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3/18/2014 Franco-Prussian War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Prussian_War

FrancoPrussian War

Part of the wars of German unification

Clockwise from top left:Prussian infantry at the Battle of Spicheren;

Jeanniot's 1886La ligne de feu(Battle of Mars-La-Tour);Werner's depiction of the capitulation of Sedan;

Neuville's 1873Les dernires cartouches(Battle of Bazeilles).

Date 19 July 1870 10 May 1871

(9 months and2 weeks)

Location France Prussia

Result German victory

Territorial

changesTreaty of Frankfurt

Formation of the German EmpireFall of the French Empire

Formation of the French Third Republic

German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine

Belligerents

French Empirea North GermanConfederation

Prussiac

BadenBavariaWrttembergHesse-Darmstadt

French Republicb German Empired

Commanders and leaders

Franco-Prussian WarFromWikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Franco-Prussian WarorFranco-GermanWar(German:

Deutsch-Franzsischer Krieg,French: Guerre franco-allemande), often referred to inFrance as the War of 1870[6]

(19 July 1870 10 May 1871),was a significant conflict pittingthe Second French Empireagainst the Kingdom of Prussiaand its allies in the North GermanConfederation, as well as theSouth German statesof Baden,Wrttemberg, Bavaria and

Hesse-Darmstadt.

The conflict emerged fromtensions regarding Germanunification. Some Germansconsidered a war against Francenecessary to unite the NorthGerman Confederation and theindependent southern Germanstates, while France was

preoccupied by the emergence ofa powerful Prussia. NapoleonIIIseized on a supposed insult in theEms Dispatch to declare war,which most French leadersexpected to win.

The German coalition quicklytook charge. Its forces weresuperior, due to much better

training and leadership, and moreeffective use of moderntechnology.[7]A series of swiftPrussian and German victories ineastern France culminating in theBattle of Sedan, saw NapoleonIII and his whole army capturedon 2 September. Yet this did notend the war, as the ThirdRepublic was declared in Paris
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Prussian_War 2

Napoleon III (POW)

F. A. Bazaine (POW)

Louis Jules Trochu

Patrice de MacMahon, Duc de Magenta

Lon Gambetta

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Wilhelm I

Otto von

Bismarck

Helmuth von

Moltke

Karl F. von

Steinmetz

Prince FriedrichKarl

Crown Prince

Friedrich

Albrecht von

Roon

Strength

909,951

492,585 active[1]417,366 Garde Mobile[1]

1.2 million

300,000 regulars900,000 reserves an

Casualties and losses

756,285[3]

138,871 dead[4]

143,000 wounded

474,414 captured

116,696[5]

28,208 dead

88,488 wounded

aUntil 4 September 1870.bFrom 4 September 1870.cLeading member of the North German Confederation.dFrom 18 January 1871.

on 4 September 1870 andFrench resistance continuedunder the Government of

National Defence and AdolpheThiers. Over a five-monthcampaign, the German forcesdefeated the newly recruitedFrench armies in a series of

battles fought across northernFrance. Following a prolongedsiege, Paris fell on 28 January1871. The German states

proclaimed their union as theGerman Empire under thePrussian king, Wilhelm I, unitingGermany as a nation-state. Thefinal Treaty of Frankfurt of 10May 1871 gave Germany mostof Alsace and some parts ofLorraine which became theImperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine.

Following defeat, a left-wingrevolt broke out in Paris againstthe new French republic. Knownas the Paris Commune, it was alandmark event in the

revolutionary seizure of power bythe masses, but it was harshlycrushed by Adolphe Thiers. Theunification of Germany into anempire in its own right, with thenew industrialization of the nation,shifted the European balance of power and Otto von Bismarck maintained great authority in international affairs fortwo decades. France's determination to regain Alsace-Lorraine would subsequently be a major factor in France'sinvolvement in World War I.[8]

Contents

1 Causes2 Opposing forces3 Summary of military events4 French Army incursion

4.1 Preparations for the offensive4.2 Occupation of Saarbrcken

Landwehr[2
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5 Prussian Army advance5.1 Battle of Wissembourg5.2 Battle of Spicheren5.3 Battle of Wrth (known also as Frschwiller or Reichshoffen)5.4 Battle of Mars-La-Tour5.5 Battle of Gravelotte5.6 Siege of Metz and the Battle of Sedan

6 The Government of National Defence6.1 Armistice rejection and continuance of hostilities6.2 Siege of Paris6.3 Loire campaign6.4 Northern campaign6.5 Eastern campaign6.6 Armistice

7 French and Prussian naval activities8 Factors resulting in German victory

8.1 General Staff system

8.2 Universal conscription8.3 Mobilization system8.4 Diplomatic isolation8.5 Armaments

9 Aftermath and legacy9.1 Prussian reaction and withdrawal9.2 French reaction to the defeat9.3 Paris Commune9.4 German unification and power

9.5 The Polish aspect10 See also11 Notes12 References

12.1 French and German studies13 Further reading14 External links

Causes

Main article: Causes of the Franco-Prussian War

The causes of the FrancoPrussian War are deeply rooted in the events surrounding the German unification. In theaftermath of the AustroPrussian War (1866), Prussia had annexed numerous territories and formed the NorthGerman Confederation. This new power destabilized the European balance of power established by the Congressof Vienna in 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon III, then the emperor of France, demandedcompensations in Belgium and on the left bank of the Rhine to secure France's strategic position, which the Prussiachancellor, Otto von Bismarck, flatly refused.[9]Prussia then turned its attention towards the south of Germany,
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Map of the North GermanConfederation (red), the SouthernGerman States (orange) and Alsace-Lorraine (beige).

where it sought to incorporate the southern German kingdoms, Bavaria, Wurttemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt, into a unified Prussia-dominated Germany. France was strongly opposed to the annexation of thesouthern German states, which would have significantly strengthened the Prussian military.[10]

In Prussia, some officials considered a war against France both inevitable and necessary to arouse Germannationalism in those states that would allow the unification of a great German empire. This aim was epitomized byPrussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's later statement: "I knew that a FrancoPrussian War must take place

before a united Germany was formed."[11]Bismarck also knew thatFrance should be regarded as the aggressor in the conflict to bring thesouthern German states to side with Prussia, hence giving Germansnumerical superiority.[12]Many Germans also viewed the French as thetraditional destabilizer of Europe, and sought to weaken France to

prevent further breaches of the peace.[13]

However, the immediate cause of the war resided in the candidacy of aPrussian prince to the throne of Spain. France feared encirclement by analliance between Prussia and Spain. The Hohenzollern prince's candidacywas withdrawn under French diplomatic pressure, but Otto vonBismarck goaded the French into declaring war by altering a telegramsent by William I. Releasing the Ems Telegram to the public, Bismarckmade it sound as if the king had treated the French envoy in a demeaningfashion. Six days later, France declared war on Prussia and the southernGerman states immediately sided with Prussia.[12]

According to some historians, such as Geoffrey Wawro, in addition to the diplomatic insult, Napoleon III and hisPrime Minister, mile Ollivier were also motivated to declare war in an attempt to solve internal political

problems.[14]However, French historians such as Philippe Sguin have disputed this. Sguin noted that Bismarckwas determined to have a war, that Napoleon III was perfectly aware of the weakness of the French Army, had nwish at all to enter the war, and was only pressured by the French press and public opinion. [15]

