Third French Republic And The German Empire example essay topic

The Franco-Prussian War, was a war in 1870-1871, which the French lost to the German states while they were under the leadership of Prussia. The underlying causes of the conflict were the Prussian statesman Prince Otto Edward Leopold von Bismarck's desire to unify Germany under Prussian control and, to eliminate French influence over Germany. On the other hand, Napoleon, emperor of France from 1852 to 1870, wanted to regain the prestige he had lost, both at home and abroad, as a result of numerous failures, particularly recently as a result of France's failure in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. In addition, Prussia's military strength, as shown in the war with Austria, was shown to be a threat to the French on the continent of Europe.

French and the German relations have had a history full of tensions between the two countries. A comparison between the two countries shows a difference in how they view their national identity and their military. Their influence upon one another during the approximate century and a half of conflict shows how their national identities have helped to make their nations. This conflict between the two nations may even be said to have an impact not only on the European continent but also possibly on much of the world.

In fact, the result of their conflicts may have set the stage for further conflicts, such as the two world wars. After the Prussian's won the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, France's Napoleon viewed Prussia as a threat to France. Otto van Bismarck, the chancellor of Prussia, wanted to see Prussian and France in conflict because he wanted to unify all of Germany. He had a plan to create a nationalistic German empire. The relations between Prussia and France became worse. Napoleon wanted to get more territory, which he felt entitled to have as a result of his neutrality during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866.

Both Prussia and France were armed and had military budgets, which provided for strong armies. France wanted to go to war because there was a possibility of having a unified enemy and thus making some of the internal political tensions better. Bismarck wanted to go to war because of his idea of completing the German unification. The British, who saw this military build up from a different continent, thought the military situation was dangerous. Lord Clarendon, the British foreign secretary, saw this build up of arms and thought that it was disgraceful for these countries to be competing for arms at this pace. For countries besides Prussia and France, after they saw this build-up of military weapons, they thought that there was a good chance that there would be a war between France and the North German Federation.

In particular, Bismarck wanted to start a war with France because he wanted give the southern German states a reason to want to be dominated by him rather than France. Southern German states were mostly Catholic and were sympathetic to the French people, rather than to Prussia, which was mostly Protestant. Bismarck thought that if he gave the southern German states a reason to want to unify with Germany, he would be more successful in consolidating his empire. Bismarck figured, in addition, that Britain would remain neutral if he started a conflict between France and Prussia. In addition, he predicted that Russian and Italy would remain neutral. (As it turned out, Bismarck's predictions about their neutrality were correct.) Bismarck began his preparations for war with France, while France remained unprepared.

The immediate cause of the Franco-Prussian war was that in 1868, the Spanish throne was offered to a prince of the south German state of Hohenzollern, a distant cousin of Prussia's William I. The French were concerned that they would be surrounded by Hohenzollern rulers if both Spain had a Hohenzollern ruler as well as Prussia. In May of 1970, a new foreign minister, Gramont, was appointed in France. He opposed the Germans. Gramont threatened to go to war with Prussia if the attempt to offer the throne to a member of the house of Hohenzollern was not stopped instantly. On July 12, the prince withdrew his offer. However, the French made an enormous mistake after that.

The French should have known that they had already won by getting Prussia to withdraw their offer and that the prince had withdrawn his offer. The French foreign minister, the duc de Gramont, decided to go one step further and to humiliate Prussia. The French wanted Prussia to agree that there never would be any Hohenzollern prince who would take the Spanish throne. After Benedetti, the French ambassador, traveled to Bad Ems on July 13, and told the Prussian officials that Napoleon and his ministers agreed that France wanted a promise that there would be no Hohenzollern candidate.

