Franco-Prussian War | Animated History

when I want to understand the cause or the impact of a war in history it can be very tempting for me to read a basic synopsis of the conflict and believe that I understand the general idea but oftentimes these summaries are limited or at worst misleading this is especially true of the franco-prussian war which was produced by years of contention and complex diplomatic intrigue so to understand it we first need to illustrate the geopolitical situation in Europe at the time its 1852 in France and in an attempt to reanimate the French Empire president employing the third names himself the new emperor of France this act blatantly signals the French reentry into active power projection fast forward a year later in 1853 and France's new emperor is already provoking Russia in the Crimean War and even though France would claim victory the war still proved rather inconclusive but it did help bring France back onto the international stage regardless of this Napoleon the third was still eager for a more prestigious and powerful France switch over to Prussia in 1866 under king of elam the first as he finishes the seven weeks war against Austria this work concluded with the formation of the North German Confederation and the end of Austria's influence in the German region with half of Germany now unified under Prussia's banner and southern Germany without Austria's protection Prussia sees a clear opportunity to expand her borders south but there's one looming threat standing in her way as can be inferred the prospect of a unified German state to oppose France was not taken well by the French people and government we can see the growing tension by the late 1860's between the two competitors both sides knew that war was inevitable France needed to stop Prussia from expanding and Prussia sought to unite Germany but neither side wanted to start the war against each other out of fear of intervention by powers such as Britain and Russia so for now both sides would remain quiet as tensions did increase one event would prompt the two nations to take action against one another in June of 1870 revolutionaries in Spain now stood their Queen Isabella the second the country was then without a legitimate ruler and a letter was sent by the Spanish military Hunta to the Prussian Prince Leopold offering him the crown King Vilhelm was hesitant to endorse Leopold but Otto von Bismarck recognized the potential to gain an ally on the Iberian Peninsula Bismarck eventually convinced Leopold in secret to accept the invitation on to the Spanish throne but Napoleon learned of it soon enough he was in full protest and demanded that Vilhelm objective Leopold's coronation bill helm did so in order to prevent a premature war but Napoleon the third pushed it further he sent a diplomat Count Vincent Benedetti to speak with Phil from the first the French diplomat demanded that the Spanish throne should not be meddled with by the Germans in complete perpetuity but Vilhelm refused what would then be dubbed the m's dispatch was sent to Bismarck from Ville home outlining the meeting between the French diplomat and himself Otto von Bismarck found himself in the perfect position to justify a war with France without the possibility of international repercussions Bismarck published the m's dispatch in the press but manipulated it to make both the diplomat and the king come off as insulting towards one another this inflamed public opinion in France so much so that on the 15th of July the French parliament approved of mobilization in preparation for war against Prussia in reaction oppression and Bavarian armies mobilized a day later by the 19th of July France officially declared war and hostilities commenced as Bismarck force all no other nations decided to intervene in the war general mobilization in France would end at around 900,000 men as the war progressed and the Germans would mobilised 900,000 on top of their already 500 thousand strong army by late July and pulling the third officially assumed command of the French forces at Metz numbering around 200,000 men in early August and employing the third took the offensive but would soon withdraw before the Germans could arrive after realizing the scale of their mobilization which was faster and more efficient than that of the French furthermore the German army was logistically superior to the French army mainly through Prussia's more competent usage of railroads this allowed the Germans to deploy far quicker by mid August a series of battles would take place all over France and the Germans would be constantly on the offensive the most pivotal battle took place a month later at Sudan on the 1st of September where 200,000 soldiers confronted 130,000 French soldiers who were attempting to relieve the siege a mess with the Adept leadership of Field Marshal helmet Fung the Russians encircled the French and wrote their lines ultimately resulting in the surrender of Napoleon the third and his entire army marking the end of the second French Empire in the beginning of the third French Republic with the capture of the main French army the Germans proceeded to Paris just a day later subjecting him to a nightmarish 130 days siege which the new republican government tried to break several times without any success with Paris starving the French government initiated peace talks on the 24th of January 5 days after Campbell was proclaimed emperor of Germany out of which they obtained a ceasefire agreement after intense negotiations in the Treaty of Frankfurt the Germans successfully proposed a treaty in which they were given the german-speaking region of Alsace Lorraine and made France recognize the German Empire on top of this France was obliged to pay five billion francs to cover the costs of German occupation as Napoleon the third had abdicated the papal states were absorbed into the Kingdom of Italy meaning both Germany and Italy were officially unified the integration of Alsace Lorraine by the Germans from the French would lead to even more friction between the two powers which contributed to the causes of World War one in which the French would reacquire the region in this war the Germans suffered approximately 45,000 dead and 90,000 wounded the French suffered around 140,000 dead and 140,000 wounded in almost 500,000 captured at a glance the franco-prussian war was started by France over a letter this is the most apparent reason for the conflict however it is just as important to look at everything behind the scenes from multiple perspectives by understanding all of the background information one could make the case that Prussia was the true aggressor this is a clear example in history of fabrication and public manipulation to justify an entire war to that point it's fairly obvious that the war wasn't just about insults and national pride but rather about the long-term geopolitical entanglements of the German and French interests for this reason a thorough study of any historical event is imperative to see past the extensible if you want to know how the North German Confederation and their allies won the war so quickly be sure to check out our follow-up video on the battles of the franco-prussian war thank you for watching I'd like to thank my patrons on patreon Emerson Emmanuel Adamski Derek Alex James Jacob and Joe and I was working on the armchair history team researcher and writer Alexander Blake graphic artist hair boss and my animator for making this video possible thank you again and I'll see you next time you

Channel: The Armchair Historian

Views: 733,542

Rating: 4.9087915 out of 5

Keywords: Franco-Prussian War, Victorian, Prussia, France, Napoleon, 1800's, Battle, Crimean War, Russia, Britain, Spain, Count Benedetti, Napoleon III, Wilhelm, Bismarck, Otto von Bismarck, Helmuth von Moltke, Battle of Sedan

Id: UeITIRL6B9Q

Length: 6min 30sec (390 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 04 2018