Europe in an Age of Nationalism, 1848–70 503Bismarck categorically refused such compensation as
offensive to German nationalism, intentionally anger-
ing the French as he had recently provoked the Austri-
ans. Poor relations deteriorated into a Franco-Prussian
War because of a dispute over Spain. In September
1868 the Spanish army overthrew the corrupt regime of
Queen Isabella and created a liberal regime based on a
newly elected Córtes. The Córtes created a constitu-
tional monarchy but had difficulty finding a member of
the European royalty to accept the throne. Finally, in
the summer of 1869, Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-
Sigmaringen, a relative of King William I of Prussia, ac-
cepted the Spanish throne. The candidacy of a
Hohenzollern prince alarmed the French, who envi-
sioned allied armies on their southern and eastern bor-
ders, and they demanded that Leopold withdraw. The
French applied diplomatic pressure and blocked the
Hohenzollern candidacy in June 1870, but this episode
led to a Franco-Prussian War in July. At a meeting be-
tween William I and the French ambassador at the re-
sort town of Bad Ems (Hesse), the ambassador pressed
the king to disavow the candidacy and to promise that
it would never be revived. William reported the inci-
dent to Bismarck in a telegram that became known as
the Ems Dispatch. Bismarck edited the telegram to
make it seem like an arrogant French insult, then re-
leased the text to the nationalist press, hoping to goad
the French into war. He succeeded; France declared war
two days later.
The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 again demon-
strated the superiority of the Prussian army and the ad-
vantages of the industrial age. General von Moltke used
railroads and the telegraph to mobilize his armies with re-
markable efficiency. The German invasion first drove the
French army out of their frontier province (Alsace). Then,
after less than a month of war, Prussian armies won a
crushing victory at Sedan (September 1870) and took the
emperor prisoner. Despite these defeats, France did not
capitulate quickly. Forcing a French surrender required a
four months’ siege of Paris, which held out despite Krupp
artillery shelling residential districts; Parisians lived on
zoo animals, domestic pets, rats, and shoe leather before
accepting an armistice in January 1871.
The surprising defeat of the French army, which
Europeans had considered the successor to Napoleon I’s
armies, had tremendous consequences for Europe.
France lost Alsace and part of adjacent Lorraine, ac-
cepted a proclamation of German unification (made at
the French royal palace of Versailles), and endured a
German triumphal march down the Champs Elysée.
Bismarck’s Frankfurt Peace Treaty also cost France a
huge indemnity (five billion francs) and the military oc-
cupation of northeastern France until it was paid. For
France, l’annee terrible(the terrible year) included another
violent revolution and virtual civil war before the cre-
ation of the first enduring republic (the Third Republic)
among the great powers. The Franco-Prussian War also
led to the completion of Italian unification because the
withdrawal of the French troops from Rome permitted
the Kingdom of Italy to annex it. The greatest immedi-
ate effect, however, was Bismarck’s merger of the North
German Confederation and the south German states
into the German Empire (known as the Second Reich,
in recognition of the Holy Roman Empire, which
Napoleon had abolished). This Germany, with its dom-
inant army, its great industrial strength, and with royal-
ism victorious over constitutionalism, had become the
preeminent power on the continent of Europe.Danish War (1864) Seven Weeks’ War (1866) Franco-Prussian War (1870–71)
Country Losses Country Losses Country Losses
Austria 1,100 Italy 11,197 France 580,000
Prussia 2,423 Prussia 22,376
Allied total 3,523 Allied total 33,573 Prussia 130,000
Denmar k11,000 Austria 87,844
German allies 24,628
Allied total 112,472
Source: Calculated from data in Chris Cook and John Paxton, European Political Facts, 1848–1918(London: Macmillan, 1978), p .177.
Note: Losses include the category of prisoners of war.TABLE 25.2Human Losses in the Wars of German Unification, 1864–71