, 1895–96 After the
Spanish Revolution of 1868, which overthrew Queen
Isabella II, Leopold was offered the
Spanish crown by the new government. The offer was supported by
Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck but opposed by
French Emperor Napoleon III on the grounds that the installation of a relative of the Prussian king would result in the expansion of Prussian influence and the encirclement of France. In Spain, when the news spread that Leopold was a candidate for the crown, he began to be called "
Leopoldo Olé-Olé si me eligen" (Leopoldo Olé-Olé if they choose me) as a play on words because of the difficult pronunciation of his surname for the Spanish. Additional demands that were made by the French government heightened diplomatic tensions between Paris and Berlin. The deliberate shortening of a diplomatic communiqué, the
Ems Dispatch, led to declaration of war by France. Prussia's speedy mobilization, together with the support of the other members of the
North German Confederation, resulted in French defeat, the consequences of which were the collapse of the
Second French Empire, to be replaced by the
Third Republic, and the creation of the
German Empire. France lost most of
Alsace and part of
Lorraine and had to pay
Prussia war reparations. ==Marriage and issue==