The Prussian king, William I, felt humiliated by this request. It appeared as though it was nothing but an attempt to humiliate him. After the officials met on this crisis, Bismarck received a telegram of this meeting. According to some of the history books, Bismarck gave a misleading account of the meeting to the newspapers, known as the Ems dispatch, to provoke a war. Bismarck told the newspapers that they the two countries had exchanged insults, when they had not. According to this historical account, Bismarck figured that the newspaper would cause the Germans to have more feelings of nationalism, and he hoped that Britain and Russia would not become involved in a dispute between the two countries.

In this account, Bismarck used the Ems dispatch as a piece of propaganda to start a war: "No man who dispassionately examines this melancholy history will doubt that the war was the war of Count von Bismarck. Germany - so he head determined - had to be founded on blood and iron, and war with France was only the concluding act of the bloody drama, which had been inaugurated in Schleswig and repealed at S adowa. The Hohenzollern candidature might not have been a thing of his own devising; but it was employed by him to irritate France into hostility; and when the withdrawal of the Prince removed the pretext, which his acceptance of the throne had afforded, his King's message was published in a shape which he anticipated would goad his opponent into madness". Walpole, History of Twenty-Five Years, vol. ii, p. 492) In another account of the events at the time, The Times, in an article written on July 8, 1870, wrote about how the Prince's succession would affect France: If a Hohenzollern should once become firmly seated on the throne of Spain, by the support of Prussia and in defiance of all French policy, every year would add to his power to play a deadly part in every struggle that might arise on the Rhine. Immediate humiliation, future peril, that is what the succession of the Prussian prince would really mean for France". However, other accounts of the news was that Bismarck did not change the events at the meeting.

One version of the historical accounts are that France had already decided they should go to war against Prussia. Whether Bismarck changed the course of history by giving a different version of events to the newspapers or not will never be known. In any event, however, the French armies were prepared on July 14, 1870 and the French decided to declare war on the North German Confederation on July 19, 1870. After the war started, however, the French, found they were not nearly as prepared for war as they needed to be and found themselves overwhelmed by the greater number of people in the Prussian army.

When the French troops started to prepare for this war, they found that there were horses needing harnesses, cannons that needed some ammunition, machine guns that needed someone to operate them. The French faced a difficult enemy in Prussia, since they had a well-organized army. The plan to invade France had been made long ago. France also had no allies. The French thought that Bavaria, Baden and Wurtenberg, the southern German states, would remain neutral. But the French were mistaken in their calculations.

The French found instead that the South German states were willing to join Prussia The southern German states believed that France had started the war and they more than willingly joined the North German Confederation. Thus, the numbers of people willing to support Germany, including these three southern German states, were able to overwhelm France. Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke was the person who conducted the war militarily for the Germans. Napoleon was the person who was in charge of the military, but later Marshal Bazaine was in charge.

On August 4, 1870, the Germans went into Alsace and defeated the French at Wissembourg. They were able to defeat the French there by splitting the forces under Marshal MacMahon and under Bazaine. MacMahon was defeated at Beaumont, so he decided to withdraw to the town of Sedan. Once the French forces were split, it made it so the French could not act independently again. In September 1870, Napoleon and his 100,000 men in the Prussian army surrounded the French force at Sedan. This defeat was viewed as the defeat of a regime and its army rather than the entire French nation.

Napoleon and MacMahon tried to rescue Bazaine, and it led to a disaster. Napoleon and his 100,000 men were captured. After that, many French Reservists were still asked to join the army to defeat the Prussians. In addition, there were some who could be asked to join from the Imperial army, cavalry squadrons, and some infantry who were being called up from Algeria and Italy.

These numbers of people were added to the forces that continued to fight against Prussia. The war continued for many months. On September 1, the Germans marched on Paris. News of the defeat at Sedan reached Paris. Napoleon was deposed in a bloodless revolution, which meant that no blood was spilled during this revolution. General Troche, Leon Gambetta, and Jules Favre formed a provisional government of national defense.

