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1 September 1870Reputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Napoleon III Surrenders at Sedan

France's emperor is captured and his army wiped out, breaking the Second Empire

On the timeline · around 1 September 1870 · Prussia and UnificationPrussia and UnificationEmpire, Weimar, and the Nazi DictatorshipNapoleon III Surrenders at Sedan18201830184018501860187018801890

Quick facts

Battle
Sedan
Date
1 September 1870
French emperor captured
Napoleon III
Paris fell
28 January 1871

What happened

German forces from Prussia and the allied southern German states invaded northeastern France in early August 1870, mobilizing far more effectively than the French army. On 1 September 1870 the decisive Battle of Sedan trapped a French army under Emperor Napoleon III, and after a day of failed attempts to break out, Napoleon surrendered the following day; his army, roughly 100,000 men, was taken prisoner nearly in its entirety. German forces then besieged Paris for over four months before the city fell on 28 January 1871, effectively ending the war.

Why it matters

Sedan destroyed the Second French Empire, which was replaced by a new French republic that had to fight on without its emperor, and it left Prussia and its German allies in complete military command of the war just as the political groundwork for a unified German Empire was being finalized behind the front lines. The war's final peace settlement forced France to cede Alsace and part of Lorraine to the new Germany and pay a large war indemnity.

How we know

The battle and siege are documented in French and German military records and contemporary press accounts from both sides of the conflict.

Sources

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