted to 534,452 men. The volunteers, even those most to be relied on, were dismissed, and the National Guard was designated as for the present "incapable of rendering any military service." In the depÔts, the camps of instruction, and in Algiers there were still 354,000 men, and 132,000 recruits were on the lists as the contingent for 1871, but had not yet been called up.

In case the war should be persisted in, a plan for limiting it to the defensive in the south-east of France was under consideration, for which, however, according to the report sent on February 8th by the Committee of Inquiry to the National Assembly, scarcely more than 252,000 men in fighting condition were available. The fleet, besides, had given up so considerable a number of its men and guns for service on land, that it was no longer able for any great undertaking at sea.

On the German side the first consideration was to reinforce the troops to their full war-strength, and replenish the magazines.

The forts round Paris were at once armed on their fronts facing the enceinte. In and between these were 680 guns, 145 of which were captured French pieces; more than enough to keep the restless population under control. A part of the forces previously occupied in the siege, being no longer required, were removed, in order that the remaining troops should have better accommodation. Besides, it seemed desirable to strengthen the IInd Army, which had in its front the enemy's principal force. In consequence the IVth Corps marched to Nogent le Rotrou, the Vth to Orleans, and the IXth, relieved there, to VendÔme; so that now the quarters of this army extended from AlenÇon to Tours, and up the Loire as far as Gien and Auxerre.

The Ist Army was in the north with the VIIIth Corps on the Somme, and the Ist on both sides of the Lower Seine; in the south the Army of the South occupied the line of demarcation from Baume to Switzerland, and the country in the rear.

At the end of February the German field-army on French soil consisted of:—

Troops in garrison:—

Reserve forces remaining in Germany:—

Arrangements were so made, that in case of a recommencement of hostilities, the strongest resistance could be made at all points. The armistice had nearly reached its end, and the troops had already been more closely collected to be ready to take the initiative of the offensive towards the south, when the Chancellor of the Confederation announced the extension of the armistice to the 24th, which was again prolonged to midnight on the 26th.

Considerable difficulties had arisen from the differences of opinion with regard to the election of the National Assembly, between the Government in Paris and the Delegation at Bordeaux. The Germans wished to see carried out the choice, not of a party, but of the whole nation, expressed by a free suffrage. But Gambetta had ruled, in violation of the conditions of the armistice, that all who after December 2nd, 1851, had held any position in the Imperial Government should be ineligible to vote. It was not till the Parisian Government had obtained a majority by sending several of its members to Bordeaux, and after the dictator had resigned on February 6th, that the elections proceeded quickly and unhindered.

The deputies duly assembled in Bordeaux by the 12th, the appointed day. M. Thiers was elected chief of the executive, and went to Paris on the 19th with Jules Favre, determined to end the aimless war at any cost.

Negotiations for peace were opened, and after five days' vigorous discussion, when at last on the German side the concession to restore Belfort was made, the preliminaries were signed on the afternoon of the 26th.

France bound herself to give up in favour of Germany a part of Lorraine, and the province of Alsace with the exception of Belfort, and also to pay a war indemnity of five milliards of francs.

The evacuation of the districts in occupation of the German armies was to begin immediately on the ratification of the treaty, and be continued by degrees in proportion as the money was paid. While the German troops remained on French soil they were to be maintained at the charge of the country. On the other hand all requisitioning on the part of the Germans was to cease. Immediately on the first instalment of evacuation the French forces were to retire behind the Loire, with the exception of 20,000 men in Paris and the necessary garrisons in the fortresses.

After the ratification of these preliminaries, further terms were to be discussed in Brussels, and the return of the French prisoners would begin. The armistice was prolonged to March 12th; but it was in the option of either of the belligerent powers to end it after March 3rd by giving three days' notice.

Finally, it was stipulated that the German Army should have the satisfaction of marching into Paris, and remaining there till the ratification of the treaty; but would be restricted to the section of the city from Point du Jour to the Rue du Faubourg St. HonorÉ. The entry was made on March 1st, after a parade at Longchamps before his Majesty of 30,000 men, consisting of 11,000 of the VIth, 11,000 of the IInd Bavarian, and 8000 of the XIth Army Corps. On the 3rd and 5th of March this force was to have been relieved by successive bodies of the same strength, but M. Thiers succeeded by March 1st in getting the National Assembly at Bordeaux to accept the treaty, after the deposition of the Napoleonic dynasty had been decreed. The exchange of ratifications took place in the afternoon of the 2nd, and on the 3rd the first instalment of troops of occupation marched out of Paris back into its quarters.