The siege of Belfort (3 November 1870 – 18 February 1871) was a 103-day military assault and blockade of the city of

Belfort Belfort (; archaic , ) is a city in northeastern France, situated approximately from the Swiss border. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Territoire de Belfort. Belfort is from Paris and from Basel. The residents of the city ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n forces during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. The French garrison held out until the January 1871 armistice between France and the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

obligated French forces to abandon the stronghold in February 1871. Belfort is located in a gap between the mountainous southern

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...

and the Jura Massif, strategically positioned as the gateway between

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

and central France. At the beginning of the war, the French

Army of the Rhine An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

was routed in northern Alsace. The fall of Strasbourg on 28 September 1870 allowed the German army under August von Werder to move south against Belfort. Upon hearing of the approaching German army, Pierre Philippe Denfert-Rochereau, commander of Belfort, began constructing fortifications around the city, expanding those originally built by Vauban. Werder's forces reached Belfort and invested the city on 3 November. The intransigent resistance by the French forces stopped the Germans from completing an effective encirclement of the city. General Charles Denis Bourbaki assembled an army intending to relieve Belfort. On 15 January 1871 Bourbaki attacked Werder along the Lisaine River; however after a three-day battle he was repelled and his army retreated into Switzerland. German forces grew impatient with the length of the siege and on 27 January 1871, General von Tresckow launched an attack on the city which was repulsed and the siege operations resumed. On 15 February an armistice was signed between France and Germany. Louis Adolphe Thiers, president of the Government of National Defense sent an urgent message to Denfert-Rochereau ordering him to surrender the fortress. On 18 February the Belfort garrison marched out of the city with the honours of war, taking their weapons and baggage train with them. In recognition of the French defense of Belfort, under the terms of the Treaty of Frankfurt, the city and its surrounding area were not handed over to Germany, unlike the remainder of

. In 1880, the monumental

Lion of Belfort The ''Lion of Belfort'', in Belfort, France, is an 1880 monumental sculpture by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''). Overview Finished in 1880, it is made entirely of red san ...

sculpture was inaugurated in tribute to the defenders of the city.

References

*Howard, Michael ''The Franco Prussian War'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Belfort Belfort, Siege of Belfort, Siege of Belfort, Siege of

History of the Territoire de Belfort 1870 in France 1871 in France November 1870 December 1870 January 1871 February 1871 Belfort, Siege of Conflicts in 1870 Conflicts in 1871

See also

References