Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

capital." M. de Lesseps himself announced, in these terms, to the English agent, the signing of the firman: "I come as the friend of peace and of the Anglo-French alliance, to bring you that which will contribute to realize the saying, 'Aperire terram, et dare pacem gentibus.'"

End of

the Pope's

[In 1870, the Franco-Prussian war breaks out, the French troops are recalled from Civita Vecchia and the Italian troops bombard and occupy Rome, ending the temporal power temporal of the Papacy. The son of Victor Emmanuel power. is chosen King of Spain. A revolt of Indian half-breeds on the Red River is suppressed. Diamonds are discovered in the Orange Free State. Board Schools are established in England. Infanticide is prohibited in India.]

THE

FRANCO-GERMAN

(A.D. 1870-1871)

WAR

France

declares

war against Prussia.

[ocr errors]

JAMES SIME

ARLY in July, 1870, Leopold, the hereditary Prince of Hohenzollern, at the request of the Spanish Government, and with the permission of King William of Prussia as head of the Hohenzollern family, became a candidate for the Spanish throne. The Emperor Napoleon, who had never heartily accepted the reconstitution of Germany, and who was anxious for an opportunity to establish his waning popularity in France, resolved to make Leopold's candidature the pretext for a war with Germany. A cry was raised in the French Legislative Assembly that a foreign Power was about to place one of its princes on the throne of Charles V. A section of the French people took up the cry, and called loudly for the submission of Germany to the wish of France. To take away all cause of dispute, the Prince of Hohenzollern formally resigned his candidature on July 12. Not content with this triumph, Napoleon insisted that the King of Prussia should give an assurance to France

ambassador

that the candidature of the Prince of Hohenzollern would not be renewed. M. Benedetti, the French ambassador, came on the 13th to Ems, where the King was staying, and on a public promenade urged this demand. King William not only refused to grant it, but de- The French clined to listen further to M. Benedetti on snubbed. the subject. An official telegram from Ems informed the German Governments of this fact next day. War had now become certain; and the King hurried toward Berlin. On the 15th he was met at the Brandenburg station by the Crown Prince, Counts von Bismarck, von Moltke, and von Roon, and informed of what had taken place that day in the French Legislative Assembly. All that was now wanting was the formal declaration of war. While still in Brandenburg, therefore, the King of Prussia gave orders for the mobilization of the North German army. Next day the Federal Council met, and expressed its hearty concurrence with the views of the Government; and on the 19th the Confederate to Prussia, Diet was opened by the King with a speech of great dignity and moderation. On the same day, the French declaration of war was received and communicated to the Assembly.

Napoleon, misinformed as to the real state of Germany, had hoped that the South Germans, if they did not actually join France, would at least remain neutral. But, though in Bavaria and Würtemberg there were strong

The South
German
States re-
main true

parties in favor of such a course, they were true to their engagements. On the 16th the King of Bavaria and the Grand Duke of Baden ordered the mobilization of their troops; and next day the King of Würtemberg followed their example. On the 20th the South German princes formally announced to the King of Prussia that their forces were at his of the war. disposal; and the Prussian Crown Prince at

Real causes

Vast force

once left Berlin to take the command of the united army. Throughout all Germany the prospect of the war excited much enthusiasm. It must not be supposed that the miserable Hohenzollern dispute had really anything to do with the war. It was of even less importance than the Schleswig-Holstein quarrel had been in the Austro-Prussian war. In a few days the world almost forgot that the Prince of Hohenzollern had been a candidate for the Spanish throne. What France was really about to fight for was the maintenance of her supposed supremacy in Europe. Germany had taken up arms in her own defence, and perhaps she was not unwilling to engage in a struggle by which she might thoroughly humble a Power that had for centuries lost no opportunity of adding to her divisions, robbing her of her territory, and depriving her of her just place among the nations.

The German army, including the forces of Germans both of North and South Germany, numbered more than a million men. This vast force was

The Ger

manders.

under the supreme command of the King of Prussia, whose chief adviser was again Gen- man comeral von Moltke, head of the General Staff. It was divided into three armies, some part of each of which remained behind for the protection of the country. The first, under General von Steinmetz, was placed near Trier as the right wing; the second, under Prince Frederick Charles, assembled in Rhenish Bavaria; the third, consisting of the South German army and of three Prussian corps, and commanded by the Prussian Crown Prince, occupied the right bank of the Rhine from Mannheim to Rastatt. By the end of July these three armies were ready for action, and some skirmishing took place. But real fighting did not begin till next month. On August 4 the third army began its march toward the Lauter, and the first battle was fought at Weissenburg. The French were defeated, of the third army encamped On the 6th a great victory was

and the whole

on French soil.

won by the same army at Wörth over Marshal MacMahon. The loss on both sides was The first heavy; but the defeat of the French was complete. They fled in such wild disorder that MacMahon's corps was for some time hopelessly scattered. The Crown Prince at once began his march across the Vosges mountains, leaving the Baden division to besiege Strassburg. On the day of the battle of Wörth a part of the first and second armies gained a

« ElőzőTovább »