Part of the acclaimed "Special Campaign" series of works intended for serious professional students of military history each volume is interspersed with strategical and tactical comments and illustrated by numerous sketches. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 marked a critical point in European history. The French goaded the Germans into action, provoking war.The Germans had been preparing for the conflict for some years and sprung into action, and the ensuing action would be a debacle for the French and a victory for the Germans. On 16 July 1870, the French parliament voted to declare war on Prussia and hostilities began three days later when French forces invaded German territory. The German coalition mobilised its troops much more quickly than the French and rapidly invaded north-eastern France. The German forces were superior in numbers, had better training and leadership and made more effective use of modern technology, particularly railroads and artillery. A series of swift Prussian and German victories in eastern France, culminating in the Siege of Metz and the Battle of Sedan, saw French Emperor Napoleon III captured and the army of the Second Empire decisively defeated. CONTENT: The War to 1870. - Weissenburg. - Woerth. - Spicheren. - Borny-Colombey. - Vionville-Mars-LA-Tour. - Gravelotte-St. Privat. - Chalons and Rheims. - Beaumont. - Sedan. - Metz. - Paris. - Maps: 1. Position of Armies, July 30. 2. Woerth. 3. Saabrucken and Spicheren. 4. German Advance from August 6th to 12th. 5. Position of First and Second German Armies on August 15. 6. Position of German Troops on August 17 and March to Attack on August 18. 7. Positions of August 25. 8. The Battle of Sedan. 9. The Theatre of War. 10. The country Round Metz.