Siege of Metz (1870)

Lore & Background

After the French defeat at the Battle of Gravelotte on 18 August 1870, Marshal François Bazaine retreated with the Army of the Rhine into the fortress of Metz. German forces under Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia surrounded the fortress on 19 August. The French Army of Châlons, sent to relieve Metz, was itself encircled and annihilated at the Battle of Sedan on 1–2 September. Unable to capture Metz by bombardment or storm, the Germans resorted to starving the French into submission. French breakout attempts at Noisseville (31 August – 1 September) and Bellevue (7 October) were repulsed, each side losing about 5,000 men.

Reader's Guide

The Siege of Metz was a pivotal event in the Franco-Prussian War, effectively eliminating the French Army of the Rhine as a fighting force. The surrender of 193,000 men on 27 October 1870 freed Prince Friedrich Karl's armies to operate against French forces in the Loire valley. The siege demonstrated the effectiveness of attrition and blockade against a fortified city. Metz was later annexed into the German Empire after the Treaty of Frankfurt on 10 May 1871. The siege also had a personal impact on the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who served as a medical attendant and contracted diphtheria and dysentery, worsening his health.

Did You Know?

• The French Army of the Rhine surrendered 193,000 men into German hands on 27 October 1870.
• French food supplies ran out on 20 October, after which the army subsisted on the flesh of 20,000 horses.
• The Germans lost 5,500 enlisted men and 240 officers killed and wounded during the siege.
• Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche served as a medical attendant during the siege and contracted diphtheria and dysentery.