Matters were made worse by the decision of the Assembly to sit, not at the capital, but at Versailles, where it would be free from the commotions of the great city.

Thiers himself declared in favour of Versailles; there the Assembly met for the first time on March 20, 1871.
A conflict between this monarchical Assembly and the eager Radicals of Paris perhaps lay in the nature of things.

The majority of the deputies looked forward to the return of the King (whether the Comte de Chambord of the elder Bourbons, or the Comte de Paris of the House of Orleans) as soon as France should be freed from the German armies of occupation and the spectre of the Red Terror.

Some of their more impatient members openly showed their hand, and while at Bordeaux began to upbraid Thiers for his obstinate neutrality on this question.

For his part, the wise old man had early seen the need of keeping the parties in check.