War Commemorative Medal 1870/71 Kriegsdenkmünze 1870/71 The War Commemorative Medal 1870/71 was established by Prussia as a commemorative medal for the Franco-Prussian War. Although a Prussian decoration, it was effectively the commemorative medal for all the states of the newly-established German Empire. Unlike in most previous conflicts, only a few other German states (for example Oldenburg and Saxe- Altenburg) issued their own commemorative medal and the Prussian medal was authorized for all German veterans. In 1895, as part of the commemorations for the 25th anniversary of the war, a series of battle clasps (Gefechtsspangen) were created. There were 25 official clasps - 21 were for battles and 4 were for sieges. The following table identifies each clasp and gives some detail as to the battle or siege the clasp was intended to commemorate.

Clasp

Description of Events

Battles:
WEISSENBURG	August 4, 1870: The war officially began on July 19, 1870. After various border skirmishes, fighting began in earnest with the German victory in the battle of Weißenburg (Wissembourg) on August 4, 1870.
SPICHERN (also "SPICHEREN")	August 6, 1870: Germans defeat the French on the heights of Spicheren near Saarbrücken.
WÖRTH	August 6, 1870: French I Corps, plus 1 division of the VII Corps, under Marshall MacMahon is defeated by the German 3rd Army under Crown Prince Wilhelm Friedrich von Preußen (I. and II. Bavarian Corps, Prussian V and XI Corps, Württemberg contingent).
COLOMBEY-NOUILLY	August 14, 1870: A French rearguard action before Metz turns into a battle with advancing Prussians of the 1st Army (I, VII, VIII and IX Corps) . The action ends as a draw, but holds up the French withdrawal from the fortress of Metz, enabling the advance of the 2nd Army.
VIONVILLE-MARS LA TOUR	August 16, 1870: Attempting to cutoff the French retreat from Metz, advance elements of the 2nd Army unwittingly stumble upon numerically superior French forces (the Army of the Rhine under Marshal Bazaine) to the west of Metz (120,000 French against 66,000 Germans). The battle ends in a draw after the French fail to capitalize on their advantage, allowing the Prussians to cut off the French route of withdrawal. The initial fighting was by the 6th Cavalry Division and the Brandenburgers of the III Corps, joined by X Corps and elements of XI Corps.
GRAVELOTTE-ST. PRIVAT (also "Gravelotte-St. Privat")	August 18, 1870: The French Army of the Rhine under Marshal Bazaine (II, III, IV and VI Corps with the Guards Corps in reserve) is attacked by the 1st Army (VII and VIII Corps) under Gen. von Steinmetz and 2nd Army (III, IX, X, XII (Saxon) and Guards Corps) under Prince Friedrich Karl von Preußen. The initial attacks were by the XII, Guards, IX, VIII and VII Corps, with the III and X in reserve. After bloodily repulsing the Germans along the entire front during much of the day the French right flank at St. Privat is finally turned from the north by the Guards and the Saxons. The French army retreats back into Metz where it would remain until its surrender in October.
BEAUMONT	August 30, 1870: The Army of the Meuse (4th Army) and the I Bavarian Corps engages the French 5th Corps, driving them northwestward toward Sedan.
NOISSEVILLE	August 31 - September 1, 1870: Attempted breakout by French army from Metz defeated by Manteuffel's I Corps.
SEDAN	Sept. 1-2, 1870: 3rd Army and Army of the Meuse encircle French Army of Chalons under Marshal MacMahon. French capitulate on 2 September, and 85,000 French troops, including 39 generals and Emperor Napoleon III himself, are taken prisoner.

Two days after the catastrophic defeat of the Imperial Army, the Empire is no more, as a bloodless revolution in Paris sets up a republican government (the Third Republic, which would last until 1940) and a committee of national defense. The German armies, except the 2nd Army under Prince Friedrich Karl which was laying siege to Metz, move to encircle Paris. Metz would capitulate on October 27, freeing those German forces laying siege for future operations.

