Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870 (19 July 1870 – 10 May 1871), was a significant conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria. The war and its resulting German victory is notable for its impact on Europe. The unification of Germany was finally brought about after years of deliberation and conflict, leading to the new powerful and industrious nation shifting the European balance of power. In France, internal discontent intensified, leading to events such as the downfall of Napoleon III and the end of the Second French Empire, to then be replaced by the French Third Republic which continued resistance in the war with newly formed armies and the aftermath in the Paris Commune uprising of 1871.

The conflict was a culmination of years of tension between the two nations, which finally came to a head over the issue of a Hohenzollern candidate for the vacant Spanish throne, following the deposition of Isabella II in 1868. The public release of the Ems Dispatch, which played up alleged insults between the Prussian king and the French ambassador, inflamed public opinion on both sides. France mobilized and on 19 July 1870, declared war on Prussia only, but the other German states quickly joined on Prussia's side.

It soon became evident that the Prussian and German forces were superior, due in part to their efficient use of industrial technology, such as railways and the superior Krupp steel artillery. Prussia had the fourth densest rail network in the world, while France had the fifth. A series of swift Prussian and German victories in eastern France culminated in the Battle of Sedan, at which Napoleon III was captured with his whole army on 2 September. Yet this did not end the war, as the Third Republic was declared in Paris on 4 September 1870 and French resistance continued under the Government of National Defence and later Adolphe Thiers.

Over a five-month campaign, the German armies defeated the newly recruited French armies in a series of battles fought across northern France. Following a prolonged siege, noted for the first use of anti-air artillery, Paris fell on 28 January 1871. Ten days before the fall of the city, the German states proclaimed their union as the German Empire under the Prussian king, Wilhelm I, uniting Germany as a nation-state. During the time of the Paris Commune uprising, the final Treaty of Frankfurt was signed 10 May 1871. The settlement gave the territory of Alsace and part of Lorraine to Prussia to become part of the new Germany. The lands remained so until the end of World War I when they were returned to France in the Treaty of Versailles.