Causes of the Franco Prussian War
July, 19 1870 – May, 10 1871
A brief history of the Franco Prussian War
Saarbrücken, Prussia, Rhine Province
August 2, 1870
Battle of Wissembourg , France
August 4, 1870
Battle of Spicheren, France
August 5, 1870
Battle of Wörth France
August 6, 1870
Battle of Mars-La-Tour France
August 16, 1870
Battle of Gravelotte France
August 18, 1870
Siege of Metz France
August 19 - October, 27 1870
Battle of Sedan France
September 1 , 1870
Siege of Strasbourg France
August 15 – September 28, 1870
Siege of Paris France
September 19, 1870 - January 28, 1871
Loire campaign Northern campaign Eastern campaign
France
January 28, 1871
Sites of major actions in the Franco-Prussian War For a larger image click here . Detailed map of the movements in the Franco Prussian War For a larger image click here .
The Franco-Prussian War ( French: Guerre Franco-Allemande de 1870, German: Deutsch-Französischer Krieg ) was waged between France and Prussia and the German states from July 15, 1870 to Feb. 1, 1871 . Napoleon I had smashed through the German states with ease during the Napoleonic wars . Now a generation later, the roles would be reversed . Even though the war was a short duration, it dramatically changed European history . The rapid and overwhelming victory of the German states under the leadership of Prussia in this conflict made possible the creation of a unified German Empire and brought the fall of the French empire of Napoleon III which was replaced by the Third Republic. Prussian would first fight and destroy the armies of the emperor Napoleon, then the newly raised armies of the Third Republic . The war also marked the final step in Germany's rise to the position of a major continental power . As part of the settlement, the territory of Alsace-Lorraine was taken by Germany, which would retain it until after World War I. The war cost the leader of France, Napoleon III everything and he would die in exile in London in 1873 .
Franco-Prussian War Documentary . The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War , often referred to in France as the War of 1870 ( July, 19 1870 – May,10 1871), was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the German states of the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. The conflict was caused by Prussian ambitions to extend German unification. Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck planned to provoke a French attack in order to draw the southern German states—Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt—into an alliance with the North German Confederation dominated by Prussia.
The Franco-Prussian war Day by Day
The Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 was the first modern war in Europe. It was the longest military conflict fought on European soil since the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The end of the war marked the ascendancy of Imperial Germany as the preeminent military power on the continent.
Recommended books on the Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870-1871 by Geoffrey Wawro Military historian Wawro gives a comprehensive and lucid account of the political and diplomatic dimensions of the war
by Michael Howard In 1870 Bismarck ordered the Prussian Army to invade France, inciting one of the most dramatic conflicts in European history. It transformed not only the states-system of the Continent but the whole climate of European moral and political thought. The overwhelming triumph of German military might, evoking general admiration and imitation, introduced an era of power politics, which was to reach its disastrous climax in 1914. First published in 1961 and now with a new introduction, The Franco-Prussian War is acknowledged as the definitive history of one of the most dramatic and decisive conflicts in the history of Europe.
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© Thomas Zimmerman 2008