French Emperor Napoleon III and Prussian leader Otto Von Bismarck converse after the Battle of Sedan

French Emperor Napoleon III and Prussian leader Otto Von Bismarck converse after the Battle of Sedan.In 1870 Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte and founder of the 2nd French Empire, declared war on Prussia.  Prussia, led by Otto Von Bismarck, was annexing several territories in Germany, slowely unifying the German kingdoms under Prussian rule.  Napoleon III saw this as a threat to the French Empire and declared war.  After less than a year of fighting the Prussian Army trounced the French, and Napoleon III was captured at the Battle of Sedan.  Napoleon was sent into exile in Britain, where he would die three years later.  The French Empire collapsed, and the territories of Alsace and Lorraine were taken as war prizes by the newly formed German Empire.  The two territories would become a bone of contention between both powers during the next 50 years, until it was retaken by the French during World War I. -- source link
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