On September 19, the Germans surrounded the city of Paris. In Paris, since there was nothing to eat, the citizens had nothing else to eat except cats, dogs, and even rats. They had to find crude and simple weapons to fight the enemy. Paris was the only city that could withstand the German attack, but it only lasted for four months. The German siege left the Parisians without any food.

Gambetta escaped from Paris in a balloon. The French government had established balloon factories. They made a balloon every few days and they were launched quickly. The success of the balloonists were well-known throughout France. The sailors practiced the first flights and sailors had bottles of champagne with them. When the enemy Prussians were firing at them from the ground, the sailors would shout, "Death to the invaders!" or "Vive la France!" When the sharpshooters were unable to bring down these balloons, the Prussians tried unsuccessfully to develop weapons to bring them down.

They developed a special anti-balloon field gun. The French Minister of the Interior, Leon Gambetta and his chief assistant, Charles Louis de Sauces de Freycinet, left by balloon to go to Tours to take charge of the provisional government. The crowd shouted "Long live the Republic!" The minister was able to safely land several hours later where he organized and helped equip the 36 military divisions. However, these troops were unsuccessful and they were driven into Switzerland. They were eventually disarmed and imprisoned... Others, such as Faidherbe, Chaney and Bourbaki tried to resist the enemy forces.

The surrender on October 27 of Bazaine with his 180,000 men made the resistance seem worthless. Paris did not surrender until many months later. Although Bismarck and Adolphe Thiers signed an armistice on February 26, 1871, Paris continued its siege. In March 1871, the Paris Commune, which was a radical government, was able to control Paris. Paris faced war against its own National Assembly.

Paris suffered more from the Commune than from the war. Hundreds were shot. The Parisian workers fought against this National Assembly and put up barricades in streets, and fought them on each block. During this revolt, much of Paris burned and thousands died. Hundreds were sent as convicts to New Caledonia, in the South Pacific, and others were sentenced to years of hard labor in prisons. The war left hatred in the country and toward the new republic.

In May 1871, the National Assembly was able to win the war against its own people, the National Commune. Shortly after they won the war, at least 20,000 Parisians were executed. In October 1870, Bismarck negotiated with the south German states over how to form the new German Federation. By November 25, the four south German states agreed that the king of Prussia would be its emperor. The treaties were ratified and a new state was formally constituted on January 1, 1871. On January 18, 1871, the Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden proclaimed William I the German emperor in Versailles.

On that date, King William I of Prussia became the emperor, or Kaiser, of the new German empire, which became known as the Second Reich. Bismarck became its first prime minister. The new German empire was a leader in manufactured goods. It was the third largest producer of manufactured goods.

The Third Republic took over the siege and crushed the Commune in Paris. The troops remained in the area until 1873. The royal palace in Berlin was where the first meeting was held. Bismarck was surrounded by princes and generals and was dressed in his uniform. The parliamentarians appeared drab by comparison. The Kaiser sat on the throne of Henry, and gave orders to the Reichstag by reading from a text prepared by Bismarck.

As a part of this agreement, the south German states were consolidated into the North German Federation. Even though they got some seats in the upper house, the Bundesrat, Prussia still had plenty of seats to block any constitutional changes. Altogether there were twenty-five states in the North German Federation, four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven principalities and three free cities. There were some rights, however, that the states were able to keep. Several kingdoms had their own armies, which would become a German army only in time of war. Each kingdom could levy their own taxes, and several had their own postal systems.

The emperor was the hereditary chairman of the Bundesrat, but he also had many powers. His main powers were that he could dismiss the Bundesrat and the lower house (Reichstag) and he had the power to appoint the chancellor and the secretaries of state. The first Reichstag did not receive much popular vote. Only 51 percent of the electorate votes. Bismarck's supporters won only thirty-seven seats. The National Liberals won 125 out of 382 seats, and were the big winners.

