Two weeks later, it was replaced by the new government of Adolphe Thiers, which soon passed a variety of financial laws in an attempt to pay reparations and thus oblige the Prussians to leave France, leading to the outbreak of revolutions in French cities, and the ultimate creation of the Paris Commune.

When news of Napoleon's capture reached Paris, leading members of the National Assembly rushed to the Hôtel de Ville to declare a new government.

Although various political factions were included (with the exception of the Bonapartists), Orleanists, Legitimists, and other conservatives exercised actual power in the Government of National Defence.

[1] When offered the post of president of the government, General Jules Trochu, an Orleanist, accepted it based on the Assembly's promise that they would "resolutely defend religion, property, and the family".

The Government greatly increased the already formidable fortifications around Paris and brought in vast quantities of food from the countryside, to feed the swollen population of the city throughout the expected siege.

On 7 October Minister of the Interior Léon Gambetta left besieged Paris by hot air balloon, arriving in Tours three days later,[3] from where he and his deputy Charles de Freycinet directed the war across unoccupied France.

In addition, food stocks were running dangerously low and the city was enduring constant artillery bombardments from the Prussians, and although the shelling was surprisingly ineffective, its demoralising effect on Paris was severe.

In Tours, Gambetta received the news of the surrender by telegram on 29 January, and although he still wished to fight on, was convinced to step down by a group of diplomats who arrived from Paris by train on 6 February.

Eager to pay reparations and thus oblige the Prussians to leave France, the new government passed a variety of financial laws which deeply angered Parisians, leading to the outbreak of revolutions in French cities, and the ultimate creation of the Paris Commune.