How Prussia Ended The French Empire: Franco-Prussian War | Animated History

hi i'm griffin johnson the armchair historian in 1805 napoleon bonaparte delivered a coup de grace to the holy roman empire at the battle of austerlitz where the combined forces of russia and austria were decisively defeated by his smaller army this victory established the french empire as the dominant military power of the continent pioneering new innovations in infantry tactics and artillery that left the rest of europe in the dust napoleon swiftly reorganized the shattered remnants of the holy roman empire into a french vassal and turned his attention to larger matters in the end it took the nations of europe 23 years and seven coalitions to bring revolutionary france down in 1815 however within a generation a second french empire was founded by napoleon's nephew but in contrast to his uncle's military success napoleon iii's empire was dismantled in a little over six weeks against a revitalized confederation of german states who proceeded to bombard their way to the gates of paris it can be argued that the prussian leadership carried the legacy of french military innovation seen in the napoleonic wars better than the french themselves in the franco-prussian war of 1871 as the battle that would bring the second empire down was won primarily by skillful maneuvering and masked artillery something napoleon the first was known for this incompetence surely left napoleon the first's tailcoated corpse spinning in his grave who once quoted god fights on the side with the best artillery in this video we'll see exactly how this conflict played out and how the germans were able to reverse their french rival's fortunes so decisively i'd now like to take a minute to talk about our sponsor surfsharkvpn with so much of our communication now taking place over the internet it's more important than ever to stay safe and anonymous online luckily for me surfsharkvpn ensures that my data is safe and secure behind the best encryption possible and hides your true ip but that's not all by using surfshark i can access content on websites that would otherwise be region locked such as on netflix by simply changing my virtual location on surfshark's easy to use app or browser extension i can use surfshark to access all of the historical films and tv shows that aren't available where i am most importantly it lets me and my team access source material from around the globe making research faster and cheaper so regardless of whether you're looking to enjoy shows broadcasted in another country or looking to expand your access to information online for the purposes of education surfsharkvpn is there to help you out use my code historian to get 83 off plus three extra months for free links are in the description below surf shark offers a 30 day money back guarantee so there's no risk to try it out for yourself with the formation of the north german confederation in 1867 europe had a new power to contend with the austro-prussian war the year prior saw a david and goliath struggle between the kingdom of prussia and the empire of austria for control over the german-speaking states which resulted in a clear victory for prussia and the formation of the north german confederation legendary prussian statesman otto von bismarck was chiefly responsible for this conflict having carefully manipulated events to ensure that his modern prosperous state took the lead in german affairs instead of the ethnically divided and militarily outmoded austria but prussia's sudden return to international prominence did not go unnoticed by its perennial adversary france emperor shala luis napoleon iii was constantly trying to emulate the deeds of his more famous uncle and had even timed his coup against the former republican government to coincide with the storied victory at austerlitz seeing prussia's rapid expansion as a threat to the balance of power in europe napoleon iii's cabinet ministers urged him to demand territorial concessions along the west bank of the orion to fortify france's eastern border this was precisely what bismarck wanted a number of german states had yet to join the nascent north german confederation and bismarck believed that a war with france would be necessary to coax them into the fold and complete the unification of germany bismarck rejected napoleon iii's demands out of hand and the french emperor proved all too eager to walk straight into bismarck's traps in 1870 the manufactured threat of a spanish prussian alliance was enough to spark a full-scale conflict between the two belligerent nations the stage was set for a war that would redefine the political balance of europe the french and german militaries represented some of the best soldiers on the continent both of which had recent victories the former against russia and austria and the latter against austria and denmark the french army was a professional organization that employed selective conscription for long service periods with benefits offered to those choosing to re-enlist meanwhile the german military was built upon the foundation of universal conscription for a much shorter service period as was common at the time both nations only kept a fraction of their men under arms during peace relying on their trained reserves to quickly fill the ranks when war broke out under the french system this allowed for a reserve of around 400 000 professional soldiers while the germans could call upon a veritable human ocean of over a million conscripts the key of course was getting all of them armed and shipped to the front lines in an orderly fashion from the outset both sides knew that early action would prove decisive under pressure from his military planners to strike before the germanic horde could assemble napoleon left paris on the 28th of july 1870 to command the army of the rhine which marched east to invade germany and liberate the southern states from prussian oppression of course this again played directly into bismarck's hands as the southern states had declared themselves for prussia the moment they had received word of french mobilization but such details would be irrelevant if