Unlike historic cities such as London or Berlin, Paris was hardly damaged during the world wars and, to our delight, most of its historical monuments were preserved. Despite this, twice in its history, Paris faced complete destruction and almost miraculously survived.
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The women of the Commune try to burn Paris
The first time was in 1871. Following the defeat in the war with Prussia, France It was forced to surrender and agree to sign a treaty in which it lost Alsace-Lorraine. Many Parisians did not agree to surrender and when the French government tried to take back cannons that had been placed on top of Montmartre, the Parisians decided to rebel, expel the French army from Paris and establish the Commune. For a few short months, the Commune controlled Paris while the government army organized itself in Versailles without interference. On May 21, the army invaded Paris and began Bloody Week (La Semaine Sanglante), during which thousands of the city's residents were killed. The Commune had no chance against the well-trained French army and the districts of Paris fell one after another until the Commune was finally eliminated in the battles that took place in Père Lachaise and Montmartre.
When the Commune saw that they had no chance of winning, many of them decided to burn Paris so that nothing would be left for the occupying army. As a result, the City Hall (Hotel de Ville), the Tuileries Palace (Tuilleries) and a number of other less famous buildings were burned. One of the buildings that miraculously survived was the Notre Dame Cathedral. The Communards piled up the benches and even set them on fire, but at the last moment the soldiers arrived and extinguished the fire before it spread. According to rumor, those responsible for burning most of the buildings were the company of the “Pétroleuses”. These were women of low status, who allegedly threw bottles of paraffin or alcohol into the basements of buildings in order to set them on fire. In truth, it has never been proven that such a company actually existed, but during the battles this myth led to tragic consequences. In one of the squares of Paris, a group of middle-aged women was observed, who wanted to return empty milk bottles. The women were caught by the soldiers, and the fact that they were old, ugly, and holding bottles in their hands was enough to decide that they were on their way to burn down some building. These women were executed on the spot.
With the end of the fighting and the liquidation of the Commune, the government was faced with the decision of what to do with the burned buildings. After quite a few discussions, it was decided to rebuild the City Hall and make it even more magnificent than it was. The remains of the Tuileries Palace were decided to be demolished in order to allow the panoramic view between the courtyard and the The Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe. We are left with only pictures of the palace that once was (in recent years an association has been formed that is trying to get the French government to rebuild the palace, but its chances of success are very low).
Paris faces destruction again
The second time Paris faced the threat of total annihilation was in August 1944. The Allies invaded France through Normandy and advanced towards Paris. The governor of Paris, von Choltitz, received orders from Hitler to destroy Paris in revenge for the Allied bombing and the inevitable defeat of Germany. The plan was to blow up the bridges over the Seine, which would cause the water level to rise sharply and submerge central parts of the city. At the same time, the main monuments of Paris were captured, including the Opera House, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre with the aim of blowing them up as soon as the bridges were destroyed. The one who saved Paris from complete destruction was the Swedish consul Raoul Nordling, who managed to convince the military governor at the last minute not to carry out the terrible order and it is only thanks to him that we all have somewhere to walk.
In 2014, the film “Diplomacy” was released, which depicts the struggle between Nordling and Koltitz over the future of Paris. I had the opportunity to watch it at its premiere at the Haifa Cinematheque and I highly recommend it. The film accurately conveys the tension and danger and the beautiful photography of city of Lights And the Meurice Hotel, where the plot took place, makes you want to fly there as soon as possible, before another madman tries to wipe Paris off the face of the earth.