On the twenty-fifth of
August Paris, which had heard only vague echoes of the Battle of
Charleroi, awakened with a jolt when it read the famous communique
beginning with the words: "_De la Somme aux Vosges_...."
So the enemy was already at the Somme, a few days' march from the
capital! But the awakening was as free from disturbance as the dream
had been. Paris felt absolute confidence in the army, in Joffre; and
the Parisian reasoning was expressed in one phrase, "The army has
retreated, but it is neither destroyed nor beaten; as long as the
army is there, Paris has nothing to fear...." And when Sunday the
thirtieth of August came, Paris was as calm and confident as it was
on the first day of the war.
I shall remember the thirtieth of August for a long time.
They had posted on all the walls two notices. One of them was large,
the other small. The large one was a proclamation of the Government
announcing the departure of its officials for Bordeaux:
FRENCHMEN!
For several weeks our troops and the enemy's army have been
engaged in a series of bloody battles. The bravery of our
soldiers has gained them marked advantages at several
points. But in the north the pressure of the German forces
has compelled us to withdraw.
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