François-Achille Bazaine, born in 1811 in Versailles, was the commander-in-chief of the French Rhine Army during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. After a prolonged siege by German troops, he surrendered on October 27, 1870, handing over the fortress of Metz to the Germans. After the war, he was charged with treason; a show trial with a predictable verdict followed: death penalty. The trial report is based on the ninth volume of the "New Pitaval" published by Willibald Alexis in 1874. The text has been heavily revised, while the dialogues have been reproduced unchanged.