Franco-Prussian War

Doebner, O. G. Justus Liebigs Ann. Chem. 1887, 242, 265. Oscar Gustav Doebner (1850-1907) was bom in Meiningen, Germany. After studying under Liebig, he actively took part in the Franco-Prussian War. He apprenticed with Otto and Hofmann for a few years after the war, then began his independent researches at the University at Halle. 

Before the appearance of motor cars and construction of good highways, armored trains were considered very useful. They were employed successfully in American Civil War (1861-5), Franco-Prussian War (1870-1) and Souch-African War (1899 1900) (Ref 1). In Russia, where the roads are generally in a poor condition, armored trains were used in WWI and in Russian Civil War (1918-20). Some of the Russian armored trains were makeshift affairs consisting of an ordinary locomotive protected by sandbags and several flat cars with sandsbags laid along the sides (Ref 2)... 

According to H. Debray, between 1860-70, H. V. Regnault measured the physical constants of liquid ammonia, but the results were lost during the 1870 Franco-Prussian war. H. Debray waxes indignant ... 

Woehler s span of life covered the troubled days of the Napoleonic and Franco-Prussian Wars As a lad he had seen the triumphal entry of the hated Napoleon into Frankfort. Sixty years later he heard of the capture of the French flags by the Prussians. Immediately, from Wiesbaden, where as a youth he had searched for urns and lamps in the ancient camps of the Romans, he wrote to Liebig, The eagles of the captured French flags really consist of gilded aluminum, a metal that was first produced m Berlin in 1827 Such is fate He modestly refrained from mentioning the part he played in the discovery of this metal. 

Considerable numbers of hostages were also taken during the wars of the 19th century, for example in the Italian wars of 1848/49 and 1859, in the Crimean War and in the German wars of 1864 and 1866, by the French in Algiers, by the Russians in the Caucasus, by the English in their colonial wars,43 and in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 as well.44 In the latter case, as well as in the Boer War, hostages were taken predominantly to ensure safe conduct for railway trains 45... 

Werner was bom into a family of modest means in the Alsatian town of Mulhouse four years before the Franco-Prussian war. From his early years he showed a keen affinity for chemistry. With money earned by doing menial tasks for the local people, he equipped a laboratory in his father s barn with books, apparatus, and chemicals. At 18 he submitted a report of his research to E. Noelting, director of the school of chemistry in Mulhouse, with a curious and innocent inquiry as to how long it would take to become a professor. A sympathetic appreciation of the work, with a guarded reply to his question, confirmed Werner in his enthusiasm for... 

Only a few years after its invention, dynamite was used as a weapon in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), a conflict between France and the German state of Prussia. 

Figure 4 During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), dynamite was used as a weapon.

The blood agent cyanide (CN) had been proposed by Napoleon III to be placed on the tips of bayonets during the Franco-Prussian War and by Lord Playfair during the Crimean War. World War I (WWI) experiences taught that CN could produce rapid death in the field, but the WWI delivery systems did not allow for dependable application of the product (Macy, 1937). More efficient delivery systems and improved methods of synthesis and storage would later overcome problems encountered in WWI. 

During the siege of Parisf in the course of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 to 1871, balloons were used by the French to make contact with the outside world. As many as 64 balloons, averaging 2000 cubic metres of gas, were released from Paris carrying a personnel of 161 and something like 3 million letters. Of these balloons 57 fulfilled their purpose, two only being lost at sea whilst five were captured by the Germans. 

Since the days of ancient Rome, cyanide and the derivatives of this highly toxic substance have been used as weapons.1 Nero used cherry laurel water, which contains cyanide as its chief toxic component, to poison members of his family and others who displeased him. Napoleon III proposed the use of cyanides to enhance the effectiveness of his soldiers bayonets during the Franco-Prussian War. 

In 1870, just before the Franco-Prussian War, the Ecole Centrale de Pyrotechnie, founded in 1824 at Metz, was transferred to Bourges. Metz was thought to be too close to the German border, and had actually become part of Germany following the war. The expertise of the Ecole, which related principally to fuses and rockets. 

August Nietzsche volunteers as a nursing orderly in the Franco-Prussian War, but owing to illness returns to Basel after two months. 

Johann Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand Tiemann (Riibeland, Harz, 10 June 1848-Meran, 14 November 1899) studied in Brunswick and Berlin he participated in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, then was assistant (1871), privatdocent (1878) and associate professor (from 1882) in Hofmann s department in Berlin. From 1882 he edited the Berichte for 15 years. He was Hofmann s brother-in-law. His work was mostly on aromatic compounds. ... 

In old age, Payen witnessed the disastrous end of the mle of Napoleon III in the flames of the Franco-Prussian War. In spite of this age of 76 years he refused to leave Paris as the Prassians approached. 

Franco-Prussian War, Paris Commune 1871 Georg Brandes initiates Modern Breakthrough in Scandinavia... 

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