/kloc-At the beginning of the 9th century, France was a well-deserved land power in Europe. Although it suffered the defeat of the Battle of Waterloo and the collapse of Napoleon's empire, until the middle of this century, this once brilliant country still had a reputation that most other countries did not have on the military stage in Europe and even the world.
Until the 1950s, with the help of the Crimean War, France completely got rid of the Vienna system that had been unfavorable to itself since the failure of the Napoleonic Wars, returned to the throne of "the largest country in Europe" and became the hegemonic center of the dominant party. However, during this period, France devoted more energy to overseas colonization, which made its status as a powerful country unstable from the beginning of its recovery.
At this moment, in the east of French territory, the rise of a regional alliance is bound to become France's strongest opponent in the next century. This area is called the German area; And the leader of this alliance is Prussia.
1866, after Prussia defeated Austria in the Puo-Austria War, this fraternal confrontation also made it impossible for Austria to compete with Prussia for the dominance of the German region. In this case, France became the last obstacle to German reunification. In this regard, otto von bismarck, Prussia's "bloody prime minister", came to the conclusion a long time ago: if Germany wants to achieve reunification, France will definitely be one of the forces that jumped out to oppose it. Therefore, Prussia, as the absolute promoter of reunification, will inevitably fight France after all.
/kloc-In the first 60 years of the 0/9th century, the split state of Germany has always provided a breakthrough point for European powers such as France to intervene in German affairs. Even though Prussia and Austria constantly claim to be "representatives of Germany's national interests", from time to time they will do some transactions with France and other countries behind each other because of their competitive relationship.
1866 During the Puo-Austria War, France, as the "European international police" at that time, constantly sent envoys to secretly contact the Puo-Austria and Austrian governments. France knows very well that Germany does not want to see reunification under the leadership of Austria or Prussia.
But France also realized that Austria was weaker than Prussia at this time, so the French envoy sent a "caring" signal to the Austrian government, suggesting that Austria should conclude an alliance with France as soon as possible so that France could send troops to intervene in the conflict between Prussia and Austria. As for Prussia, on the one hand, French envoys said that they would not rule out the French government's involvement in the Puo-Austrian War, on the other hand, they said that as long as Prussia was willing to allow France to occupy the French-speaking areas of Luxembourg and Belgium, the French government would continue to be "friendly and neutral".
Out of expediency, the Prussian government generally expressed its willingness to consider France's post-war land claims to French envoys. The French side believed it, so in the absence of a positive response from Austria, it made a decision to "abide by neutrality." Prussia, on the other hand, took advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to quickly defeat Austria by virtue of its tactical and equipment advantages, and finally realized its long-cherished wish of eliminating Austria and taking the lead in German affairs.
Just before Prussia could celebrate the victory, France sent people to Pudulin for a "meeting" to urge Pufang to fulfill its pre-war commitments. Prussia is already the core leader of the German region, and any exchange of interests in the German region may damage Prussia's prestige in the pro-Prussian States. So Prussia said to the French ambassador, "As far as Prussia itself is concerned, there is no difficulty in fulfilling its promise. However, since Luxembourg also has a place in the big family of German-speaking countries, if France wants to occupy Luxembourg, Prussia must first consult small countries. "
France knows that asking for Luxembourg from all Germany will inevitably lead to anti-French anger from all Germany. Under such circumstances, France came to ask the Prussian government about France's annexation of French-speaking Belgium. In this regard, the Prussian government was noncommittal, only reminding the ambassador: "This is contrary to the London Treaty signed by European powers in 1839. If it is condemned by international public opinion, France will have to bear the consequences. "
In this way, France's attempts to exchange neutrality for territorial expansion all failed, and a wave of anti-Prussian anger quickly rose in the French ruling and opposition circles.
Although the Franco-Prussian War broke out unexpectedly from the beginning, it was the quarrel between France and Prussia about the succession of the Spanish throne and the Ames telegraph incident caused by it.
At that time, France was afraid that the candidate recommended by Prussia would become the king of Spain, which caused France to fall into a "geopolitical disaster", so after constantly exerting diplomatic pressure on Prussia, it finally succeeded in stopping Prussia's recommendation. Originally, this matter has come to an end, but because France further instructed its ambassador to Prussia to ask the king of Prussia to make a written commitment not to recommend candidates, it offended the Prussian government.
However, when Bismarck learned about it, he was overjoyed and immediately instructed his men to write a reply to the French emperor Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte. The letter highlights the arrogance of the French ambassador and the anger of the Prussian king, which makes people feel that France is a diplomatic troublemaker. Moreover, Bismarck authorized many newspapers at home and abroad to publish the contents of the telegram submitted by the French ambassador and the aforementioned reply, so as to damage the image of France and Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte in front of the world as much as possible.
