Known as the Ems Dispatch, it was released to the press. Bazaine capitulated at Metz with his 140,000 troops intact on October 27, and Paris surrendered on January 28, 1871. And when the german diet answered the Prussian invasion of Holstein on June 14th, 1866 by partially mobilizing the army of the German Confederation (obviously without the Prussian contingents) Bismarck declared that the German Confederation had ended. (Additionally, the Prussian system of conscript armies controlled by a highly trained general staff was soon adopted by the other great powers.) Bismarck Goads France into War: July 19, 1870 - Catholic Textbook 256 Parisians were killed and 629 were wounded by German shells. Bismarck managed to present his secret plan for the expansion of Prussia as an internal German cause, as a struggle for the independence of the duchies in the framework of maintaining their former state status. The remaining German kingdoms and principalities maintained a steadfastly parochial attitude towards Prussia and German unification. Chapter 24 Guided Reading Sect 3 - World History.pdf Reasons: The bloodshed was unpopular at home in France. Additionally, Bismarck also started looking for alliances and insured himself that France would not help Austria in the case of war. The Austro-Prussian War was another large step in achieving German unification. A Government of National Defense declared the Third Republic in Paris on September 4 and continued the war for another five months; the German forces fought and defeated new French armies in northern France. These discussions, leaked by Bismarck to the German states in the south, turned former enemies into allies almost overnight, receiving not only written guarantees but armies that would be under the control of Prussia. As a result of the Prussian triumph, Austria was cut off from Germany. 2022 - 2023 Times Mojo - All Rights Reserved The integration of the former danish dutchies into the German Confederation increased Bismarcks reputation among the German public while Austria was seen as the diplomatic loser. Bismarck edited Williams telegraphed description of this interview, and on July 14 he published this provocative message (the Ems telegram), which accomplished his purposes of infuriating the French government and provoking it into a declaration of war. He refused to actually engage France on the basis that he firmly believed that Prussia would gain a far more decisive advantage by merely opposing the sale and that Napoleon III could be thwarted due to his fear of war with Prussia. Bismarck was mainly appointed to drive back the liberal influence within the Landtag of Prussia (the parliament). Updates? Napoleon III then committed a serious blunder by agreeing with Austria in a secret treaty to remain neutral in an Austrian-Prussian conflict in exchange for France acquiring Venetia plus the establishment of a neutral (i.e., French-leaning) state west of the Rhine; this violated the agreement Napoleon had made with Bismarck.