Causes of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 briefly. Causes of the Franco-Prussian War

The defeat of France with the beginning of Franco- Prussian war 1870-1871 happened unusually quickly. Three German armies, led by himself Wilhelm I, constantly having Bismarck, Moltke and the Minister of War Roon with them, moved to France, preventing its army, with Napoleon III at the head, from invading Germany. Already in the first days of August, the Germans victoriously entered Alsace and Lorraine, after which revolutionary fermentation began in Paris.

Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871: Battle of Mars-la-Tour 16 August 1870. Painter P. J. Jangnot, 1886

Under the influence of displeasure - both among the people and in the army - with the defeats to which individual units were subjected French army, Napoleon III resigned his main command in the Franco-Prussian War and handed it over to Marshal Bazaine. It was necessary to retreat, but nothing was prepared for the retreat, and Bazaine had only one thing left - to lock himself in Metz, which was immediately surrounded by the enemy. Another French army under the command of a marshal McMahon she was heading towards Metz, but the Germans blocked her way, pushed her to the north and surrounded her from all sides near Sedan. Here, on September 2, the main catastrophe of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 took place - the surrender of the French army of more than 80 thousand people and the surrender of Napoleon III himself. Bazin's attempt, around this time, to break through to connect with MacMahon was repulsed, and Bazin was finally locked up in Metz.

Franco-Prussian War. Battle of Sedan. 1870

Sedan battle decided the outcome of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 and became a mortal blow for the second French empire. Napoleon III did not feel safe in his own army, left in a carriage to look for the Prussian king, but met with Bismarck and Moltke, and then with Wilhelm I. At their meeting, they talked about the causes of the Franco-Prussian war, and the captive emperor justified himself by that to start a war, which he himself did not want, made him the public opinion of France. “But this public opinion,” the Prussian king objected to him, “was created by your Majesty’s ministers.”

Captured Napoleon III talks with Bismarck after the Battle of Sedan

The news of the sedan disaster came to Paris the next day, and on the 4th revolution. In the morning, crowds of people walked through the streets of Paris, shouting about the deposition of Napoleon, and in the middle of the day people filled the legislative building. The meeting was adjourned, and the Parisian deputies, having gathered in the town hall, proclaimed a republic ( Third Republic) and organized, under the chairmanship of General Trochu, a "government of national defense". It included well-known opponents of Napoleon III: a Jew who took over internal affairs, and a journalist Rochefort, who had just been released from prison. This government was not averse to ending the Franco-Prussian war and making peace, but Bismarck demanded the cession of Alsace and the German part of Lorraine. “Not a single inch of our land, not a single stone of our fortresses,” Jules Favre, a member of the French government in charge of foreign affairs, resolutely declared in response to this demand.

On September 12, the “Government of National Defense” sent Thiers for help to foreign courts, but his mission was not successful, and on September 19, 1870, exactly two months after the declaration of war, the Germans had already laid siege to Paris. At the end of September 1870, the capitulation of Strasbourg, besieged at the beginning of hostilities, followed, at the end of October, Bazaine was forced to starve the Germans to surrender Metz with an army of 173,000. (Public opinion biasedly accused the marshal of treason). Now in German captivity there were two French armies, in which there were about 250 thousand people - something unheard of in all military history, - and German troops from near Strasbourg and Metz could move further deep into France. During the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871, the Sedan, Strasbourg and Metz stocks went to the Germans, like everything that was still found by the Germans in other fortresses, which then surrendered one after another.

Franco-Prussian War. Map. The dotted line marks the border of the territory ceded to Germany by the Treaty of Frankfurt

On September 19, as was said, the siege of Paris began. Back in the forties, in view of the expected war with the Germans, the city was, on the initiative Thiers, fortified with a rampart and a moat 34 versts long and a number of forts at some distance from Paris, the line of which was 66 versts. When the enemy attacked Paris during the Franco-Prussian War, 60-70 thousand regular troops were gathered, brought a large number of food supplies, as well as military stores, etc. It was a difficult task for the Germans to surround Paris with its population of more than 2 million souls in such a way as to cut off it and its forts from all communication with the rest of the world. Main apartment German army located in Versailles, the famous residence of the last three French kings of the old monarchy.

