|
|
“Who Goes There?”
No caption
Cartoonist
Thomas Nast condemns Napoleon III, the emperor of France, as a friend of
death, destruction, famine, and war in this grisly scene dramatizing the
aftermath of the Battles of Mars-la-Tour and Gravelotte (August 16-18,
1870) during the Franco-Prussian War (July 19, 1870-May 10, 1871).
In 1866, Prussia's victory over Austria
and her allies secured Prussia's preeminence among the German states,
and led to the formation of the Northern German Confederation the next
year. The emergence of a powerful Prussia threatened France's dominance
in Western Europe, and culminated in the Franco-Prussian War. The
specific event triggering the war was the attempt by Otto von Bismarck,
the Prussian chancellor, to place a German prince on the Spanish
throne. To resist France being bound on each side by the proposed
German-Spanish coalition, Napoleon III declared war on the German
Confederation on July 19, 1870.
French military leaders were confident
of victory, which Napoleon III hoped would bolster his sinking
popularity. As Bismarck had calculated, the southern German states
perceived Napoleon as the aggressor, so they joined the military effort of
the Northern German Confederation. In the end, the numbers,
organization, and leadership of the German military, under General
Helmuth von Moltke, proved to be decisive, allowing them to win most of
the battles and the war. This was contrasted with the lack of
coordination and efficiency in the French military.
After Napoleon III's declaration, the
Germans mobilized quickly, and began winning battles in the first week
of August, which forced the shocked French into retreat. On August
16, General Constantine von
Alvensleben and his 30,000 German troops surprised Marshal Achille-François
Bazaine and his 130,000 French troops near
Mars-la-Tour. In the ensuing battle, each side lost about 16,000
men, but the Germans captured Vionville, blocking the western escape
route of the French.
Bazaine directed his men to a
north-south line of hills near Gravelotte. The French were in a
better position at the onset of the August 18 battle, causing the
Germans to suffer 20,000 casualties to 13,000 for the French. However,
the cautious Bazaine and his men retreated to the Metz fortress, where the Germans
were able to contain them. The results of the Battles of
Mars-la-Tour and Gravelotte opened the way for Moltke to win the crucial
Battle of Sedan, forcing the surrender of 83,000 French troops on
September 2, 1870.
In the wake of the humiliating
French defeat at Sedan, Napoleon was taken prisoner by the Germans (and
later exiled to England), a provisional
government was established, and the Third French Republic was
declared. On September 19, the Germans launched an attack on
Paris. In reaction, the French initiated negotiations for ending
the war, but the talks soon collapsed. Bazaine finally surrendered
at Metz on October 27, and
Paris fell on January 28, 1871, with an armistice signed the same
day. The Treaty of Frankfort formally ended the war on May 10,
1871.
The Franco-Prussian War produced several significant results:
unification of northern and southern German states into the German
Empire; the overthrow of Napoleon III and the establishment
of the Third French Republic; the end of French dominance in Western
Europe; greater German confidence in Prussian militarism; French resentment
springing from the defeat and the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine into the
German Empire; and, the annexation of the Papal States into a
unified Italy, after French troops withdrew to fight in the war.
Robert C. Kennedy
|
|
|
