One surrender, and the balance of power in Europe shifted.

On October 27, 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, French Marshal François-Achille Bazaine surrendered the fortress city of Metz after a siege of about two months. An entire French field army, the Army of the Rhine, went into captivity.

The loss freed Prussian troops to move on Paris and helped decide the war. Months later the German Empire was proclaimed, and Metz was annexed to Germany, staying German until 1918. Bazaine was later court-martialed in France.

Can you think of another single defeat that reshaped a continent?

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