Siege of Paris, which lasted during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 19 weeks without one day (4 and a half months) in terms of the mass of the inhabitants of the besieged city and the mass of the besieging troops was something unprecedented in world history. Food supplies, in the end, were not enough, and they had to eat dogs, rats, etc. In addition to hunger, the Parisians also suffered from the winter cold. To top it off, in January 1871, when the Prussians brought heavy siege artillery to Paris, the city was bombarded for three weeks. Relations with outside world supported only by carrier pigeons. Three members of the government of national defense, even before the start of the siege, withdrew to Tours in order to organize the defense of the country from there, and after the start of the siege Gambetta, who took off from Paris in a balloon, joined them.

All attempts by the besieged to repulse the Germans ended extremely unsuccessfully; dissatisfaction with General Trochu reigned in the city, and attempts were even made to overthrow the government. Finally, on January 23, 1871, after a series of unsuccessful truce negotiations in the Franco-Prussian War, Jules Favre went to Versailles to sue for peace. On January 28, 1971, he and Bismarck signed an act of capitulation of Paris and an armistice for three weeks with the transfer of all external forts to the Germans, the issuance of weapons, the leaving of the Parisian army in the city as prisoners of war, the payment of 200 million francs of indemnity and the obligation to gather in Bordeaux in two weeks national assembly for peace.

Ten days before the capitulation of Paris, on January 18, 1871, in one of the halls of Versailles, the allied German sovereigns, on the formal initiative of the Bavarian king, proclaimed the Prussian king the German Emperor. This was preceded by a month's reception by Wilhelm I of a deputation from the North German Reichstag, asking him to accept a new title. It is curious that at the head of the deputation was the same person (Simsov), who in 1849 offered the imperial crown on behalf of the Frankfurt Parliament to the late brother of Wilhelm I. Thus ended the unification of Germany under Prussian leadership.

Proclamation German Empire in Versailles, 1871. Painting by A. von Werner, 1885. In the center, at the steps of the throne - Bismarck in a white uniform. To his right, half-turned, Helmut von Moltke

During the siege of Paris, the "dictator of Tours", as Gambetta was nicknamed for the energy and authority he had shown, as now Minister of War, organized a massive militia from the remnants of the regular army and recruits (all men from 21 to 40 years old) and obtained weapons for him, secretly bought in England. Four armies were created, in which there were almost 600 thousand people, but the Germans defeated these untrained crowds thrown into battle by the French Republicans one after another. During the continuation of the Franco-Prussian war, they still captured thousands of soldiers and took cities already on the other side of Paris, by the way, having mastered Tours itself. The northeastern corner of France between Belgium and the English Channel, and a large territory southwest of Paris, were in the power of the Prussians, and one of the hastily recruited Gambett armies, defeated and losing up to 15 thousand prisoners, was forced to move to Switzerland, where it was disarmed . Despite all this, Gambetta resisted the conclusion of peace and, with a proclamation to the people on January 31, appealed to the patriotism of the French to wage the Franco-Prussian war to the last extreme.

Leon Michel Gambetta. Painting by L. Bonn, 1875

In essence, however, the outcome of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 was decided by the capitulation of Paris. Military operations in 1870-71. 180 days lasted, during which 800 thousand people left the French troops killed, wounded, taken prisoner, disarmed in Paris and crossed into Swiss territory - again something that could not have been imagined before.

At the beginning of February, elections took place throughout France, without any interference from the Germans, for the National Assembly, which then opened its meetings on February 12 in Bordeaux. The government of national defense resigned its powers, and Thiers became the head of the executive branch, who was instructed to negotiate peace. The preliminary treaty that ended the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 was held at Versailles on 26 February. On March 1, 1871, it was adopted by the national assembly (546 votes to 107), and on May 20 it was finally signed in Frankfurt am Main. By Peace of Frankfurt 1871 France lost Alsace and a large part of Lorraine with a population of one and a half million, two-thirds German, one-third French, undertook to pay 5 billion francs and had to undergo German occupation east of Paris before paying an indemnity. Germany released the French prisoners of war immediately, and at that moment there were more than 400 thousand of them.

