Holy Roman Empire
-- Emperor known as: Emperor of all the Germanies
-- higher nobility referred to as:
-- 'Princes of Germany'
-- 'Princes of the Germanies'
EAST FRANCIA
-- lands, formerly known as EAST FRANCIA
-- governed as kingdoms since before rise of CHARLEMANGE (800 AD)
-- Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation
-- 500 independent states
-- cultural, educational, linguistic & religious minor variances gradually develop
-- Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation
-- effectively dissolved on abdication of: Emperor Francis II (1806)
-- during WAR OF THE THIRD COALITION
-- result: legal, administrative & political disruption
-- bond: historic, linguistic, cultural, legal
-- plus shared experience of French Revolution Wars & Napoleonic Wars
-- 'European liberalism' intellectual basis: unification challenging dynastic/absolutist models
1871 - Unification of Germany
-- politically & administratively integrated nation state
-- on: 18 January 1871
-- at Versailles Palace, France
-- in Hall of Mirrors
-- princes of German states
-- proclaim Wilhem I of Prussia German Emperor
-- following French capitulation in Franco-Prussian War
North German Confederation (NGC)
(led by Kingdom of Prussia)
-- chancellor Otto von Bismarck
-- drawing southern German states into alliance with NGC a bonus
-- Bismark may have exploited circumstances as they unfolded
-- or he provoked, to encourage German unification
-- General Staff - head: Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke
vs.
Second French Republic
-- Napoleon III
-- French press and parliament demanded a war
-- generals of Napoleon III assured France would win
-- PM Émile Ollivier
-- political disunity in France (war solution)
-- July 1870, French parliament voted to declare war on Kingdom of Prussia
Franco-Prussian War (1870)
-- July 1870 - May 1871
-- July 1870, French parliament voted to declare war on Kingdom of Prussia
German Military Advantage
-- German coalition faster at mobilising its troops
-- German numbers superior
-- Germans had better training & leadership
-- Germans made more effective use of modern tech (esp. rail-roads & artillery)
-- series of French defeats
-- culminated in:
-- Siege of Metz
-- Battle of Sedan
-- Germans decisively defeat Second Empire French
-- Napoleon III captured at Sedan
-- French Govt of National Defence declared: Third Republic
-- war continued anor 5 mths
-- German victory over new French armies in northern France
-- Paris falls 1871
-- revolutionary uprising ('Paris Commune') seizes power (2 mths)
-- suppressed by regular French army in concert with Germans May 1871
-- German states proclaim union as: GERMAN EMPIRE
-- Treaty of Frankfurt - 10 May 1871
-- gives Germany most of ALSACE & some parts LORRIANE
-- becomes imperial German territory of: Alsace-Lorriane
-- Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen
European balance of power
(in existence since Congress of Vienna 1815) upset re:
1. German conquest of France
2. unification of Germany
-- Otto von Bismarck large influence on international affairs for next 2 decades
Among World War I factors relating back to Franco-Prussian War:
-- French determined to regain Alsace-Lorraine
-- French fear of another Franco-German war
-- British apprehension re balance of power
Other:
-- Germans viewed French as the traditional destabiliser of Europe
-- weakening of France required to prevent further breaches of peace
-- Bismark had reportedly altered telegram sent by William I (Ems Dispatch)
-- & released it to public
-- at issue at time was throne of Spain
- -- Prussian prince put forward
- -- France anticipates encirclement by alliance b/w Prussia & Spain
-- French diplomatic pressure on Prussia
-- Prussia withdraws candidacy of Prussian Prince
-- allegedly altered telegraph
-- sounded as if Prussian king had insulted French envoy
-- French public opinion inflamed
-- French politicians vote for war
-- French looking for excuse for war: diplomatic defeat in 1866
-- cocky French thought they'd beat the Prussians
-- plus French had growing domestic problems
-- French historians dispute this ... but they would
-- Ems Telegram
-- "This text produced the effect of a red flag on the Gallic bull" -- Bismarck
-- French foreign minister declares he felt he received a 'slap'
-- PM Emile Ollivier the war hawk
-- early incarnation of CIA must have been there was well:
-- 15,000 to 20,000 bearing flags & banners
-- march Paris streets, demanding war
-- French declare war
-- southern German states immediately side with Prussia
French Military Disadvantage
French low on peacetime regulars & conscripts
-- there had been the following French military actions:
-- Crimean War
-- Algeria
-- Franco-Austrian War (in Italy)
-- Franco-Mexican War
*intended reforms re universal conscription (rather than ballot)
+ shorter service periods
= intended to swell French numbers
-- but Franco-Prussian War broke out befor reforms implemented entirely
-- Prussian Army was composed not of regulars but conscripts
-- Prussia + North & South German allies = 1 million soldiers in time of war
*wow, this is exciting ...