Opposing forces

The French Army peacetime army consisted of approximately 400,000 soldiers, some of them regulars, othersconscripts who served the comparatively long period of seven years with the colours. Some of them were veteranof previous French campaigns in the Crimean War, Algeria, the FrancoAustrian War in Italy, and in the FrancoMexican War. However, following the Seven Weeks War, it was calculated that the French Army could field only288,000 men to face the Prussian Army when perhaps 1,000,000 would be required.[16]

Under Marshal Adolphe Niel, urgent reforms were made. Universal conscription and a shorter period of servicegave increased numbers of reservists, who would swell the army to a planned strength of 800,000 on mobilisationThose who for any reason were not conscripted were to be enrolled in the Garde Mobile, with a nominal strengthof 400,000. However, the Franco-Prussian War broke out before these reforms could be completely implementeThe mobilisation of reservists was chaotic and resulted in large numbers of stragglers, while the Garde Mobilewegenerally untrained and often mutinous.[17]
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The infantry were equipped with the breech-loading Chassepot rifle, one of the most modern mass-producedfirearms in the world at the time. With a rubber ring seal and a smaller bullet, the Chassepot had a maximumeffective range of some 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) with a short reloading time. The artillery was equipped with rifled,muzzle-loaded Lahitte "4-pounder" (actual weight of shot: 4 kg or 8.8 lb) guns. In addition, the army was equippewith a precursor to the machine-gun: the mitrailleuse, which could unleash significant, dangerous, concentratedfirepower, with a weakness of having short range and relative immobility and thus prone to being easily overrun.The mitrailleuse was mounted on an artillery gun carriage and grouped in batteries in a similar fashion to cannon.The army was nominally led by Napoleon III with Marshals Francois Achille Bazaine, Patrice de Mac-Mahon, anJules Trochu among others.

The Prussian Army was composed not of regulars but conscripts. Service was compulsory for all of the men ofmilitary age, and thus Prussia and its North and South German allies could mobilise and field some 1,200,000soldiers in time of war. The sheer number of soldiers available made mass-encirclement and destruction of enemyformations advantageous. The army was still equipped with the "needle-gun" Dreyse rifle of Battle of Kniggrtzfame, which was by this time showing the age of its 25-year-old design. The deficiencies of the needle-gun weremore than compensated for by the famous Krupp 6-pounder (3 kg) steel breech-loading cannons being issued toPrussian artillery batteries. Firing a contact-detonated shell filled with zinc balls and explosives, the Krupp gun hadrange of 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) and blistering rate of fire compared to the French bronze muzzle loading cannon

The Prussian army was commanded by Field-Marshal Helmuth von Moltke and the Prussian General Staff. ThePrussian army was unique in Europe for having the only General Staff in existence, whose sole purpose was todirect operational movement, organise logistics and communications, and develop the overall war strategy. In

practice, a chief of staff was a much more important figure in the Prussian Army than in any other army, because hhad the right to appeal against his superior to the commander of the next highest formation. Thus, for example, theCrown Prince was unable to contradict the advice of his Chief of Staff, General Leonhard, Count von Blumenthal,for fear of a direct appeal (in this case) to his father, the King.

Given that France maintained a strong standing army, and that Prussia and the other German states would need

weeks to mobilise their conscript armies, the French held the initial advantage of troop numbers and experience.French tactics emphasised the defensive use of the Chassepot rifle in trench-warfare style fighting; German tacticsemphasised encirclement battles and using artillery offensively whenever possible.

Summary of military events

The efficiency of German mobilization contrasted with confusion and delay on the French side. Germany was ableto deliver 380,000 troops to the forward zone within 18 days of the start of mobilization on 14 July, while manyFrench units reached the front either late or with inadequate supplies. The German and French armies that thenconfronted each other were both grouped into right and left wings. After suffering a check by the Crown Prince an

General von Blumenthal at the Battle of Wrth on 6 August 1870, the commander of the French right (south) wingMarshal Patrice MacMahon, retreated westward. That same day, about 40 miles (64 km) to the northwest, thecommander of the French left wing, Marshal Achille Bazaine, was dislodged from near Saarbrcken and fell backwestward to the fortress of Metz. His further retreat was checked by the German right wing in two blundering

battles on 16 and 18 August, respectively (the Battles of Mars-la-Tour and Gravelotte), and he then took refugebehind the defenses of Metz until forced by starvation to surrender on 29 October.

The French right wing, commanded by MacMahon and accompanied by Napoleon III himself, attempted to relievBazaine but was itself surrounded and trapped by the Germans in the disastrous Battle of Sedan on 31 August.Encircled, the 83,000 French troops with Napoleon III and MacMahon surrendered on 2 September. Since
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Map of German and French armies near

their common border on 31 July 1870

Bazaine's army was still bottled up in Metz, the result of the war was virtually decided by this surrender. Frenchresistance was carried on against desperate odds by a new government of national defense, which assumed powerin Paris on 4 September 1870, and proclaimed the deposition of the emperor and the establishment of the ThirdRepublic. On 19 September, the Germans laid siege to Paris. Jules Favre, foreign minister in the new government,went to negotiate with Bismarck, but the negotiations were broken off when he found that Germany demanded boAlsace and Lorraine regions. Lon Gambetta, the leading figure in the provisional government, organized newFrench armies in the countryside after escaping from besieged Paris in a balloon. These engaged but could notdefeat the German forces. Bazaine capitulated at Metz with his 140,000 troops intact on 27 October, and Parissurrendered on 28 January 1871.

French Army incursion

Preparations for the offensive

On 28 July 1870 Napoleon III left Paris for Metz and assumedcommand of the newly titled Army of the Rhine, some 202,448strong and expected to grow as the French mobilization

progressed.[18]Marshal MacMahon took command of I Corps (4infantry divisions) near Wissembourg, Marshal Franois Canrobert

brought VI Corps (4 infantry divisions) to Chlons-sur-Marne innorthern France as a reserve and to guard against a Prussianadvance through Belgium.

A pre-war plan laid out by the late Marshal Adolphe Niel called foa strong French offensive from Thionville towards Trier and into thePrussian Rhineland. This plan was discarded in favour of a defensiv

plan by Generals Charles Frossard and Bartlemy Lebrun, which

called for the Army of the Rhine to remain in a defensive posturenear the German border and repel any Prussian offensive. AsAustria along with Bavaria, Wrttemberg and Baden were expecte

to join in a revenge war against Prussia, I Corps would invade the Bavarian Palatinate and proceed to "free" theSouth German states in concert with Austro-Hungarian forces. VI Corps would reinforce either army asneeded.[19]

Unfortunately for General Frossard's plan, the Prussian army was mobilizing far more rapidly than expected. TheAustro-Hungarians, still smarting after their defeat by Prussia in the AustroPrussian War, were treading carefully

before stating that they would only commit to France's cause if the southern Germans viewed the French positively

This did not materialize as the South German states had come to Prussia's aid and were mobilizing their armiesagainst France.[20]

Occupation of Saarbrcken

Napoleon III was under immense domestic pressure to launch an offensive before the full might of Moltke's forceswas mobilized and deployed. Reconnaissance by General Frossard had identified only the Prussian 16th InfantryDivision guarding the border town of Saarbrcken, right before the entire Army of the Rhine. Accordingly, on 31July the Army marched forward toward the Saar River to seize Saarbrcken.[21]
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French Lancers and Cuirassiersguarding captured Bavarian soldiers

