The Prussian-dominated North German Confederation had recently emerged victorious in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, which led to the questioning of France's status as the dominant power of continental Europe.

With the renewed artillery attack and an increasingly starving and ill Parisian population and garrison, the Government of National Defense would conclude armistice negotiations with the North German Confederation on 28 January 1871.

In Paris, the governor and commander-in-chief of the city's defenses, General Louis Jules Trochu, assembled a force of 60,000 regular soldiers who had managed to escape from Sedan under Joseph Vinoy or who were gathered from depot troops.

[6] The French had expected the war to be fought mainly on German soil; it was not until the defeats at Spicheren and Frœschwiller that the authorities began to take serious action in organizing the defenses of Paris.

On 17 September a force under Vinoy attacked Frederick's army near Villeneuve-Saint-Georges in an effort to save a supply depot there, but it was eventually driven back by artillery fire.

[14] Prussia's chancellor Otto von Bismarck suggested shelling Paris to ensure the city's quick surrender and render all French efforts to free the city pointless, but the German high command, headed by the king of Prussia, turned down the proposal on the insistence of General von Blumenthal, on the grounds that a bombardment would affect civilians, violate the rules of engagement, and turn the opinion of third parties against the Germans, without speeding up the final victory.

Then on 13 October the II Royal Bavarian Corps was driven from Châtillon but the French were forced to retire in face of Prussian artillery.

[17] The Guard actually had little interest in recapturing their positions at Le Bourget, but Crown Prince Albert ordered the city retaken anyway.

[19] In the meantime, battalions of loyal National Guards led by Jules Ferry and a detachment of Mobiles headed by the Prefect of Police, Edmond Adam, prepared to retake the building.

On 21 December, French forces attempted another breakout at Le Bourget, in the hopes of meeting up with General Louis Faidherbe's army.

But as time wore on, there was growing concern that a prolonged war was placing too much strain on the German economy and that an extended siege would convince the French Government of National Defense that Prussia could still be beaten.

A prolonged campaign would also allow France time to reconstitute a new army and convince neutral powers to enter the war against Prussia.

To Bismarck, Paris was the key to breaking the power of the intransigent republican leaders of France, ending the war in a timely manner, and securing peace terms favourable to Prussia.

Moltke was also worried that insufficient winter supplies were reaching the German armies investing the city, as diseases such as tuberculosis were breaking out amongst the besieging soldiers.

[24] During the siege, the only head of diplomatic mission from a major power who remained in Paris was United States Minister to France, Elihu B. Washburne.

The authorities instituted price controls on certain staple foods at the beginning of the siege, but these were rendered ineffective by a lack of enforcement and the rampant black market in the city.

[30] A Latin Quarter menu contemporary with the siege reads in part: The increasing hunger of the Parisians coincided with bitterly cold winter weather and a dire lack of fuel for heat.

[34] In January, on Bismarck's advice, the Germans fired some 12,000 shells into the city over 23 nights in an attempt to break Parisian morale.

That day, the guns of forts Issy and Vanves were silenced by a relentless barrage, allowing the Prussian artillery to be moved up to 750 yards closer to Paris.

Moltke, in response to a complaint on this matter from Trochu, responded that he hoped to soon move the artillery closer so that his gunners could better identify the Red Cross flags.

[43] An English observer, Edwin Child, wrote that he "Became more and more convinced of the impossibility of effectually bombarding Paris, the houses being built of such solid blocks of stone that they could only be destroyed piecemeal.

One bomb simply displaces one stone, in spite of their enormous weight..."[44] On 25 January 1871, Wilhelm I overruled Moltke and ordered the field-marshal to consult with Bismarck for all future operations.

The final terms agreed on were that the French regular troops (less one division) would be disarmed, Paris would pay an indemnity of two hundred million francs, and the fortifications around the perimeter of the city would be surrendered.

[47] The United States sent around $2 million worth of food, but much of it was held up at the port of Le Havre because of a shortage of workers for unloading the ships.

The arrival of the first British convoy of food at Les Halles sparked a riot and pillaging, "while for seven hours the police seemed powerless to intervene".

[48] Thirty thousand Prussian, Bavarian and Saxon troops held a brief victory parade in Paris on March 1, 1871 and Bismarck honored the armistice by sending trainloads of food into the city.

The German troops departed after two days to take up temporary encampments to the east of the city, to be withdrawn from there when France paid the agreed war indemnity.

[53] Some balloons also carried passengers in addition to the cargo of mail, most notably Léon Gambetta, the minister for War in the new government, who was flown out of Paris on 7 October.

Empires of Sand by David W. Ball (Bantam Dell, 1999) is a novel in two parts, the first of which is set during the Franco-Prussian war, more particularly the Siege of Paris during the winter of 1870–71.

Key elements of the siege, including the hot-air balloons used for reconnaissance and messages, the tunnels beneath the city, the starvation and the cold, combine to render a vivid impression of war-time Paris before its surrender.