World Service

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes. We hear a survivor's incredible archive account of living through the Siege of Paris in 1870. Sydney Snell was in her 80s when she recorded her memories with the BBC in 1946. Our guest Professor Beatrice Heuser, from the General Staff College of the Bundeswehr in Hamburg, Germany, explains how sieges in other military campaigns have influenced history. There’s more on why newly reunified Germany held a vote in 1991 to decide which city would become its capital: Bonn or Berlin. Plus, the world’s first public earthquake warning system launches in Mexico. And the story behind singer George Michael's cheeky video response to his arrest in a public toilet in Beverly Hills. Also, the creation of CAMRA, one of Europe's most successful consumer movements. And in Sporting Witness, German football embraces its first shirt sponsor in 1973. Contributors: Sydney Snell – survivor of the Siege of Paris. Professor Beatrice Heuser – historian, General Staff College of the Bundeswehr, Hamburg Jürgen Nimptsch – former mayor of Bonn. Wolfgang Schäuble – former German interior minister. Juan Manuel Espinosa Aranda – Seismic Instrumentation and Record Centre director. Bernd Gersdorff – retired footballer. Graham Lees – CAMRA co-founder. Vaughan Arnell – video director. (Image: Army cannons at Le Raincy, the siege of Paris, 1870. Credit: API/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)