1870 in France

"See also:"
1869 in France,
other events of 1870,
1871 in France.

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Events from the year 1870 in France.

Events

*20 April - Constitutional referendum reaffirmed the status of the Second French Empire.
*19 July - France declares war on Prussia following the Ems Dispatch.
*4 August - Battle of Wissembourg, Prussian forces overwhelm the French garrison at Wissembourg.
*6 August - Battle of Spicheren, near Saarbrücken, Prussian victory.
*6 August - Battle of Wœrth, decisive Prussian victory.
*14 August - Battle of Borny-Colombey. Prussian victory, French retreat upon Metz.
*15 August - Siege of Strasbourg begins.
*16 August - Battle of Mars-la-Tour, Prussian victory.
*18 August - Battle of Gravelotte, Prussian victory.
*30 August - Battle of Beaumont, Prussian victory.
*31 August - Battle of Noiseville, Prussian victory.
*1 September - Battle of Sedan, decisive Prussian victory.
*2 September - Napoleon III surrenders himself and the entire Army of Châlons to the Prussians. End of the Second Republic.
*3 September - Siege of Metz begins with French forces besieged.
*4 September - Third Republic declared in Paris. Government of National Defense established.
*4 September - Empress Eugenie flees to England with her children.
*19 September - Siege of Paris begins.
*27 September-30 September, Battle of Le Bourget, part of siege of Paris, Prussian victory.
*28 September - Siege of Strasbourg ends with French surrender.
*30 September - Battle of Chevilly, fought during the siege of Paris, Prussian victory.
*8 October - Leon Michel Gambetta escapes the besieged Paris in a hot-air balloon.
*18 October - Battle of Bellevue, near Metz, Prussian victory.
*23 October - Siege of Metz ends with French surrender.
*3 November - Siege of Belfort begins with French troops besieged.
*9 November - Battle of Coulmiers, French victory over Bavarian forces.
*11 November - French retake Orléans.
*27 November - Battle of Amiens, Prussian victory.
*28 November - Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande, Prussian victory.
*29 November - Battle of Villiers, largest of the French sorties from besieged Paris, begins.
*2 December - Battle of Loigny-Poupry, Prussian victory.
*3 December - Battle of Villiers ends with Prussian victory.
*3 December-4 December - Second Battle of Orléans, Prussians recapture Orléans.
*23 December-24 December - Battle of Hallue results in stalemate.

Arts and Literature

*February - Sculptor, Aimé Millet, is appointed professor at the École des Arts décoratifs.

Births

*25 January - Henry Bordeaux, writer and lawyer (d.1963).
*28 April - Frédéric Justin Collet, pathologist and otolaryngologist (d.1966).
*24 September - Georges Claude, engineer, chemist and inventor (d.1960).
*30 September - Jean Baptiste Perrin, physicist and Nobel laureate (d.1942).
*8 October - Louis Vierne, organist and composer (d.1937).
*10 December - Mary Bonaparte, eldest daughter of Prince Napoléon Bonaparte of Canino (d.1947).

Deaths

January to June

*1 February - Auguste Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély, Marshal of France (b.1794).
*19 February - Nathaniel de Rothschild, founder of the wine-making branch of the Rothschild family (b.1812).
*20 June - Jules de Goncourt, writer (b.1830).

July to December

*15 August - Ardant du Picq, Colonel and military theorist (b.1819).
*2 September - Charles Joseph, comte de Flahaut, general and statesman (b.1785).
*23 September - Prosper Mérimée, dramatist, historian and archaeologist (b.1803).
*25 October - Etienne-Michel Faillon, Roman Catholic historian (b.1800).
*28 October - Jean-Pierre Falret, psychiatrist (b.1794).
*29 October - Jules Baroche, statesman and Minister (b.1802).
*24 November - Comte de Lautréamont, poet (b.1846).
*28 November - Frédéric Bazille, painter (b.1841).
*5 December - Alexandre Dumas, père, writer (b.1802).
*26 December - Marie Dominique Bouix, Jesuit canon lawyer (b.1808).

Full date unknown

*Jacques-François Ochard, painter (b.1800).

References