This iconic Arc de Triomphe forms the focus of the main east-west road axis of Paris, running between the Louvre and the Grande Arche de la Défense in the west. The monument was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 after his victory at Austerlitz. It was finally completed in 1836, long after his death. Famous victory marches around or under the Arc have included the Germans in 1871, the French in 1918, the Germans in 1940 and the French and Americans in 1944