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The Commemorative medal of the 1870–1871 War (French: Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1870–1871) was a French military campaign medal awarded to those who served during the Franco-Prussian War.
The Prussian victory in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War destabilized the European balance of power. German unification, although not yet quite complete, posed a serious threat to French power. The candidacy of Prussian Prince Leopold to the vacant throne of Spain further endangered the status quo created by the 1815 Congress of Vienna. Demands by Emperor Napoleon III of France to King William I of Prussia, although reasonable at first, were soon seen as the perfect pretext to escalate tensions between the two empires. Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck ensured such tensions did escalate with the release of the Ems Dispatch.
The French Emperor, confident of the strength of his armies declared war on Prussia on 19 July 1870. Unfortunately for him, the stipulations of the 1866 peace agreement between Prussia and Austria greatly enlarged the forces he would face, adding the armies of Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, Hanover, Baden, Hesse, Schaumburg-Lippe, Saxe-Meiningen, Nassau and Reus to the already formidable Prussian Army. Fast deployment of troops by Prussia and swift engagements in the East soon saw the French armies defeated or encircled within the walls of their cities, including the capture of the French emperor and his Army of Châlons on 2 September during the Battle of Sedan.
Their emperor having surrendered, France dismissed him and on 4 September, proclaimed the Third Republic. They refused to surrender and mobilized new armies. Over a five-month campaign, the German forces defeated the newly recruited French armies in a series of battles fought across northern France. Following a prolonged siege, Paris fell on 28 January 1871 and the war ended with the Treaty of Frankfurt of 10 May 1871.
Although the bravest were rewarded with the Legion of Honour and the Military Medal, the authorities firmly refused to create a commemorative medal for award to the participants of the conflict. Possibly in an effort to forget the humiliation and national shame caused by these sad events. Forty years would have to elapse before the government would agree to a tangible form of recognition for the surviving veterans of the conflict. The Commemorative medal of the 1870–1871 War was finally established by a law of 9 November 1911
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