Note 454 — Chapter XL

In 1869 Spain was without a king, and the crown was tendered to Leopold of Hohenzollern, a very distant relative of William I of Prussia. This greatly excited the people of Paris, for it seemed to them only an indirect way of bringing Spain under the influence of Prussia. The French minister of foreign affairs declared that the candidacy was an attempt to "reëstablish the empire of Charles V." In view of this opposition, Leopold withdrew his acceptance of the Spanish crown early in July, 1870, and Europe believed the incident to be at an end. The French ministry, however, was not satisfied with this, and demanded that the king of Prussia should pledge himself that the candidacy should never be renewed. This William refused to do. The account of the demand and refusal was given in such a way in the German newspapers that it appeared as if the French ambassador had insulted King William. The Parisians, on the other hand, thought that their ambassador had received an affront, and demanded an immediate declaration of war.