As Bismarck expected, France did react violently to this. On July 1870, a few days after the contents of the telegram and reply were published in the newspaper, the French government officially declared war on Prussia, and Prussia was in the trap of Bismarck. To this end, Prussia, the North German Federation led by Prussia, and the South German countries such as Wü rttemberg, Baden and Bourne, which had previously signed an offensive and defensive alliance treaty with Prussia, immediately made a fighting posture. For an instant, France seemed to be dragged into a small "world war".
The first large-scale battle in the Franco-Prussian War took place on August 4th. On this day, the German allies with Pu Jun as the core exchanged fire with the French army in the border areas and then turned to counterattack, pursuing the French army step by step into France.
More than ten days later, the German allied forces successively won the battles of Visanburg, Spi Xie Lan, Walter, Mas latour and Gravlot, forcing the remnants of the French army with the Rhine as the main force to retreat to the Mace fortress. In order to rescue the trapped Rhine army, Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte and Marshal Patrice McMahon used their available strength to form the "Xia Long Army".
At this point, the war-weariness has spread widely in the French army, but considering the negative public opinion influence that may be caused by giving up the rescue of the Rhine Army, Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte and McMahon are still desperate to lead the army north.
Unfortunately, the actions of the troops led by Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte and McMahon have long been known to Pu Jun.. On August 28th, General Helmut Karl bernhard von Mao Qi (hereinafter referred to as "Great Mao Qi") led the newly formed Meuse Army and the Third Army to the north. Two days later, the French army from the north and south was intercepted in Beaumont. After nearly a day of fierce fighting, the French army lost more than 5000 people and 40 cannons, and then was forced to retreat to Saidang.
During the retreat, the French army was constantly pursued by Pu Jun. Finally, Pu Jun besieged the French army in Sedang area. In order to avoid panic, the French army, under the command of Marshal Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte and McMahon, assembled heavy troops to launch a breakthrough battle.
At first, the French army once caused heavy casualties to Pu Jun, but as Pu Jun mobilized artillery one after another, the French army immediately fell into a passive situation. But in the end, Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte realized that the breakthrough was hopeless, so he ordered to stop fighting. On September 2nd, 83,000 French officers and men led by Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte surrendered to Pu Jun, so the war came to an end temporarily.
After the news that the monarch surrendered to the enemy at the front and was captured returned to Paris, public opinion was in an uproar. On September 4th, in the coup staged by Jules Fabry (France: Jules Favre) and Leon Gambetta (France: Leon Gambetta), the regime of the second French Empire, which lasted for 18 years, collapsed.
After the collapse of the Second Empire, it was replaced by a * * * and regime called "National Defense Government". At the beginning of its establishment, this government considered ceding some French colonies in Africa or Southeast Asia to Prussia, but announced to the public on September 6th that it would spare no effort to occupy every inch of land and hold every ideal city. After the declaration was issued, the government began to recruit soldiers nationwide and called on the people to join hands to drive the enemy out of the country.
In view of the fact that the war will continue, the German allies dare not slow down their offensive. Although the main force of the French army was captured in World War I, because some French skirmishers who successfully broke through could still deploy defense lines in Paris, the German allies decided to besiege Paris in order to promote surrender. In order to end the war before the French national fundraiser formed a fighting force, under the instruction of Bismarck, the German Coalition forces launched a fierce shelling on Paris for many days, destroying countless buildings in Paris, and the streets were full of the bodies of the victims.
The widespread subscription of French nationals has also added "fresh blood" to the fighting capacity of * * * and the government. From 1870 to 10 to18710, the new government forces fought many battles with German allies in northern and eastern France. Although there were some successes, most of them ended in failure. In desperation, on October 27th, 65438/KLOC-0, Faber, who took office as prime minister for only two days, signed a surrender letter with the German Empire (hereinafter referred to as "Germany") declared on October 27th, 65438+ 18.
The formal peace treaty between Germany and France was the Frankfurt Treaty signed in May of 187 1. According to this treaty, Germany was able to occupy the German-speaking area in alsace-lorraine, France, and at the same time received 5 billion francs in war reparations.
Although the Franco-Prussian War did not last long, it was of epoch-making significance in European history. Through the Franco-Prussian War, Prussia, which rose in Germany, realized its ambition for many years and led the divided Germany to achieve reunification. After the war, Germany replaced France as the new diplomatic center in Europe. This war also laid a feud between France and Germany for more than 90 years, laying the groundwork for the two world wars that broke out in the 20th century.
Now, the haze of the world war has dissipated. Although there are still some regional disputes in this world, war can finally be no longer the ultimate means of communication between great powers. We can see that Germany and France, once century-old enemies, finally shake hands and make peace, and the most obvious form of competition between the two sides is the green football field. What a gratifying prosperity. May the story of Germany and France last forever, and the world will no longer be ruined by war.
References:
Analysis on the Cause and Influence of the Franco-Prussian War (Li Jincheng)
ドィツツ (Lin Jiantaro)
Germany:1866–1945
The Franco-Prussian War: German Invasion of France (Michael Elliot Howard)