Ems dispatch

Memorial stone to the Ems Dispatch in Bad Ems

The Ems Dispatch (French: Dépêche d'Ems, German: Emser Depesche), sometimes called the Ems Telegram, caused France to declare the Franco-Prussian War in July 1870. The actual dispatch was an internal message from the Prussian King's vacationing site to Bismarck in Berlin, reporting about demands made by the French ambassador, and thus it was Bismarck's released statement to the press which became known as Ems Dispatch. The name referred to Bad Ems, a resort spa east of Koblenz on the Lahn river, then situated in Hesse-Nassau, a new possession of Prussia.

Background

As a result of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, which involved German states on both sides as well as emerging Italy, Prussia had increased its power, as Bismarck had founded the North German Confederation. France did not participate in that short war decided by the decisive Prussian victory in the Battle of Königgrätz (or Sadowa), which led to French demands for a "Revanche pour Sadova" (Revenge for Sadowa).^[1]

In early 1870, the German Prince Leopold, of the Roman Catholic cadet branch Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen) had been offered the vacant Spanish throne. The government of French Emperor Napoleon III voiced concern over a possible Spanish alliance with the Protestant House of Hohenzollern that ruled the Kingdom of Prussia, protested against it, and hinted about a war. Following the protests by France, Leopold had withdrawn his acceptance in July 1870. This was already considered a diplomatic defeat for Prussia. The French were not yet satisfied with this and demanded further commitments, especially a guarantee by the Prussian king that no member of any branch of his Hohenzollern family would ever be a candidate for the Spanish throne.

The incident

Wilhelm I of Prussia and Count Benedetti at Bad Ems.

On 13 July 1870 King Wilhelm I of Prussia, on his morning stroll in the Kurpark in Ems, was waylaid by Count Vincent Benedetti,^[2] the French ambassador in Prussia since 1864. Benedetti had been instructed by Antoine Agénor Alfred, the Duc de Gramont, to present the French demand that the king should guarantee that he would never approve the candidacy of a Hohenzollern to the Spanish throne. The meeting was informal and took place on the promenade of the Kursaal with the King’s entourage at a discreet distance. The King refused to agree to the French demand "somewhat severely" but politely and the meeting ended.

From the meeting, the King's secretary Heinrich Abeken wrote an account which was passed on to Otto von Bismarck in Berlin. Wilhelm described Benedetti as "very importunate". The King gave permission to Bismarck to release an account of the events.

Bismarck took it on himself to edit the report, sharpening the language. He cut out Wilhelm’s conciliatory phrases and emphasized the real issue. The French had made certain demands under threat of war; and Wilhelm had refused them. This was no forgery; it was a clear statement of the facts.^[3] Certainly the edit of the telegram released on the evening of the same day (13 July) to the media and foreign embassies gave the impression both that Benedetti was rather more demanding and that the King was exceedingly abrupt. It was designed to give the French the impression that King Wilhelm I had insulted Count Benedetti; likewise, the Germans interpreted the modified dispatch as the Count insulting the King.

By editing the telegram, Bismarck intended to give France an opportunity to declare a war, as part of his plan to unify Germany. Indeed, he remarked "The Ems Telegram should have the desired effect of waving a red cape in front of the face of the Gallic [French] Bull." The edited telegram was to be presented henceforth as the cause of the war.^[4]

Text of the Ems Telegram

Sent by Heinrich Abeken of the Prussian Foreign Office under King Wilhelm's Instruction to Bismarck.

Abeken's message

His Majesty the King has written to me:

Count Benedetti intercepted me on the promenade and ended by demanding of me in a very importunate manner that I should authorize him to telegraph at once that I bound myself in perpetuity never again to give my consent if the Hohenzollerns renewed their candidature. I rejected this demand somewhat sternly as it is neither right nor possible to undertake engagements of this kind [for ever and ever]. Naturally I told him that I had not yet received any news and since he had been better informed via Paris and Madrid than I was, he must surely see that my government was not concerned in the matter.

[The King, on the advice of one of his ministers] decided in view of the above-mentioned demands not to receive Count Benedetti any more, but to have him informed by an adjutant that His Majesty had now received [from Leopold] confirmation of the news which Benedetti had already had from Paris and had nothing further to say to the ambassador.

His Majesty suggests to Your Excellency that Benedetti's new demand and its rejection might well be communicated both to our ambassadors and to the Press.

Bismarck's published version

After the news of the renunciation of the Prince von Hohenzollern had been communicated to the Imperial French government by the Royal Spanish government, the French Ambassador in Ems made a further demand on His Majesty the King that he should authorize him to telegraph to Paris that His Majesty the King undertook for all time never again to give his assent should the Hohenzollerns once more take up their candidature. His Majesty the King thereupon refused to receive the Ambassador again and had the latter informed by the Adjutant of the day that His Majesty had no further communication to make to the Ambassador.

French translation

The French translation by the agency Havas altered the ambassadors demand to a question (il a exigé) and did not translate „Adjutant”, which in German refers to a high-ranked aide de camp, but in French describes only a non-commissioned officer (adjudant). This was the version published by most newspapers the following day, which happened to be July 14, the French national holiday, setting the tone, letting the French believe that the king had insulted their ambassador, before the ambassador could tell his story.

Results

Apparently the French were game to Bismarck's intent. Following further improper translations and misinterpretations in the international press, the French public was duly outraged. France declared war on 19 July 1870.

The French sentiments were the immediate cause of the Franco-Prussian War which was declared soon. Benedetti was severely attacked in his own country for his conduct as ambassador, and the duc de Gramont attempted to throw upon him the blame for the failures of French diplomacy.

Benedetti published an account of the meeting in Ma Mission en Prusse (1871).

See also

• Schnaebele incident
• German Unification

Notes

1. ^ Roger Price: The French Second Empire: an anatomy of political power, Cambridge University Press, 2001 ISBN 0521808308, 9780521808309 507 pages [1]
2. ^ Crankshaw, Bismarck, p. 267
3. ^ Taylor, Bismarck, The Man and the Statesman, p. 121
4. ^ Taylor, p. 121

References

• Crankshaw, Edward. Bismarck. The Viking Press. 1981.
• Sloane, William M. (December 1900). "Bismarck as a Maker of Empire". Political Science Quarterly 15 (4): 647–66. doi:10.2307/2140466. ISSN 0032-3195. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0032-3195%28190012%2915%3A4%3C647%3ABAAMOE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J. Retrieved 2007-01-29. 

• Taylor, A. J. P. Bismarck, The Man and the Statesman. New York: Vintage Books. 1967.
• Both Ems Dispatch versions in their German original