History

The Franco-Prussian War (1870/71) ended in defeat for France. After Napoleon III was taken prisoner in autumn 1870, the French Third Republic was declared, and the German Empire was proclaimed, the French Eastern Army under General Bourbaki put up one last vain struggle in January 1871 before the soldiers found themselves surrounded by German troops in the French Jura. The agreement of February 1 on the internment of Bourbaki's French army set in motion the largest ever intake of refugees into Switzerland. Within three days, about 87,000 soldiers crossed the Swiss border.