Editing Paris Commune (section)

=== Uprising and armistice ===
{{Main|January 1871 Paris uprising|Armistice of Versailles}}

Between 11 and 19 January 1871, the French armies had been defeated on four fronts and Paris was facing a famine. General Trochu received reports from the prefect of Paris that agitation against the government and military leaders was increasing in the political clubs and in the National Guard of the working-class neighbourhoods of Belleville, [[Quartier de La Chapelle|La Chapelle]], Montmartre, and Gros-Caillou.{{sfn|Milza|2009a|pp=420–425}}

[[File:Soulèvement du 22 janvier 1871.jpg|thumb|Uprising of 22 January 1871 at the Hôtel de Ville]]

At midday on 22 January, three or four hundred National Guards and members of radical groups—mostly Blanquists—gathered outside the Hôtel de Ville. A battalion of {{lang|fr|Gardes Mobiles}} from Brittany was inside the building to defend it in case of an assault. The demonstrators presented their demands that the military be placed under civil control, and that there be an immediate election of a commune. The atmosphere was tense, and in the middle of the afternoon, gunfire broke out between the two sides; each side blamed the other for firing first. Six demonstrators were killed, and the army cleared the square. The government quickly banned two publications, ''{{lang|fr|Le Reveil}}'' of Delescluze and ''{{lang|fr|Le Combat}}'' of Pyat, and arrested 83 revolutionaries.{{sfn|Rougerie|2014|page=39}}

At the same time as the demonstration in Paris, the leaders of the Government of National Defence in Bordeaux had concluded that the war could not continue. On 26 January, they signed a ceasefire and armistice, with special conditions for Paris. The city would not be occupied by the Germans. Regular soldiers would give up their arms, but would not be taken into captivity. Paris would pay an indemnity of 200 million francs. At [[Jules Favre]]'s request, Bismarck agreed not to disarm the National Guard, so that order could be maintained in the city.{{sfn|Rougerie|2014|pages=40–41}}