 Toulon had a population of 80,000.The large cities like Marseille and Toulon saw the building of churches, opera houses, grand boulevards, and parks.After the fall of Louis Napoleon following the defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, barricades went up in the streets of Marseille (23 March 1871) and the Communards, led by Gaston Cremieux and following the lead of the Paris Commune, took control of the city.