The Siege of Paris

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the city of Paris was besieged by the Prussian army.

The citizens of Paris experienced starvation and fuel shortages during a period of extreme cold.

They resorted to eating horses, cats, dogs, rats and even animals from the city's zoo.

Mrs Sydney Snell was 10 years old during the siege and spoke to the BBC about her memories of that time in 1946.

Witness History is produced and presented by Tim O'Callaghan in collaboration with the BBC Archives.

Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories.

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(Photo: Painting by Henri Felix Philippoteaux of a bombing scene during the Siege of Paris 1871. Credit: Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)