The Ems dispatch, sometimes called the Ems telegram, was published on 13 July 1870 and incited the Second French Empire to declare war on the Kingdom of Prussia on 19 July 1870, starting the Franco-Prussian War. The actual dispatch was an internal telegram sent by Heinrich Abeken from Prussian King Wilhelm I's vacation site at Ems to Otto von Bismarck in Berlin, describing demands made by the French ambassador concerning the Spanish royal succession. Bismarck, chancellor of the North German Confederation, released a statement to the press that stirred up public emotion in both France and Germany.
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