Let down Peace of Frankfurt 1871. France lost Alsace and a significant part of Lorraine with a population of one and a half million, two-thirds German, one-third French, undertook to pay 5 billion francs (that is, 1875 million rubles at the current exchange rate) and had to undergo German occupation east of Paris before payment of indemnity. Germany immediately released the prisoners captured in the Franco-Prussian War, and at that moment there were more than 400 thousand of them.

Franco-Prussian War. Map. The dotted line marks the border of the territory ceded to Germany by the Treaty of Frankfurt

Results of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 - 1871 were huge.

Austria, still not losing hope of avenging Prussia for its defeat in the war of 1866, finally abandoned the idea of regaining its former predominance in Germany.

Italy took possession of Rome, and the centuries-old secular power of the Roman high priest (pope) thereby ceased.

The Franco-Prussian war had important results for the Russians as well. Emperor Alexander II took advantage of the defeat of France in order to announce to the rest of the powers in the fall of 1870 that Russia no longer recognizes itself bound by the Paris Treaty of 1856, which forbade it to have a navy on the Black Sea. England and Austria protested, but Bismarck proposed to settle the matter at a conference, which met in London at the beginning of 1871. Russia had to agree here in principle that international treatises should be observed by all, but the new treaty drawn up at the conference nevertheless satisfied Russian demand. The Sultan was forced to come to terms with this, and Turkey, having lost its protector and patron in the person of Napoleon III, fell under the influence of Russia for a while.

After the Franco-Prussian War, the political predominance in Europe, which belonged to France under Napoleon III, passed to new empire, as earlier France itself, as a result of its victories in the Crimea, took away this predominance from Russia at the end of the reign of Nicholas I. That role in international politics, which was played by the “Tuileries Sphinx” Louis Napoleon, following the results of the Franco-Prussian War, passed to the “Iron Chancellor” of the German Empire, and Bismarck became the scarecrow of Europe for a long time. It was expected that after the war on three fronts (with Denmark, Austria and France) he would start a war on the fourth front, with Russia. It was expected that Germany would want to take possession of all the lands where there were only Germans, i.e. German units Austria and Switzerland and the Baltic provinces of Russia, and, in addition, Holland with its rich colonies; Finally, they expected a new war with France, which would not put up with the loss of two provinces, and in which the idea of "revenge", i.e., revenge for the defeat and return of the lost regions, was very strong. Bismarck, after the Franco-Prussian War, at every opportunity declared that Germany was "quite saturated" and would only guard common peace but they did not believe him.

Otto von Bismarck. Photo 1871

Peace, however, was not broken, but it was an armed peace. After the Franco-Prussian War, an increase in militarism followed: the introduction in various states of universal conscription on the Prussian model, an increase in the size of armies, the improvement of weapons, the reconstruction of fortresses, the strengthening of military fleets, etc., etc. Something like a race began between the great powers, which was accompanied, of course, by a constant increase in military budgets, and with them taxes and, in particular, public debts. Entire branches of industry connected with military orders received extraordinary development after the Franco-Prussian War. One "cannon king" Krupp in Germany, in the second half of the eighties, could boast that more than 200,000 guns were manufactured at his factory by order of 34 states. The fact is that arming, reforming our troops, introducing a general military service and the like also became secondary states, fearing for their independence or, as was the case in Belgium and Switzerland, for their neutrality in the event of a new major conflict, similar to the Franco-Prussian war. The peace between the great powers was not disturbed after 1871, as between 1815 and 1859; only

The Franco-Prussian War was the result of a long-standing confrontation between the two largest European powers. The object of the dispute was the territories of Alsace and Lorraine. The slightest pretext was enough to start hostilities.

France and Prussia on the eve of the war

The main reason for the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. lies in the desire of the two powers to occupy leading position in Europe.

By this time, France had lost its dominant position on the continent. Prussia grew stronger, uniting most of the German lands.

Napoleon III planned to wage a victorious war against dangerous neighbor. In this way, he could strengthen the regime of his personal power.

The grandiose plans of the emperor were insufficiently supported organizationally and military-technically.

Cause of the Franco-Prussian War

In 1869, the Spanish government invited a relative of the King of Prussia, Wilhelm I, Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, to the throne. With the consent of the king, the prince accepted the offer, but soon declined.

