1870 in France
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| See also: | Other events of 1870 History of France • Timeline • Years | ||||
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Events from the year 1870 in France.
Incumbents
- Monarch – Napoleon III (abdicated 4 September, monarchy abolished)
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. Napoleon III declares the Second Empire dissolved.
- 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 son.
- 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 (died 1963)
- 28 April - Frédéric Justin Collet, pathologist and otolaryngologist (died 1966)
- 24 September - Georges Claude, engineer, chemist and inventor (died 1960)
- 30 September - Jean Baptiste Perrin, physicist and Nobel laureate (died 1942)
- 8 October - Louis Vierne, organist and composer (died 1937)
- 10 December - Mary Bonaparte, eldest daughter of Prince Napoléon Bonaparte of Canino (died 1947)
Deaths
January to June
- 1 February - Auguste Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély, Marshal of France (born 1794)
- 19 February - Nathaniel de Rothschild, founder of the wine-making branch of the Rothschild family (born 1812)
- 20 June - Jules de Goncourt, writer (born 1830)
July to December
- 15 August - Ardant du Picq, Colonel and military theorist (born 1819)
- 2 September - Charles Joseph, comte de Flahaut, general and statesman (born 1785)
- 23 September - Prosper Mérimée, dramatist, historian and archaeologist (born 1803)
- 25 October - Etienne-Michel Faillon, Roman Catholic historian (born 1800)
- 28 October - Jean-Pierre Falret, psychiatrist (born 1794)
- 29 October - Jules Baroche, statesman and Minister (born 1802)
- 24 November - Comte de Lautréamont, poet (born 1846)
- 28 November - Frédéric Bazille, painter (born 1841)
- 5 December - Alexandre Dumas, père, writer (born 1802)
- 26 December - Marie Dominique Bouix, Jesuit canon lawyer (born 1808)
Full date unknown
- Jacques-François Ochard, painter (born 1800)