The Franco-Prussian War was fought between the Second French Empire under Napoleon III and Prussia, led by Otto von Bismarck and joined by the other German states. Bismarck's edited telegram, the Ems Dispatch, helped to provoke France into declaring war. The German armies won swift victories, and at Sedan in September 1870 they captured Napoleon III, which led to the fall of the empire and a republic in Paris. After a long siege of Paris the city capitulated, and the German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles in January 1871. France lost Alsace and most of Lorraine in the peace treaty, a loss that fed French bitterness and tensions that contributed to the First World War.
Before and after
- c. 1870sPublication of God Defend New Zealand
- 7 February 1870Birth of Alfred Adler
- 22 April 1870Birth of Vladimir Lenin
- 9 June 1870Death of Charles Dickens
- from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871Franco-Prussian War
- 31 August 1870Birth of Maria Montessori
- from 4 September 1870 to 10 July 1940French Third Republic
- 30 September 1870Birth of Jean-Baptiste Perrin
- 22 October 1870Birth of Ivan Bunin
More in Wars, politics & history
- 1790Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
- from 18 March 1839 to 29 August 1842First Opium War
- from 1 August 1894 to 17 April 1895First Sino-Japanese War
- from August 1899 to September 1901Boxer Rebellion
- from 8 October 1912 to 18 July 1913Balkan Wars
- from 8 October 1912 to 30 May 1913First Balkan War
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.