On June 16, 1871, amid general enthusiasm, the victorious Prussian army made a triumphant entry into Berlin.
A few days later, exactly June 29 - Thiers and Mac-Mahon attended a military review at Longchamp; 120,000 well-equipped men marched past in quick time.
But in Berlin, the Prussians were not happy. It seemed to them inadmissible that France could so quickly remake an army. Shouldn't she, moreover, think above all of paying the victors the five billion gold that were due to them?
M. Thiers did not forget the terrible clauses. The state coffers, alas, were empty. On June 27, he launched a loan of two billion at 5% but at the issue rate of 82.50.
The success far exceeded his hopes. On the same day, more than 330,000 subscribers
entered. Total subscriptions exceeded not two but three billion. Foreigners were amazed.
The Treaty of Frankfurt had set the deadline for the payment of five billion at three years. As France paid, some new departments (of the 21 still occupied) would be liberated. On the whole, the German troops installed on French soil proved to be correct.
But the French awaited with understandable impatience the departure of the Germans. They feared that Bismarck wanted to keep troops at Toul, Verdun or Belfort. Negotiations were entered into by our ambassador, M. de Gontaut-Biron. with Bismarck to accelerate the payment of deadlines, therefore the release of the departments of the East. The Chancellor turned a deaf ear for some time:he feared a too rapid recovery of France, both
financially and militarily. Finally a convention was signed on June 29, 1872. The French government was able to anticipate the deadlines.
So. a new loan was launched. We asked for three billion:we got forty-two!
This magnificent success had its counterpart, however:it was a terrible drain on the budget. (Thiers found new revenue in a large increase in indirect taxes.)
However, the payments continued to be made with regularity. By a new agreement, signed on March 15, 1873, it was decided that the fifth billion would be paid between June and September 1873. In August, the last four departments (Ardennes, Vosges, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse) were freed, as well than the territory of Belfort. Verdun. city held hostage until the end, was in turn evacuated in September.