Otto von Bismarck is considered to be the
founder of the modern German state, this is due to his efficiency in battles
and diplomacy. This was a very important factor during the Franco-Prussian war.
What Otto wanted from that war was to unite all of the little Germans states
together, so they can beat the French Empire and realize that together, they
can do unbelievable things. It totally worked and as he supposed, Prussia was
the most powerful power in that new state due to his military power and
territory. He tricked France thanks to the famous “Ems telegram”
The role of the guns
was very important, the mitrailleuse, the Dreyse needle gun, the Chassepot
rifle. All of them were used over the muzzle-loading weapons, this is due that
the breech-loading weapons are easier and faster to reload during the battle,
and with that, there’s more efficacy in the shoots and there are more kills in
favor of the one controlling and shooting the weapon.
In 21th June, 1870. Leopold
of Hohenzollern- Sigmaringen, a Prussian prince, was candidate for the throne
of Spain. This application could raise fears of France to be “surrounded "
by a potential coalition, similar to the empire of Charles Quint . But it is
the political one-upmanship in the context of struggles for influence on the
European scene (especially after the failure of the French intervention in
Mexico ), which on July 6 , gave the Duke of Gramont , Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Napoleon III , to announce that France opposes this application.
July 12, Leopold of Hohenzollern -Sigmaringen withdraws, according to the
statement of his father Prince Antoine to soothe diplomatic tensions. But on
July 13, via France's ambassador Benedetti sent to Leopold in the town of Ems,
Napoleon III asked "guarantee" the withdrawal, which is an obvious
and unnecessary humiliation. King William of Prussia, is nevertheless confirm
the renunciation of the Prince, adding that "it has nothing else to say to
the ambassador” is the famous "Ems telegram."
Everything seems to
be set, but the story that Otto von Bismarck tells to the media is that the meeting
between William of Prussia and the Ambassador of France was an humiliating
dismissal of the ambassador, causing outrage among French. Was analyzed later
this biased story as a deliberate provocation Bismarck after rebuff of the
Luxembourg crisis (1867) , to induce Napoleon III to declare war on Prussia, in
order to collect against France various Germanic states south and north , to
finally arrive at their unification. But these post hoc analyzes are not
confirmed by the correspondence of Bismarck, who seems to have written his
story especially to hide the humiliation of having had to yield to French
demands. There are no less than the French reaction perfectly served his purpose,
even if not necessarily sought war in 1866 after the success of the Battle of
Sadowa during the Austro-Prussian War.
Still, that Bismarck
is well aware of the realities of the French army: army rifles certainly well,
but aging, little prepared for a European war, and demoralized by the disaster
of the expedition to Mexico. The risk was therefore measured.
After Prussia won the
war, the relation between Germany and France was very cold, it was almost inexistent,
even more, WWI & WWII only made things worse for Germany and France, but in
1963, they signed the Elysée Treaty, in which establish the friendship between
Germany and France.
After the War. France passed through a dark
time called “the Paris Commune”,
this movement was based in the ideas of Karl Marx about the Bourgeoisie and the
proletarian. Nonetheless this was a dark time due the lack of food, people used
to sell rats and animals from the streets only to get money, or even for live
due the famine. The final week was called “The Bloody week” due to all the wars
that were inside France and it ended with the
massacre of Pere-Lachaise Cemetery. After all of this, the number of victims is
still unknown, but it’s estimated that approximately 20,000 people died.
