Bismarck and the Bazaine Affair of 1873

Abstract

The Bazaine Affair of 1873 represented the most sensational military show trial in Europe in the two decades prior to the Dreyfus Affair. Although this miscarriage of justice has received considerable historical attention, the role of Germany in the various phases of this court martial has been largely ignored although it was an important one. In particular, the challenges and issues presented by the trial and conviction of this disgraced French Marshal to Bismarck’s foreign policy have been entirely neglected although they were significant as this affair and its outcome threatened to undermine key elements of the German chancellor’s French strategy. And his efforts to mitigate these negative impacts created serious tensions in the Franco-German relationship. In addition, Bismarck’s involvement in one of the most sensational trials of the nineteenth century throws some surprising new light on the affair itself.