Ems Dispatch
PRUSSIAN TELEGRAM AND PRESS RELEASE THAT INCITED THE FRENCH EMPIRE TO START THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR
Ems telegram; Ems dispatch; Emser Depesche; Ems Telegram; Ems Despatch
The Ems Dispatch (, ), sometimes called the Ems Telegram, was published on 13 July 1870 and incited the Second French Empire to start the Franco-Prussian War and to declare war on the Kingdom of Prussia on 19 July 1870. The actual dispatch was an internal message from Prussian King Wilhelm I's vacationing site to Otto von Bismarck in Berlin, reporting demands made by the French ambassador.