Feels almost like I'm there, 'Mademoiselle la France'
... I double dare you ;)
Germans Military
-- move in small groups / harder to target (verses line/column advancement)
-- emphasis on encirclement tactics
-- emphasis on artillery whenever possible
-- German numbers advantage made encirclement tactic easier
-- ageing Dryese needle gun (25-year old design), Germans
-- BUT, Germans had: Krupp 6-pounder (3 kg) steel breech-loading cannons
-- equals longer range & higher rate of fire than French cannons / faulty time fuses
-- Prussian army unique in Europe for being only to have 'General Staff'
-- peacetime purpose was to prepare overall war strategy
-- wartime purpose: direct operational movement, logistics & communications
-- officers hand-picked from Prussian War Academy (Kriegsakademie)
-- Field Marshall Helmuth von Moltke, head of General Staff
-- adopted new tech, esp. railroad & telegraph
-- result: large forces mobilised in coordinated & speedy fashion
*Wow, I'm impressed ... now I know why the Prussians were considered militarists
-- Prussians sound exactly what you want in a military force
-- as exciting as this is, i need a bit of a break for the time being
more
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Prussian_War
NOTE: Italians cannot be trusted in war
1. Changed sides WWI
2. Garibaldi pro Germans in Franco-Prussian War
goes from "war to the death to Bonaparte"
to "rescue the French Republic by very means"
Garibaldi commands Italian volunteer army France
*these volunteer Italian forces had fought during:
- -- successful unification of Italy
- -- in South America
-- after French surrender in Paris to Germans, army disbanded
-- Garibaldi elected to serve in National Assembly of Dijon
-- but he was shouted down & resigned his seat / returned to Italy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_the_Vosges
WWII occupation of Paris must have been of cultural, national, historical significance to the German command, military, historians etc. - goes all the way back to Napoleon & unification etc.
Timeline Leading up to German Unification
1804:
-- Napoleon Bonaparte self-crowns: emperor of France
-- Napoleon Bonaparte begins conquests of Germanic states
-- Francis 1 of Austria, declares new Austrian Empire in response
1806:
-- Napoleon groups Germanic states into CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE, French client-state
-- dissolution of Austrian-led HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
1815:
-- defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte
-- Congress of Vienna: reinstates Germanic states into GERMAN CONFEDERATION
-- under leadership of: Austrian Empire
1819
-- Carlsbad Decrees:
-- suppress pan-Germanic activities to avoid creation of German state
-- Kingdom of Prussia institutes: customs union with Confederation states
1834:
-- Prussian-led customs union:
evolves to Zollverein (incl. all Confed. except Austrian Empire)
-- Zollverein = German Customs Union - tariffs & economic policies management
-- Zollverein (customs union) reduces competition between Germanic states
-- Austria highly protected industry + Prince von Metternich opposed to inclusion
-- Luxembourg, although not state of German Reich, remains in Zollverein to 1919
-- Zollverein was solution to 1,800 customs barriers
in German-speaking HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
-- cemented economic ties re Prussian & Hohenzollern territories
-- Hohenzollern family = ruling family of Prussia
-- Zollverein: UPHELD protectionist tariff system with foreign trade partners
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zollverein
1848:
-- revolts over German Confederation
-- force King Frederick William IV of Prussia
to grant constitution to Confederation
-- Frankfurt parliament (est. 1848) attempts to proclaim united Germany
-- refused by William IV
-- question of uniting Germany under:
1. Kleindeutch - small German
= exclusion of Austria from German unificaiton
2. Großdeutsch (Grossdeutsch) - Greater German
= inclusion of Austria
1861-
1862:
-- King Wilhelm I becomes King of Prussia
-- appoints OTTO VON BISMARCK, PM & Foreign Minister (1862)
-- Bismark favours: 'blood & iron' to create unified Germany
1864:
-- Danish-Prussian War, opposed to Danish Schleswig into K.Denmark
-- Austrian Empire deliberately drawn into war
-- Austro-Prussian victory
-- Schleswig (northern part)