French soldiers in the Franco

Prussian War 187071

General Frossard's II Corps and Marshal Bazaine's III Corps crossed the German border on 2 August, and beganto force the Prussian 40th Regiment of the 16th Infantry Division from the town of Saarbrcken with a series ofdirect attacks. The Chassepot rifle proved its worth against the Dreyse rifle, with French riflemen regularlyoutdistancing their Prussian counterparts in the skirmishing around Saarbrcken. However the Prussians resistedstrongly, and the French suffered 86 casualties to the Prussian 83casualties. Saarbrcken also proved to be a major obstacle in terms oflogistics. Only one railway there led to the German hinterland but could

be easily defended by a single force, and the only river systems in theregion ran along the border instead of inland.[22]While the French hailedthe invasion as the first step towards the Rhineland and later Berlin,General Le Buf and Napoleon III were receiving alarming reports fromforeign news sources of Prussian and Bavarian armies massing to thesoutheast in addition to the forces to the north and northeast.[23]

Moltke had indeed massed three armies in the areathe Prussian FirstArmy with 50,000 men, commanded by General Karl Von Steinmetzopposite Saarlouis, the Prussian Second Army with 134,000 mencommanded by Prince Friedrich Karl opposite the lineForbachSpicheren, and the Prussian Third Army with 120,000 men commanded by Crown Prince FriedrichWilhelm, poised to cross the border at Wissembourg.[24]

Prussian Army advance

Battle of Wissembourg

Main article: Battle of Wissembourg (1870)

Upon learning from captured Prussian soldiers and a local area policechief that the Prussian Crown Prince's Third Army was just 30 miles(48 km) from Saarbrcken near the town of Wissembourg, General LeBuf and Napoleon III decided to retreat to defensive positions. GeneralFrossard, without instructions, hastily withdrew the elements of Army ofthe Rhine in Saarbrcken back to Spicheren and Forbach.[25]

Marshal MacMahon, now closest to Wissembourg, left his four divisionsspread 20 miles (32 km) apart in diameter to react to any Prussianinvasion. This organization of forces was due to a lack of supplies,

forcing each division to seek out basic provisions along with therepresentatives of the army supply arm that was supposed to aid them.What made a bad situation much worse was the conduct of GeneralAuguste-Alexandre Ducrot, commander of MacMahon's 1st Division. He told General Abel Douay, commander oMacMahon's 2nd Division, on 1 August that "The information I have received makes me suppose that theenemy has no considerable forces very near his advance posts, and has no desire to take the offensive".[26

Two days later, he told MacMahon that he had not found "a single enemy post ... it looks to me as if themenace of the Bavarians is simply bluff". Even though Ducrot shrugged off the possibility of an attack by theGermans, MacMahon still tried to warn the other divisions of his army, without success. [27]
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Map of Prussian and German offensive, 5August and 6 August 1870

The first action of the FrancoPrussian War took place on 4 August 1870. This battle saw the unsupported divisioof General Douay of I Corps, with some attached cavalry, which was posted to watch the border, attacked inoverwhelming but poorly coordinated fashion by the German 3rd Army. As the day wore on, elements of oneBavarian and two Prussian Corps became embroiled in the fight, and were aided by Prussian artillery which blasteholes in the defenses of the town. Douay held a very strong position initially thanks to the accurate long range fire othe Chassepots, but his force was too thinly stretched to hold it. Douay was killed in the late morning when acaisson of the divisional mitrailleuse battery exploded near him. No matter who took his place, the encirclement ofthe town by the enemy had put the entire division in peril.[28]

The fighting within the town had become extremely intense, becoming a door to door battle of survival. Despite anever-ending attack of Prussian infantry, the soldiers of the 2nd Division kept to their positions.The people of thetown of Wissembourg finally surrendered to the Germans. Those who did not surrender retreated westward,leaving behind 1,000 captured men and all of their remaining ammunition.[29]The Prussians seemed poised tocapitalize on these happenings, and the French appeared still woefully unaware of the now forming Prussianuggernaut.

Battle of Spicheren

Main article: Battle of Spicheren

The Battle of Spicheren, on 5 August, was the second of threecritical French defeats. Moltke had originally planned to keepBazaine's army on the Saar River until he could attack it with the2nd Army in front and the 1st Army on its left flank, while the 3rdArmy closed towards the rear. The aging General Karl VonSteinmetz made an overzealous, unplanned move, leading the 1stArmy south from his position on the Moselle. He moved straighttoward the town of Spicheren, cutting off Prince Frederick Charlesfrom his forward cavalry units in the process.[30]

On the French side, planning after the disaster at Wissembourg hadbecome essential. General Le Buf, flushed with anger, was intentupon going on the offensive over the Saar and countering their loss.However, planning for the next encounter was more based upon thereality of unfolding events rather than emotion or pride, as IntendantGeneral Wolff told him and his staff that supply beyond the Saar would be impossible. Therefore, the armies ofFrance would take up a defensive position that would protect against every possible attack point, but also left thearmies unable to support each other.[31]

While the French army under General MacMahon engaged the German 3rd Army at the Battle of Wrth, theGerman 1st Army under Steinmetz finished their advance west from Saarbrcken. A patrol from the German 2ndArmy under Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia spotted decoy fires close and Frossard's army farther off on a distant

plateau south of the town of Spicheren, and took this as a sign of Frossard's retreat. Ignoring Moltke's plan again,both German armies attacked Frossard's French 2nd Corps, fortified between Spicheren and Forbach[32]

The French were unaware of German numerical superiority at the beginning of the battle as the German 2nd Armydid not attack all at once. Treating the oncoming attacks as merely skirmishes, Frossard did not request additionalsupport from other units. By the time he realized what kind of a force he was opposing, it was too late. Seriously
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Aim Morot'sLa bataille de Reichshoff en, 1887

flawed communications between Frossard and those in reserve under Bazaine slowed down so much that by thetime the reserves received orders to move out to Spicheren, German soldiers from the 1st and 2nd armies hadcharged up the heights.[33]Because the reserves had not arrived, Frossard erroneously believed that he was ingrave danger of being outflanked as German soldiers under General von Glume were spotted in Forbach. Insteadof continuing to defend the heights, by the close of battle after dusk he retreated to the south. The Germancasualties were relatively high due to the advance and the effectiveness of the chassepot rifle. They were quitestartled in the morning when they had found out that their efforts were not in vainFrossard had abandoned his

position on the heights.

[34]

Battle of Wrth (known also as Frschwiller or Reichshoffen)

Main article: Battle of Wrth

The two armies clashed again two days later on 6August 1870 near Wrth in the town ofFrschwiller, less than ten miles (16 km) fromWissembourg. The Crown Prince of Prussia's 3rd

army had, on the quick reaction of his Chief of StaGeneral von Blumenthal, drawn reinforcementswhich brought its strength up to 140,000 troops.The French had also been reinforced, but theirrecruitment was slow, and their force numberedonly 35,000. Although badly outnumbered, theFrench defended their position just outsideFrschwiller. By afternoon, both sides had suffereabout 10,000 casualties, and the French army watoo battered to continue resisting. To make matter

even more dire for the French, the Germans hadtaken the town of Frschwiller which sat on ahilltop in the centre of the French line. Having lost any hope for victory and facing a massacre, the French armydisengaged and retreated in a westerly direction, hoping to join other French forces on the other side of the Vosgemountains. The German 3rd army did not pursue the withdrawing French. It remained in Alsace and moved slowlysouth, attacking and destroying the French defensive garrisons in the vicinity.