Napoleon III protested strongly, demanding that William I "for all future times" pledge not to support the prince's candidacy as king of Spain.

Rice. 2. Otto von Bismarck. F. Ehrlich.

Wilhelm I, who was in the city of Ems, on July 13, 1870, refused such a promise. His refusal was deliberately distorted by Chancellor Bismarck and published in the press. The insulting “Ems Despatch” caused a scandal in Paris and became the pretext for war, declared by Napoleon III on July 19, 1870.

The course of the war

The fighting was extremely unsuccessful for France:

Bazaine's army was blockaded in the fortress of Metz;
On September 1, 1870, McMahon's troops were defeated at Sedan.
The French emperor was taken prisoner by Prussia.

Rice. 3. Battle of Sedan 1870.

Convincing Prussian victories led to political crisis and the collapse of the Second Empire in France. On September 4, 1870, the Third Republic was proclaimed.

On September 19, 1870, Prussian troops began the siege of Paris. Gradually, fuel and food supplies were running out in the capital.

Results of the Franco-Prussian War

Under these conditions, the government was forced to surrender. At the end of January 1871, an act of surrender was signed in Versailles.

transfer of Alsace and eastern Lorraine to Germany;
an indemnity of 5 billion francs;
France was obliged to maintain the German troops, who remained on its territory until the indemnity was paid in full.

The German Empire was formed on January 18, 1871 at Versailles. At this time, the siege of Paris was still ongoing.

France suffered huge human and material losses. Despite the long-awaited peace, already in mid-March an uprising broke out in the capital, as a result of which the Paris Commune was formed.

The results of the Franco-Prussian War were summed up by the Treaty of Frankfurt in 1871. France lost Alsace and a significant part of Lorraine with a population of one and a half million, two-thirds German, one-third French, undertook to pay 5 billion francs (that is, 1875 million rubles at the current exchange rate) and had to undergo German occupation east of Paris before payment of indemnity. Germany immediately released the prisoners captured in the Franco-Prussian War, and at that moment there were more than 400 thousand of them.

France became a republic and lost two provinces. The North German Confederation and the South German states united to form the German Empire, whose territory was enlarged by the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine.
Austria, still not losing hope of avenging Prussia for its defeat in the war of 1866, finally abandoned the idea of regaining its former predominance in Germany. Italy took possession of Rome, and the centuries-old secular power of the Roman high priest (pope) thus ceased.

The Franco-Prussian war had important results for the Russians as well. Emperor Alexander II took advantage of the defeat of France in order to announce to the rest of the powers in the autumn of 1870 that Russia no longer recognizes itself bound by the Paris Treaty of 1856, which forbade it to have a navy on the Black Sea.
England and Austria protested, but Bismarck proposed to settle the matter at a conference, which met in London at the beginning of 1871. Russia had to agree here in principle that international treatises should be observed by all, but the new treaty drawn up at the conference nevertheless satisfied Russian demand.
The Sultan was forced to come to terms with this, and Turkey, having lost its protector and patron in the person of Napoleon III, fell under the influence of Russia for a while.

After the Franco-Prussian War, the political predominance in Europe, which belonged to France under Napoleon III, passed to the new empire, just as France itself, due to its victories in the Crimea, took this predominance from Russia at the end of the reign of Nicholas I.
That role in international politics, which was played by the "Tuileries Sphinx" Louis Napoleon, following the results of the Franco-Prussian War, passed to the "Iron Chancellor" of the German Empire, and Bismarck became a scarecrow of Europe for a long time. It was expected that after the war on three fronts (with Denmark, Austria and France) he would start a war on the fourth front, with Russia.
It was expected that Germany would want to take possession of all the lands where there were only Germans, that is, the German parts of Austria and Switzerland and the Baltic provinces of Russia, and, in addition, Holland with her rich colonies; finally, they expected a new war with France, which could not put up with the loss of two provinces, and in which the idea of "revenge" was very strong, that is, revenge for the defeat and return of the lost regions.
Bismarck, after the Franco-Prussian War, at every opportunity declared that Germany was "quite saturated" and would only protect the common peace, but they did not believe him.

