In the short story "The Last Lesson" by French writer Dude, it describes the last French class in which students bid farewell to the language of their motherland in a rural primary school in Alsace province, which was ceded to Prussia after the Franco-Prussian War at the end of the 19th century. In the novel, Frances Jr. and Mr. Hamel, one is a naive and ignorant primary school student, the other is a typical patriotic teacher, and two ordinary French people have a wonderful French lesson. Behind them are the sadness and dignity of an oppressed nation in the occupied French area after the Franco-Prussian War.

"The Last Lesson" (data map)

Many years later, many French historians pointed out that the plot in the novel was not true. However, no one can deny that "The Last Lesson" has become an important teaching material for a generation of French patriotism. The Franco-Prussian War, which lasted for a year, finally ended with Prussia winning a complete victory and France ending its hegemony on the European continent. This day in European history has therefore become an unforgettable day.

February 16, 1871 was an important day in the modern history of the world. On this day, France and Germany formally signed the contract of the Franco-Prussian War, in which France admitted defeat. The Franco-Prussian War ended France's hegemony on the European continent.

Situation map of the Franco-Prussian War (data map)

The war began when Prussia wanted to unify Germany and France wanted to prevent a strong, unified Germany from emerging next to it. Tensions between the two countries triggered France's declaration of war on Prussia on July 9, 1870.

Before the start of the war, France claimed to be the world's leading army power. In fact, at this time, the French military system had decayed, the will of officers and soldiers to fight was low, and the national mobilization mechanism was also very backward. At this time, Prussia established the strongest military mobilization system in the world, and radiated the fanatical spirit of the German nation. In normal times, the country had a complete railway network and a command system of the staff headquarters.

At the beginning of the war, Emperor Napoleon III of France initially assessed the situation and led his army to the front line to attack western Germany, only to be quickly repelled by the Prussian counterattack. The German joint army composed of Prussia and the states of South Germany was then commanded by General Moltke and turned to the counterattack. The Prussian army that attacked France adopted the flexible tactics of encirclement in compartments, and soon after the war began, the main force of the French army was cut in half. On September 1, 1870, the French army of Sedan failed to break through, and there was no food supply. Napoleon III was forced to surrender with more than 80,000 people. The French emperor became a prisoner of the Prussian army, which was an unprecedented humiliation in French history.

This battle also enabled Germany to establish its status as the world's largest military power, but it was far inferior to Britain in terms of naval power. After the French emperor became a prisoner, a resistance government was formed in the country, abolished the emperor, and established the Third Republic. Under very difficult circumstances, the French people fought against the German army, but were unable to repel the German army. Prussia's victory also established its own authority. It turned out that all independent states and small kingdoms of Germany expressed their surrender. On January 18, 1871, King William I of Prussia ascended the throne in Versailles, France, occupied by German troops, and became German emperor, declaring Germany's unification.

The Palace of Versailles is the official residence of successive French kings. The German emperor's ascent here is a great humiliation to France. On January 28, 1871, Paris announced its conditional surrender after four months of siege. On February 16, the two sides formally signed the contract. According to this contract, Germany annexed Arthas and most of Lorraine that belonged to France before the war. France compensated huge amounts of war costs. France has since suffered the humiliation of ceding its territory.