Weekly History Post: Franco-Prussian War

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Duration: 1870-1871

Combatants: France, Germany, North German Confederation (i'm calling the NGC "Prussia")

In 1868, Spain had a succession crisis in which Queen Isabella 2 was replaced by no clear ruler. The best candidate was a man named Leopold from the German country of Hohenzollern. At first, he didn't want the title, but Otto Van Bismarck coerced him into doing so. But the leader of France, Napoleon 3, didn't like Leopold taking the throne of Spain. France didn't want to be cornered by Spain and a German kingdom again. So Napoleon 3 sent an ambassador to meet with the Prussians at Bad Ems to try and work out this situation. France demanded Leopold step down from Spain, but Prussia said no. a slightly altered version of this meet was published to the public in the Em's telegram. This enraged France, and so France began to mobilize troops against Prussia and declared war later.

The south German states also had it in for France, and allied with Prussia. Prussia had a big advantage, as they used railway a lot to transport troops. The first major battle was a win for Prussia at the battle of Wissembourg. The Prussians were able to make further advances into France until the French caught up to them at Sedan. This was a horrible defeat for Napoleon 3, and he was forced to surrender. BUT IT'S NOT OVER YET! When the French people heard of the surrender, they revolted and instated a republic. Prussia then took the French forts at Metz and Strasbourg. They then laid siege to Paris, which took longer than expected. the new leader of France, Adolphe Thiers was tasked with making peace with the Germans(Germans, because by January 1871, Prussia and the southern German states formed the German Empire). They made peace and the treaty of Frankfurt officially ended the war.

This treaty made the Germans occupy northern France until reparations were paid. France also had to recognize the existence of the German Empire and, most famously, Germany would annex the territory of Alsace Lorraine.

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Level 38
Mar 23, 2021
i forgot to put "weekly history post"
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Level 51
Mar 24, 2021
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