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Quiz about The FrancoPrussian War
Quiz about The FrancoPrussian War

The Franco-Prussian War Trivia Quiz


How much do you know about the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) one of the key events of modern European history? I hope this won't be too difficult.

A multiple-choice quiz by Harry Wise. Estimated time: 8 mins.
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Author
Harry Wise
Time
8 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
117,051
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Difficult
Avg Score
7 / 15
Plays
821
Last 3 plays: Guest 96 (9/15), Guest 174 (14/15), Guest 174 (15/15).
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Question 1 of 15
1. While the causes of the war are many and complicated, the immediate cause arose when the crown of a European nation was offered to Prince Leopold von Hohenzollern, a member of the Prussian royal family. Which nation made this offer? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. Eventually, Prince Leopold refused the offer, but the French government was not satisfied with this. The French Ambassador to Prussia, Benedetti, visited King Wilhelm, who at this time was absent from Berlin, to request a guarantee that no similar offer would ever be accepted in future. The King refused to give such a guarantee, and the Ambassador then left. The King's staff then telegraphed an account of the meeting to Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in Berlin. This telegram was known as the ... ? Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. Shortly before the French declaration of war on 19 July 1870, the Minister for War, General Leboeuf, assured the French government that the army was ready for war 'down to the last ...' Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. What, respectively, were the standard issue French and German infantry rifles? Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. Which town or city marked the furthest advance of the brief French invasion of Prussian territory at the beginning of the war? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. In general, the early battles of the war were marked by heavy French casualties and comparatively light German losses.


Question 7 of 15
7. Which battle of the Franco-Prussian War is notable for containing the last major cavalry charge in Western Europe? Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, this Prussian general was given command of the German First Army. Although he won most of his battles against the French, his unimaginative tactics led to high casualties. He was relieved of command of First Army after the Battle of Gravelotte. He is Karl von ...?

Answer: (One Word)
Question 9 of 15
9. This French general, who had a distinguished record in Algeria, the Crimea, Italy, and Mexico, was appointed to the command of the Army of the Rhine at the beginning of the war. Although he had distinguished himself in relatively junior positions, he proved unsuitable for higher command. After suffering a number of defeats, he was surrounded with his army by German forces, and eventually surrendered on receiving news of the French defeat at Sedan. He is Marshal Achille ...?

Answer: (One Word)
Question 10 of 15
10. Following its defeat at the battle of Gravelotte, and hence its failure to break out towards Verdun, the French Army of the Rhine was compelled to fall back on which of the following cities? Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. Roughly how many French prisoners were taken at the Battle of Sedan? Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. In a rare French victory, what French city which had earlier been captured by the Germans was recaptured on 9 November 1870? Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. To which city did the French provisional government flee in order to avoid being trapped in Paris by the German army? Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. After a bloody and destructive siege, an armistice was eventually concluded with the Germans on 28 January 1871. Following the end of the war and the withdrawal of German troops from Paris, but before the new French republican government could establish control of the city, an attempt was made to establish an insurrectionist régime in Paris. What was the name given to this new régime? Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. Which two French provinces were handed over to the newly established German Empire by the terms of the Treaty of Frankfurt, signed in May 1871?

Answer: (3 words (Two names with 'and' between them)

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Most Recent Scores
Mar 12 2024 : Guest 96: 9/15
Mar 10 2024 : Guest 174: 14/15
Mar 02 2024 : Guest 174: 15/15
Feb 09 2024 : Guest 174: 15/15

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. While the causes of the war are many and complicated, the immediate cause arose when the crown of a European nation was offered to Prince Leopold von Hohenzollern, a member of the Prussian royal family. Which nation made this offer?

Answer: Spain

After the overthrow of Queen Isabella II of Spain in the 1868 Spanish Revolution, the newly established Spanish government offered the crown to Prince Leopold. Had he accepted the offer, members of the Hohenzollern family would have ruled both Prussia and Spain, which would have been unacceptable to France.
2. Eventually, Prince Leopold refused the offer, but the French government was not satisfied with this. The French Ambassador to Prussia, Benedetti, visited King Wilhelm, who at this time was absent from Berlin, to request a guarantee that no similar offer would ever be accepted in future. The King refused to give such a guarantee, and the Ambassador then left. The King's staff then telegraphed an account of the meeting to Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in Berlin. This telegram was known as the ... ?

Answer: Ems Telegram

At this time, the King was taking the waters at Bad Ems; hence the name by which the telegram is known. The Zimmermann Telegram was the telegram sent to the German Ambassador in Mexico during World War I, proposing an alliance between Germany and Mexico against the United States; the other two telegrams never existed. Bismarck, who wished to bring about a war with France as a means of promoting German unification, subtly altered the version of the telegram which was released to the press, so as to make it appear that the King had insulted the Ambassador.

The effect of this was to create widespread French public support for war with Prussia.
3. Shortly before the French declaration of war on 19 July 1870, the Minister for War, General Leboeuf, assured the French government that the army was ready for war 'down to the last ...'

Answer: Gaiter button

In fact, General Leboeuf was wrong; inefficient French mobilisation was an important factor in the French defeats in the early stages of the war. The superior German system meant that early in the war, three German soldiers could be put into the field for every two French ones.
4. What, respectively, were the standard issue French and German infantry rifles?

