Franco-Prussian War
Battle of Gravelotte
The Franco-Prussian War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871, the conflict was caused by Prussian ambitions to extend German unification and French fears of the shift in the European balance of power that would result if the Prussians succeeded.
A series of swift Prussian and German victories in eastern France saw French Emperor Napoleon III captured and the army of the Second Empire decisively defeated. Following the Siege of Paris, the capital fell on 28 January 1871. A revolutionary uprising called the Paris Commune held on for two months, until it was bloodily suppressed by the regular French army at the end of May 1871.
The German states proclaimed their union as the German Empire under the Prussian king Wilhelm I, including parts of Alsace-Lorraine. French determination to regain Alsace-Lorraine became a factor in the causes of World War I.
A series of swift Prussian and German victories in eastern France saw French Emperor Napoleon III captured and the army of the Second Empire decisively defeated. Following the Siege of Paris, the capital fell on 28 January 1871. A revolutionary uprising called the Paris Commune held on for two months, until it was bloodily suppressed by the regular French army at the end of May 1871.
The German states proclaimed their union as the German Empire under the Prussian king Wilhelm I, including parts of Alsace-Lorraine. French determination to regain Alsace-Lorraine became a factor in the causes of World War I.
Franco-Prussian War adapted from Wikipedia and licensed by The Cultural Me under CC BY SA 3.0