Editing History of Germany (section)

====The new empire====
[[File:Wernerprokla.jpg|thumb|On 18 January 1871, the German Empire was proclaimed in the [[Hall of Mirrors]] of the [[Palace of Versailles]]. Bismarck in the center in white.]]
In 1868, the Spanish queen [[Isabella II]] was deposed in the [[Glorious Revolution (Spain)|Glorious Revolution]], leaving the country's throne vacant. When Prussia suggested the Hohenzollern candidate, [[Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen|Prince Leopold]] as successor, France vehemently objected. The matter evolved into a [[Ems Dispatch|diplomatic scandal]] and in July 1870, France resolved to end it in a [[Franco-Prussian War|full-scale war]]. The conflict was quickly decided as Prussia, joined by forces of a pan-German alliance never gave up the tactical initiative. A series of victories in north-eastern France followed and another French army group was simultaneously encircled at Metz. A few weeks later, the French army contingent under Emperor [[Napoleon III]]'s personal command was finally forced to capitulate in the [[Battle of Sedan|fortress of Sedan]].<ref name="Rüstow1872">{{Cite book |first=Wilhelm |last=Rüstow |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9cBVAAAAYAAJ |title=The War for the Rhine Frontier, 1870: Its Political and Military History |publisher=Blackwood |date=1872}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=James D. |last=McCabe |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=miun.acj5737.0001.001;view=1up;seq=11 |title=History of the war between Germany and France |publisher=HathiTrust Digital Library |date=1871 |access-date=23 March 2019}}</ref> Napoleon was taken prisoner and a [[Government of National Defence|provisional government]] hastily proclaimed in Paris. The new government resolved to fight on and tried to reorganize the remaining armies while the Germans settled down to besiege Paris. The starving city surrendered in January 1871 and Jules Favre signed the surrender at Versailles. France was forced to pay indemnities of 5&nbsp;billion francs and cede [[Alsace-Lorraine]] to Germany. This conclusion left the French national psyche deeply humiliated and further aggravated the [[French–German enmity]].

During the [[Siege of Paris (1870–1871)|Siege of Paris]], the German princes assembled in the [[Hall of Mirrors]] of the [[Palace of Versailles]] on 18 January 1871 and announced the establishment of the [[German Empire]] and proclaimed the Prussian King [[Wilhelm I of Germany|Wilhelm I]] as [[German Emperor]]. The act [[Unification of Germany|unified all ethnic German states]] with the exception of Austria in the [[Lesser Germany|Little German solution]] of a federal economic, political and administrative unit. Bismarck, was appointed to serve as Chancellor.
[[File:AHW Bau Voelkerschlachtdenkmal Leipzig 1912.jpg|thumb|upright|The {{Convert|91 |m|ft|abbr=on}} high [[Monument to the Battle of the Nations]] under construction, [[Leipzig]], 1912]]