Franco-Prussian War 

The immediate cause of the war was the candidacy of the German prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen for the Spanish throne, which had been vacant since the revolution of September 1868. Asked by the French to secure Leopold's withdrawal, King William of Prussia declared the matter outside his control or interest, but his telegram (the Ems Dispatch) reporting his interview with the French ambassador was re-edited by chancellor Bismarck of Prussia (even though Leopold had meanwhile withdrawn) in such a way as to provoke French indignation. France officially declared war on July 19, 1870.

The French were soundly defeated in several battles owing to the military superiority of the Prussia forces and their commanders. At Sedan on September 2, the French emperor Napoleon III was taken prisoner with 100,000 of his soldiers. This led two days later to a bloodless revolution in Paris and the creation of a new government of national defence. A further crushing French loss came at Metz, where Marshal Bazaine surrendered 180,000 soldiers on October 27. An armistice was signed on January 28, 1871, ten days after William's proclamation as German emperor at Versailles.

However, the National Guard and the workers of Paris refused to accept defeat, blaming the conservative government for failing to organise effective national resistance, and seized control of the French capital on March 18, establishing the Paris Commune. With tacit Prussian support, the French army re-conquered Paris and executed tens of thousands of workers and revolutionaries in the "Bloody Week" (May 21-28).

The preliminary Franco-German peace signed at Versailles (February 26) was confirmed by the Treaty of Frankfurt (May 10, 1871). France was obliged to cede three eastern départements (until 1919 the Prussian province of Alsace-Lorraine) and to pay a war indemnity[?] of 2000 million francs. German troops remained in parts of France until the last instalment of the indemnity was paid off in September 1873.

While the war united Germany under the Prussian crown, France became a republic (February 1875) in which memories of the Commune continued to divide left and right. Also as a result of the war, the Papal States, no longer under French protection, were seized (September 20, 1870) by Italy, completing the unification of that country.

The war embittered Franco-German relations for decades to come, contributing to the European rivalries which would erupt in World War I. French agitation for revanche - revenge for the loss of Alsace-Lorraine - gave its name to the phenomenon of revanchism[?], the desire to punish a past enemy and regain former territories.

personages who usually surrounded him, only the grand marshal of the the fact that he had accepted it, was not long a secret in the palace.html">palace.html">palace. deputed to accompany his Majesty to the place of his embarkment for the Alexander from Russia; Colonel Neil Campbell from England; General Although his Majesty had himself demanded that he should be accompanied make a most disagreeable impression on him. However, each of these words that I heard his Majesty say, I was convinced on this, as on many other enemies, and Colonel Campbell was, therefore, welcomed with more vented itself especially on the commissioner of the King of Prussia, who Fontainebleau by the presence of these gentlemen, no remarkable incident, life of the Emperor in the palace. Everything remained gloomy and silent the Emperor personally seemed to me more calm since he had come to a indecision. He spoke sometimes in my presence of the Empress and his struck me deeply was, that never a single time did a a word escape his which fortunately, as we have seen, had not the fatal results we feared. able to think of it without shuddering. After the arrival of the commissioners of the allied powers, the Emperor and the chief occupation of the whole household consisted of duties his Majesty, he said to me smiling, "Ah, well, my son, prepare your cart; as I heard these familiar words of his Majesty, that by an inconceivable fatality, which did not will that in spite of my ardent desire I should the palace had me called. After giving me some orders relative to the .

 On wordlookup.net  

All is still licensed under the GNU FDL.
It uses material from the wikipedia.