The battle of Wrth was the first major battle of the FrancoGerman war, with more than 100,000 troops in thebattlefield. It was also one of the first clashes where troops from various German states (Prussians, Badeners,Bavarians, Saxons, etc.) fought jointly. These facts have led some historians to call the battlefield of Wrth the"cradle of Germany". It was not without cost, however, as Prussia lost 10,500 to death or wounds. MacMahon'ssituation was even more dire, as French casualties reached 19,200 killed, wounded or captured.[35]

Battle of Mars-La-Tour

Main article: Battle of Mars-La-Tour

With the Prussian army now steamrolling, 130,000 French soldiers were bottled up in the fortress of Metz followinseveral defeats at the front. Their attempt to leave Metz in order to link up with French forces at Chlons wasspotted by a Prussian cavalry patrol under Major Oskar von Blumenthal. Four days after their retreat, on 16
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The Prussian 7th Cuirassiers charge the French guns at

the Battle of Mars-La-Tour, 16 August 1870.

August a grossly outnumbered Prussian force of 30,000 men of III Corps (of the 2nd Army) under GeneralKonstantin von Alvensleben, found the French Army near Vionville, east of Mars-la-Tour.

Despite odds of four to one, the III Corps launched a risky attack. The French were routed and the III Corpscaptured Vionville, blocking any further escapeattempts to the west. Once blocked from retreat, theFrench in the fortress of Metz had no choice but toengage in a fight that would see the last major cavalry

engagement in Western Europe. The battle soonerupted, and III Corps was shattered by incessantcavalry charges, losing over half its soldiers.Meanwhile, the French suffered equivalent losses of16,000 soldiers, but still enjoyed huge numericalsuperiority.

On 16 August, the French had a chance to sweep awaythe key Prussian defense, and to escape. Two Prussiancorps attacked the French advanced guard thinking that

it was the rearguard of the retreat of the French Armyof the Meuse. Despite this misjudgment the twoPrussian corps held the entire French army for the whole day. Outnumbered 5 to 1, the extraordinary lan of thePrussians prevailed over gross indecision by the French. The French had lost the opportunity to win a decisivevictory.

Battle of Gravelotte

Main article: Battle of Gravelotte

The Battle of Gravelotte, or GravelotteSt. Privat, was the largest battle during the FrancoPrussian War. It wasfought about six miles (10 km) west of Metz, Lorraine, France where on the previous day, having intercepted theFrench army's retreat to the west at the Battle of Mars-La-Tour, the Prussians were now closing in to complete thdestruction of the French forces.

The combined German forces, under Field Marshal Count Helmuth von Moltke, were the Prussian First andSecond Armies of the North German Confederation numbering about 210 infantry battalions, 133 cavalrysquadrons, and 732 heavy cannons totaling 188,332 officers and men. The French Army of the Rhine, commande

by Marshal Franois-Achille Bazaine, numbering about 183 infantry battalions, 104 cavalry squadrons, backed by520 heavy cannons, totaling 112,800 officers and men, dug in along high ground with their southern left flank at th

town of Rozerieulles, and their northern right flank at St. Privat.

On 18 August, the battle began when at 08:00 Moltke ordered the First and Second Armies to advance against thFrench positions. By 12:00, General Manstein opened up the battle before the village of Amanvillers with artilleryfrom the 25th Infantry Division. But the French had spent the night and early morning digging trenches and rifle pitswhile placing their artillery and their mitrailleuses in concealed positions. Finally aware of the Prussian advance, theFrench opened up a massive return fire against the mass of advancing Germans. The battle at first appeared tofavor the French with their superior Chassepot rifle. However, the Prussian artillery was superior with the all-steelKrupp breech-loading gun.
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Juliusz Kossak,Battle of Gravelotte, depicting the Prussians atGravelotte, 1871

By 14:30, General Steinmetz, thecommander of the First Army, unilaterallylaunched his VIII Corps across the MancRavine in which the Prussian infantry weresoon pinned down by murderous rifle andmitrailleuse fire from the French positions.At 15:00, the massed guns of the VII andVIII Corps opened fire to support theattack. But by 16:00, with the attack indanger of stalling, Steinmetz ordered theVII Corps forward, followed by the 1stCavalry Division.

By 16:50, with the Prussian southernattacks in danger of breaking up, thePrussian 3rd Guards Infantry Brigade of

the Second Army opened an attack against the French positions at St. Privat which were commanded by GeneralCanrobert. At 17:15, the Prussian 4th Guards Infantry Brigade joined the advance followed at 17:45 by the

Prussian 1st Guards Infantry Brigade. All of the Prussian Guard attacks were pinned down by lethal French gunfirfrom the rifle pits and trenches. At 18:15 the Prussian 2nd Guards Infantry Brigade, the last of the 1st GuardsInfantry Division, was committed to the attack on St. Privat while Steinmetz committed the last of the reserves ofthe First Army across the Mance Ravine. By 18:30, a considerable portion of the VII and VIII Corps disengagedfrom the fighting and withdrew towards the Prussian positions at Rezonville.

With the defeat of the First Army, Prince Frederick Charles ordered a massed artillery attack against Canrobert'sposition at St. Privat to prevent the Guards attack from failing too. At 19:00 the 3rd Division of Fransecky's IICorps of the Second Army advanced across Ravine while the XII Corps cleared out the nearby town of Roncourand with the survivors of the 1st Guards Infantry Division launched a fresh attack against the ruins of St. Privat. At

20:00, the arrival of the Prussian 4th Infantry Division of the II Corps and with the Prussian right flank on ManceRavine, the line stabilised. By then, the Prussians of the 1st Guards Infantry Division and the XII and II Corpscaptured St. Privat forcing the decimated French forces to withdraw. With the Prussians exhausted from thefighting, the French were now able to mount a counter-attack. General Bourbaki, however, refused to commit thereserves of the French Old Guard to the battle because, by that time, he considered the overall situation a 'defeat'.

By 22:00, firing largely died down across the battlefield for the night. The next morning, the French Army of theRhine, rather than resume the battle with an attack of its own against the battle-weary German armies, retreated toMetz where they were besieged and forced to surrender two months later.

The casualties were horrible, especially for the attacking Prussian forces. A grand total of 20,163 German troopswere killed, wounded or missing in action during the August 18 battle. The French losses were 7,855 killed andwounded along with 4,420 prisoners of war (half of them were wounded) for a total of 12,275. While most of thePrussians fell under the French Chassepot rifles, most French fell under the Prussian Krupp shells. In a breakdownof the casualties, Frossard's II Corps of the Army of the Rhine suffered 621 casualties while inflicting 4,300casualties on the Prussian First Army under Steinmetz before the Pointe du Jour. The Prussian Guards InfantryDivisions losses were even more staggering with 8,000 casualties out of 18,000 men. The Special Guards Jger lo19 officers, a surgeon and 431 men out of a total of 700. The 2nd Guards Infantry Brigade lost 39 officers and1,076 men. The 3rd Guards Infantry Brigade lost 36 officers and 1,060 men. On the French side, the units holdingSt. Privat lost more than half their number in the village.
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FrancoPrussian war of 1870.Defence of Metz by the French

Army.

