Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War,[lower-alpha 2] often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871, the conflict was caused primarily by France's determination to reassert its dominant position in continental Europe, which appeared in question following the decisive Prussian victory over Austria in 1866.[13] According to some historians, Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck deliberately provoked the French into declaring war on Prussia in order to induce four independent southern German states—Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt—to join the North German Confederation; other historians contend that Bismarck exploited the circumstances as they unfolded. All agree that Bismarck recognized the potential for new German alliances, given the situation as a whole.[14]

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Franco-Prussian War (1870)
Part of the unification of Germany
(clockwise from top right) Battle of Mars-la-Tour, 16 August 1870 The Lauenburg 9th Jäger Battalion at Gravelotte The Last Cartridges The Defense of Champigny The Siege of Paris in 1870 The Proclamation of the German Empire
Date 19 July 1870 – 28 January 1871 (6 months, 1 week and 2 days) Location France and the Rhine Province, Prussia Result German victory German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine Proclamation of the German Empire Germany temporarily occupies northeast of France until 1873[1]
Belligerents
Before 18 January 1871:  North German Confederation  Prussia  Saxony  Bavaria  Württemberg  Baden Hesse After 18 January 1871:  German Empire	Before 4 September 1870:  French Empire After 4 September 1870:  French Republic[lower-alpha 1] Foreign volunteers
Commanders and leaders
Wilhelm I Otto von Bismarck Helmuth von Moltke Crown Prince Friedrich Prince Friedrich Karl Karl F. von Steinmetz Albrecht von Roon	Napoleon III  François Bazaine   Patrice de MacMahon  Louis-Jules Trochu Léon Gambetta Giuseppe Garibaldi
Strength
Total deployment: 1,494,412[2] Initial strength: 938,424 730,274 regulars and reservists[3] 208,150 Landwehr[3] Peak field army strength: 949,337[3]	Total deployment: 2,000,740[3] Initial strength: 909,951 492,585 active, including 300,000 reservists[4][3] 417,366 Garde Mobile[4] Peak field army strength: 710,000[3]
Casualties and losses
144,642[5] 44,700 dead[6][dubious – discuss] 89,732 wounded 10,129 missing or captured	756,285[7][8] 138,871 dead[9][10][8] 143,000 wounded 474,414 captured or interned[11][8][12]
a Until 4 September 1870. b From 4 September 1870. c From 18 January 1871.

France mobilised its army on 15 July 1870, leading the North German Confederation to respond with its own mobilisation later that day. On 16 July 1870, the French parliament voted to declare war on Prussia; France invaded German territory on 2 August. The German coalition mobilised its troops much more effectively than the French and invaded northeastern France on 4 August. German forces were superior in numbers, training, and leadership and made more effective use of modern technology, particularly railways and artillery.

A series of hard fought Prussian and German victories in eastern France, culminating in the Siege of Metz and the Battle of Sedan, resulted in the capture of the French Emperor Napoleon III and the decisive defeat of the army of the Second Empire; a Government of National Defense was formed in Paris on 4 September and continued the war for another five months. German forces fought and defeated new French armies in northern France, then besieged Paris for over four months before it fell on 28 January 1871, effectively ending the war.

In the waning days of the war, with German victory all but assured, the German states proclaimed their union as the German Empire under the Prussian king Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck. With the notable exception of Austria, the vast majority of German-speakers were united under a nation-state for the first time. Following an armistice with France, the Treaty of Frankfurt was signed on 10 May 1871, giving Germany billions of francs in war indemnity, as well as most of Alsace and parts of Lorraine, which became the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine (Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen).

The war had a lasting impact on Europe. By hastening German unification, the war significantly altered the balance of power on the continent, with the new German state supplanting France as the dominant continental European land power. Bismarck maintained great authority in international affairs for two decades, developing a reputation for Realpolitik that raised Germany's global stature and influence. In France, it brought a final end to imperial rule and began the first lasting republican government. Resentment over the French government's handling of the war and its aftermath triggered the Paris Commune, a revolutionary uprising which seized and held power for two months before its bloody suppression; the event would influence the politics and policies of the Third Republic.