Effect of the Franco-Prussian War

This war re-united Alsace and Lorraine to Germany, and secured the sum of two hundred million pounds as war indemnity; and the German people, hitherto much divided in sympathy, were drawn closely together, so that, at the end of the war, the twenty-five sovereign states of Germany united under a restored empire, King William of Prussia being chosen Emperor of Germany.

The effect upon France was just the reverse. After the defeat of the French army, the Emperor Napoleon III. was deposed by a Parisian mob, and France became a Republic. The German forces gained possession of a large part of France, and imposed a heavy fine upon the country.

After being held prisoner for six months at Wilhelmshohe, near Cassel, Napoleon retired to Chiselhurst, in Kent, England, where he died, Jan. 9, 1873.

The Franco-Prussian war was declared by France in July, 1870, on the ground that the King of Prussia refused to prohibit his relative, Prince Leopold, from becoming a candidate for the vacant throne of Spain.