Napoleon III and Bismarck talk after Napoleon's capture atthe Battle of Sedan by Wilhelm Camphausen

French cuirassiers in Metz, 1870

Siege of Metz and the Battle of Sedan

Main articles: Siege of Metz and Battle of Sedan

With the defeat of Marshal Bazaine's Army of the Rhine at Gravelotte, the French were forced to retire to Metz,where they were besieged by over 150,000 Prussian troops of the First and Second Armies.

Napoleon III and Mac-Mahon formed the new French Army ofChlons, to march on to Metz to rescue Bazaine. Napoleon III

personally led the army with Marshal Mac-Mahon in attendance. TheArmy of Chlons marched northeast towards the Belgian border to avothe Prussians before striking south to link up with Bazaine.

The

Prussians, under the command of Field MarshalCount Helmuth von Moltke, took advantage of thismaneuver to catch the French in a pincer grip. Heleft the Prussian First and Second Armies besiegingMetz, except three corps detached to form theArmy of the Meuse under the Crown Prince ofSaxony. With this army and the Prussian ThirdArmy, Moltke marched northward and caught up

with the French at Beaumont on 30 August. After asharp fight in which they lost 5,000 men and 40 cannons, the French withdrew toward Sedan. Having reformed inthe town, the Army of Chlons was immediately isolated by the converging Prussian armies. Napoleon III orderedthe army to break out of the encirclement immediately. With MacMahon wounded on the previous day, GeneralAuguste Ducrot took command of the French troops in the field.

On 1 September 1870, the battle opened with the Army of Chlons, with202 infantry battalions, 80 cavalry squadrons and 564 guns, attacking thesurrounding Prussian Third and Meuse Armies totaling 222 infantry

battalions, 186 cavalry squadrons and 774 guns. General De Wimpffen,

the commander of the French V Corps in reserve, hoped to launch acombined infantry and cavalry attack against the Prussian XI Corps. Butby 11:00, Prussian artillery took a toll on the French while more Prussiantroops arrived on the battlefield. The French cavalry, commanded byGeneral Marguerite, launched three desperate attacks on the nearbyvillage of Floing where the Prussian XI Corps was concentrated. Marguerite was killed leading the very first chargand the two additional charges led to nothing but heavy losses.
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By the end of the day, with no hope of breaking out, Napoleon III called off the attacks. The French lost over17,000 men, killed or wounded, with 21,000 captured. The Prussians reported their losses at 2,320 killed, 5,980wounded and 700 captured or missing.

By the next day, on 2 September, Napoleon III surrendered and was taken prisoner with 104,000 of his soldiers.It was an overwhelming victory for the Prussians, for they not only captured an entire French army, but the leaderof France as well. The defeat of the French at Sedan had decided the war in Prussia's favour. One French armywas now immobilised and besieged in the city of Metz, and no other forces stood on French ground to prevent a

German invasion. Nevertheless, the war would drag on for five more months.

The Government of National Defence

When news hit Paris of Emperor Napoleon's III capture, the French Second Empire was overthrown in a bloodleand successful coup d'tat which was launched by General Trochu, Jules Favre, and Lon Gambetta at Paris on 4September. They removed the second Bonapartist monarchy and proclaimed a republic led by a Government of

National Defence, leading to the Third Republic. Napoleon III was taken to Germany, and released later. He weninto exile in the United Kingdom, dying in 1873.

After the German victory at Sedan, most of France's standing forces were out of combat, one army wasimmobilised and besieged in the city of Metz, and the army led by Emperor Napoleon III himself had surrenderedto the Germans. Under these circumstances, the Germans hoped for an armistice which would put an official end tthe hostilities and lead to peace. Prussia's Prime Minister Bismarck, in particular, wanted to end the war as soon a

possible. To a nation with as many neighbors as Prussia, a prolonged war meant the growing risk of intervention banother power, and Bismarck was determined to limit that risk.

At first, the outlook for peace seemed fair. The Germans estimated that the new government of France could not binterested in continuing the war that had been declared by the monarch they had quickly deposed. Hoping to pavethe road to peace, von Bismarck invited the new French Government to negotiations held at Chteau de Ferriresand submitted a list of moderate conditions, including limited territorial demands in Alsace. Further claims of aFrench border along the Rhine in Palatinate had been made since (Adolphe Thiers, Rhine crisis) 1840, while theGermans vowed to defend both banks of the Rhine (Die Wacht am Rhein). As Prussia had recently acquired largareas populated by Catholics, further extensions were not considered desirable by Bismarck.

Armistice rejection and continuance of hostilities

While the republican government was amenable to reparation payments or transfer of colonial territories in Africa in South East Asia to Prussia, Jules Favre on behalf of the Government of National Defense declared on 6

September that France would not "yield an inch of its territory nor a stone of its fortresses."

[36]

The republic thenrenewed the declaration of war, called for recruits in all parts of the country, and pledged to drive the enemy troopout of France.

Under these circumstances, the Germans had to continue the war, yet could not pin down any proper militaryopposition in their vicinity. As the bulk of the remaining French armies were digging-in near Paris, the Germanleaders decided to put pressure upon the enemy by attacking Paris. By September 15, German troops reached thoutskirts of the heavily fortified city of Paris. On September 19, the Germans surrounded it and erected a blockadas already established and ongoing at Metz.
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"Discussing the War in a Paris Caf"a scene publishedin theIllustrated London Newsof 17 September 1870.

"The War: Defence of ParisStudents Going toMan the Fortifications"one of the iconic imagesof the Siege of Paris.

When the war broke out, European public opinion heavily favored the Germans. For example, many Italiansattempted to sign up as volunteers at the Prussian embassy in Florence, and a Prussian diplomat visited GiuseppeGaribaldi in Caprera. Bismarck's demand for the return of Alsace caused a dramatic shift in that sentiment in Italy,which was best exemplified by the reaction of Garibaldi soon after the revolution in Paris, who told theMovimentof Genoa on 7 September 1870 that "Yesterday I said to you: war to the death to Bonaparte. Today I say to yourescue the French Republic by every means."[37]Subsequently, Garibaldi went to France and assumed commandof the Army of the Vosges.

Siege of Paris

Main article: Siege of Paris (18701871)

The Siege of Paris (19 September 1870 28 January1871) brought about the final defeat of the French Armyduring the FrancoPrussian War. On 18 January the newGerman Empire was proclaimed at the Palace of Versailles.

Faced with the German blockade of Paris, the new Frenchgovernment called for the establishment of several large armies in France's provinces. These new bodies of troopswere to march towards Paris and attack the Germans there from various directions at the same time. In addition,armed French civilians were to create a guerilla forcethe so-calledFrancs-tireursfor the purpose of attackinGerman support lines.

