Deutsch-Französischer Krieg

Deutsch-Französischer Krieg, the third and last of the three wars which marked successive stages in Bismarck's policy of German unification. The persistent antagonism between France and Prussia had become more acute after the Austrian defeat in 1866 (see Deutscher Krieg) and the consequent sudden increase in Prussian power and influence. In the immediately following years Prussia watched for an opportunity to isolate and humiliate France, and France sought to establish an overwhelming combination (with Austria and Italy) against Prussia.

Tension between the two countries was increased early in 1870 by the candidature of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen for the vacant Spanish throne. When the prince withdrew, the French sought to press home a diplomatic advantage, but the incautious démarche of the French ambassador, Benedetti, led to a rebuff by the King of Prussia at Ems. By adroit abbreviation Bismarck turned the report of this encounter (see Emser Depesche) into a virtual challenge which provoked the outbreak of war.

The forces of the North German Confederation (see Norddeutscher Bund) were joined by the allied southern states, and Austria declined to intervene against Prussia. The better led and better organized German forces seized the initiative and pressed the French back in early engagements at Weißenburg (Wissembourg), Wörth, and Spichern without achieving the hoped-for annihilation. The forces of Bazaine withdrew into Metz, and a large army under Macmahon and Napoleon III, marching to its relief, was engaged, encircled, and destroyed on 1 September 1870 at Sedan. Metz surrendered on 28 October. This was the final point of the first phase of the war, an orthodox campaign between regular, established forces.

There followed on the French side a national war, in which quickly raised and armed levées-en-masse sought unsuccessfully to defeat the less numerous but highly trained German forces. Meanwhile the Germans invested Paris, which was enclosed on 19 September and surrendered on 28 January 1871. The period of the siege provoked a sharp conflict over the bombardment of Paris between the political leader Bismarck, who wished for a quick decision, and the military commander Moltke, who was for starving the city.

The peace which was signed at Frankfurt on 10 May 1871 annexed Alsace and much of Lorraine to Germany under the designation Elsaß-Lothringen and imposed a financial indemnity. The outstanding significance of the war in German history was the proclamation, in fulfilment of Bismarck's plans, of the German Empire, which took place in the Galerie des glaces at Versailles on 18 January 1871, with King Wilhelm I of Prussia as German Emperor (Deutscher Kaiser).

The victory was accompanied by a great upsurge of patriotic feeling, much of it brash and arrogant, and few significant works of literature arose from the war and its background. A handful of the multitude of patriotic poems has survived, but the outstanding work is probably to be found in the war sketches in prose and verse of Detlev von Liliencron. Theodor Fontane, who was a war correspondent, gives a vivid account of his falling into French hands and of his subsequent experiences in Kriegsgefangen. Erlebtes 1870.