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The Hohenzollern candidature and the outbreak of war - Coggle Diagram
The Hohenzollern candidature and the outbreak of war
The Spanish Succession Crisis
In 1868, the Spanish queen Isabella was overthrown in a revolution
They wanted to end the rule of the Bourbon royal family
One candidate was
Prince Leopold von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
He was from a south German state and a Catholic
Bismarck pressed Leopold to accept the offer despite Leopold's and William I's hesitations
If a Prussian prince had become King of Spain, France would be bound to feel surrounded by Prussia
His motives were unclear - did he want to instigate France? Gain the support of south German states? Benefit Prussia?
Early June 1870
A major incident occured
A document solidifying Leopold's acceptance of the throne arrived in Madrid when the parliament was not in session
Sabotaged the entire plan - Napoleon was only supposed to hear of this after it had been publicly announced
The French government assumed that this was a Prussian plot to isolate France
This put William I under pressure to convince Leopold to decline the offer
The Ems Telegram
In a meeting with William I, Benedetti had requested that henceforth a Hohenzollern candidate never be considered for the Spanish throne
The King politely refused
William I sent Bismarck a telegram outlining the events of the meeting - Bismarck wanted to use this chance to make France appear ridiculous
Bismarck edited the telegram to make the French appear aggressive and that William I had abruptly ended the meeting
This sparked a tide of German nationalism and sparked public outrage in France
Ensured that south German states would honor their obligations to Prussian military leadership and spurred a war between France and Prussia
The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War
1870-1871
After the telegram was released, there was public outrage both in France and Prussia
Resolving the situation became a matter of national honor
War was almost certain after the manipulation of the Ems Telegram
War was likely to integrate the South German States into the North German Confederation
the French played the perfect role by acting agressively