These developments prompted calls from the German civilian public for a bombardment of the city. GeneralLeonhard Graf von Blumenthal, who commanded the siege, was opposed to the bombardment on moral grounds.In this he was backed by other senior military figures such as the Crown Prince and Moltke.
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The Battle of Bapaume (1871) tookplace on the 23 January 1871,during the FrancoPrussian War inand around Biefvillers-ls-Bapaume

and Bapaume. The Prussian advancewas stopped by Genral Louis LonCsar Faidherbe at the head of the

Arme du Nord.

Loire campaign

Dispatched from Paris as the republican government's emissary, Lon Gambetta passed over the German lines in aballoon inflated with coal gas from the city's gasworks, and organized the recruitment of new French armies.

News about an alleged German "extermination" plan infuriated the French and strengthened their support to theirnew government. Within a few weeks, five new armies totaling more than 500,000 troops were recruited.

The Germans noticed this development and dispatched some of their troops to the French provinces in order todetect, attack, and disperse the new French armies before they could become a menace, for the blockade of Parisor elsewhere. The Germans were not prepared for an occupation of the whole of France. This would overstretchthem and they would become vulnerable to the Danes or the Austrians who had recently lost to Prussia in 1864 an1866 respectively

On 10 October, fighting erupted between German and French republican forces near Orlans. At first, theGermans were victorious, but the French drew reinforcements and defeated the Germans at Coulmiers on 9

November. But after the surrender of Metz, more than 100,000 well-trained and battle-experienced Germantroops joined the German 'Southern Army'. With these reinforcements, the French were forced to abandon Orlan

on 4 December, to be finally defeated at the Battle of Le Mans (between 1012 January).

A second French army which operated north of Paris was turned back near Amiens (27 November 1870),Bapaume (3 January 1871) and St. Quentin (13 January).

Northern campaign

Following the Army of the Loire's defeats, Gambetta turned to GeneralFaidherbe's Army of the North. The Army of the North had achievedseveral small victories at towns such as Ham, La Hallue, and Amiens,

and was well-protected by the belt of fortresses in northern France,allowing Faidherbe's men to launch quick attacks against isolatedPrussian units, then retreat behind the belt of fortresses. Despite thearmy's access to the armaments factories of Lille, the Army of the Northsuffered from severe supply difficulties which kept the soldiers' already

poor morale at a permanently low level. In January 1871, Gambettaforced Faidherbe to march his army beyond the fortresses and engagethe Prussians in open battle. The army was severely weakened by lowmorale, supply problems, the terrible winter weather, and low troopquality, whilst General Faidherbe himself was unable to direct battles

effectively due to his poor health, the result of decades of campaigning inWest Africa. At the Battle of St. Quentin, the Army of the North suffereda crushing defeat and was scattered, releasing thousands of Prussiansoldiers to be relocated to the East.

Eastern campaign

Following the destruction of the French Army of the Loire, remnants of the Loire army gathered in eastern Franceto form the Army of the East, commanded by General Charles Bourbaki. In a final attempt to cut the Germansupply lines in northeast France, Bourbaki's army marched north to attack the Prussian siege of Belfort and relieve
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French warships at sea in 1870

To relieve pressure from the expected German attack intoAlsace-Lorraine, Napoleon III and others in the Frenchhigh command planned at the outset of the war to launch aseaborne invasion of northern Germany. French plannershoped that the invasion would not only divert Germantroops from the front, but also inspire Denmark to assistwith its 50,000 strong army and substantial navy. Howeveit was discovered that Prussia had recently installedformidable defences around the major North German portincluding coastal artillery batteries consisting of Kruppheavy artillery that could hit French ships from a distance o4,000 yards (3,700 m). The French Navy lacked thenecessary heavy weaponry to deal with these coastal

defences, while the difficult topography of the Prussian coastline (see the article Wadden Sea) made a seaborneinvasion of northern Germany impossible.[40]

The French Marines and naval infantry tasked with the invasion of northern Germany were subsequently dispatcheto bolster the French Army of Chlons and fell into captivity at the Battle of Sedan along with Napoleon III. With

France suffering a severe shortage of officers following the capture of most of the professional French army at theSiege of Metz and at the Battle of Sedan, naval officers were taken from their ships to officer the hastily assembledardes mobilesor French reserve army units.[41]

As the autumn storms of the North Sea took their toll on the remaining patrolling French ships, the blockadebecame less and less effective. In September 1870 the French navy finally abandoned the blockade altogether forthe winter, and the French Navy retired to ports along the English Channel, remaining in port for the rest of thewar.[41]

Isolated engagements took place between French and German ships in other theaters, such as the blockade by FS

Dupleixof the German shipHerthain Nagasaki, Japan,[42]and the gunboat battle between the PrussianMeteorand the FrenchBouvetoutside of Havana, Cuba, in November 1870.[43]

Factors resulting in German victory

The quick German victory over the French stunned neutral observers, many of whom had expected a Frenchvictory and most of whom had expected, at the very least, a prolonged conflict. The strategic advantages possesse

by the Germans were not appreciated outside Germany until after hostilities had ceased.

Other countries quickly discerned the advantages given to the Germans by their military system, and adopted manyof their innovations, particularly the General Staff, universal conscription, and highly detailed mobilization systems.

General Staff system

The Prussian General Staff developed by Moltke proved to be extremely effective, in contrast to the traditionalFrench school. This was in large part due to the fact that the Prussian General Staff was created to study previousPrussian operations and learn from previous mistakes. The structure also greatly strengthened Moltke's ability tocontrol large formations spread out over significant distances.[44]The Chief of the General Staff, effectively thecommander in chief of the Prussian army, was independent of the minister of war and answered only to the
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monarch.[45]The French General Staffalong with those of every other European militarywas little better than collection of assistants for the line commanders. This disorganization hampered the French commanders' ability toexercise control of their forces.[46]

In addition, the Prussian military education system was superior to the French model; Prussian staff officers weretrained to exhibit initiative and independent thinking. Indeed, this was Moltke's expectation.[47]The French,meanwhile, suffered from an education and promotion system that stifled intellectual development. According to th

military historian Dallas Irvine, the system "was almost completely effective in excluding the army's brain powerfrom the staff and high command. To the resulting lack of intelligence at the top can be ascribed all the inexcusabledefects of French military policy."[45]

Universal conscription

Albrecht von Roon, the Prussian Minister of War from 1859 to 1873, put into effect a series of reforms of thePrussian military system in the 1860s. Among these were two major reforms that substantially increased the militar

power of Germany. The first was a reorganization of the army that integrated the regular army and theLandwehrreserves.[48]The second was the provision for the conscription of every male Prussian of military age in the event o

mobilization.[49]Thus, despite the population of France being greater than the population of all of the German statethat participated in the war, the Germans mobilized more soldiers for battle.

