During the Franco-Prussian War, Prussian forces besieged Paris, causing severe food shortages. Parisians ate zoo animals, rats, cats, dogs, and reportedly worse, while the city endured bombardment before surrender.

The siege fueled French literature and poetry on war, resilience, and urban hardship, influencing Symbolists and Realists. It shaped depictions of bodily deprivation in verse, echoing in later modernist poetry addressing conflict and civilian suffering.