AMIENS	On November 24, 1870, German and French troops fought outside Amiens on the Somme north of Paris. Further reconnoitering operations would take place over the next several days, leading to heavier fighting on the 27th. On November 28, the VIII Corps under Gen.d.Inf. August Karl von Goeben occupies Amiens, and the city's citadel capitulates on November 30.
BEAUNE LA ROLANDE (also "BEAUNE-LA-ROLANDE")	November 28, 1870: The 2nd Army under Prince Friedrich Karl (III and X Corps) turns the flank of the Army of the Loire, which had been advancing against weaker German forces and threating to break the encirclement of Paris. The X Corps does most of the fighting, halting the French advance.
VILLIERS	November 30 - December 2, 1870: French forces attempting to break out of Paris engage German forces of the Württemberg Division in heavy fighting around Villiers and Champigny in the Marne Valley east of Paris. Champigny, Villiers and Bry are occupied by the French on the 30th. The Württembergers, reinforced by the XII Saxon Corps, counterattack and retake the towns by 2 December.
LOIGNY-POUPRY	December 2, 1870: the Army Detachment (Armee-Abteilung) under Grand Duke Friedrich Franz of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, including the I Bavarian Corps, engages numerically superior forces of the Army of the Loire and defeats them.
ORLEANS (also "ORLÉANS" and "ORLE'ANS")	December 4, 1870: The second battle of Orléans leads to German reoccupation of the city (captured in October, it had been lost to the French after the defeat of the Bavarians at the battle of Coulmiers on Nov. 11) and the division of the Army of the Loire in two.
BEAUGENCY-CRAVANT	December 7-11, 1870: A series of engagements between the Army Detachment, Prussian 2nd Army and the 2nd Army of the Loire is mostly indecisive, but eventually, having received no support from the 1st Army of the Loire, the French commander withdraws from the field to consolidate. Cravant was the scene of heavy fighting between the French and Germans. The capture on the 8th of Beaugency on the Loire southwest of Orléans is about the only tactical highlight of the fighting for the Germans.
AN DER HALLUE	December 23, 1870: A series of engagements between the 1st Army under General Edwin von Manteuffel (principally VII Corps) and the French Army of the North on the banks of the Hallue east-northeast of Amiens are generally indecisive, but the French withdraw anyway to consolidate their forces. This ended an immediate threat that the French might break through from the north to relieve the forces encircled in Paris, as the French withdrew to winter quarters near Arras.
BAPAUME	January 3-4, 1871: Gen. von Manteuffel's 1st Army had reached Bapaume on December 26, 1870. The French Army of the North under Gen. Louis Léon Faidherbe had moved out of Arras in late December as the Germans threatened Péronne. On January 2, the outnumbered Germans (3 brigades) met the French (8 brigades) at Bapaume. Heavy fighting ensued on the 3rd as the Germans were pushed back into the town, but by the 4th, the French, having been held off, again failed to push on. Faidherbe's tactical successes were thrown away, and the fortress of Péronne fell on 10 January. After Bapaume, Gen. von Manteuffel was reassigned from 1st Army to command operations in southeast France.
LE MANS	January 10-12, 1871: Prince Friedrich Karl von Preußen's 2nd Army (III, X and XIII Corps, 18th Division of IX Corps, and 4 cavalry divisions (1, 2, 4 and 6)), moved out to take Le Mans on 6 January. The 2nd Army of the Loire, with 150,000 troops in 3+ corps (XVI, XVII, and XXII, plus other formations and Breton irregulars) defended the city. The French fought hard in and around the city, but the Breton irregulars reportedly broke and ran at the first sign of the enemy, creating widespread panic. The French commander, Gen. Chanzy, disengaged on the 12th and withdrew his forces to Laval to reorganize.
AN DER LISAINE (also "A.D. LISAINE")	January 15-17, 1871: The French Army of the East under Gen. Bourbaki attacks German forces under Gen. Werder along the Lisaine as they attempt to relieve Belfort. After three days of heavy fighting, the Germans defeat the French attacks and hold the line.
ST. QUENTIN	January 19, 1871: Gen. Faidherbe's Army of the North attacks the German 1st Army (now under Gen. von Goeben) at Saint Quentin, but he is severely defeated. The Germans fail in their efforts to flank his army and he successfully withdraws to Cambrai.
MONT VALERIEN (also "MONT VALÉRIEN," "MONT-VALERIEN" and "A. MONT VALERIEN")	January 19, 1871: the Fort du Mont Valerien was located west of Paris. On January 19, the French conducted the last major attempt to break out of Paris. Under the protection of the guns of the fort, 90,000 French troops massed to attack the V Corps positions northeast of Versailles, but initial successes soon gave way to stiff German resistance as the French attacks were uncoordinated. By late afternoon, the French commander ordered his troops back inside the ring. Many allege that the only reason the French military leadership ordered the attack was so that it would fail, proving to the Paris Commune that the war was unwinnable.
Sieges:
STRASSBURG	August 15 - September 28, 1870 : Baden troops reached Straßburg (Strasbourg) on 8 August 1870 and the city was encircled by 15 August. The German siege of the city began on 30 August and it capitulated on September 28, 1870.
PARIS	September 19, 1870 - January 28, 1871: Immediately after the victory at Sedan, the German army had begun moving on Paris. By 19 September, the city was encircled. Paris capitulated on 28 January, 1871 and declared an armistice.
BELFORT	November 3, 1870 - February 18, 1871:The 3-month siege began on November 3. After a truce on 13 February, the city capitulated on the 16th and French troops were allowed free passage. The Germans occupied the city on the 18th.
METZ	August 19 - October 27, 1870: After victories at Vionville-Mars la Tour and Gravelotte-St. Privat, the Germans surrounded Metz. The city would be under siege until capitulating on 27 October, when 150,000 French troops went into captivity.
Unofficial Clasps:
CHAMPIGNY	Champigny was one of the towns included in the battles covered by the VILLIERS clasp, so the government probably considered it redundant.
COULMIERS	It is not surprising that there was no official COULMIERS clasp, since the Germans lost that battle. On November 9, the I Bavarian Corps operating near Orléans was attacked by 100,000 French troops. The Bavarians, outnumbered and unsupported, were defeated with heavy losses; had the French capitalized on their success, they would have annihilated the Bavarians.
TOUL	The TOUL clasp commemorated the siege of that fortress town from August 16 to September 23, 1870. Toul held out for almost 40 days, and 2,300 French defenders tied down 13,000 Germans, so perhaps the German high command didn't consider it one of the war's brighter moments.
CERNIRUNG VON METZ	This ought to be covered by the regular "METZ" clasp. Not only is the bar "CERNIRUNG VON METZ" rare, so is the word. "Cernirung" or, in a more Germanicized form, "Zernierung," seems to have almost disappeared from the German language. It means the laying of a siege and seems to have given way to Einschließung and Belagerung, neither of which is exactly synonymous. Cernirung comes from the French cerner, which is derived from the Latin circinare, "to encircle".