THIERS FLEES

HAVING LOST CONTROL OF THE ARMY, THIERS CALLS ON GUARDS OF THE WEALTHY WEST BUT ONLY ABOUT 30 SHOW UP

He is not someone who keeps cool under pressure: In 1848 he had to be taken home, "gesticulating, sobbing, speaking uncontrollably" 

Now he leaves by a back door and gallops off to Versailles, 

stopping only to rest the horses while he scribbles an order to retreat.

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He is so terrified that he forgets to protect the fortress that dominates the left bank:

(The Mont Valérien)

The site in 1931 / zoom

Once sacred as heights have always been, it was a pilgrimage site.

Brief article in French, zoom 

It is the most important of the 14 forts built in the 1840's to encircle the city.  

Cannons on Mount Valérien (image gone from the web)

This modern photo shows how the height 

dominates the southern suburbs and the route to Versailles,

so the how completely Thiers loses his mind.

      Webmuseo / zoom

A week later 

La Commune is proclaimed.

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Next,
A visionary future