Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871

The Franco-Prussian War (also called the Franco-German War) was a war in which a coalition of German states (including Wurttemberg, Baden and Bavaria) led by Prussia defeated France. The immediate cause of the Franco-Prussian War was the candidacy of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (a relative of the Prussian royal house) for the Spanish throne, which had been left vacant when Queen Isabella II had been deposed in 1868. The Prussian chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, and de facto leader of Spain, Juan Prim, persuaded Prince Leopold to accept nomination to the Spanish throne in June 1870. This alarmed France, under Emperor Napoleon III, because it entailed the possibility of a two-front war against an alliance of Spain and Prussia. Under French diplomatic pressure, the candidacy was withdrawn but the Prussian King Wilhelm I was unwilling to agree to a demand, made by the French ambassador on July 13th, that he promise to never again allow Prince Leopold to be a candidate for the Spanish throne. Bismarck edited the telegraphed description of this interview (the Ems telegram) – provided to the chancellor by the secretary to the king – and on July 14th Bismarck released this provocative version of the message (the Ems dispatch) to the press, infuriating the French government and provoking it into a declaration of war.

The French emperor, Napoleon III, declared war on Prussia on July 19, 1870; his military advisers assured him that the French army could defeat Prussia and that such a victory would restore his declining popularity in France. The French were convinced that the reorganization of their army in 1866 made it superior to the German armies. They also had faith in two recently introduced technical innovations: the breech-loading chassepot rifle, with which the entire army was now equipped; and the newly invented mitrailleuse, an early machine gun. The French generals were confident of victory.

War with France presented German nationalists with an opportunity to unify the southern German states with the Prussian-led North German Confederation and potentially create a German Empire. Prussia had numerical superiority over the French since Bavaria, Wurttemberg, and Baden regarded France as the aggressor in the conflict and sided with Prussia and the North German Confederation. An equally important asset was the Prussian General Staff, which planned the rapid, orderly movement of large numbers of troops to battle; this superior organization and mobility enabled the Prussian military leadership to exploit the German superiority in numbers in most of the battles fought during the war. Prussian efficiency was able to deploy 380,000 German troops to the front within 18 days of the start of mobilization on July 14th.

The Prussian mobilization contrasted with confusion and delay on the French side; many French units reached the front either late or with inadequate supplies. In the south, the French armies were check at the Battle of Worth on August 6th and retreated westward. That same day, to the northeast, the northern French armies were dislodged from near Saarbrucken and fell back westward to the fortress of Metz. The southern French armies, accompanied by Napoleon III, attempted to relieve German pressure on the northern armies but ended up trapped by German forces in a disastrous Battle at Sedan; on September 2nd, the encircled French troops in the south, including Napoleon III, surrendered. Since French forces in the north bottled up in Metz, the result of the war was essentially decided.

French resistance carried on against desperate odds by a new government of national defense, which assumed power in Paris on September 4th and proclaimed the deposition of the emperor and the establishment of the Third Republic. On September 19th the Germans began to besiege Paris. An attempt to negotiate failed. Meanwhile new French armies were being organized in the countryside but these hastily prepared forces failed to defeat the German armies. The northern French armies at Metz capitulated on October 27th and Paris surrendered on January 28, 1871.

The French government in Paris had negotiated an armistice with the Germans on January 26th (which took effect on January 28th). Fighting in places such as Belfort continued at least until February 15th, a provisional peace treaty was signed on February 26, 1871. The Treaty of Frankfurt on May 10, 1871 formally reestablished peace. Germany annexed Alsace and half of Lorraine, including Metz. Furthermore, France had to pay an indemnity of 5 billion francs and cover the costs of a German occupation of the northern provinces until the indemnity was paid.

The war had several far-reaching consequences. The Franco-Prussian war established the French Third Republic and the German Empire (January 18, 1871) – both of which were the product of viral nationalist sentiment. With Napoleon III no longer in power, the Papal States were annexed by Italy thereby completing the process of unification. The crushing German military victory over France in the war led to the adoption of the Prussian system (of conscript armies controlled by a highly trained general staff) by the other great powers. Peace among the great powers of Europe persisted until the outbreak of World War I but it proved to be an uneasy peace, especially between France and Germany.

References

Clodfelter, 309-17; COW58; EB - Franco-German War; Kohn, 174-5.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

Western Europe

Belligerents

France, Germany (initially Prussia, Wurttemberg, Baden, Bavaria)

Dispute

Governance, Territory

Initiation Date

July 19, 1870

Termination Date

February 26, 1871

Duration

223 days

Outcome

Imposed Settlement
(German victory)

Fatalities

Total: 204,313
Wurttemberg: 976
Baden: 956
Prussia: 44,781
Bavaria: 5,600
France: 152,000

Magnitude

5.3