-- governed by Prussia
-- Holstein (southern part)
-- governed by Austria
-- per TREATY OF VIENNA (1864)
1866: Bismark accuses Austrian Empire causing troubles re Schleswig (Prussian)
-- Prussian troops take control of Austrian held Holstein
-- Austria declares war on Prussia:
-- Austro-Prussian War (Seven Weeks' War)
-- Austrian defeat
-- TREATY OF PRAGUE (1866)
-- formerly dissolves German Confederation
-- Prussia creates NORTH GERMAN CONFEDERATION
-- incls. all Germanic states except PRO-FRENCH southern kingdoms:
- -- BAVARIA
- -- BADEN
- -- WURTHEMBERG
1870:
-- Napoleon III demands Rhineland territories
for neutrality re Austro-Prussian War
-- Spanish Succession Question (1868)
-- Elms Telegram (1870)
-- also at issue
-- France DECLARES WAR on Prussia
1871: Franco-Prussian War
-- Prussians capture Paris capital (of Second French Empire)
-- TREATY OF FRANKFURTH (1871)
-- incorporates German (likely Catholic) pro-French states:
- -- BAVARIA
- -- BADEN
- -- WURTHEMBERG
-- into NORTH GERMAN CONFEDERATION
-- new united Germany -- GERMAN REICH proclaimed
-- King Wilhelm I proclaimed leader by Bismarck
-- with German troops in Paris, Napoleon III dissolves Second French Empire
-- French create new republic: Third French Republic
-- under Adolphe Thiers (Greek & Franco-Levantine heritage + Corsican)
-- Adolphe Thiers
-- various posts
-- premier + minister of foreign affairs (1836 - 1840)
-- support of pasha Muhammad Ali almost leads to war
French - British conflicting Middle East policy
-- forced to resign due to King's intent to avert war
-- various entries [skip]
-- August 1871 he became president of the republic
-- lobbying for France under conservative republic
-- first task to restore public order
-- in concert with Germans, ruthlessly used troops to defeat
-- rebellion - 'Commune' (March-May 1871)
-- destroying French socialist & workers' movements, setting back many years
-- resigned due to lack of support from monarchists
-- skilled in finance / paid off indemnity due to Germans ahead of time
-- his military law of 1872 failed to establish adequate professional army
-- 5 years conscription: depleted labour force
-- effected return of Napoleon Bonaparte body to France from St. Helena in 1840
British hell camps - struggle for the freedom of the Boerevolk
St. Helena
-- volcanic island south Atlantic ocean, tiny: 16km x 8km
-- discovered by Portuguese 1502
-- British Overseas Territory
-- notable exile prisoners:
-- Napoleon Bonaparte
-- Dinuzulo kaCetshwayo (leading Zulu army against British rule)
-- over 5,000 Boers (Second Boer War)
-- aka Second Anglo-Boer War / South African War (1899 - 1902)
-- British colonial might against:
Transvaal Republic 'Zuid-Afrikaansche Republic' (ZAR) (Dutch)
-- British hold large prisoners of war & families in concentration camps
-- British effect scorched earth policy: Boer lands, stock, farms destroyed
-- farms belonging to Boers (Dutch descendants), plundered & burned
-- animals belonging to Boers killed before helpless women & children
-- intent: deprivation of food & demoralisation
-- women & children left homeless in open field - in bitter winter (nights ?)
-- Boers continued to fight
-- British herded women & children into open cattle trucks & drove them to open concentration camps
-- British lied and claimed 'voluntary camps'
-- erected camps in most unsuitable locations: swamp lands
-- by 1900 (Oct): 58,883 Boers in concentration camps Transvaal
& 45,306 Free State
-- tattered tends, no protection against elements, designed to kill as many women & children as possible
-- halving of rations / children death / purposeful murder
as cold-blooded British state policy
-- intended to ensure surrender of Boers British unable to defeat on battlefield
-- poison, copper, ground glass, fishhooks, razors in rations
-- lack of sanitary conditions: epidemic / disease (eg 13 toilets to 3,500 / or 1 toilet for 170 elsewhere)
-- British responsible for: 27,000 deaths of Boer women & children
-- so British oligarchy could claim mineral riches
http://www.whale.to/b/british6.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Helena
-- 1815 British select St Helena as site of detention for Napoleon Bonaparte
-- exiled 1815 -- Napoleon Bonaparte died 1821
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_of_Germany
|
----------------------
----------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment