Les grands dossiers de l'Histoire par Franck Ferrand

La « dépêche d'Ems » : Entre manipulation et prétexte, l'élément-clé qui a précipité la France dans la guerre avec la Prusse en 1870

·22 min·2 clips

A French minister rushes to Napoleon III after reading a telegram that threatens to reignite centuries of European conflict.

The episode opens with French Foreign Minister Gramont urgently delivering a telegram to Emperor Napoleon III at Saint-Cloud. The telegram reveals that Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, a member of the Prussian royal family, is a candidate for the vacant Spanish throne. Franck Ferrand explains the historical context: France feared this would recreate the encirclement it faced under the Habsburgs centuries earlier. The Spanish throne became vacant in 1868 after Queen Isabella II was overthrown. European powers, including France and Britain, proposed candidates, but the Spanish junta turned to German states. By 1870, Prussia had grown powerful after defeating Austria in 1866. Bismarck, Prussia's minister-president, saw the Spanish candidacy as a tool. Historian Éric Anceau is cited: Bismarck believed war with France was necessary to unify the German states, which were largely francophile. Napoleon III initially opposed the candidacy, using diplomacy. On July 12, 1870, Leopold withdrew his candidacy, seen as a French diplomatic victory. France then sought guarantees from Prussia that no Hohenzollern would ever seek the Spanish throne again. Ambassador Vincent Benedetti approached King Wilhelm I of Prussia at the spa town of Ems. The king politely declined to give a written guarantee. Bismarck received a report of this meeting during dinner. He saw an opportunity and drafted a shortened, provocative version of the events—the 'Ems Dispatch.' This dispatch falsely implied the king had rudely refused to see the ambassador. Bismarck described it as a 'red rag' to the 'Gallic bull.' The dispatch was published in German and French newspapers on July 14, 1870. In Paris, it caused outrage, with protests and anti-Prussian sentiment. Despite Ambassador Benedetti's corrections, the French government, pressured by public opinion and a bellicose legislature, moved toward war. Napoleon III, ill and hesitant, was swayed. On July 15, Prime Minister Émile Olivier secured war credits. On July 19, 1870, France declared war on Prussia. Bismarck's plan succeeded: German states united behind Prussia. The war led to rapid French defeats, including at Sedan, where Napoleon III was captured. The French Republic was proclaimed, and Prussia annexed Alsace and Moselle. On January 18, 1871, King Wilhelm I was proclaimed German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, with Bismarck present.

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