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Defeat of Napoleon III -

The Battle of Sedan on September 1–2, 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, resulted in the capture of Napoleon III and effectively sealed France's fate. The Second Empire was on the brink of collapse.

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Victory for Prussia -

With Napoleon III taken prisoner, a victorious North German Confederation, led by the Kingdom of Prussia, set its sights on Paris.

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Collapse of the Second Empire -

On learning of her husband's capture, Empress Eugénie fled the city. As the de facto head of state of France, her departure precipitated the end of the government of the Second Empire.

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Siege of Paris -

The Prussian army's advance on Paris was swift. By September 19, 1870, thousands of German troops had surrounded the "City of Light." The siege of Paris had begun.

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Taking flight -

An overwhelming sense of panic set in. A number of high-ranking government officials, among them the French minister of war, and those who could afford to, also decided to vacate Paris, but in a highly novel fashion. They escaped using hot air balloons!

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Establishment of the Third Republic -

Meanwhile, remaining government officials had declared a Third Republic and formed a new legislative National Assembly. A man named Adolphe Thiers sat at the head of the table.

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Dark days in the "City of Light" -

Despite the encirclement of Paris, the new French government advocated for the continuation of the war, leading to five more months of fighting, during which Paris was continuously bombed and besieged.

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Paris surrenders -

Eventually Adolphe Thiers, realizing the hopelessness of the situation, negotiated an end to the Franco-Prussian War. The city surrendered on January 28, 1871.

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German Empire proclaimed at Versailles -

That same month, the German Empire was proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles, where Thiers had secretly negotiated an armistice with the Prussians.

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Rise of the French National Guard -

Throughout the siege, Paris had been defended not by the French army, but the local National Guard, or fédéré. After the city's surrender, Adolphe Thiers abolished the fédéré. By doing so, he sowed the seeds of a rebellion the implications of which would reverberate across France. 

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Revolution in the air -

Parisian workers who'd endured miserable conditions during the siege sided with more revolutionary sections of the National Guard in their opposition to the Versailles government. On March 18, 1871, the fédéré, assisted by sympathetic members of the public, seized dozens of bronze cannons left scattered across the city and repositioned them to the working-class neighborhoods of Montmartre, Belleville, and Buttes-Chaumont.

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Versaillais troops deployed -

The government reacted by deploying Versaillais troops to trouble spots in an attempt to disarm fédéré and their sympathizers. Generals Claude Lecomte and Jacques Clément-Thomas led from the front.

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Brink of civil war -

As the day progressed and tensions ran high, many Versaillais conscripts had a change of heart, refusing to fire on crowds of civilians and national guardsmen. March 18 ended with the capture and execution by Versaillais deserters and guardsmen of Lecomte and Clément-Thomas.

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Paris Commune established -

Lecomte and Clément-Thomas were the first casualties of what was beginning to look like a civil war. With the government of the Third Republic ensconced beyond city boundaries at Versailles, the National Guard and working-class radicals quickly set up a local government, the Paris Commune, which began working on March 28 in the Hôtel de Ville.

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Louise Michel and Eugène Varlin -

Among the more high-profile Communards was the incendiary anarchist and irrepressible rebel Louise Michel. She enthusiastically threw herself into the armed struggle against the French government. Another significant figure was the socialist and pioneer of syndicalism (the unionization of workers) Eugène Varlin. Varlin would ultimately be executed for his involvement in the Paris Commune; Michel survived the events of March 1871, dying of pneumonia in Marseille on January 10, 1905.

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The barricades are built -

Soon after establishing power, the Paris Commune consolidated its grip on Paris by militarizing the city. Barricades made of cobblestone and other debris were built across streets and roads.

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Vendôme Column toppled -

Many Communards nurtured a destructive nature fueled by a fear that the Versailles-based government would be a republic in name only and would quickly reestablish the monarchy. An early target of the anti-monarchist ire was the Vendôme Column, a landmark monument erected to honor Napoleon Bonaparte. The column was reduced to rubble in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

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Adolphe Thiers' house demolished -

Another target was the Paris residence of the despised Adolphe Thiers. His property was looted and then demolished with undisguised zeal. But Versailles was about to hit back.

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Ready for war -

Led by Marshal Patrice Maurice de MacMahon, the Versailles army mounted a full-scale attack on Paris in early May 1871. The barricades were readied.

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The Communards defend Paris -

The Paris Commune issued a city-wide call to arms. Barricades set near strategic and symbolic points such as this one at Place de la Concorde were manned by reinforcements.

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"Bloody Week" begins -

By May 21, more than 50,000 troops had advanced as far as the Champs-Elysées. The first street battles took place the same day, the start of what became known as semaine sanglante—"Bloody Week."

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Mayhem ensues -

Fought from May 21 to 28, Bloody Week was characterized by mayhem and terror. And mass murder!

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Jaroslav Dombrowski -

As one of the few Communards with any military experience, Jaroslav Dombrowski, a Polish nobleman and former officer in the Imperial Russian Army, led the defense of the Paris Commune. Dombrowski fell on the barricades on May 21, the first day of Bloody Week.

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Massacre in church -

Government troops were merciless in their suppression of what they described as insurgents. In one horrific example, 300 suspected Communards were rounded up and massacred inside the Church of Saint-Marie-Madeleine by vengeful Versaillais.

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Tuileries Palace fire -

The fédéré were equally unforgiving in their response, systematically looting and burning government buildings citywide. In an effort to wipe out a past they despised, the Tuileries Palace was torched by the Communards on May 23.

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More historic buildings targeted -

Some of the destruction was caught by intrepid photographers who risked their lives documenting semaine sanglante. Here, the fire at the Palais de Justice is seen through the lens of Hippolyte Blancard, a pharmacist and amateur photographer.

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Paris burns -

The Palais d'Orsay, the Richelieu library of the Louvre, and dozens of other historic buildings were burned to the ground by guardsmen. Paris was burning, covered by a blanket of thick, acrid smoke.

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Last desperate act -

Hôtel de Ville, where just two  months earlier the Paris Commune had convened to plan its brave new world, was torched by the Communard themselves, a last desperate act by those who realized their cause was lost.

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The Communards' Wall -

As the week drew to a close, one final and ghastly episode was played out, the execution of up to 150 Communards by firing squad in Père Lachaise Cemetery. The infamous Mur des Fédérés, or the Communards' Wall, is today marked by a monument commemorating the incident (pictured).

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Fall of the Paris Commune -

The Paris Commune fell on May 28, 1871. Up to a 100,000 people may have died during the repression of the Communards, 30,000 alone during Bloody Week. Marshal de MacMahon, who'd led the Versaillais into Paris, served as Chief of State of France from 1873 to 1875 and as President of France from 1875 to 1879. The Third Republic, meanwhile, would endure until 1940, when it was defeated by the German Army and replaced by the government of Vichy, which collaborated with the Nazis. 

Sources: (History) (Library of Congress) (Britannica)

See also: Revisit one of the most shocking and disgraceful chapters of the Second World War

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