•
3 January –
Battle of Bapaume. Prussian victory in continuing
Franco-Prussian War. •
10 January – Besieged city of
Péronne surrenders to Prussian forces. • 10–
12 January –
Battle of Le Mans, ends French resistance in western France. •
15–
17 January –
Battle of the Lisaine. Prussian victory. •
18 January – The member-states of the
North German Federation and the south German states unite into a single
nation-state known as the
German Empire. The
King of Prussia is declared the first
German Emperor as
Wilhelm I of Germany. •
19 January –
Battle of St. Quentin. Prussian victory defeats French attempts to relieve the besieged city of
Paris. • 19–
20 January –
Battle of Buzenval. Prussian victory. •
28 January –
Siege of Paris ends, with the city falling to Prussian forces. •
15 February – Armistice signed between France and Prussia. •
18 February –
Siege of Belfort ends with surrender of French garrison. •
26 February –
Treaty of Versailles ends the
Franco-Prussian War. •
3 March –
German federal election, 1871 •
21 March –
Otto von Bismarck is appointed as the first
Imperial Chancellor of the German Empire and his
Bismarck cabinet was sworn in. •
16 April –
Constitution of the German Empire, the basic law of the German Empire of 1871–1918, passed by German Reichtstag and coming into effect on 4 May 1871. •
10 May –
Treaty of Frankfurt is signed with confirming the frontiers between Germany and
France. •
15 May – The
Strafgesetzbuch, which goes back to the Penal Code of the North German Confederation, passed in Reichstag. It came into effect on January 1, 1872. •
10 December –
Otto von Bismarck tries to ban
Catholics from the political stage by introducing harsh laws concerning the
separation of church and state.
Undated • The provinces of
Alsace and
Lorraine are transferred from France to Germany. • The Constitution of the German Empire abolishes all restrictions on Jewish marriage, choice of occupation, place of residence, and property ownership. Exclusion from government employment and discrimination in social relations remain in effect. • The
Pulpit Law is passed by the
Reichstag • The
Strafgesetzbuch is passed by the Reichstag, largely identical to the Penal Code of the
North German Confederation. • German company
Continental is founded in Hannover. •
Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing is founded. • German company
Hoesch AG is founded in Dortmund. ==Births==