Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1870-1871

Commemorative medal of the 1870–1871 War
Commemorative medal of the 1870–1871 War (obverse)
Awarded by  France
Type	Campaign Medal
Eligibility	Military service in 1870-1871
Campaign(s)	Franco-Prussian War
Status	No longer awarded
Statistics
Established	9 November 1911
Total awarded	~150,000
Ribbon of the medal

The Commemorative medal of the 1870–1871 War (French: Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1870–1871) was a French military campaign medal awarded to those who served during the Franco-Prussian War.

The Prussian victory in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War destabilized the European balance of power. German unification, although not yet quite complete, posed a serious threat to French power. The candidacy of Prussian Prince Leopold to the vacant throne of Spain further endangered the status quo created by the 1815 Congress of Vienna. Demands by Emperor Napoleon III of France to King William I of Prussia, although reasonable at first, were soon seen as the perfect pretext to escalate tensions between the two empires. Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck ensured such tensions did escalate with the release of the Ems Dispatch.

The French Emperor, confident of the strength of his armies declared war on Prussia on 19 July 1870. Unfortunately for him, the stipulations of the 1866 peace agreement between Prussia and Austria greatly enlarged the forces he would face, adding the armies of Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, Hanover, Baden, Hesse, Schaumburg-Lippe, Saxe-Meiningen, Nassau and Reus to the already formidable Prussian Army. Fast deployment of troops by Prussia and swift engagements in the East soon saw the French armies defeated or encircled within the walls of their cities, including the capture of the French emperor and his Army of Châlons on 2 September during the Battle of Sedan.