Peace, however, was not broken, but it was an armed peace. After the Franco-Prussian War, there was an increase in militarism: the introduction in various states of universal conscription along the Prussian model, an increase in the size of the armies, the improvement of weapons, the reconstruction of fortresses, the strengthening of military fleets, etc., etc.
Something like a race began between the great powers, which was accompanied, of course, by a constant increase in military budgets, and with them taxes and especially public debts.
Entire branches of industry connected with military orders received extraordinary development after the Franco-Prussian War. One "cannon king" Krupp in Germany, in the second half of the eighties, could boast that more than 200,000 guns were manufactured at his factory by order of 34 states.

The fact is that secondary states also began to arm themselves, reform their troops, introduce universal military service, etc., fearing for their independence or, as was the case in Belgium and Switzerland, for their neutrality in the event of a new major clash, like Franco-Prussian War.
The peace between the great powers was not disturbed after 1871, as between 1815 and 1859; only Russia in the late seventies led new war with Turkey.

Eyewitness account: I.S. Turgenev "LETTERS ON THE FRANCO-PRUSIAN WAR" http://rvb.ru/turgenev/01text/vol_10/05correspondence/0317.htm

Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, the war between France, on the one hand, and Prussia and other states of the North German Confederation and South Germany (Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt) on the other.

Objectives of the parties

Prussia sought to complete the unification of Germany under its hegemony, to weaken France and its influence in Europe, and France, in turn, to maintain its predominant influence on the European continent, seize the left bank of the Rhine, delay the unification (prevent the unification) of Germany, and prevent the strengthening of the position of Prussia , as well as to prevent the growth of the crisis of the Second Empire with a victorious war.

Bismarck, who had already considered war with France inevitable since 1866, was only looking for a favorable pretext for entering it: he wanted France, and not Prussia, to be the aggressive side that declared war. Bismarck understood that in order to unify Germany under the leadership of Prussia, an external impulse was needed to ignite a national movement. The creation of a powerful centralized state was Bismarck's main goal.

Reason for war

The reason for the war was a diplomatic conflict between France and Prussia over the candidacy of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a relative of the Prussian King Wilhelm, for the vacant royal throne in Spain. These events caused deep discontent and protest on the part of Napoleon III, since the French could not allow the same Hohenzollern dynasty to rule both in Prussia and in Spain, creating a danger to the French Empire from both sides.

On July 13, 1870, Prussian Chancellor O. Bismarck, in an effort to provoke France to declare war, deliberately distorted the text of the recording of the conversation between the King of Prussia (Wilhelm I) and the French ambassador (Benedetti), giving the document an insulting character for France (Ems dispatch). However, at the end of this meeting, Wilhelm I immediately tried to bring to the attention of both Leopold himself and his father, Prince Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, that it would be desirable to renounce the Spanish throne. Which was done.

But the French government was eager for war, and on July 15 it began conscripting reservists into the army. On July 16, mobilization began in Germany. On July 19, the government of Napoleon III officially declared war on Prussia. Bismarck's diplomacy, taking advantage of the miscalculations of French foreign policy, ensured the advantageous neutrality of Prussia from the European powers - Russia, Great Britain, Austria-Hungary, Italy. The war began in an unfavorable situation for France, associated with diplomatic isolation and the absence of allies.

Ready for war

Entering the war, Napoleon III counted on the swift invasion of the French army into German territory before the completion of mobilization in Prussia to isolate the North German Confederation from the South German states, and thus ensure at least the neutrality of these states. The French government was sure that, having gained a military advantage at the very beginning of the campaign, after the first victories over Prussia, it would gain allies in the face of Austria, and, possibly, Italy.

The Prussian command had a carefully developed campaign plan, authored by Field Marshal Moltke. The French army, weakened by colonial wars and corruption that reigned in all levels of the state apparatus, was not ready for war. After the mobilization, the French army in the metropolis on August 1 totaled a little more than 500 thousand people, including 262 thousand in the active Army of the Rhine (275 thousand by August 6). The German states mobilized over 1 million people, including over 690 thousand in the field troops.

