FRANCKE

(fran’ké), August Hermenn, German theologian and philanthropist, born at Litibeck 1663, died at Halle 1727. He was profe or of Oriental literature and then of theology at Halle, but is chiefly, known for his succe ful labours on behalf of poor orphans. In 1695 he founded the famous orphanage at Halle, still known by his name, which now includes, besides the orphan asylum, a great variety of schools, a printing ST. See and publishing establishment, chemical laboratory, . His Manuductio (1693) was trans i a ted into English under the title of A Guide to the Feading and Study of the Holy Scriptures (1813). FRANCO-GERMAN WAR OF 1870-1, The immediate occasion of this was an offer made in June, 1870, by General Prim, then at the head of affairs in Spain, of the crown of that country to Leopold of Hohenzollern, a prince belonging to the reigning house of Pru ia. The Government of Napoleon Lil demanded of the King of Pru ia that he should forpid the a= SS —S SS ~S ~ SS Francis cans—with and without vu.k candidature of the prince. Though the prince voluntarily withdrew it, the French Amba ador, Benedetti, demanded from King William at Kms a guarantee against any renewal of the candidature. <A telegram from the king giving an account of this inter< view was published by Bismarck with certain omi ions, and the state of public feeling in France was such that war was declared on Pru ia on the 19th of July. The French were the first in getting their troops to the frontier; but it soon became manifest that instead of being in a complete state of readine for war, as the Minister of War had declared, the French army was defective in almost everything e ential to the equipment of an army. In Germany everything formed a complete contrast to this state of 563 FRANCO-GERMAN WAR matters. Each section of the army was completely organized in the headquarters of the district which it occuPied in time of peace, and was sent to the frontiers only after being furnished with everything it required. In addition to this, Pru ia, against which country alone the war had been declared was not only joined, according to treaty, by all the states of the North German Confederation, but also by those of the South, upon whose neutrality, perhaps even upon whose alliance, Napoleon and the French had counted. The German forces were divided about the end of July into three armies, one of which, known as the First Army, had its head-quarters at Tréves under General Steinmetz; another of which, known as _ the Second Army, occupied the Bavarian Palatinate under Prince Frederick Charles; while the Third Army, under the Crown Prince of Pru ia, was stationed in Northern Baden. The commander-in-chief of the whole forces was King William of Pru ia, who was supported by a staff of general officers, with von Moltke at their head. The French army, under Napoleon himself, had its headuarters at Metz, and two advanced i visions were stationed on the borders of France and Germany, the one in the north on the Saar, under General Fro ard, the other farther south at We is sen burg, under General Douay. The victories of the Third Army, under the Crown Prince, at We is sen burg (4th Aug.) and at Worth (6th Aug.), and of the First and Second Armies at For bach (6th Aug.), put the French army in retreat along its whole line, the southern half in the direction of Nancy, and the northern of Metz. The northern army, under Bazaine, was overtaken by those of Steinmetz and Frederick Charles on the 14th of Aug., when an engagement at Courcelles took place, in which the Germans were again victorious., This was followed by the battles of Vionville, or Mars-la-Tour, and Grave lotte, the result being that Bazaine withdrew his army under the rotection of the fortifications of etz, which was now surrounded by an army under the command of Prince Frederick Charles. Meantime the Crown Prince of Pru ia had advanced as far as Nancy, and was there awaiting the result of the battles around Metz. He had still the army of MacMahon to deal with, which had now reached Chalons, where it had been reorganized and strengthened to such a degree that the army of the Crown Prince was no longer able to cope with it unaided. Accordingly, out of three_ corps darmée belonging to the Second Army, a new army was formed, which was afterwards called the Army of the Meuse, and was placed under the Crown Prince of Saxony. About the 20th of Aug. these two armies set out on parallel routes in the direction of Chalons in order to engage the army of MacMahon, which it wag expected would now retreat on Paris. Instead of this, however, Count Palikao, Minister of War at Paris,’ i ued an order to Marshal MacMahon to strike northwards to the Belgian frontier that he might thence make a descent upon Metz and _ «relieve Bazaine. On the 27th of Aug., ab Buzancy, an advanced detachment o cavalry belonging to the Army of the Meuse dispersed a body of French Cha eurs, and on the days imme diately succe@éding a number of engagements and strategic movements ensued, the result of which was that on the ist of Sept. the army of MacMahon was surrounded at Sedan by a force of overwhelmingly greater numbers, and on the following day both army and fortre surrendered by capitulation. On this occasion 50 generals, 5,000 other officers, and 84,000 private soldiers became prisoners of war. Among these was Napoleon III, who was unexpectedly found to have been present with the army of MacMahon. He had a personal interview on the day after the battle with King William of Pru ia, who a igned to him Wilhelmshohe, near Ca el, as his place of residence during his captivity. One of the first consequences of this defeat was an outburst of rage on the part of the Parisians against the Napoleon dynasty. On the 4th of Sept. the Third Republic was proclaimed by Gambetta, Jules Favre, Crémieux, Ferry, and Jules Simon, members of the Corps Législatif, and the emperor was declared dethroned. A Government of National Defence was formed, at the head of which was placed General Trochu, military governor of Paris. Meantime France had no available army which was strong enough to stand its ground for an instant before the German armies that were now enabled to continue their march upon Paris. The investment of the city was completed on the 19th of Sept. 1t was not till about the beginning of October that the French were able to organize a new army after the lo of that of MacMahon, and by the beginning of November the war in the open field had been resumed in different centres; but the capitulation of Metz with the army of Bazaine (28th Oct.), and that of Str as bourg (27th Sept.), 564 FRANCOLIN had set free for further operations large numbers of German troops, and the utmost efforts of the French could not relieve Paris. The city had held out for a much lopger period than even the most sanguine on the side of the French had at first expected that it would be able to do. Sallies were made at intervals by the garrison (12th, 21st of Oct., 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th of Jan.), but not sufficiently often or in sufficient strength to have an decisive eftect. On the failure of the last sally, which took place on the west side from Mont Valérien on the 19th of Jan., it was seen that a capitulation was inevitable. On 21st Feb., Thiers, Head of the Executive, arrived at Versailles along with a diplomatic commi ion, and preliminaries of peace were signed at Versailles on the 26th of Feb., and accepted by the National A embly at Bordeaux on the ist of March, by a vote of 546 to 107. Among those who yoted against the preliminaries of peace was Clemenceau. The principal terms were the following: (1) That France should cede to Germany one-fifth part of Lorraine, including Metz, together with the whole of Alsace except Belfort and the surrounding district. (2) That France should pay to Germany a war indemnity of five milliards of francs (£200,000,000). (3) That certain departments of France should remain in the occupation of the Germans, and should not be fully evacuated until after the payment of the whole indemnity. The definitive treaty of peace, which was signed at Frankfort on the 10th of May, 1871, and ratified on the 2ist, confirmed in all e ential particnlars the preliminaries of Versailles. The last instalment of the war indemnity was paid on the 5th of Sept., 1873, and France completely evacuated by the Germans qn the 13th of the same month.—BIBLIOGRAPHY: Von Moltke, The Franco-German War 1870-71; Chuquet, La guerre de 1870-— 71; The Franco-German War (in Cambridge Modern History); Major General J. F. Maurice (editor and eenmaner), The Franco-German War, 1870-71.