Franco-German War of 1870/71, war between France and the North German Confederation under the leadership of Prussia. Last of the so-called wars of unification.
The cause of the war was v. a. In the will of O. von Bismarck , after the victories of Prussia in 1866/67, to secure its hegemony in continental Europe permanently, domestic political difficulties in France came in handy.
The external reason was the question of the “Hohenzollern candidacy for the throne” in Spain (Emser Depesche). On July 19, 1870, France declared war. While a Franco-Austrian alliance did not come about in time, the southern German states sided with Prussia. From the Palatinate, three German armies under Crown Prince Friedrich, Prince Friedrich Karl and K. F. von Steinmetz (with H. Graf von Moltke as Chief of Staff), mobilized in the shortest possible time, advanced and took the initiative.
They won at Weißenburg (4.8.), Wörth and Spichern (6.8.). The French Rhine Army under F. A. Bazaine was thrown into the fortress of Metz and enclosed in the battles at Colombey-Nouilly, Vionville-Mars-la-Tour and Gravelotte-Saint-Privat (August 14th to 18th). In an attempt to relieve Bazaine, the French Marshal M. Mac-Mahon was pushed to Sedan and surrounded there; his entire army surrendered on September 2, Napoleon III. got into captivity with her.
After the French Republic was proclaimed (September 4), the German armies advanced on Paris and closed it on September 15. on. Metz capitulated on October 27th. The armies set up by L. Gambetta in the south and north for the liberation of Paris were defeated at Orléans, Le Mans, Amiens and Saint-Quentin in December 1870 and January 1871.
Fearing that the neutrals would interfere, O. von Bismarck tried to hasten the fall of Paris and pushed through the bombardment of the fortress against the military leadership. An armistice was signed on January 28, 1871. Only in eastern France was there still fighting; on 1.2. the French Eastern Army was forced by the newly formed German Southern Army under E. Freiherr von Manteuffel to cede to Switzerland at Pontarlier, where they were interned.
Already on January 18th King Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor in Versailles (foundation of the German Empire). On February 26 the preliminary peace of Versailles was concluded; on May 10th followed the Peace of Frankfurt. The obligation contained therein to evacuate the occupied French territories was fulfilled by Germany on September 16, 1873.
Air France
Air France [.epsilon. ː r Frà ː s], short for Compagnie Nationale Air France [k ɔ pa ɲ i nasj ɔ nal -], abbreviation AF [ ɑ eF], leading French airline, founded in 1933, Headquarters: Paris. 1990 Participation in Air Inter (merged with it since 1997) and takeover of the private airline UTA (Union des Transports Aériens). In 2000 she founded the airline alliance Skyteam with Delta Airlines Inc., Aeromexico and Korean Air. In 2003, AF carried 42.9 million passengers to 192 international destinations with a fleet of 360 aircraft. In 2004 there was a merger with the Dutch airline KLM to form Allianz Air France-KLM with the Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol hubs. Under the umbrella of the holding company, Air France and KLM continued to exist as independent companies, which together flew to 328 destinations in 118 countries in 2017 (passenger volume: 98.7 million). Turnover (2017): € 25.78 billion, employees (2016): 84,600.
French Revolution
French Revolution, epoch of French history that lasted from 1789 to 1799 and during which the old rule (ancien régime) was forcibly removed.
The French Revolution was caused by abuses such as the arbitrary rule of kings, steadily increasing national debt with a simultaneous increase in the tax burden and famine. It was rooted in the mind Enlightenment.
After the Estates General (clergy, nobility, third estate) had been convened in May 1789 because of the government’s financial difficulties, the third estate declared itself to be the constituent national assembly. With the storming of the Bastille (the old state prison in Paris) on July 14th, the open uprising began (July 14th became a national holiday).
The National Assembly decided on profound changes: it proclaimed human rights, created the centralized administrative system with the départements and abolished the privileges of the nobility and clergy. Leading people were GJ Danton and Jean Paul Marat (1743–93). The National Convention, the new parliament (since 1792), decided to abolish kingship; Louis XVI was executed in 1793.
The Welfare Committee (the executive organ of the National Convention) headed by M. de Robespierre and the National Convention exercised a reign of terror.
After the fall of Robespierre and his execution (1794), a board of five convent members took over the government in 1795. The internal failures (bankruptcy of the state in 1797) and the foreign policy defeats in the Revolutionary Wars led to Napoleon Bonaparte’s coup in 1799 and the dissolution of the Directory.
The general slogan of the French Revolution (“Freedom, Equality, Fraternity”) remained a demand made again and again by the champions for the Human rights.