The French army yielded to the Germans. in terms of quantity and quality of artillery weapons. German steel rifled guns with a range of up to 3.5 km were far superior in combat qualities to French bronze guns. In the armament of the infantry, the advantage was on the side of the French (!). Franz. rifled needle gun system Chaspeau was better than Prussian guns Dreyse. German ground forces. states surpassed the French army in terms of organization and level of combat training of personnel. The French Navy was stronger than the Prussian Navy, but did not influence the course of the war.

The course of hostilities. First stage

From the very beginning, hostilities developed extremely unsuccessfully for France. When Napoleon III, who declared himself commander-in-chief of the armed forces, arrived at the fortress of Metz (Lorraine) in order to cross the border the next day in accordance with the campaign plan, he found here only 100 thousand soldiers, poorly provided with equipment and provisions. And when the first serious clashes between the two belligerents took place on August 4 in Werth, Forbach, and Spichern, his army was forced to take a defensive position, which further worsened its position.

On August 14 they imposed Army of the Rhine battle near the village of Borni. He did not bring victory to either side, but delayed the crossing of the French troops across the Moselle for a whole day, which had dire consequences for them - the Prussian command got the opportunity to involve the French in two new bloody battles - on August 16 at Mars-la-Tour - Resonville and August 18 at Gravelot - Saint-Privat. These battles, despite the heroism and courage shown by the French soldiers, determined further fate Army of the Rhine - retreat and waiting for the moment of its complete defeat. The main culprit for this can be Bazaine, which left the troops without the necessary leadership and reinforcements. Showing complete inactivity, he brought things to the point that the army under his command was cut off from communications with Paris and blocked at the fortress of Metz by 150,000 Prussian troops.

To help the army of Bazin, on August 23, the French army, hastily formed at Chalons, went to the aid of 120 thousand people under the command of the marshal McMahon without any clear strategic plan. The situation was also complicated by the fact that the advance of the French troops was extremely slow due to forced deviations from the main road in search of food.

The Prussians, advancing the bulk of their troops to the northeast at a much greater speed than McMahon, captured the crossing over the Meuse River. On August 30 they attacked and defeated MacMahon's army near Beaumont. The French were driven back to the surroundings sedan where the headquarters of the emperor was located. The 5th and 11th Prussian corps bypassed the left flank of the French and entered the vicinity of Sedan, closing the encirclement. The surrounded and disorganized French troops concentrated in the fortress. Hiding there and Napoleon III.

Sedan

On the morning of September 1, the Prussian army, without letting the French come to their senses, began the battle near Sedan (at that time it numbered 245 thousand people with 813 guns). She attacked a French division defending a village on the left bank of the Meuse. On the right bank, the Prussians managed to occupy the village of La Moncelle. At 6 o'clock in the morning, McMahon was wounded. The command was taken first by General Ducrot, and then by General Wimpfen. The first planned to break through the encirclement through Meziar, and the second - through Carignan. The road to Carignan was finally cut off, and it was too late to break through to Mézières, and the French army was forced to lay down their arms. On the central fortress tower of Sedan, by order of the emperor, a white flag was also raised. The next day, September 2, the act of surrender of the French army was signed.

In the Battle of Sedan, French losses amounted to 3,000 killed, 14,000 wounded, and 84,000 prisoners (of which 63,000 surrendered in the fortress of Sedan). Another 3 thousand soldiers and officers were interned in Belgium. The Prussians and their allies lost 9,000 men killed and wounded. More than 100 thousand captured French soldiers, officers, generals led by Napoleon III, 17 thousand killed and wounded, 3 thousand disarmed on the Belgian border, over 500 surrendered guns.

The Sedan catastrophe served as an impetus for the revolution on September 4, 1870. The second empire fell. France was proclaimed a republic. A government of bourgeois republicans and Orléanists, headed by General L. J. Trochu ("government of national defense"), came to power.

Second phase of the war

From September 1870 the nature of the war changed. It became just, liberating on the part of France and predatory on the part of Germany, which sought to tear Alsace and Lorraine from France. To guide the military efforts of France, the so-called. government delegation in Tours (then in Bordeaux); from October 9 it was headed by L. Gambetta. Thanks to the active participation of the masses in the defense of the country, the Turkish delegation managed in a short time to form 11 new corps with a total number of 220 thousand people. from reservists and mobiles (untrained army reserve).