the north german confederation failed to secure victory the opening shots of the war were fired on the 2nd of august when the french second corps under the command of general shala fossa crossed the border and attacked the town of zarbrucken which his scouts had informed him was defended only by a single isolated regiment fersaw had good reason to be confident as his troops were armed with breech-loading bolt-action shaspo rifles the germans on the other hand used the drysa needle rifle a decades older and less effective model than the shaspo in these skirmishes that followed the french rifle proved itself a far superior weapon in most respects especially in terms of accuracy at long range the french also deployed the terrifying mitraeus a multi-barreled volley gun capable of firing up to 125 high caliber rounds a minute thanks to these advantages the second core easily captured the town despite stiff resistance emboldened by this early success napoleon iii was eager to continue the offensive only to be stunned by reports of a german army advancing south across the border towards the town of vissenborg which was defended by the five thousand men of the french first corps under general abel dui despite being horribly outnumbered the first corps fought bravely using their compliment of mitriu's guns to carve bloody swathes in the ranks of the attackers but when german artillery fire killed general douwe the terrified civilians threw open the gates and hoisted a white flag of surrender but the french soldiers fought on firing from rooftops onto the horde of german soldiers pouring into the town this bloody house-to-house fighting continued until german artillery closed to point-blank range threatening to annihilate the remaining defenders only then did the first corps surrender in response to this shocking turn of events napoleon hurriedly entrusted marshall patrice mcmull with command of his three southernmost army corps and dispatched them to engage the germans as they advanced deeper into french territory but unbeknownst to napoleon this was only one of three german armies that had been assembled at the border since mid-july this feat of military logistics was all thanks to field marshal helmut von moltka widely regarded as the finest military mind of his generation since the early 1860s german general staff officers had been traveling throughout france surveying terrain creating excellent maps some of which rivaled french-made maps of their own country and calculating the available food supplies of every fortress and town in the northeastern part of the country allowing malta to rush his reserves to the border far faster than the french had ever anticipated ignorant of these facts mcmahon's 45 000 men marched southeast taking up defensive positions on a heavily wooded ridge line near the town of vert which provided clear lines of fire across the open fields beyond as the germans marched forward they were subjected to a withering barrage of the morale-crushing use guns while shaspo rifles dealt most of the real damage picking off stragglers at ranges that the needle rifle simply could not match but while the french held the line against the enemy infantry they found themselves at the mercy of german artillery to his horror makmol realized that the supposedly invincible french artillery corps was completely outclassed by the new crop designed canon which employed state of the art fuses and breach loading mechanisms to fire faster and more accurately than the french muzzleloaders in the face of incessant barrages the french were forced to flee the field having suffered nearly 20 000 casualties in a matter of hours further west things have been going just as badly for the french second corps on the same day mac maorn engaged the prussian third army near vert general forsa was in a pitched battle with the first and second prussian armies near spiciarin soon after the action commenced furson noticed that his positions were being quickly surrounded and overwhelmed this was a result of german infantry tactics which favored independent platoons attacking from multiple directions the french hoped to counter this with tight defensive formations and massed firepower but these were vulnerable to being encircled by the much better coordinated german units although he recognized this issue all of frassa's efforts to coordinate his troops and request reinforcements were frustrated by poor lines of communication and by evening he was forced to order a withdrawal to the south when the news of these twin disasters reached his ears a shell-shocked napoleon iii ordered the army of the rhine into an unceremonious retreat to mess abandoning most of eastern france to german occupation with his dreams of glory shattered the distraught emperor begrudgingly yielded command of his remaining forces to marshal francois ashil bazan who promptly began bickering with the rest of the general staff over what to do next this resulted in the french taking over a week to cross the river moselle giving the germans numerous opportunities to delay them further in fact the french retreated even slower than the germans had calculated and when thirty thousand men of the prussian second army were sent to harass the french rear guard near the village of maz latur they instead found themselves confronted by an entire enemy army [Music] this unexpected turn of events should have resulted in a decisive victory for bazina and the brave marshal demonstrated his valor by throwing himself into the center of the action unfortunately this isolated him from the chain of command leaving the other french officers involved in the battle to act on their own initiative something they were completely unprepared for [Music] sensing chaos among the enemy ranks the outnumbered germans took the offensive culminating in a reckless charge by two heavy cavalry regiments against the french artillery positions this act of suicidal bravery later dubbed the death ride cost half of the 800 horsemen their lives but successfully silenced the french guns left unsupported the french infantry were unable to break the thin german lines which held despite being