Latest / The History of Germany: Kingdoms, War, and Rebuilding Europe — Fexingo History / Sedan and the Fall of Napoleon III: The Franco-Prussian War
Transcript
- Lucas: So after the speedy victory over Austria in 1866, Bismarck knew that a clash with France was almost inevitable. The remaining German states south of the Main, like Bavaria and Württemberg, were still independent, and Napoleon III's France saw any further Prussian expansion as a direct threat. Luna: Right — and Bismarck had been waiting for the right excuse to provoke a war that would complete unification. Lucas: Exactly. The opportunity came with the Spanish throne crisis in 1870. The Spanish offered the crown to a relative of the Prussian king, Wilhelm I. Napoleon III was furious — he couldn't accept a Hohenzollern on both sides of the Pyrenees. Bismarck saw his chance and deliberately made the situation worse. Luna: The Ems Dispatch, right? I've heard that phrase. Lucas: Yes. Wilhelm I was at the spa town of Bad Ems, and he met with the French ambassador to find a way to cool things down. He sent a telegram to Bismarck summarizing the discussion. Bismarck, along with Moltke and Roon, edited that telegram — removing the king's conciliatory language and making it sound like an insult. When it was released to the press, it lit a fire in both Paris and Berlin. France declared war on July 19, 1870. Lucas: The French army was considered the best in Europe, but they were poorly prepared. Meanwhile, Prussia and its allies mobilized quickly, using railways and a conscripted army that had been honed in the previous wars. Moltke's plan was to concentrate three armies in the Saar region and then push into French territory, forcing the enemy into a decisive battle. Luna: And that decisive battle came at Sedan. Lucas: Right. By late August, the French Army of Châlons, under Marshal MacMahon, was trying to relieve the besieged fortress of Metz. But Moltke intercepted them. On September 1, the German forces surrounded the French near the town of Sedan, on the Belgian border. The French were trapped in a narrow valley, with the Germans occupying the heights around them. The Prussian artillery, with its superior steel breech-loaders from Krupp, rained shells down on the French positions. Napoleon III himself was present, and by midday the situation was hopeless. Luna: Wait — the French emperor was actually there, on the battlefield? Lucas: He was, and in terrible pain from a bladder stone. He rode among his troops in a desperate attempt to rally them, but it was futile. By the afternoon, he ordered the white flag raised. He surrendered personally to Bismarck and Wilhelm I the next day. The entire French Imperial army — over 100,000 men — was captured or killed. It was a catastrophe for France. Lucas: You know, it's moments like these — a whole empire brought down in a single day — that really make you think about how fragile power can be. If today was actually useful to you, the way these stay ad-free is listener support — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's incredible how a few hours can change everything. And it did — the Second French Empire collapsed. Back in Paris, the Third Republic was proclaimed on September 4. Lucas: Exactly. But the new republican government, led by Gambetta, refused to surrender. They fled Paris by balloon to organize resistance in the provinces. Meanwhile, the German armies marched on Paris and began a siege that would last from September 19, 1870 until January 28, 1871. Luna: The Siege of Paris. That must have been brutal. Lucas: It was. The Germans didn't storm the city — they bombarded it systematically, targeting civilians. Inside, Parisians faced terrible food shortages. Rats, dogs, cats, even the animals in the zoo were eaten. They resorted to making bread from bone meal. Gambetta tried to organize relief armies from the provinces, but Moltke's troops defeated them one by one. The city held out for over four months, but eventually the lack of food and the relentless bombardment forced a surrender. Luna: And the Germans used the victory to proclaim the German Empire at Versailles, right? Lucas: Yes. On January 18, 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, Wilhelm I was crowned German Emperor. Bismarck had orchestrated it as a humiliation for France — they had to watch the unification of Germany in their own royal palace. The war officially ended with the Treaty of Frankfurt in May 1871. France had to pay an immense indemnity of five billion francs, and they lost Alsace and most of Lorraine to the new German Empire. Luna: That must have left a deep scar — the loss of those territories fueled French revanchism for decades. Lucas: Absolutely. Over the next forty years, France would nurse a burning desire for revenge, and the loss of Alsace-Lorraine became a symbol of national humiliation. That resentment was one of the key causes of World War I. So the Franco-Prussian War didn't just create a united Germany — it set the stage for the most destructive conflict Europe had ever seen. It's a powerful reminder of how the end of one war can sow the seeds of the next. Luna: And how such a short war — only about nine months — could reshape the entire continent.