Franco-Prussian War

I

Introduction

Franco-Prussian War, war in 1870-1871 lost by France to the German states under the leadership of Prussia. The underlying causes of the conflict were the determination of the Prussian statesman Bismarck to expand Prussia's control and, as a step towards this goal, to eliminate French influence over Germany. On the other hand, Napoleon III, emperor of France from 1852 to 1870, sought to regain both in France and abroad the prestige lost as a result of numerous diplomatic reverses, particularly by the growth in Prussia's territory and influence after her defeat of Austria during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. In addition, the military strength of Prussia, as revealed in the war with Austria, constituted a threat to French dominance on the continent of Europe.

II

Initiating Incidents

The event directly precipitating the Franco-Prussian War was the candidacy of Leopold, prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, for the throne of Spain, made vacant by the Spanish revolution of 1868. Leopold had accepted the candidacy under persuasion from Bismarck. The French government, alarmed at the possibility of a Prusso-Spanish alliance resulting from the occupancy of the Spanish throne by a member of the Hohenzollern dynastic family, threatened Prussia with war if Leopold's candidacy was not withdrawn. The French ambassador to the Prussian court, Comte Vincent Benedetti, was dispatched to Ems, a spa in north-west Germany being visited by William I of Prussia. Benedetti had been instructed to demand that the Prussian monarch order Prince Leopold to withdraw his candidacy. William, although angered, gave Benedetti permission to communicate directly with Leopold by telegraph. Leopold could not be reached, but his father, Prince Charles Anthony, wired a retraction of the candidacy in the name of his son.

The government of Napoleon III, still not content, was determined to humiliate Prussia, even at the cost of war. Antoine-Agénor-Alfred, duc de Gramont, the French foreign minister, demanded that William submit a personal letter of apology to Napoleon III and a guarantee that the Hohenzollern candidacy would never be renewed. In an interview with Benedetti at Ems, the Prussian king rejected the French demands. The same day, Bismarck obtained William's authorization to publish the French demands and the Prussian rejection contained in what was known as the Ems Dispatch. Bismarck edited the document in a manner calculated to aggravate the resentment of the French and the Germans. The Prussian statesman realized that this move would in all probability precipitate war, but he knew that Prussia was prepared, and he counted on the psychological effect of a French declaration of war to rally the south German states to Prussia's cause, thus accomplishing the final phase in the unification of Germany.

III

The War Begins

On July 19, 1870, France declared war on Prussia. The south German states, in fulfillment of their treaties with Prussia, immediately joined King William in a common front against France. The French were only able to mobilize some 200,000 troops; the Germans, however, quickly marshalled an army of about 400,000 men. All German forces were under the supreme command of William, with the great strategist Helmuth Karl Bernhard, Graf von Moltke, as his chief of staff. Three German armies drove into France, led respectively by General Karl Friedrich von Steinmetz, Prince Frederick Charles, and Crown Prince Frederick William, later Frederick III of Prussia and emperor of Germany. The first engagement, a minor skirmish, was won by the French on August 2, when they drove a small Prussian detachment from the city of Saarbrücken, near the border of France and Germany. In the major battles at Weissenburg (August 4), Wörth (August 6), and Spichern (August 6), however, the French under Marie Edme Patrice Maurice, comte de MacMahon, were defeated. MacMahon was ordered to fall back on Châlons. Achille François Bazaine, in command of all French troops east of the city of Metz, was directed to maintain his positions. Metz itself was to be held at all costs. These orders split the French forces, which were thereafter unable to regain their unity or freedom of action. On August 12 the French emperor handed the supreme command over to Bazaine, who was badly beaten in the great battles of Vionville (August 15) and Gravelotte (August 18), and forced into Metz. There he was besieged by two German armies. MacMahon was then ordered to relieve Metz. On August 30 the Germans surprised and defeated MacMahon's leading corps at Beaumont, whereupon he decided to withdraw his army to the town of Sedan.

IV

Battle of Sedan and Capture of Napoleon III

The decisive battle of the war opened in Sedan on the morning of September 1, 1870 (see Sedan, Battle of). At about 7:00 a.m. MacMahon was severely wounded, and an hour and a half later General Emmanuel Félix de Wimpffen received the chief command. The battle continued until 4:15 p.m., when Napoleon, who had meanwhile arrived in Sedan, resumed command. Recognizing the hopelessness of the situation, he ordered the white flag to be hoisted. Terms of surrender were negotiated during the night, and on the following day Napoleon, together with 83,000 troops, surrendered to the Germans.

Upon receiving intelligence of the capture of the French emperor, Paris rose in rebellion, the Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and France was proclaimed a republic. Before the close of September, Strasbourg, one of the last points at which the French had hoped to stem the German advance, capitulated, and Paris was completely surrounded. On October 7 the minister of the new French government, Léon Gambetta, made a dramatic escape from Paris by balloon, and with his chief assistant, Charles Louis de Saulces de Freycinet, established a provisional capital in the city of Tours. From there they led the organization and equipment of 36 military divisions. The efforts of these troops proved unavailing, however, and they were at length driven into Switzerland, where they were disarmed and interned.