outnumbered almost four to one by the late afternoon german reinforcements began to flow into the area and the zane was forced with the horrible revelation that his men were simply too exhausted to continue trying to break out to the west left with no choice he ordered a retreat back to mess hoping to at least rest and resupply after the near disaster at maas le tour multiga opted for caution while the third army continued its pursuit of makmal in the south multica ordered the second army to advance toward the french positions on the moselle and the village of gravlot the two forces engaged shortly before noon on august 18th with the french choosing to dig in and hold fast to their defensive lines as in previous battles many german attacks stalled in the face of superior french firepower but prussia dominated the artillery duel with over 200 cannon laying waste to enemy positions and causing a mass route at the village of sanpriva seeing disaster looming french general shala bubaki led the famed imperial guard to reinforce the line but upon seeing his allies already fleeing bubaki halted the advance reportedly protesting you promised me victory now you get me involved in a route when the rest of the french saw the imperial guard preparing to withdraw their morale collapsed and the entire army retreated in disarray behind the fortifications of mess where it was promptly encircled and besieged despite suffering over 20 000 casualties compared to the french count of 12 000 the battle of gravlot was a decisive victory for the germans the very next day multica began enacting the next stage of his plan german losses had been heavy and general steinmetz of the prussian first army had failed to trap the french second core at speecherin so with the stroke of a pen multiga replaced him such a casual dismissal of a high-ranking officer would have been unthinkable in the french army which had been suffering a critical shortage of competent officers and was often crippled by favoritism and petty rivalries meanwhile what was left of the second army was reconstituted into a new fourth army which was sent marching west to link up with the third army and attack marshall mcmull who was rallying his forces at shalom by this point it had become clear to everyone in the french army that napoleon iii was gravely ill the 61 year old emperor had long suffered from numerous health conditions but these had been kept a state secret but now his troops could watch him hobbling about the camp in constant agony from a combination of advanced arthritis and gallstones in a way his condition mirrored the state of the french army whose own weaknesses had been so starkly revealed in the recent battles the selective conscription system had allowed any man with money to buy his way out of service leaving nothing but the poorest illiterate dregs to fill the ranks the few career soldiers remaining were either too old to be effective or had fallen victim to the rampant alcoholism that had plagued the military for years but although he was completely outnumbered mcmahon had to act it was imperative mess be relieved no matter the cost thus he drove his 120 000 exhausted feckless soldiers into march on august 21st to the aid of bazina doing his best to march along a course that would avoid contact with the prussian armies but mcmull's efforts were doomed and he was unable to do anything to prevent his force from being quickly spotted and shadowed by german cavalry patrols which reported their location straight back to multica upon learning of this threat multicast simply ordered the third and fourth armies to catch the much smaller french force in a pincer move when he realized he was being pursued mcmahon deployed his men in a defensive triangle near the obsolete 17th century fortress of sedong with the river and fortifications at his back summing up the situation one of his subordinates famously remarked we are in a chamber pot about to be on interestingly the first ever photograph of active combat in history was taken during this battle as a photographer stood on a grassy hill overlooking the countryside with the french defenders on september 1st the battle of saddam began the first shots were fired in the outlying village of basea where bavarian troops encountered a motley collection of french soldiers a contingent of marines diverted from the baltic and armed civilians all firing at them from rooftops doorways trees and church steeples caught by surprise the bavarians were forced to commit to brutal house-to-house fighting that continued well into the afternoon but while the outnumbered defenders of bizea continued to hold out the rest of the prussian army continued to methodically encircle saddam pushing the french back from their defensive positions and destroying any isolated units with concentrated artillery fire marshall mcmahon continued trying to rally his men and stage a breakout at la mocelle but he was abruptly wounded in the fighting and had to withdraw from the battlefield this led to a dispute in the chain of command as when mcmahon's designated successor ordered a retreat he was overruled by another general who had only just arrived from paris under orders from the french minister of war with no way to establish a clear chain of command the army dithered losing all sense of direction by the late afternoon the village of isaiah was finally taken by the bavarians who sustained nearly 4 000 casualties in the battle with their southern positions now completely overrun and the prussian army crossing the river moselle to the west the french were slowly hemmed in on all sides and forced to retreat behind the walls of saddam but the french were not even afforded the dignity of a glorious last stand as instead of assaulting the walls the germans instead lined up over 400 guns on the heights outside the town and commenced a devastating bombardment as the day wore on emperor napoleon iii began riding aimlessly back and forth among his troops despondently hoping that a german shell would end his misery meanwhile the french cavalry desperately tried to break out through enemy lines but their charges were all repelled each time