They formed a majority along with the Old Liberals and the Progressives. The Catholic Center party won sixty-three seats. Most Germans were optimist about the new empire. The recent victories of von Molke's army were inspiring, the economy was doing well, and the soldiers had all of their recent victories to be proud of. Most Germans thought that the new empire would be successful. There were those, however, who were somewhat doubtful of the future.

One of the problems with the emerging German empire was that it was authoritarian. That empire went unchecked as the parliament had limited power. The monarchy's power went unchecked. The nobility had their position and the army became even stronger. The nationalistic forces became stronger. Although Germany was strong politically, economically, and militarily, there were problems with it due to its autocratic state.

The Franco Prussian war meant that Germany was now unified. The southern and northern German people became nationalistic and forgot any previous doubts they had about becoming one country. After the war, Thiers became the executive power. There French national assembly met at Bourdeaux to make provisions for their election. On March 1, the preliminary peace agreement was accepted, and it was ratified May 21, 1871.

The treaty was called the Treaty of Frankfurt. France was to pay 5 billion gold francs ($1 billion) within three years and Germany occupied France until the amount was paid off. This $1 billion was paid off in September 1873 and the German soldiers left France. Alsace (except Belfort) and part of Lorraine, including Metz. were ceded to Germany. revolutionaries surrendered. On January 18, 1871, Alsace and Lorraine were proclaimed an empire under William.

Paris did not disarm immediately. They did not want to submit to the Thiers regime, and the Commune of Paris was formed. In retaliation, the French troops began a second siege of Paris. After the Commune was put down, France was at peace again after the revolutionaries surrendered. As a part of the war reparations, France had to pay Prussia 5 billion francs. In addition, France was ordered Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia.

These provinces had some of the largest coal and iron deposits in France. This loss began the struggle for future conflicts of World War I and World War II. The German industry grew even faster after its unification. It had been third in the nations as a manufacturer of goods, but soon became second when it overtook Britain. Also, the change in the economic, social and demographic structure of Europe during this era of industrialization, brought about significant changes in the army, which continued The changes in the economic, social and demographic structure of Europe were dramatic.

There were many changes in the French and German military organizations. The status of the military became more respected. The reserves were part of a proud middle-class society, and the officers in the army were seen as courageous, and could be seen in the best social circles. In addition, middle-class officers and working-class soldiers also joined the ranks because of the increasing size of the armies in Europe.

In addition, there also was a thought that there was a need for more nationalist propaganda so that the masses could be better motivated. The army was thought of as a force to educate the young people so that they would fight better for their nation. Since the army was the main reason for this education, it reflected the realities of a new industrialized society and it also reflected the need to preserve the regime. The German army increasingly became known by its need to show its military force.

It also was known by its need to suppress any other kind of social and political change. When Napoleon's professional army was defeated, the French wanted to organize a new popular army. The French viewed their army as a force to protect it from foreigners and from its domestic enemies. The French were hoping to make the army believe in its own national ideals. The French were basing their army on universal conscription. Both German and French alike realized that their armies existed to preserve their political, cultural and social governments.

France was so severely beaten in the Franco-Prussian war that the result of the war was a series of crises. When Napoleon was finally released by Prussia, he was exiled to Britain to spend the remainder of his life. The National Assembly met in France to form a new government. In 1875, the National Assembly finally agreed on a new government. They decided on a republic, which was called The Third Republic. This form of government lasted for approximately 60 years.

There were about a dozen political parties competing for power, and France's government changed hands on average every ten months. The French were all united on one thing, however, and that was their hatred of Germany. They wanted to try to regain Alsace and Lorraine, which they had lost during the Franco Prussian war. The Franco-Prussian War was the end of the French Empire.

The Third French Republic and the German Empire were the two immediate effects of the Franco-Prussian War. The Prussian military operations had been so successful that they began the search for more German imperialistic operations. The French wanted revenge for their defeat. In addition, Italy annexed the Papal States because they were no longer protected by Napoleon. All of these effects led to the beginnings of World War I.

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