parisian workers and local youth were reinforced by polish, italian and german refugees, who had fled to paris in the aftermath of crackdowns on republican and nationalist activities in their various homelands. they gathered around the catafalque on which the body rested. speeches were made about lamarque's support for polish and italian liberty, of which he had been a strong advocate in the months before his death. when a red flag bearing the words la liberté ou la mort ('liberty or death') was raised, the crowd broke into disorder and shots were exchanged with government troops. the marquis de lafayette, who had given a speech in praise of lamarque, called for calm, but the outbreak spread.