The Franco-Prussian War was an armed confrontation between Prussia and France in the second half of the 19th century. It took place from August 2, 1870, to May 1871, in France. Backed by the German Confederation, Prussia obtained the victory, which paved the way for the unification of the German states and Prussia into one nation. This is how the German Empire arose again as the Second Reich, which would become an European super power ruled by William I, Hohenzollern.
The Franco-Prussian War was the last military conflict in Europe in which cavalry was still an effective fighting force, and the first one that saw the introduction of modern breech-loading guns and the use of trains to transport troops by the Prussian Army.
Cause of the war
The reason for France to declare the war on Prussia was the possible ascension of a candidate from Prussian Hohenzollern House to the Spanish throne. This was opposed by the French on the grounds that it would mean the rise of Prussia’s hegemony over Europe as it would be geopolitically pressured on a direct neighboring border; the Spanish border. Thus, the French government had sent an ultimatum to the King of Prussia, William I, to withdraw the candidacy. To avoid an eminent military conflict, the Prussian king accepted the French demand and withdrew it. However, in order to humiliate Prussia, the French Emperor, Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon), demanded William I to renounce any possible further Hohenzollern candidature to the Spanish throne. The Prussian king refused as his Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck handed over the French second ultimatum to the press. As a result, the French declared war on Prussia.
Summary
The Franco-Prussian War was a six-month military campaign, in which the Prussian-German forces defeated the French in a series of battles fought across northern France. To carry it out successfully, the Prussians made use of the train, for the first time in history, to massively transport their infantry, cavalry, and artillery, which was superior to the French, for they were modern breech-loaders howitzers and not the old French muzzle-loaders. Thus, in a matter of days, the Prussians mobilized the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Army under the command of Helmuth von Moltke, to the French border.
Although the Franco-Prussian War began when the French II Corps, deployed on the border, had taken Saarbrücken on August 2, the most important military engagement of the conflict was the Battle of Sedan. This military engagement took place on September 1, 1870; during this military engagement, Napoleon III was captured and forced to abdicate. When the French government collapsed, a revolt broke out in Paris at the beginning of 1871 and the French Third Republic was declared.
However, the war raged on. While Paris was being besieged by the Prussian Army, the German states proclaimed their union under the King of Prussia as William I. This monarch was declared Emperor of the German Empire in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, on January 18, 1871. Paris finally fell on January 28, 1871. Not only did the German states and Prussia became united, but they also recovered the Alsace and the Lorraine, two German regions which had been taken away from Germany by the French at the end of the Thirty Years War. Thus, the Franco-Prussian War led to the unification of the fragmented German states and feuds into one powerful empire.
Below, daguerrotype photo of Prussian troops in formation in Paris after the French surrender.
Prussian troops carrying a gun in northern France.
