THE GERMAN INVASION OF FRANCE, AUGUST-OCTOBER 1870

GEOFFREY WAWRO OFFERS SOME CONTROVERSIAL CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR:

1. That Moltke was the moderate in his debates with Bismarck in December 1870, but that their roles had reversed in January 1871 (279-80, 290).

2. That French republicans displayed “paranoid” and “totalitarian” leanings.

3. That Bismarck’s judgment was clouded by anti-French prejudice (239, 300-01).

4. That France quickly developed a strong consensus in favor of moderate republicanism, while the desire for “revenge” soon faded (310-11).

5. That the war saddled Germany with “a military despotism cloaked in parliamentary forms” (302) and “empowered a whole class of militarists who linked Germany’s health to war and expansion” (312).

THE ENCIRCLEMENT OF THE FRENCH ARMY AT SEDAN,

SEPTEMBER 1, 1870 (compare Wawro, 214)

Bismarck accompanies Napoleon III to meetKing William I on the morning of September 2, 1870

Massive bombardment of Strasbourg on the Rhine caused its surrender on September 28, 1870

The Provisional Government of the Third Republic, led by Jules Ferry and Jules Favre, 4 September 1870

Ernest Meissonier, “The Siege of Paris” (1870-1884):An appeal for resistance in the spirit of the Gauls (Wawro, 255)

“The Balloon” (November 1870),celebrating the escape of Leon

Gambetta (1838-1882):Was he really “totalitarian” or

“paranoid”? (Wawro, 233-4, 251)

Narcisse Chaillou, “The Rat Butcher” (Paris in

November 1870)

Anton von Werner, “The German Headquarters in Versailles” (December 1870): Bismarck & the Crown

Prince argue with Moltke and Roon….

Ruined houses and shops in the St. Cloud district of Paris after German bombardment

Alphonse Neuville, “Le Bourget,” a failed sortie from Paris on December 21, 1870 (Wawro, 280-81)

Wilhelm I hailed as German Kaiser, Versailles, January 18, 1871

John Trumbull, “The Declaration of Independence” (1819)

Eugen Adam, “The German Flag is Hoisted at Fort Vauves, Outside Paris, January 19, 1871”

“Happy New Year!”(Kladderadatsch, January 1, 1871):In Faust, Goethe

terms Mephistopheles “A part of that power Which always seeks evil, Yet always does

good.”Napoleon III had

sought “Germany’s downfall,” but from

the cauldron Wilhelm I emerges as “Kaiser”

with the orb and scepter of dominion.

WAR & CIVIL WAR IN FRANCE:THE PARIS COMMUNE

18 September 1870: Siege of Paris begins.

28 January 1871: Armistice between France & Germany.

8 February: National elections favor monarchists, because they call for peace.

1 March: National Assembly approves peace treaty ceding Alsace-Lorraine.

18 March: Fighting breaks out when Versaillais troops attempt to seize the cannon of the Paris National Guard.

26 March: Elections for the Paris Commune.

21-28 May 1871: The “Bloody Week” (Commune falls).

The German victory parade down the Champs Elysées, March 1, 1871

“France Signing the Preliminary Peace Terms” (March 1871)

Louis XIV seized parts of Alsace from the Holy Roman Empire

in 1667;Louis XV inherited

Lorraine in 1766.

The borders of the German Empire, 1871-1918

Adolphe Thiers (1797-1877): Former premier underthe July Monarchy, head of the provisional government in 1871

“The Two Republics” (1872):

“Respectable” vs. “Red”Thiers argued that “today the Republic is the state

form that divides us least.”

But he warned

radicals, “The

Republic will be

conser-vative,

or it will not be.”

Barricade on Puebla Boulevard

“Paris Burning” (1871)

The Suppression of the Paris Commune, May 21-28, 1871

The destruction of City Hall

“CRIMES OF THE COMMUNE:The assassination of the hostages in La Roquette

Prison, May 24, 1871” (including Archbishop Darboy)

H.F.E. Philippoteaux, “The Last Fighting at Père Lachaise” (1871)

Ernest Pichio, “The Triumph of Order” (1877)

THE FRENCH CONSTITUTIONAL COMPROMISE OF 1875

Dedication of the Victory Column, Berlin-Tiergarten, September 2, 1873

Constitution of 1871

“For his 60th Birthday” (March 28, 1875):Bismarck as Atlas,

bearing the weight of both “the German

Reich” and “Foreign Affairs.”

Does Wawro contradict himself regarding Bismarck’s role?

See pp. 279-80, 290-91, 300-05.

The Great Powers of Europe in 1880

FRANCE GREAT BRITAIN GERMANY ???

THIRD REPUBLIC

(1870-1940): A weak president

appoints the premier, who is “responsible” to the Chamber of

Deputies.Indirectly elected Senate (with rural

voters over-represented) retains veto

power.

1832: Great Reform Act

abolishes rotten boroughs

1871: Universal manhood

suffrage for new Reichstag, but states retain three-class

suffrage

1867: 2nd Reform Act makes 40% of

all men voters

1884: 3rd Reform Act makes 60% of

all men voters

Chancellor & army are

responsible only to Kaiser.1911: Parliament

Act abolishes veto power for the House of

Lords

WESTERN EUROPE WAS BECOMING DEMOCRATIC BY 1880

Austria-Hungary

RussiaOttoman Empire

1867: Dual Monarchy

created, with home rule for Hungary, but

suffrage is restricted, and the parliaments in Vienna and Budapest are

often paralyzed

Tsar Alexander II (1855-81)

abolishes serfdom, ordains trial by jury and elected county councils. Assassinated by

the “People’s Will.”

1839-76: Tanzimat reforms

bring Western-style law courts

and property rights

1876/7: Constitu-tional monarchy

Alexander III revives

“autocracy”(1881-1894)

1877-1909: Defeat by Russia inspires Sultan

Abdul Hamid II to restore

absolutism

EASTERN EUROPE MADE NO PROGRESS TOWARD DEMOCRACY