Paris in the Belle Époque
The end of the Belle Époque
On 28 June 1914, the news reached Paris of the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by Serbian nationalists in Sarajevo. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July, and following the terms of their alliances, Germany joined Austria-Hungary, while Russia, Britain and France went to war against Austria-Hungary and Germany. France declared a general mobilization on 1 August 1914. On the day before the mobilization, the leader of the French socialists, Jean Jaurès, was assassinated by a mentally-disturbed man in the Café du Croissant near the headquarters of the socialist newspaper L'Humanité in Montmartre. The new war was supported by both French nationalists, who saw an opportunity to gain back Alsace and Lorraine from Germany, and by most on the left, who saw an opportunity to overthrow the monarchies in Germany and Austria-Hungary. Parisian men of military age were ordered to report to mobilization points in the city; only one percent did not appear.
Paris in the Belle Époque-96