1870 in France

See also: 1869 in France, 1871 in France.

Events from the year 1870 in France.

Events

• 20 April - Constitutional referendum reaffirmed the status of the Second French Empire.
• 19 July - France declares war on Prussia following the Ems Dispatch.
• 4 August - Battle of Wissembourg, Prussian forces overwhelm the French garrison at Wissembourg.
• 6 August - Battle of Spicheren, near Saarbrücken, Prussian victory.
• 6 August - Battle of Wœrth, decisive Prussian victory.
• 14 August - Battle of Borny-Colombey. Prussian victory, French retreat upon Metz.
• 15 August - Siege of Strasbourg begins.
• 16 August - Battle of Mars-la-Tour, Prussian victory.
• 18 August - Battle of Gravelotte, Prussian victory.
• 30 August - Battle of Beaumont, Prussian victory.
• 31 August - Battle of Noiseville, Prussian victory.
• 1 September - Battle of Sedan, decisive Prussian victory.
• 2 September - Napoleon III surrenders himself and the entire Army of Châlons to the Prussians. Napoleon III declares the Second Empire dissolved.
• 3 September - Siege of Metz begins with French forces besieged.
• 4 September - Third Republic declared in Paris. Government of National Defense established.
• 4 September - Empress Eugenie flees to England with her children.
• 19 September - Siege of Paris begins.
• 27 September-30 September, Battle of Le Bourget, part of siege of Paris, Prussian victory.
• 28 September - Siege of Strasbourg ends with French surrender.
• 30 September - Battle of Chevilly, fought during the siege of Paris, Prussian victory.
• 8 October - Leon Michel Gambetta escapes the besieged Paris in a hot-air balloon.
• 18 October - Battle of Bellevue, near Metz, Prussian victory.
• 23 October - Siege of Metz ends with French surrender.
• 3 November - Siege of Belfort begins with French troops besieged.
• 9 November - Battle of Coulmiers, French victory over Bavarian forces.
• 11 November - French retake Orléans.
• 27 November - Battle of Amiens, Prussian victory.
• 28 November - Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande, Prussian victory.
• 29 November - Battle of Villiers, largest of the French sorties from besieged Paris, begins.
• 2 December - Battle of Loigny-Poupry, Prussian victory.
• 3 December - Battle of Villiers ends with Prussian victory.
• 3 December-4 December - Second Battle of Orléans, Prussians recapture Orléans.
• 23 December-24 December - Battle of Hallue results in stalemate.

Arts and literature

• February - Sculptor, Aimé Millet, is appointed professor at the École des Arts décoratifs.

Births

• 25 January - Henry Bordeaux, writer and lawyer (died 1963).
• 28 April - Frédéric Justin Collet, pathologist and otolaryngologist (died 1966).
• 24 September - Georges Claude, engineer, chemist and inventor (died 1960).
• 30 September - Jean Baptiste Perrin, physicist and Nobel laureate (died 1942).
• 8 October - Louis Vierne, organist and composer (died 1937).
• 10 December - Mary Bonaparte, eldest daughter of Prince Napoléon Bonaparte of Canino (died 1947).

Deaths

January to June

• 1 February - Auguste Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély, Marshal of France (born 1794).
• 19 February - Nathaniel de Rothschild, founder of the wine-making branch of the Rothschild family (born 1812).
• 20 June - Jules de Goncourt, writer (born 1830).

July to December

• 15 August - Ardant du Picq, Colonel and military theorist (born 1819).
• 2 September - Charles Joseph, comte de Flahaut, general and statesman (born 1785).
• 23 September - Prosper Mérimée, dramatist, historian and archaeologist (born 1803).
• 25 October - Etienne-Michel Faillon, Roman Catholic historian (born 1800).
• 28 October - Jean-Pierre Falret, psychiatrist (born 1794).
• 29 October - Jules Baroche, statesman and Minister (born 1802).
• 24 November - Comte de Lautréamont, poet (born 1846).
• 28 November - Frédéric Bazille, painter (born 1841).
• 5 December - Alexandre Dumas, père, writer (born 1802).
• 26 December - Marie Dominique Bouix, Jesuit canon lawyer (born 1808).

Full date unknown

• Jacques-François Ochard, painter (born 1800).

References