Skip to main content

Primary sourceDocument13 July 1870

Ems Dispatch

Otto von Bismarck · 13 July 1870

A Prussian telegram that Bismarck edited for the press in 1870, helping to provoke France into declaring war.

Bismarck personally edited this telegram for publication, using it to provoke France into war.

Ask Otto von Bismarck about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
A dark gray rough-hewn stone monument stands on white gravel in a garden. Its front has a lighter gray plaque reading 13. JULI 1870, 9 UHR 10 MIN MORGENS. Behind it, a metal sign with German, English and French text stands beside a tree.
Memorial stone marking the site and time of the Ems meeting, Bad Ems, 13 July 1870.

About this source

What it is

The Ems dispatch was a telegram sent by Heinrich Abeken from King Wilhelm I in Bad Ems to Otto von Bismarck in Berlin, describing a meeting between the king and the French ambassador. Bismarck released an edited version to the press on 13 July 1870.

Why it matters

Bismarck's shortened, sharper version made both the French ambassador and the king sound more hostile than the original wording suggested. The edited text helped push France into declaring war on Prussia within days, starting the Franco-Prussian War. It shows how Bismarck used the press as a political weapon.

Look closer

  • What did Bismarck remove from the original telegram, and why?
  • How can editing a document change how people in different countries react to it?
  • Who benefited from the war that followed, and who did not?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Otto von Bismarck on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Otto von Bismarck sources

Meet the AI Otto von Bismarck →
Painting of a formal ceremony in a grand hall with tall arched windows and marble walls. Officers in dress uniforms with sashes and plumed helmets stand in a crowd around a low dais, with military standards and flags on the left.Painting

Secondary source

Proclamation of the German Empire at Versailles

Anton von Werner · 1885

Black and white scan of the opening pages of the 1871 Constitution of the German Empire, with ornate calligraphic headings reading 'Wir Wilhelm, von Gottes Gnaden Deutscher Kaiser, König von Preußen' and a handwritten signature and seal at the bottom right, with dense printed and handwritten German text on the facing page.Document

Primary source

Constitution of the German Empire

4 May 1871

Engraving of the Punch cartoon Dropping the Pilot: an older man in a peaked cap and long coat descends a rope ladder down a ship's side, gripping a cane. Above, a young emperor in a crown and military uniform looks over the rail.Painting

Secondary source

Dropping the Pilot

John Tenniel · 29 March 1890

Scanned page 351 of the Reichs-Gesetzblatt, Number 34, from 1878, headed with the title Reichs-Gesetzblatt in Fraktur type. The page contains the text of the Law against the dangerous endeavors of Social Democracy, dated 21 October 1878, beginning with the imperial preamble and Paragraphs 1 to 3 in German.Document

Primary source

Anti-Socialist Law

21 October 1878

Document

Primary source

Reinsurance Treaty

Otto von Bismarck; Herbert von Bismarck; Nikolay Girs · 1887

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Otto von Bismarck now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions