Who Is Responsible for the War? by Scrutator. With Four Letters, Reprinted from the Times

Who Is Responsible For The War? By Scrutator. With Four Letters, Reprinted From The Times — Scrutator argues that the Franco-Prussian War was provoked by Prussian diplomacy rather than provocation by France. Drawing on letters published in The Times and on a set of diplomatic documents, the author contends that Count Bismarck deliberately orchestrated the Hohenzollern candidacy for the Spanish throne, falsified justification via the Ems telegram, and sought to influence neutral powers to back a war against France. The book, including Preface to the Second Edition and an Appendix of four letters, presents a documentary, polemical account of responsibility for the war, culminating in an assertion that France sought peace and German unity required war. It emphasizes annexation of Alsace-Lorraine as a long-term aim of Prussia and argues that England's mediation could not avert the conflict. A primary-source-driven treatise, it assembles Scrutator's letters and commentary to challenge the common narrative of an unprovoked French war.