1870-1871: The Franco-Prussian War

A British War Correspondent: William Howard Russell, War Photographer (1x2)

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When it broke out on 19 July 1870, the war between France and the coalition of kingdoms united under the banner of King William I of Prussia was one of the first conflicts in which the technical advances of the industrial era played a major role: the train, the telegraph, photography, but also the popular press, which was then booming. After having learned the ropes in Crimea and India, the British journalist William Howard Russell, 49, was dispatched by the Times of London to the Prussian general staff. From the Battle of Bazeilles in August 1870 to the birth of the German Empire, proclaimed at Versailles after the French defeat in January 1871, this astute observer provides an impartial account of the cruelty of the conflict, not only for the combatants, but also for the civilian population.