Population and soldiers mobilized at the start of the war

Population in 1870 Mobilized

Second French Empire 38,000,000 500,000

Northern German states 32,000,000 550,000

Mobilization system

At the outset of the FrancoPrussian War, 462,000 German soldiers concentrated on the French frontier while on270,000 French soldiers could be moved to face them, the French army having lost 100,000 stragglers before ashot was fired through poor planning and administration.[50]This was partly due to the peacetime organisations ofthe armies. Each Prussian Corps was based within aKreis(literally "circle") around the chief city in an area.Reservists rarely lived more than a day's travel from their regiment's depot. By contrast, French regiments generallserved far from their depots, which in turn were not in the areas of France from which their soldiers were drawn.Reservists often faced several days' journey to report to their depots, and then another long journey to join theirregiments. Large numbers of reservists choked railway stations, vainly seeking rations and orders. [51]

The effect of these differences was accentuated by the pre-war preparations. The Prussian General Staff had drawup minutely detailed mobilization plans using the railway system, which in turn had been partly laid out in responseto recommendations of a Railway Section within the General Staff. The French railway system, with multiplecompeting companies, had developed purely from commercial pressures and many journeys to the front in Alsaceand Lorraine involved long diversions and frequent changes between trains. Furthermore, no system had been put

place for military control of the railways, and officers simply commandeered trains as they saw fit. Sidings andmarshalling yards became choked with loaded wagons, with nobody responsible for unloading them or directingthem to the correct destination.[52]
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Areas of France occupied until thewar reparations were paid.

Diplomatic isolation

Although Austria-Hungary and Denmark had both wished to avenge their recent military defeats against Prussia,they chose not to intervene in the war due to a lack of confidence in the French. Napoleon III also failed to cultivaalliances with the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom, partially due to the diplomatic efforts of the Prussianchancellor Otto von Bismarck, and thus faced the German states alone.

Armaments

The French breech-loading rifle, the Chassepot, had a far longer range than the German Dreyse needle gun; 1,600ards (1,500 m) compared to 600 yd (550 m). The French also had an early machine-gun type weapon, the

mitrailleuse, which could fire its twenty-five barrels at a range of around 2,000 yd (1,800 m). It was developed insuch secrecy, however, that no real training with the weapon was effected, and French gunners had no practicalexperience using it in combat. It was therefore treated like a piece of artillery, and in this role it was ineffective.

The French were equipped with bronze, rifled muzzle-loading artillery, while the Prussians used new steel breech-loading guns. The breech-loaders had a far longer range than the muzzle-loading guns, and could be fired faster.[53

The Krupp C64 (field gun), a steel, breech loaded field gun which could fire an 8 cm caliber, 4 pound projectile,was one of the main artillery pieces of the Prussians in their 18701871 war with France. It was superior to theFrench counterparts in every way: accuracy, rate of fire and range.[54]The C64 field gun was the sole gun of thePrussian horse artillery units. Each unit comprised three batteries, each battery was equipped with six C64 guns, foa total of eighteen guns per unit. The foot artillery units had an equal mixture of C64 and the heavier C67 (six

pounder gun).[55]

Aftermath and legacy

Prussian reaction and withdrawal

The Prussian Army held a brief victory parade in Paris on 17 February,and Bismarck honoured the armistice by sending trainloads of food intoParis and withdrawing Prussian forces to the east of the city, prior to afull withdrawal once France agreed to pay 5,000,000,000 francs in warindemnity.[56]At the same time, Prussian forces were withdrawn fromFrance and concentrated in the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. Anexodus occurred from Paris as some 200,000 people, predominantlymiddle-class, left the city for the countryside. Paris was quickly re-

supplied with free food and fuel by the United Kingdom and severalaccounts recall life in the city settling back to normal.[citation needed]

French reaction to the defeat

National elections produced an overwhelmingly conservativegovernment, which, under President Adolphe Thiers, established itself inVersailles, fearing that the political climate of Paris was too dangerous toset up the capital in the city. The new government, formed mainly ofconservative, middle-class rural politicians, passed a variety of laws
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Proclamation of the German Empire, painted byAnton von Werner

world power, British involvement in European affairs during the late 19th century was very limited, allowingGermany to exercise great influence over the European mainland. Besides, the Crown Prince's marriage with thedaughter of Queen Victoria was only the most prominent of several GermanBritish relationships.

The Polish aspect

In the Prussian province of Posen, with a large Polishpopulation, there was strong support for the French andangry demonstrations at news of Prussian-German victories

a clear manifestation of Polish nationalist feeling. Callswere also made for Polish recruits to desert from thePrussian Armythough these went mainly unheeded. Analarming report on the Posen situation, sent to Bismarck on16 August 1870, led to the quartering of reserve troopcontingents in the restive province.[58]The FrancoPrussianWar thus turned out to be a significant event also inGermanPolish relations, marking the beginning of a

prolonged period of repressive measures by the authoritiesand efforts at Germanisation.

Obelisk in Kleve

Memorial in Steinfurt

A memorial for Frenchsoldiers who died inLbeck

Lion of Belfort

See also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanisationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Bismarckhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Posenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_of_the_United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_of_Belforthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BCbeckhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinfurthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klevehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_von_Wernerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wernerprokla.jpg


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Foreign relations of FranceForeign relations of GermanyBelgium and the Franco-Prussian WarFrenchGerman enmityInternational relations (18141919)

Notes

1. ^ abHoward 1991, p. 39.2. ^Wawro 2003, p. 42.3. ^Nolte 1884, pp. 526527.4. ^Nolte 1884, p. 527.5. ^Howard 1991, p. 453.6. ^Taithe 2001.7. ^ abvan Creveld 1977, p. 96.8. ^John Lowe (2013). The Great Powers, Imperialism and the German Problem 18651925

(http://books.google.com/books?id=EXnzF_LD7ecC&pg=PA1870). Taylor & Francis. p. 1870.

9. ^Howard 1991, p. 40.10. ^Howard 1991, p. 45.11. ^vonBismarck 1898, p. 58.12. ^ abBritannica: Franco-German War.13. ^Howard 1991, p. 41.14. ^Wawro 2003, pp. 2830.15. ^Sguin, Philippe,Louis Napoleon le Grand, (1986), Bernard Grasset, Paris.(ISBN 2-246-42951-X)16. ^McElwee, p.4317. ^McElwee, p.4618. ^Howard 1991, p. 78.19. ^Wawro 2003, pp. 6667.

20. ^Howard 1991, pp. 47, 48, 60.21. ^Wawro 2003, pp. 85, 86, 90.22. ^Wawro 2003, pp. 87, 90.23. ^Wawro 2003, p. 94.24. ^Howard 1991, p. 82.25. ^Wawro 2003, p. 95.26. ^Howard 1991, pp. 100101.27. ^Howard 1991, p. 101.28. ^Wawro 2003, pp. 97, 98, 101.29. ^Wawro 2003, pp. 101103.30. ^Wawro 2003, p. 108.31. ^Howard 1991, pp. 8788.32. ^Howard 1991, pp. 8990.33. ^Howard 1991, pp. 9293.34. ^Howard 1991, pp. 9899.35. ^Howard 1991, p. 116.36. ^Craig 1980, p. 31.37. ^Ridley 1976, p. 602.38. ^"Hope" (http://art.thewalters.org/detail/8084). The Walters Art Museum.39. ^Rstow & Needham 1872, p. 229235.40. ^Wawro 2003, pp. 190192.

a

b
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walters_Art_Museumhttp://art.thewalters.org/detail/8084http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/224642951Xhttp://books.google.com/books?id=EXnzF_LD7ecC&pg=PA1870http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_relations_(1814%E2%80%931919)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French%E2%80%93German_enmityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium_and_the_Franco-Prussian_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Germanyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_France


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. , . .42. ^Maurice & Long 1900, pp. 587588.43. ^Rstow & Needham 1872, p. 243.44. ^Howard 1991, p. 23.45. ^ abIrvine 1938, p. 192.46. ^Howard 1991, pp. 2324.47. ^Holborn 1942, p. 159.48. ^Howard 1991, pp. 1920.49. ^Howard 1991, p. 21.50. ^McElwee 1974, p. 46.51. ^Howard 1991, p. 68.52. ^Howard 1991, pp. 7071.53. ^Howard 1991, pp. 3536.54. ^Michael Solka; Darko Pavlovi (2004). German Armies 187071(1):Prussia. Osprey Publishing. p. 41.

