Franco-Prussian War

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Franco-Prussian War
Part of the unification of Germany
(clockwise from top right)
Date19 July 1870 – 28 January 1871
(6 months, 1 week and 2 days)
Location
France and the Rhine Province, Prussia
Result

German victory

Territorial
changes		 German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine
Belligerents
Before 4 September 1870:
Template:Country data Second French Empire
After 4 September 1870:
 French Third Republic[lower-alpha 1]
After 18 January 1871:
 German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Strength

Total deployment:

Initial strength:

  • 909,951

Peak field army strength:

Total deployment:

Initial strength:

  • 938,424

Peak field army strength:

Casualties and losses

756,285[4][5]

144,642[7]

~250,000 civilians dead, including 162,000 Germans in a smallpox epidemic spread by French POWs[7]
Template:Campaignbox Franco–Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War,[lower-alpha 6] often referred to in France as the War of 1870,[lower-alpha 7] was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871, the conflict was caused primarily by France's determination to reassert its dominant position in continental Europe, which appeared in question following the decisive Prussian victory over Austria in 1866.[10] According to some historians, Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck deliberately provoked the French into declaring war on Prussia in order to induce four independent southern German states—Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt—to join the North German Confederation. Other historians contend that Bismarck exploited the circumstances as they unfolded. All agree that Bismarck recognized the potential for new German alliances, given the situation as a whole.[11][lower-alpha 8]

France mobilised its army on 15 July 1870, leading the North German Confederation to respond with its own mobilisation later that day. On 16 July 1870, the French parliament voted to declare war on Prussia; France invaded German territory on 2 August. The German coalition mobilised its troops much more effectively than the French and invaded northeastern France on 4 August. German forces were superior in numbers, training, and leadership and made more effective use of modern technology, particularly railways and artillery.

A series of hard-fought Prussian and German victories in eastern France, culminating in the Siege of Metz and the Battle of Sedan, resulted in the capture of the French Emperor Napoleon III and the decisive defeat of the army of the Second Empire; a Government of National Defense was formed in Paris on 4 September and continued the war for another five months. German forces fought and defeated new French armies in northern France, then besieged Paris for over four months before it fell on 28 January 1871, effectively ending the war.

In the final days of the war, with German victory all but assured, the German states proclaimed their union as the German Empire under the Prussian king Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck. With the notable exceptions of Austria and German Switzerland, the vast majority of German-speakers were united under a nation-state for the first time. Following an armistice with France, the Treaty of Frankfurt was signed on 10 May 1871, giving Germany billions of francs in war indemnity, as well as most of Alsace and parts of Lorraine, which became the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine (Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen).

The war had a lasting impact on Europe. By hastening German unification, the war significantly altered the balance of power on the continent, with the new German state supplanting France as the dominant European land power. Bismarck maintained great authority in international affairs for two decades, developing a reputation for Realpolitik that raised Germany's global stature and influence. In France, it brought a final end to imperial rule and began the first lasting republican government. Resentment over the French government's handling of the war and its aftermath triggered the Paris Commune, a revolutionary uprising which seized and held power for two months before its suppression; the event would influence the politics and policies of the Third Republic.

Notes

  1. ↑ Under the Government of National Defense.
  2. ↑ 33,101 officers and 1,113,254 men were deployed into France. A further 348,057 officers and men were mobilized and stayed in Germany.[2]
  3. ↑ of which 41,000 killed in action, 36,000 died of wounds and 45,000 died from disease[7]
  4. ↑ At least 370,000 captured[9]
  5. ↑ of which 17,585 killed in action, 10,721 died of wounds, 12,147 died from disease, 290 died in accidents, 29 committed suicide and 4,009 were missing and presumed dead[7]
  6. ↑ Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., de
  7. ↑ Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.
  8. ↑ Ramm highlights three difficulties with the argument that Bismarck planned or provoked a French attack.[11]

Reference

  1. ↑ The northern parts and the Army of the Grand Duchy of Hesse were part of the North German Confederation G
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Clodfelter 2017, p. 184.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Howard 1991, p. 39.
  4. ↑ Nolte 1884, pp. 526–527.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Heath & Cocolin 2020, pp. 8.
  6. ↑ Nolte 1884, p. 527.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Clodfelter 2017, p. 187.
  8. ↑ German General Staff 1884, p. 247.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Bodart 1916, p. 148.
  10. ↑ Éric Anceau, "Aux origines de la Guerre de 1870", in France-Allemagne(s) 1870–1871. La guerre, la Commune, les mémoires, (under the direction of Mathilde Benoistel, Sylvie Le Ray-Burimi, Christophe Pommier) Gallimard-Musée de l'Armée, 2017, pp. 49–50.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Ramm 1967, pp. 308–313.

