French indemnity

The Prussian Finance Minister Otto von Camphausen said: The German nation had after all suffered so many additional losses in blood and material goods which are beyond all accounting that it is entirely justified to assess the price of the war generously and in addition to the estimated sum to demand an appropriate surcharge for the incalculable damages.

[3] Bismarck wrote that "France being the richest country in Europe, nothing could keep her quiet but effectually to empty her pockets".

[6] The last payment of the indemnity was paid in early September 1873, two years before the deadline, and the German army of occupation was withdrawn in mid-September.

It was generally assumed at the time that the indemnity would cripple France for thirty or fifty years.

[7] However, the Third Republic that emerged after the war embarked on an ambitious programme of reforms: it introduced banks, built schools (reducing illiteracy), improved roads, increased railways into rural areas, encouraged industry and promoted French national identity rather than regional identities.