Answer: The Chassepot and the Dreyse

When it had first been introduced several years earlier, the Dreyse had been at the cutting edge of rifle design, and had been highly effective during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. The development of the Chassepot had been funded partly as a means of countering it.

The Chassepot was greatly superior, with a longer range and lacking several of the Dreyse's disadvantages, such as its brittle firing pin.
5. Which town or city marked the furthest advance of the brief French invasion of Prussian territory at the beginning of the war?

Answer: Saarbrücken

The French invasion had little strategic merit, and was partly intended as a concession to public opinion. It overextended the French lines, and the French were soon forced to retreat back into France
6. In general, the early battles of the war were marked by heavy French casualties and comparatively light German losses.

Answer: False

In most of the war's early battles German losses, other than in prisoners, were substantially higher than those of the French. This was due to unimaginative German tactics, to superior French infantry weapons, and to the fact that the French were on the defensive in most of these battles.

In almost all cases, German victory was due to superior numbers and artillery, and was extremely costly.
7. Which battle of the Franco-Prussian War is notable for containing the last major cavalry charge in Western Europe?

Answer: Mars-la-Tour

At Mars-la-Tour on 16 August 1870, Alvensleben's corps was able to hold off the entire French Army of the Rhine until German reinforcements could arrive, thus preventing the French from breaking through the German pincer movement and falling back on Verdun.

The most dramatic cavalry action during the battle was 'Von Bredow's Ride of Death', in which the German cavalry under von Bredow broke up an advancing force of French infantry, although at heavy cost. The battles of Worth and Spicheren were earlier battles of the Franco-Prussian War, both German victories.

The Battle of Sadowa was the decisive battle of the earlier Austro-Prussian War (1866).
8. A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, this Prussian general was given command of the German First Army. Although he won most of his battles against the French, his unimaginative tactics led to high casualties. He was relieved of command of First Army after the Battle of Gravelotte. He is Karl von ...?

Answer: Steinmetz

The elderly Steinmetz' frontal assaults on the French left flank at Gravelotte on 18 August 1870 led to severe casualties, and failed to achieve any decisive result. However, the French were eventually obliged to retreat following the defeat of their right flank by the German Second Army under Prince Friedrich Karl. Steinmetz was subsequently relieved of command, and was appointed Military Governor of Posen (now Poznan) in Poland.
9. This French general, who had a distinguished record in Algeria, the Crimea, Italy, and Mexico, was appointed to the command of the Army of the Rhine at the beginning of the war. Although he had distinguished himself in relatively junior positions, he proved unsuitable for higher command. After suffering a number of defeats, he was surrounded with his army by German forces, and eventually surrendered on receiving news of the French defeat at Sedan. He is Marshal Achille ...?

Answer: Bazaine

After the war, Bazaine was tried and sentenced to death for surrendering his largely intact army to the Germans. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Subsequently he escaped, left France, and died in exile.
10. Following its defeat at the battle of Gravelotte, and hence its failure to break out towards Verdun, the French Army of the Rhine was compelled to fall back on which of the following cities?

Answer: Metz

Bazaine's army remained trapped in Metz before finally surrendering, with most of its strength still in tact, on receiving news of the disaster at Sedan.
11. Roughly how many French prisoners were taken at the Battle of Sedan?

Answer: 104,000

Among these prisoners was Emperor Napoleon III, who accompanied the army on campaign. The Army of Chalons, under Marshal Macmahon, had launched an offensive in order to relieve Bazaine's army trapped in Metz, but was trapped by overwhelming German forces and compelled to surrender on 2 September 1870. Six weeks after the outbreak of war, the main French armies had been destroyed or neutralised. Napoleon III was compelled to abdicate, and was later exiled to Britain.

A new republican government was established in France; the war, however, went on.
12. In a rare French victory, what French city which had earlier been captured by the Germans was recaptured on 9 November 1870?

Answer: Orleans

Orleans, however, was again captured by the Germans in December.
13. To which city did the French provisional government flee in order to avoid being trapped in Paris by the German army?

Answer: Tours

The German siege of Paris commenced on 19 September 1870.
14. After a bloody and destructive siege, an armistice was eventually concluded with the Germans on 28 January 1871. Following the end of the war and the withdrawal of German troops from Paris, but before the new French republican government could establish control of the city, an attempt was made to establish an insurrectionist régime in Paris. What was the name given to this new régime?

Answer: Paris Commune

Established on 18 March 1871, the Commune was a loose coalition of a number of parties. It lasted for some two months, and introduced a number of social reforms in Paris, but was bloodily suppressed by the new republican government in May, roughly 20,000 people being killed in the insurrection.
15. Which two French provinces were handed over to the newly established German Empire by the terms of the Treaty of Frankfurt, signed in May 1871?

Answer: Alsace and Lorraine

The loss of Alsace and Lorraine, together with the huge reparations imposed on France was the cause of great resentment towards Germany. Hostility towards Germany was an important factor in France's postwar foreign policy; this was a major cause of the development of the European alliance system, which in turn was one of the causes of the First World War.
Source: Author Harry Wise

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