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Battle of Mars-la-Tour , August 16, 1870 The Franco-Prussian War ( July 19, 1870 – May 10, 1871) was waged between the Empire of France and the Prussian led North German Confederation allied with the south German states of Baden, Bavaria and Württemberg. The conflict marked the culmination of tension between the two powers following Prussia's rise to dominance in Germany, still a loose federation of quasi-independent territories.
Prussia's victory, the founding of the German Empire and the bitterness felt by many French following their defeat was the start of a chain of events which would later lead directly to World War I and World War II. The wartime establishment of the Paris CommuneThe term Paris Commune originally referred to the government of Paris during the French Revolution. However, the term more commonly refers to the socialist government that briefly ruled Paris from March 26 to May 30, 1871. The Paris Commune of 1871 was ma would later serve as an inspiration for the development of communismThis article is about communism as a form of society, as an ideology advocating that form of society, and as a popular movement. For issues regarding the organization of the communist movement, see the Communist party article. For issues regarding one-par and a model for communist revolutionaries worldwide such as Lenin and Mao ZedongMao Zedong ( December 26, 1893 September 9, 1976) was the chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1935 until his death. Under his leadership, it became the ruling party of mainland China as the result of its victory in the Chinese Civil War and the. The war also demonstrated the usefulness of an army general staff and central planning, combined with good communications such as rail transportThis is the top-level page of WikiProject trains A railroad or railway is a guided means of land transport, designed for trains to use for transporting both passengers and freight. It consists of two parallel rails, usually made of steel, and wooden or co and telegraphyTelegraphy is the long distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters. This definition includes recent forms of data transmission such as fax, email, and computer networks in general. A telegraph is a machine for transmitt.
Tensions had long been running high between Prussia and France following the Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian WarThe Austro-Prussian War (also called the Seven Weeks War was a war fought between Austria and Prussia in 1866 that resulted in Prussian dominance in Germany. Causes For centuries, the Holy Roman Emperors in Austria had nominally ruled all of Germany, but and its subsequent annexation of almost all Northern Germany. The humbling of Austria and Prussia's new territorial gains had shattered the European balance of power that had existed since the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
France's position in Europe was now in danger of being overshadowed by the emergence of a powerful German state led by Prussia. In addition, France's ruler Napoleon III was on increasingly shaky ground in domestic politics. Having successfully overthrown the Second Republic and established the Bonapartist Second Empire, Napoleon III was confronted with increasingly virulent demands for democratic reform from leading republicans such as Jules Favre along with constant rumors of impending revolution. The only force uniting the French was the universal desire to punish Prussia for its "arrogance". A war with Prussia would unite the French nation behind Napoleon III, quash any republican or revolutionary sentiment behind reactionary nationalism, re-establish France as the paramount power in Europe, and gain France the Rhineland and later Luxembourg and Belgium.
See also: Second French Empire
Prussia in turn was also beset with problems. While revolutionary fervour was far more muted than in France, Prussia had recently aquired millions of new suspicious citizens as a result of the Austro-Prussian War. The remaining German kingdoms maintained a steadfastly parochial attitude towards Prussia and German unification, their suspicions only heightened following Austria's defeat. A complicated set of 3 national parliaments (the Reichstag, Landtag and Zollparlament ) made legislative reform into a nightmare. Nationalism was also at a fever pitch throughout Germany following the unification of Italy and the North German Confederation. The Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck was nonetheless determined to realise his dream of a united Germany, if necessary with "blood and iron". Given all Germany's recent experience of French aggression, pillage and subjugation at the hands of the first Napoleon, Bismarck viewed a war with France as a method to enlist the support of nationalists throughout Germany and unite all of the squabbling factions into one nation led by the Prussian king.
Napoleon III and Bismarck began at once to seek a suitable crisis to forment, and in 1870 one arose. The Spanish throne had been vacant since the revolution of September 1868. The Spanish offered the throne to the German prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (cousin of King Wilhelm of Prussia). Napoleon III was determined this time to stand up to the expansion of Prussian influence and successfully forced the prince's father to withdraw his son's candidacy. Disappointed that the Prussians had backed down so easily, the French government tried to prolong the crisis. The French ambassador in Prussia issued a further demand to the Prussian King Wilhelm I — to guarantee that no Hohenzollern would ever be a candidate for the Spanish throne. The king coldly listened to the demand, then left without giving a response and cancelling a later appointment with the French ambassador. His telegram (the Ems Dispatch) reporting this interview with the French ambassador was edited by chancellor Bismarck of Prussia in such a way as to provoke French indignation. France officially declared war on July 19, 1870.
Against French expectations, the south German states, independent from Prussia but connected to it by secret treaties, joined the war. While not prepared to join a German united state, the south German monarchs would not stand for yet another Bonapartist invasion of Germany and mobilized their armies.
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