1870 in France

Events from the year 1870 in France.

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).

References

Years in France (1555–present) 1555 1699 1704 1707 1708 1713 1714 1716 1769 1775 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015