CKIIMAN-FKF.Nril WAI!. 



343 



was coyerod with a dnrk war-cloud, and, two 

 ka later, a war was formally declared, 

 which as to be one of the greatest conflicts 

 ni' tin- nineteenth century. 



I In rely has a great war ostensibly arisen out 

 of a more groundless pretext. The Provisional 

 Government of Spain, after several unsuccess- 

 ful attempts to induce a foreign prince to ac- 

 cept the Spanish crown, had resolved (July 4th) 

 to propose to the Cortes Prince Leopold of 

 Honenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Spain. 

 In Paris this news produced great excitement. 

 T\vo of the ministers, the Prime-Minister and 

 the Duke de Gramont, declared (July 6th) in 

 the Oorps Legislatif, that the candidacy of a 

 prince of the house of Hohenzollern, agreed 

 upon without the knowledge of the French 

 Government, would be injurious to the honor 

 and the influence of the French nation. In 

 vain did a dispatch (July 7th) of the Spanish 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sagasta, assure 

 France that the Prince of Hohenzollern was 

 the free choice of the Spanish Government 

 and had been elected without the cooperation 

 of, or previous negotiation with, any other 

 power of Europe. France demanded the for- 

 mal withdrawal of the candidate, on the 

 ground that the occupation of the throne of 

 Spain by a prince of Hohenzollern was incom- 

 patible with her interests. The French am- 

 bassador at the court of Prussia, Count Bene- 

 detti, was instructed to demand (July 9th) 

 of King William, who was at that time stay- 

 ing at Ems, to forbid the Prince of Hohen- 

 zollern to accept the Spanish crown. The de- 

 mand met with a flat refusal ; the King reply- 

 ing, that he had no right to give orders to a 

 prince of Hohenzollern who was of age. At 

 the same time (July 10th), a circular dispatch 

 of the Prussian Government, addressed to the 

 representatives of Prussia near the German 

 Governments, made known that the Govern- 

 ment of Prussia had no part whatever in the 

 selection of Prince Leopold to the Spanish 

 crown. As the French Government was not 

 satisfied with the official declarations given by 

 the Governments of Spain and Prussia, the 

 situation appeared to become very grave. All 

 fear of a war seemed, however, to be dispelled 

 when (July 12th) Prince Leopold of his own ac- 

 cord declined to be a candidate for the crown. 

 Thus, it was thought, all that France claimed 

 had been conceded, but, to the utmost surprise 

 of all Europe, the Duke de Gramont notified 

 the ambassador of Prussia, Baron von Werther, 

 that France was not satisfied, and that King 

 William in an autograph letter to the Emperor 

 Napoleon must guarantee that no Prince of 

 Hohenzollern would be, in future, a candidate 

 for the Spanish throne. As Count Bismarck, 

 to whom these new claims of France were 

 communicated by Baron von Werther, declined 

 to lay them before the King, Count Benedetti 

 obtruded himself into the presence of the King 

 in a public walk, at Ems, to renew them in an 

 imperious manner. The King, with great 



indignation, refused to listen to the demand* 

 of the ambassador, who waa notified by one 

 ni 'tho adjutants of the Kin/ that he would not 

 receive another audience about this ati'uir. 



On the next day, July 14th, Baron von Wer- 

 ther was recalled from Paris, and Count Bene- 

 ilrtti I'rom KIMS. Military preparations on the 

 grandest scale were at once made in both 

 countries, and a frantic war-excitement neized 

 the two hostile nations. King William (July 

 15th) returned to Berlin, where ho was greeted 

 with the wifclest enthusiasm. Numerous ad- 

 dresses from all parts of Germany assured tho 

 King of the warmest approval of his attitude 

 by tho German people. On tho 16th of July 

 the Federal Council of the North-German Con- 

 federation met in Berlin and unanimously rec- 

 ognized the necessity of energetically repel- 

 ling " the arrogance of France." Orders were 

 at the s<be time given to mobilize not only the 

 army of the North-German Confederation, but 

 also those of the South-German States, which, 

 according to the treaties of 1866, are in case 

 of war placed under the supreme command of 

 tho King of Prussia. The Governments of 

 South Germany, contrary to the expectation 

 of France, promptly declared their readiness 

 to fulfil the stipulation of the military treaties 

 and to join the North-German Confedera- 

 tion in the war against her. In the French 

 Corps Le"gislatif, meanwhile, the Duke' de Gra- 

 mont had declared (July 15th) the conduct of 

 Prussia to be unsatisfactory, and an affront to 

 the honor and dignity of France. lie consid- 

 ered that a caus belli had arisen. Emile Ol- 

 livier, in the name of the Government, de- 

 manded the arming of the Garde Mobile, 500,- 

 000,000 francs for the land army, and 16,000,- 

 000 for the navy, all of which demands were 

 granted by the Corps L6gislatif, only a few 

 votes being given against them. The Senate 

 (July 16th) unanimously granted the desired 

 credit, and in a body waited upon the Emperor 

 at St. Cloud, when its president thanked his 

 Majesty for the steps which had been taken 

 to vindicate the honor of France. An offer of 

 mediation made by the English ambassador at 

 Berlin, Lord Loftus, was declined by Count 

 Bismarck, so long as France should not declare 

 her readiness to accept the mediation of Eng- 

 land. 



On the 19th of July, tho French charge 1 d'af- 

 faires, Le Sourd, formally presented to Count 

 Bismarck the French declaration of war. It. 

 rests upon the following basis: 1. The insult 

 offered at Eras to Count Benedetti, the French 

 minister, and its approval by the Prussian 

 Government. 2. The refusal of tho King of 

 Prussia to compel the withdrawal of Prince 

 Leopold's name as a candidate for the Spanish 

 throne; and 3. The fact that the King per- 

 sisted in giving the prince liberty to accept the 

 throne. 



Immediately after the presentation of the 

 declaration of war, the chancery of the French 

 embassy at Berlin and the chancery of the 



