3-046-939 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

German soldiers marketing at Rheims, 1872. 'The vast sum of money put into the hands of the French Provisional Government by the result of the great loan will pay off the remainder of the heavy fine imposed upon that country by the Germans, and free its soil from the foreign military occupation in the course of next year. The gradual withdrawal of the German troops from some of the departments where they were quartered after the conclusion of the [Franco-Prussian] war has been felt as a relief to the feelings of the local population...The soldiers were accustomed to go to market for such vegetables and other fresh provisions as they might desire to give a relish to the army sausages and the black rye bread of their ordinary rations. Small parties of these men, in their summer undress of brown holland, were to be seen conducted by a sergeant who could speak a few words of French, and who bargained for the articles they wanted to buy. They always behaved quietly, and the townsfolk seldom took any direct notice of their presence'. From "Illustrated London News", 1872.