despite suffering heavy losses the cavalry reformed and charged again prompting king wilhelm to exclaim ah those brave men at around 5 pm napoleon finally realized that god had no intention of letting him commit suicide by artillery shell and raised a white flag over the citadel by this late hour the french army had been all but annihilated as a fighting force having lost all cohesion thanks to the merciless shelling that made any kind of counter-attack or breakout and impossibility upon seeing that their thoroughly beaten enemy was finally surrendering a prussian representative was detached to meet with the emperor and then returned to king wilhelm bearing a message having been unable to die in the midst of my troops there remains nothing for me but to deliver my sword into your majesty's hands i am your majesty's true brother napoleon as a heavy rainfall began what remained of the french army marched out of their shattered fortress into captivity of the 124 000 that had begun the battle 17 000 had been killed or wounded a further 21 000 had been taken prisoner during the fighting leaving only 83 000 to surrender along with their emperor a mere 3000 had escaped to the north fleeing to belgium where they were promptly detained and disarmed rarely in french history had a defeat been so utter and complete much less one fought on their home soil the defeat of macmol and the capture of the emperor and the loss of his entire army in the span of a single day was the death sentence for the second french empire at this point napoleon iii was deeply unpopular with many of his subjects and the moment word of his capture reached paris an angry mob rose up and overthrew his government declaring the beginning of the third republic but despite the head of the new government general louis choshu boldly proclaiming that he would seed not an inch of our soil or a stone of our fortress the reality was that france no longer had a strong enough army in the field it was no longer a matter of if france would cede soil and stone but how much yet as they marched toward the capital the german armies found themselves being constantly harassed by french partisans these were the frontier or free shooters a militia force made up primarily from members of the pre-war french shooting clubs in the end their valiant efforts delayed the german advance long enough for an army of more than four hundred thousand men to assemble for the defense of paris sadly the majority were members of the paris national guard which was barely more than a ragtag group of angry political dissidents only around 60 000 were actual soldiers with another 100 thousand being part of the guard mobile which consisted of men who had paid their way out of conscription into the regular army when the germans reached paris on the 17th of september they effortlessly turned back a poorly organized sortie by the defenders and had the city completely encircled within 24 hours during this initial conflict the imperial palace at versailles was captured becoming the headquarters of the besieging army all the way back at mass marshal bazane and his men had been incredibly busy starving to death the german siege lines were unbreakable and on october 27th bezain finally surrendered his entire force of 133 thousand into captivity the only real french victory of the war occurred on november 9th when seventy thousand troops from the newly raised army of loire routed twenty thousand bavarians and liberated the city of orleon this inspired the defenders of paris to keep fighting despite the overwhelming odds stacked against them and even a days-long bombardment by german field artillery failed to break their spirits but even as the citizen army continued to hold out king wilhelm the first staged a grand coronation at the captured palace of versailles on january 18th this was the culmination of his and bismarck's imperial ambitions and had been directly enabled by the very french invasion that had scared the southern german states into joining the confederation a week later bismarck demanded that the bombardment of paris be intensified and despite multicast objections the new kaiser granted his request a battery of powerful corrupt siege guns was set up outside the city and under bismarck's direction they began systematically reducing the french capital to a smoking pile of rubble faced with a choice between capitulation or annihilation the provisional government chose the former and the city finally surrendered on january 27th at midnight after agreeing terms with bismarck an armistice came into effect which included provisions for an immediate ceasefire and the disarmament of all but a single french division after just six months the war was over despite being victorious in almost every single major engagement the germans had suffered substantial losses totaling around dead and 88 000 wounded but french casualties had been far greater over 150 000 dead with at least the same number of wounded and an astounding 723 000 captured the civilian population was also devastated with numerous towns and villages burnt to the ground in reprisal for partisan attacks and tens of thousands killed during various sieges but the bloodshed didn't end there on march 18th a communist uprising seized control of the capital and declared the paris commune independent of the third republic after hastily rebuilding their forces with bismarck's permission of course the republicans stormed the city and destroyed the commune in what became known as the bloody week between may the 21st and the 28th meanwhile the germans were busy celebrating the formation of their powerful prosperous new empire kaiser wilhelm would go on to see his nation expand to the status of a world power complete with extensive colonial holdings overseas his counterpart the unfortunate napoleon iii would go into exile and never return to france he died three years after the war living just long enough to see the republic place all of the blame for france's defeat squarely on his shoulders on his deathbed the disgraced emperor reportedly whispered the words isn't it true that we weren't cowards at sedan [Music] [Music] you

