Franco-Prussian War 1870/71 - Uniforms and Equipment of the German and French Armies

2-223240

Two volumes in a slipcase, card slipcase, more than 2,500 colour and black-and-white photographs

Volume 1 The last of the so-called 'German wars of unification' began in July 1870. With Prussia marched not only the troops of the north German states, but from the very beginning the armies of all other German states, including the south German kingdoms. By September 1870 this 'multinational' power, initially consisting of three armies, was able to force the Imperial French Army to retreat from the borders in a series of costly battles and finally defeat it at Sedan and encircle it in Metz. After Napoleon III abdicated, the French Republic proclaimed on 4th September continued the struggle. A war of princes became a people's war, which in many ways anticipated the wars of the 20th century, including partisan warfare and the shooting of civilians.

Volume 2 Although it is less obvious than in Germany, since the two World Wars the conflict of 1870 has largely been forgotten in France. However, few events have been more decisive in the history of this country. The reign of Napoleon III had raised France to the status of a great power in the Europe of 1860. 'Master on land' at the end of the Crimean and Italian wars, by means of external operations carried out on a global scale, France followed closely behind Great Britain to become a 'master of the seas'. Nonetheless, this prosperous country, once again dominant, declared war on Prussia and paid for it by losing its continental pre-eminence forever. Additionally, the defeat allowed a bourgeois, rural and moderate republic to gain a lasting hold during this major political and social upheaval.