ISBN978-1-84176-754-3.55. ^Michael Solka; Darko Pavlovi (2004). German Armies 187071(1):Prussia. Osprey Publishing. p. 39.

ISBN978-1-84176-754-3.56. ^Taylor 1988, p. 133.57. ^Varley 2008, pp. 152202.

58. ^Clark 2006, p. 579.

References

"Franco-German War" (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/216971/Franco-German-War).Retrieved 18 May 2013.Clark, Christopher (2006).Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall of Prussia, 16001947. HarvardUniversity Press.Craig, Gordon A. (1980). Germany: 18661945. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sumner, Charles (1870). The Duel Between France and Germany. IndyPublish. ISBN 1-4353-6958-0.Holborn, Hajo (1942). "Moltke's Strategical Concepts" (http://www.jstor.org/stable/1982846).Military

Affairs6(3): 153168.Howard, Michael (1991). The FrancoPrussian War: The German Invasion of France 18701871.

NewYork: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-26671-8.Irvine, Dallas D. (1938). "The French and Prussian Staff Systems Before 1870"(http://www.jstor.org/stable/3038792). The Journal of the American Military History Foundation2(4)192203.Maurice, John Frederick; Long, Wilfred James (1900). The FrancoGerman War, 187071. S.Sonnenschein and Co.

McElwee, William (1974). The Art of War: Waterloo to Mons. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.ISBN0-253-20214-0.Ridley, Jasper (1976). Garibaldi. Viking Press.Rstow, Wilhelm; Needham, John Layland (1872). The War for the Rhine Frontier, 1870: Its PoliticalandMilitary History. Blackwood.Taithe, Bertrand (2001). Citizenship and Wars: France in Turmoil 18701871. London: Routledge.ISBN0-415-23927-3.Taylor, A. J. P. (1988).Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman. London: Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 0-2411565-5.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-241-11565-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._J._P._Taylorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-415-23927-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_R%C3%BCstowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasper_Ridleyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-253-20214-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Frederick_Mauricehttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3038792http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-415-26671-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Howard_(historian)http://www.jstor.org/stable/1982846http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-4353-6958-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sumnerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_A._Craighttp://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/216971/Franco-German-Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-84176-754-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-84176-754-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number


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Varley, Karine (2008). Under the Shadow of Defeat: The War of 18701871 in French Memory.Palgrave.Wawro, Geoffrey (2003). The FrancoPrussian War: The German Conquest of France in 18701871Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-58436-1.van Creveld, Martin (1977). Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-29793-1.

French and German studies

Audoin-Rouzeau, Stphane, 1870: La France dans la guerre (Paris: Armand Colin, 1989).Baumont, Maurice. Gloires et tragdies de la IIIe Rpublique. Hachette, 1956.Frster, Stig, ed.,Moltke: Vom Kabinettskrieg zum Volkskrieg: Eine Werkauswahl(Bonn: BouvierVerlag, 1992).Helmert, Heinz and Hansjrgen Usczeck,Preussischdeutsche Kriege von 1864 bis 1871: MilitrischerVerlauf(Berlin: Militrverlag der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, 1967).Mehrkens, Heidi, Statuswechsel: Kriegserfahrung und nationale Wahrnehmung im Deutsch-

Franzsischen Krieg 1870/71 (Essen: Klartext, 2008)

Nolte, Frdrick (1884).L'Europe militaire et diplomatique au dix-neuvime sicle, 18151884. E.Plon, Nourrit et ce.

Further reading

Bresler, Fenton.Napoleon III: A Life. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1999. ISBN 0-7867-0660-0.Bucholz, Arden,Moltke and the German Wars, 18641971(Houndmills: Palgrave, 2001).De Cesare, Raffaele The Last Days of Papal Rome(1909) London, Archibald Constable & Co. [1](http://books.google.com/books?

id=0XcpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA449&dq=%22the+last+days+of+papal+rome%22)Fontane, Theodor, Der Krieg gegen Frankreich, 18701871, Verlag der kniglichen geheimenHofbuchdruckerei, Bwelin, 1873, Reprint 2004, ISBN 3-937135-25-1Hughes, Daniel J., ed.,Moltke on the Art of War: Selected Writings, trans. Harry Bell and Daniel J.Hughes (Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1993).Jerrold, Blanchard. The Life of Napoleon III. Longmans, Green & Co.,1882.Lowe, William Joseph. The Nest in the Altar or Reminiscences of the FrancoPrussian War of 1870.Reprinted by Chapter Two, London in 1999. ISBN 1-85307-123-4.McElwee, William (1974). The Art of War: Waterloo to Mons. London: Purnell. ISBN 0-253-31075-X.Manchester, William. The Arms of Krupp: 15871968. Bantam Books, 1981.Robertson, Charles Grant.Bismarck. H. Holt and Co., 1919.Stoneman, Mark R. "The Bavarian Army and French Civilians in the War of 187071," Magisterarbeit,Universitt Augsburg, 1994 [2](https://www.archive.org/details/TheBavarianArmyAndFrenchCiviliansInTheWarOf187071)Stoneman, Mark R. "The Bavarian Army and French Civilians in the War of 18701871: A CulturalInterpretation," in: War in History8.3 (2001): 27193. Reprinted in Peter H. Wilson, ed., Warfare in

Europe 18251914. The International Library of Essays on Military History, ed. Jeremy Black. AshgatePublishing, 2006. 13558.Stoneman, Mark R. "Die deutschen Greueltaten im Krieg 1870/71 am Beispiel der Bayern," in
https://www.archive.org/details/TheBavarianArmyAndFrenchCiviliansInTheWarOf187071http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Manchesterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-253-31075-Xhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1853071234http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blanchard_Jerroldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3937135251http://books.google.com/books?id=0XcpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA449&dq=%22the+last+days+of+papal+rome%22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0786706600http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-29793-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_van_Creveldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-58436-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number


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Kriegsgreuel: Die Entgrenzung der Gewalt in kriegerischen Konflikten vom Mittelalter bis ins 20.

Jahrhundert, ed. Snke Neitzel and Daniel Hohrath (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schningh, 2008), 22339.Wetzel, David.A Duel of Nations: Germany, France, and the Diplomacy of the War of 18701871(University of Wisconsin Press; 2012) 310 pages

External links

(French)La guerre de 187071 en images (http://www.laguerrede1870enimages.fr/)Postcards from the FrancoGerman War 187071 (http://www.deutsche-schutzgebiete.de/dfkrieg.htm)Texts and documents about GermanFrench relations and an essay on the FrancoGerman war(http://www.deuframat.de)(English)Monuments of the FrancoGerman war (http://hatlie.de/history/sitesofmemory/main.html#1870)Information and maps on the battles of Wissembourg, Woerth and Gravelotte (http://www.omaha-

beach.org/Travel/1870/1870-71.html)FrancoPrussianWar.com (http://francoprussianwar.com/)

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