The
Franco-Prussian War or
Franco-German War (, lit.
German-French War, , lit.
Franco-German War), often referred to in France as the
War of 1870 (19 July 1871), was a conflict between the
Second French Empire and the German states of the
North German Confederation led by the
Kingdom of Prussia. The conflict was caused by Prussian ambitions to extend
German unification. Some historians argue that the Prussian chancellor
Otto von Bismarck planned to provoke a French attack in order to draw the southern German states—
Baden,
Württemberg,
Bavaria and
Hesse-Darmstadt—into an alliance with the North German Confederation dominated by Prussia, while others contend that Bismarck did not plan anything and merely exploited the circumstances as they unfolded.