Franco-Prussian War

Aftermath

German troops continued to occupy parts of northern France and Parisian forts until the last payment of reparations was completed in September 1873, ahead of schedule. The French territories surrendered to Germany became the German imperial province of Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine).

Related Topics:
September - 1873 - Alsace-Lorraine

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Many in France found the humiliation of the defeat hard to bear, especially the National Guard and the workers of Paris. Refusing to accept defeat and blaming the conservative government for failing to organise an effective national resistance, Parisians seized control of the French capital on March 18 and established the Paris Commune. The French Army was permitted to pass through German lines outside the city, and proceeded to suppress the revolt. Tens of thousands of workers and revolutionaries were executed in the "Bloody Week" (May 21–May 28) as the new French government forcibly re-established control of the capital. Memories of the Commune continued to divide both the left and right of French politics. The unique social experiment of the Paris Commune would later serve as an inspiration for Karl Marx and the development of communism.

Related Topics:
Paris Commune - May 21 - May 28 - Karl Marx - Communism

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Italian unification

Italy was quick to use the power vacuum caused by the French defeats to complete the unification of Italian states. Due to wartime military commitments against Germany, France was no longer able to guarantee the independence of the Papal States from Italy.

Related Topics:
Italy - Unification of Italian states - Papal States

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The French garrison in Rome had already been withdrawn starting in July 1870, and following the surrender of the Napoleon III and the Army of Châlons at the battle of Sedan, the Papal States found itself deprived of its principal benefactor. Italy declared war on the Papal States on September 10 1870, and on September 20 Italian forces occupied Rome which later became the Italian capital. Apart from irredenta in Austria-Hungary, the unification of Italy was complete.

Related Topics:
Rome - September 10 - 1870 - September 20 - Irredenta

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Advances in military science and technology

In most industrialised countries universal conscription replaced professional standing armies for the next one hundred years, which (along with soaring birth rates) resulted in huge national armies. Those countries without a general staff soon established one with special emphasis on central planning. The study of logistics expanded to include new communication technologies such as rail transport and telegraphy. Moltkean operational strategy and tactics became the standard curriculum at most military academies throughout the world. The perceived overwhelming success of artillery and firepower in general over entrenched defenders came to dominate battlefield tactics. However, the lessons of the battles of Mars-La-Tour and Gravelotte were forgotten, in which thousands of Germans perished in frontal assaults against entrenched French positions, and would have to be painfully re-learned in subsequent conflicts such as the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78 and the Boer War. Likewise, the collapse of French morale and the poor planning by the French commanders gave the false impression of the superiority of élan and offensive-spirit over defensive firepower, and the cult of the offensive was firmly established in military thinking.

Related Topics:
Conscription - Logistics - Rail transport - Telegraphy - Artillery - Firepower - Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78 - Boer War

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New balance of power in Europe

France's defeat, the unification of Germany and the resulting final unification of Italy swept away the old balance of power that existed in European politics and completely redrew the political map. France became a republic (February 1875), and republicanism again became mainstream politics in France, while in Germany militarism moved to the forefront. The war embittered Franco-German relations for decades to come, contributing to French agitation for revanche — revenge for the loss of Alsace-Lorraine — which gave its name to the phenomenon of revanchism, the desire to punish a past enemy and regain former territories. Post-war, Bismarck worked hard to keep France diplomatically isolated but these efforts ceased with his dismissal by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1890, allowing France to forge new relationships with the other European Great Powers. The unease with which the other Great Powers viewed the new militaristic Germany was the start of a chain of events which led directly to World War I and World War II.

Related Topics:
Republic - 1875 - Militarism - Revanchism - Wilhelm II - 1890 - World War I - World War II

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