Books

  • Ascoli, David (2001). A Day of Battle: Mars-La-Tour 16 August 1870. Edinburgh: Birlinn. ISBN 978-1-84158-121-7.
  • Bailey, Jonathan B. A. (2004). Field Artillery and Firepower (Revised and expanded ed.). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-029-0.
  • Baldick, Robert (1974). The Siege of Paris. London: London New English Library. ISBN 978-0-450-02190-9.
  • Barry, Quintin (2009a). The Franco-Prussian War 1870–71. Vol. 1 The Campaign of Sedan. Solihull: Helion & Company. ISBN 978-1-906033-45-3.
  • Brown, Frederick (2010). For the Soul of France: Culture wars in the age of Dreyfus. New York: Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-26631-6.
  • Bodart, Gaston (1916). Losses of Life in Modern Wars, Austria-Hungary: France. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-1112270444.
  • Clodfelter, Micheal (2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015 (4th ed.). Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-7470-7.
  • Craig, G. A. (1980). Germany: 1866–1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-502724-2.
  • Elliot-Wright, Philipp; Shann, Stephen (1993). Gravelotte-St-Privat 1870. Campaign. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-286-8.
  • Foley, Robert T. (2007). German Strategy and the Path to Verdun: Erich von Falkenhayn and the Development of Attrition, 1870–1916 (pbk. ed.). Cambridge: CUP. ISBN 978-0-521-04436-3.
  • German General Staff (1881). The Franco-German War 1870–71: Part 1. Vol. 1. Translated by Clarke, F.C.H. London: Clowes & Sons.
  • German General Staff (1884). The Franco-German War 1870–71: Part 2. Vol. 3. Translated by Clarke, F.C.H. London: Clowes & Sons.
  • Horne, Alistair (1965). The Fall of Paris; The siege and the Commune 1870–71. London: Macmillan. OCLC 490599556.
  • Howard, Michael (1979) [1961]. The Franco-Prussian War: The German Invasion of France 1870–1871. London: Rupert Hart-Davis. ISBN 978-0-246-63587-7.
  • Howard, Michael (1991) [1961]. The Franco-Prussian War: The German Invasion of France 1870–1871. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-02787-8.
  • Hozier, Henry Montagu; Davenport Adams, W. H. (1872). The Franco-Prussian War: Its Causes, Incidents, and Consequences. Vol. 2. London: William Mackenzie. OCLC 931716547.
  • Kennedy, Paul M. (1987). The rise and fall of the great powers: economic change and military conflict from 1500 to 2000 (1st ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-394-54674-2.
  • McElwee, William Lloyd (1974). The Art of War: Waterloo to Mons. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-20214-7.
  • Milza, Pierre (2009). L'Année terrible. Vol. 1: La Guerre franco-prussienne, septembre 1870 – mars 1871. Paris: Perrin. ISBN 978-2-262-02498-7.
  • Nolte, Frédérick (1884). L'Europe militaire et diplomatique au dix-neuvième siècle, 1815–1884 (in français). Paris: E. Plon, Nourrit et Cie. OCLC 4899575.
  • Ollier, Edmund (1883). Cassell's History of the War Between France and Germany, 1870–1871. Vol. 2. London: Cassell Petter & Galpin. OCLC 914936793.
  • Palmer, Michael A. (2010). The German Wars: A Concise History, 1859–1945. Minneapolis: MBI Pub. Co. and Zenith Press. ISBN 978-1-61673-985-0.
  • Ramm, Agetha (1967). Germany, 1789–1919 : a political history. London: Methuen. ISBN 978-0-416-33990-1.
  • Ridley, Jasper (1976) [1974]. Garibaldi. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 978-0-670-33548-0.
  • Rougerie, Jacques (1995). Paris Insurgé: La Commune de 1871. Paris: Gallimard. ISBN 978-2-07-053289-6.
  • Rougerie, Jacques (2014). La Commune de 1871. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. ISBN 978-2-13-062078-5.
  • Rüstow, W. (1872). The War for the Rhine Frontier, 1870: Its Political and Military History. Vol. 3. Translated by Needham, John Layland. Edinburgh: Blackwood. OCLC 13591954.
  • Shann, Stephen; Delperier, Louis (1991). French Army 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War. Men-at-Arms. Vol. 2 Republican Troops. Illustrated by Richard and Christa Hook. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-135-9.
  • Sondhaus, Lawrence (2001). Naval Warfare, 1815–1914. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-21478-0.
  • Свечин (Svechin), А. А. (1928). Военгиз (Voengiz), М.Л. (M.L.) (ed.). Эволюция военного искусства (Evolution of military art) (in Russian). Vol. II.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  • Taylor, A. J. P. (1955). Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman. London: Hamish Hamilton. OCLC 867374488.
  • Heath, Tim; Cocolin, Michela (2020). Hitler's Lost State: The Fall of Prussia and the Wilhelm Gustloff Tragedy. Pen and Sword Military. ISBN 978-1526756107.
  • van Creveld, Martin (1977). Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton (1st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29793-6.
  • Varley, Karine (2008a). "The Taboos of Defeat: Unmentionable Memories of the Franco-Prussian War in France, 1870–1914". In Macleod, Jenny (ed.). Defeat and Memory: Cultural Histories of Military Defeat in the Modern Era. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-51740-0.
  • Varley, Karine (2008b). Under the shadow of defeat: the war of 1870–71 in French memory. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-00519-8.
  • von Bismarck, Otto Eduard Leopold (1899). Bismarck: The Man & the Statesman. Translated by Arthur John Butler. New York: Harper & Brothers. OCLC 51415680.
  • von Bismarck, Otto Eduard Leopold; von Poschinger, Heinrich (1900). von Poschinge, Heinrich; Whitman, Sidney (eds.). Conversations with Prince Bismarck. Translated by Whitman, Sidney (English ed.). London: Harper & Brothers. OCLC 222059904.
  • von Pflugk-Harttung, Julius Albert Georg (1900). The Franco-German War, 1870–71. Translated by Maurice, J. F.; Long, Wilfred James; Sonnenschein, A. London: S. Sonnenschein and Co. OCLC 3132807.
  • Wawro, Geoffrey (2000). Warfare and Society in Europe, 1792–1914. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-21445-2.
  • Wawro, Geoffrey (2002). Warfare and Society in Europe, 1792–1914. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-17183-7.
  • Wawro, Geoffrey (2003). The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870–1871. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-58436-4.
  • Zabecki, David T. (2008). Chief of Staff. Vol. 1: Napoleonic Wars to World War I. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-990-3.
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