Emperor Napoleon III
By the spring of 1870, Otto von Bismarck had nearly achieved the primary goal of his life: uniting the Germanic states under the leadership of Prussia into a a single German Empire. Two short wars with Denmark and Austria had resulted in the expansion of Prussian territory and the creation of a North German Confederation, dominated by Prussia; however, Bismarck was not satisfied. The Confederation was not an Empire. The one sure way of forming an Empire would be to unite all Germans against a common enemy. France was that enemy.
The France of Emperor Napoleon III had two foreign policy goals: remaining the strongest power in continental Europe, and ensuring that the German states never united into a single Empire. Prussia’s victories over Denmark in 1862 and Austria in 1866, and the subsequent formation of the North German Confederation, alarmed France. Bismarck decided to use France’s fears as a tool for a united German Empire. All he had to do was to provoke France into war, making Prussia and the German states the “victim”. The tool of provocation soon presented itself via Spain.
In 1870 Spain overthrew its monarch, Queen Isabella II, but still desiring to be ruled by royalty, Spain offered the throne to Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, a distant cousin of King Wilhelm I of Prussia. Leopold needed Wilhelm’s permission to accept the throne, and Wilhelm told Leopold to turn down the offer. Bismarck realized that this was the opportunity he had been waiting for: something that could be used to goad France into war. He knew that France would never accept a German prince on the Spanish throne, as that would surround France with German states--Spain to the west; the North German Confederation to the east. Bismarck persuaded King Wilhelm to change his mind and have Prince Leopold accept the offer of the Spanish throne.
Word of the acceptance reached the French on 3 July, 1870, causing great waves of alarm. The French government demanded that Prince Leopold withdraw his acceptance of the Spanish throne immediately, and King Wilhelm, not desiring war with France agreed. That should have been the end of it, but France went one step too far. The French ambassador to Prussia met the King at the spa resort of Ems, and demanded that in addition to Prince Leopold refusing the throne of Spain, Prussia must never, ever authorize a renewal of the candidacy of any German prince for the throne of Spain. King Wilhelm replied rather cooly to the demand, and walked away from the ambassador. He then telegraphed Bismarck the details of the meeting. Bismarck now realized that he had the perfect tool for goading France into war. He took the King’s telegram, and edited the words so that it appeared that the King spoke harshly to the French ambassador, insulting both the ambassador and the honor of France. With the telegram, known in history as the Ems Dispatch, now edited to incite passion in France, Bismarck released it to the world press on 14 July, 1870: Bastille Day in France, the highest day of French honor.
When the telegram was read by the French public , war fever swept the country. French newspapers demanded war the next day, and German states rallied to Prussia. Both countries mobilized their armies and called up reserves, and on 19 July, Emperor Napoleon IiI perfectly played his role as Bismarck’s dupe, and declared war on Prussia. The Franco-Prussian war was now underway, a war born of “honor” and of Bismarck’s perfect use of a pretext to obtain what he truly wanted: a powerful, united German Empire, dominated by Prussia.
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