Channel: The Armchair Historian

Views: 862,599

Rating: 4.9534564 out of 5

Keywords: Franco-prussian war, war of 1870, prussia invades france, napoleon iii, Otto von bismarck, german history, victorian history, north german confederation, formation of the german empire, second french empire, battle of sedan, siege of paris, siege of metz, mitrailleuse, helmuth von moltke, paris commune, third french republic, krupp gun, dreyse needle gun, chassepot rifle, prussian mobilization, railway troop movement, prussian empire, french empire

Id: xVISzFmBiPU

Length: 27min 56sec (1676 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 09 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/COMPUTER1313]

Crimean War, Franco-Austrian War, Second Second Schleswig War, Austrian-Prussian War, playing as France or UK to intervene in the US Civil War, Opium Wars, Indian Rebellion of 1857, Meiji Restoration (CA may need to implement a much shorter version of the Boshin War compared to Fall of the Samurai), and the start of the Scramble for Africa.

There was this Victoria 2 multiplayer where the players triggered a Great War, in 1899, over a small portion of the Sahara Desert where it only had 15k inhabitants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOIgLoOnLb0

[u/Moist_BaIIs]

I'm just wondering how the battles would look like in a Victorian war game. You'd start off with line infantry, no problem, but the end period begins to look more and more modern with focus on taking cover and small scale stuff

[u/KenoReplay]

Victoria Total War is my dream game.

​

One day, maybe....

[u/Kaiserhawk]

While I would like this game, I think it's too current and too "political" for CA to even consider for the moment