Events from the year 1870 in France.
Incumbents Monarch – Napoleon III (abdicates 4 September, monarchy abolished)
Events February - Denis Vrain-Lucas is sentenced to 2 years in prison for multiple forgery, in Paris. 20 April - Constitutional referendum reaffirms the status of the Second French Empire. 14 July - Ems Dispatch published, serving as a casus belli for war between France and Prussia. 15 July - French army mobilizes. 16 July - Corps législatif votes to declare war on Prussia. 19 July - France declares war on Prussia: opening of the Franco-Prussian War. 4 August - Battle of Wissembourg: Prussian forces overwhelm the French garrison at Wissembourg. 6 August Battle of Spicheren, near Saarbrücken: Prussian victory. Battle of Wörth: 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. 1–2 September - Battle of Sedan: decisive Prussian victory. Napoleon III surrenders himself and the entire Army of Châlons and 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. Empress Eugenie flees to England with her son. 19 September - Siege of Paris begins. 27–30 September - Battle of Le Bourget, part of the siege of Paris: Prussian victory. 28 September - Siege of Strasbourg ends with French surrender. 30 September - Battle of Chevilly, part of the siege of Paris: Prussian victory. 8 October - Leon Michel Gambetta escapes 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. 3–4 December - Second Battle of Orléans: Prussians recapture Orléans. 23–24 December - Battle of Hallue results in stalemate.
Arts and literature February - Sculptor Aimé Millet is appointed professor at the École des Arts décoratifs. 25 May - Léo Delibes' ballet Coppélia debuts at the Théâtre Impérial de l'Opéra at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris. 28 June - Claude Monet marries his mistress and model Camille Doncieux in Paris; Gustave Courbet is a witness.
Births 25 January - Henry Bordeaux, writer and lawyer (died 1963) 28 April - Frédéric Justin Collet, pathologist and otolaryngologist (died 1966) 20 June - Georges Dufrénoy, post-impressionist painter (died 1943) 27 July - Hilaire Belloc, French-born English writer (died 1953 in the United Kingdom) 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 19 January - Jean-Baptiste Troppmann, spree killer, executed (born 1849) 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 in Uruguay) 28 November - Frédéric Bazille, painter, killed in action (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