Thursday - Division Street

By that time, Prussia sought not only to expand the North German Union and unite all German lands under its auspices, but also to weaken the long-standing enemy France, which, in turn, tried to prevent the emergence of a single strong Germany. Military conflict was inevitable. A formal reason for it was the claim to the Spanish throne of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, supported by the Prussian king Wilhelm. In Paris, these claims were perturbed. Napoleon III forced Leopold to abandon the Spanish throne. France put forward to the Prussian king the requirement to ban Leopold from ever accepting the Spanish crown, which not only violated diplomatic etiquette, but also insulted William. He refused an audience with the French ambassador, although he promised to return to this issue later.But Bismarck was not satisfied with the “ostrich” policy of the monarch, who was trying to avoid an open confrontation with France. On his own initiative, he handed over to the press a letter that Wilhelm “refused to accept the French ambassador and ordered him to convey that he no longer had anything to tell him.” The indignant French deputies immediately almost unanimously voted for the war, which was declared by Prussia on July 19, 1870.