jul 13, 1870 - Ems dispatch published

Description:

— Incited the Second French Empire to start the Franco-Prussian War and to declare war on the Kingdom of Prussia on 19 July 1870.

The actual dispatch was an internal message from Prussian King Wilhelm I's vacationing site to Otto von Bismarck in Berlin, reporting demands made by the French ambassador.

Bismarck, the chancellor (head of government) of the North German Confederation, released a statement to the press that stirred up emotions in France and Germany.

The name referred to Bad Ems, a resort spa east of Koblenz on the Lahn river, then in Hesse-Nassau, a new possession of Prussia.

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