The strategic position of France was difficult, the 3rd German. the army moved through Reims-Epernay to Paris; to the north, through Lan - Soissons, the Meuse army was advancing. On September 19, Paris was surrounded. There were about 80 thousand regular troops and about 450 thousand national guardsmen and mobiles in the city. The defense of Paris relied on the bastions of the ramparts and 16 forts. The German command did not have sufficient forces for the assault and limited itself to a blockade.

The garrisons of many French fortresses remaining in the rear of the German. troops continued to resist. South of Orleans was established army of the loire, in the Amiens area - northern army and in the upper reaches of the Loire - Eastern Army. In the occupied territory of France, the guerrilla struggle of franchisors (free shooters) began (up to 50 thousand people). However, the operations of the newly created armies of France were carried out without sufficient preparation, did not coordinate with the actions of the Paris garrison and between themselves and did not lead to decisive results.. The capitulation of Marshal Bazin, who surrendered a large army at Metz on October 27 without a fight, freed considerable enemy forces.

At the end of November, German troops pushed the Northern Army from Amiens to Arras, and in January 1871 they defeated it at Saint-Quentin. In early November, the Army of the Loire carried out a successful offensive against Orleans, but in early December and January 1871 it was defeated. The eastern army in November advanced from Besancon to the east, but in January 1871 was defeated west of Belfort and retreated to Besancon, and then part of it withdrew to Swiss territory and was interned. Attempts by the Parisian garrison to break through the blockade ring also ended in failure. In general, the "government of national defense" was unable to organize an effective rebuff to the enemy. Attempts to find support and assistance abroad were unsuccessful. The passivity and indecisiveness of actions contributed to the further defeat of France.

On January 18, 1871, the German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles. The Prussian king became emperor of Germany.

End of the war. Armistice and Peace

The capitulation of Paris took place on January 28, 1871. The Trochu-Favre government fully accepted the heavy and humiliating demands of the winner for France: payment of 200 million francs of indemnity within two weeks, the surrender of most of the Parisian forts, the field guns of the Parisian garrison and other means of resistance.

On February 26, a preliminary peace treaty was signed at Versailles. On March 1, German troops entered Paris and occupied part of the city. After receiving news of the ratification (March 1) by the National Assembly of France of the preliminary treaty, they were withdrawn from the French capital on March 3.

The government's anti-popular policy and the sharp deterioration in the condition of the working people led to a revolutionary explosion. On March 18, a popular uprising won in Paris (the Paris Commune, the massacres, the Sacré-Coeur). In the struggle against the Paris Commune, the German invaders assisted the counter-revolutionary Versailles government (from February 1871 it was headed by A. Thiers). On May 28, the Commune fell, drowned in blood.

According to the Peace of Frankfurt in 1871 (the treaty was signed on May 10), France transferred Alsace and the northeastern part of Lorraine to Germany, and pledged to pay 5 billion francs. indemnity (until March 2, 1874), before the payment of which Germans were placed on part of the country's territory. occupying troops. The French government assumed all the costs of maintaining the German occupation troops.

Conclusion

No one in Europe had any illusions about the longevity of the Frankfurt peace treaty. Germany understood that the results of the war would only lead to an increase in the Thraco-German antagonism. France suffered not only a military defeat, but also a national insult. Revanchism was to capture the minds of many succeeding generations of the French. By winning the war, Germany achieved:
A) unification, transformation into a strong centralized state,
B) the maximum weakening of France in order to obtain the strategic advantages necessary for success in the future inevitable war.

Alsace and Lorraine gave Germany not only economic benefits. Thus, Alsace was of great defensive importance for Germany, because the offensive from France was now complicated by the chain of the Vosges mountains. And Lorraine was a springboard for an attack on France and access to Paris.

The Franco-Prussian War influenced not only the further development of relations between France and Germany, but also the entire course of history. Relative stability in Europe until 1871 was ensured by the fact that in the center of the European continent there was one strong state- France, which was surrounded by weak and small states acting as a "buffer". This prevented the clash of interests of large states that did not have common boundaries. After the end of the war of 1871, France found itself around 2 warlike states that completed the unification (Germany and Italy).