1870 In July, the Second Empire of France declared war on Prussia, and the Franco-Prussian War broke out. In less than two months, the Prussian army won good news frequently and finally defeated hundreds of French troops with color. On September 2nd, French Emperor Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte announced his surrender. In this way, under the planning of Bismarck, the bloody prime minister, Prussia quickly eliminated France, the biggest obstacle on the road to German reunification.
The feud between France and Germany has a long history. As early as the "Thirty Years' War in Europe", Germany was artificially divided by France's deliberate intervention. In the following two centuries, the French monarch blocked the reunification of Germany by various means. Under the leadership of Frederick II, Prussia rose rapidly through the "Seven Years' War", which seriously threatened France's hegemony in the European continent and further affected the struggle for overseas colonies. The gap between the two countries is getting bigger and bigger.
On the eve of the "Franco-Prussian War", Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte's militarism and reactionary policies had already made French society turbulent. In order to get rid of the domestic political crisis, Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte urgently needs to launch a foreign war to divert people's attention. On the other hand, in Prussia, Prime Minister Bismarck publicly put forward the slogan of "unifying Germany" and planned three dynasty wars, of which "Franco-Prussian War" was the most important one.
In A.D. 1870, due to the succession of the Spanish throne, the contradiction between France and France was seriously intensified. Since Queen Isabella II was overthrown two years ago, the Spanish cabinet has been looking for a suitable successor, and Baron Arklow, a distant relative of King William I of Prussia, is a promising potential candidate. The French were naturally unhappy about this, so Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte sent a letter to Prussia from Duke Gramont, the foreign minister, demanding that neither Baron Arklow nor William I should get their hands on the Spanish throne.
Who knows that William I was not annoyed, but expressed his opposition in a mild tone and asked Prime Minister Bismarck to release the meeting with the French ambassador. So Bismarck seized this opportunity, and after consulting with the military, he tampered with the contents of the telegram and deliberately embellished it. 13 In July, he published the Ames Telegraph, which was full of provocation. Needless to say, this move completely angered France. In a few days, Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte officially declared war on Prussia, and Prussia subsequently declared war on France.
It is worth mentioning that the southern German states unrelated to this war also launched military operations. All this has to start with the end of the "Puao War". As the rapid rise of Prussia threatened the existing hegemony of France, Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte asked Prussia to award France Bavaria and parts of Hesse-darmstadt on the west bank of the Rhine River on the grounds that France remained neutral in the "Puo War".
Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck flatly rejected this absurd request, and took the opportunity to inform the king of Bavaria and the southern states of the news, which caused the latter great panic and resentment against France. Using this mentality of Nande, Bismarck promoted and concluded a secret offensive and defensive alliance with her. Therefore, after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, the southern German states and the northern German federation were unified with the outside world, which objectively promoted the process of German reunification. It can be said that this political need is the real trigger for the outbreak of war, and the issue of Spain's succession to the throne is just a perfect excuse for both sides.
When the news of Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte's surrender in Sedan came back to Paris, the masses were completely angered, and workers and petty bourgeoisie gathered to demand the abolition of the monarchy and the restoration of peace. * * * and sent people to set up an interim government, calling themselves the "national defense government". Prussian troops marched in, invaded a large area of northeast France and advanced to Paris.
Facing the menacing enemy, the "national defense government" accelerated the pace of surrender because of fear. 187 1 On May 9th, thiers signed a contract with Germany at Versailles. According to the treaty, France will pay 5 billion francs to it, cede all Alsace provinces and some Lorraine provinces, and before paying compensation, Germany will occupy six additional provinces in northern France as collateral. While thiers and others were engaged in traitorous activities, the Paris proletariat announced an uprising on March 187 1 and established the world-famous Paris Commune.
After the war, Prussia completed the great cause of German reunification as scheduled, and actively promoted the domestic industrial development by using the 5 billion francs obtained from the victory and Alsace and Lorraine areas rich in iron ore resources. At the same time, due to the political unification and the victory of foreign wars, the German bourgeoisie's ambition is constantly expanding, lobbying officials to expand abroad, thus stimulating the development of heavy industry. Therefore, Germany quickly became an economic and military power in Europe, which not only changed the European pattern, but also took isolating France and preventing European powers from forming an alliance with it as its main foreign policy.
At this time, France's domestic economic development was hit hard because of the consumption of war and the compensation for ceded land. Due to the occupation of several northern provinces, France is facing a serious shortage of resources. Coupled with the further narrowing of the market, France developed slowly in the second industrial revolution, which made France lag far behind Britain, Germany and the United States in the imperialist stage and lost its dominant position in Central and Western Europe since the Crimean War. In order to avenge, France actively adjusted its relations with European countries such as Britain and Russia, and dealt with Germany by seeking the support of its allies.
With the rise of Germany and the decline of France, the relatively balanced political situation in Europe has been broken, and the changes in the strength of colonial forces have led to increasing contradictions among powers, prompting colonial countries to readjust their relations. Because Germany insisted on the foreign policy of isolating France, it took the initiative to mediate and reconcile the relations between Russia and Austria, and formed a "Three Emperors Alliance" with the latter. However, with the intensification of colonial struggle, the relations between the three countries gradually deteriorated and eventually collapsed after the 1878 Berlin meeting.
Four years later, Germany, Austria and Italy formed the "triple alliance", while France also formed the "Three Kingdoms Agreement" with Britain and Russia, thus forming two major military blocs in Europe. The military preparations between the two further intensified the contradictions and eventually led to the outbreak of World War I.
Interestingly, not only did Germany achieve reunification because of the Franco-Prussian War, but seemingly unrelated Italy also relied on this war to recover lost ground. After the war broke out, Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte had to be transferred back to the French army stationed in Rome. The Italian army and the garibaldi Volunteers tried to enter the papal jurisdiction originally controlled by France and occupied Rome in one fell swoop. The Pope was forcibly deprived of secular power and took refuge in the Vatican. In this way, Italy successfully recovered the papal jurisdiction occupied and controlled by France, and the great cause of national reunification was completed.
The Franco-Prussian War was a war between Prussia Kingdom (the predecessor of Germany) and the Second French Empire in1870 ~/kloc-0. The relationship between Prussia and France has been tense for a long time because of the long-term struggle for hegemony in the European continent and German reunification.
1July, 870 14, Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck issued a provocative "Ems Dispatch" on the Spanish throne, which angered the French government. 19 In July, France declared war on Prussia, but after the war, the French army lost one after another. On September 2nd, French Emperor Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte was advancing nearly100000 French troops to surrender in Sedang. On September 4th, a revolution broke out in Paris, the French big bourgeoisie established the Third Republic of France, and the Second Empire of France perished. However, Pu Jun still strode in.
187 1 year 1 month 18, Prussian king William I was crowned emperor in Versailles, France, and the German Empire was established. The French bourgeois government demanded a truce. On February 26th, the two sides signed a preliminary peace treaty in Versailles, France. On May 10, a formal peace treaty was signed in Frankfurt.
This war enabled Prussia to unify Germany and replaced France's hegemonic position in the European continent. This also contributes to the revival.
References:
Baidu Encyclopedia-Franco-Prussian War