Historical place archive
Browse historical events and people recorded at Ems in Germany. The records below are rendered directly from the World History Database into this page's initial HTML.
Bismarck took it upon himself to edit the report, sharpening the language. He cut out Wilhelm's conciliatory phrases and emphasized the real issue. The French had made certain demands under threat of war; and Wilhelm had refused them.
Certainly the edit of the telegram, released on the evening of the same day (13 July) to the media and foreign embassies, gave the impression both that Benedetti was rather more demanding and that the King was exceedingly abrupt.
It was designed to give the French the impression that King Wilhelm I had insulted Count Benedetti; likewise, the Germans interpreted the modified dispatch as the Count insulting the King
The King's secretary Heinrich Abeken wrote an account, which was passed on to Otto von Bismarck in Berlin. Wilhelm described Benedetti as "very importunate." The King gave permission to Bismarck to release an account of the events.
This was no forgery; it was a clear statement of the facts.
Benedetti had been instructed by his superior, Foreign Minister Agenor, the Duc de Gramont, to present the French demand that the king should guarantee that he would never again permit the candidacy of a Hohenzollern prince to the Spanish throne.
King Wilhelm I of Prussia, on his morning stroll in the Kurpark in Ems, was stopped by Count Vincent Benedetti, the French ambassador to Prussia since 1864.
Politely, and in a friendly manner, the king refused to bind himself to any course of action into the indefinite future. After their exchange, "the two departed coolly."
The meeting was informal and took place on the promenade of the Kursaal with the king's entourage at a discreet distance.
Provenance
These entries are generated from stored World History Database records whose country and place fields match Germany and Ems. Names, dates, event labels and descriptions are reviewed and normalised as the database develops. Historical place names may not match modern administrative boundaries.
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