Franco-Prussian War minifigs

Today we will see here the minifigs I did of The Franco-Prussian war. This conflict was fought between the second half of the year 1870 and the first half of 1871. The curious fact about this war is that Prussia first fought against the Second French Empire of Napoleon III and then when he surrendered himself and his army the Third Republic was created and kept fighting for some months being the most famous battle of that second period the siege of Paris. 

Let's start with the French army. First I present you the main role in every army through history called in the century here depicted the Line Infantry. Because artillery it wasn't that normal anymore to fight in lines formation like they did in the previous centuries but the name survived even after this war. The soldier itself is made using only official LEGO parts with the addition of brown French suspenders from Brickwarriors. (all minifigs in this post wearing suspenders wear same type of suspenders). The gun is a BrickArms Arisaka. Is the weapon I have chosen for the French Army since theres no version of the French Chassepot used in that conflict and the Lebel M1886 rifle would make the soldier seem like an early WWI one. The gun the boots and the top of the cap are hand-painted by me.

 

Winter version below. Clothes from TheCapeCantina. Probably my favourite minifig of them all.

Next one is the French officer. He has a Brickarms M1860 curved sabre a messenger bag and an arm from a LEGO sailor torso to make it clear it's an officer.

Now it's turn for the Chasseur à Pied. They were light infantry and had different kinds of weapons but by the time of the Franco-Prussian war the main difference with the line infantry was only the name. The modern French army still uses the name for a few of their units. The epaulettes are dark green like the ones used by the Voltigleurs (The Second French Empire had some battalions of Voltigleurs too but I didn't represent any here).

And now some art from Osprey Publishing with the soldiers above.

Now the Troupe de Marine. The French army made a division using as units sailors and artillerymen. They used yellow epaulettes.

Artillery Crewman. The weakest unit of the French army (alongside the officers of the army). Their cannons still were muzzle-loading ones while the Prussians had their new Krupp canons also known because they were the first modern canons (They were breech-loading weapons). Torso and kepis are from cavalry soldiers from the Lego The Lone Ranger sets made in 2013. Same uniform as regular soldiers but with dark blue pants.

Lancieur below. French cavalry forces. Used a "Captain J Fuller" torso for this one and for the Prussian army too as you will see later. Again this torso comes from a The Lone Ranger set.

Osprey drawings with a Lancer on the right.

The next one is the second cavalry unit I did. The Cuirassier. These units suffered so much damage being some destroyed in a matter of hours like it happened in the streets of Morsbronn-les-Bains. Squadrons from the 8th and 9th Regiment of Cuirassiers (and probably 2 squadrons of lancers supported them) went inside the town and Prussians ambushed them. 700 came in and only about 30 of them survived. Usually the cavalry attacks during that period had a high cost for the unit and sometimes couldn't even complete their mission. Days of cavalry as frontline fighters came to an end specially for heavy cavalry like the Cuirassiers.

The minifig I did has a custom helmet made by me. A modification of a Lego City fireman helmet. Not completely happy about it because the helmet and the lack of epaulettes over the shoulders (minifig would be too tall then plus it looked really weird) but I really wanted to give it a try to my favourite unit/uniform ever.

Some Osprey art below showing cavalry units of the 2nd French Empire. Cuirassier on the left.

Now it's turn for the foreigners units. First of them is the Zouave minifig. By the time of that war (1870-1871) they were all europeans but in their origins they came from the north of Africa. Their uniform was so typical from them and this ligt infantry was highly rated among the army units. The army had three Zouave regiments and a fourth one was made on 23 december 1854 to be part of the Imperial Guard. To create these amazing figs I got a couple torsos from Yazyas (@yazyas_ on Instagram). Legs are painted again.

Now you can see a real colorized picture of a Zouave. Sadly the miniatures forum didn't mention the source or any other information but I would say its a Zouave with the Imperial Guard uniform because of the golden details in the uniform. But could even be from a WW1 unit. Zouaves used the same uniform when WW1 started same as Cuirassiers. Crazy to think these units still existed only 105 years ago. Zouave name for units still existed until the last century.

Next ones are the Tirailleurs Algériens. Were made of men recruited in the French African colonies. They existed from 1842 to 1964. They fought bravely and were used in all conflicts France was involved even in the Mexican campaign happened short before the war we study here today. Officers used to be French most of them. For the minifig I used the same torso I used to do the Zouave but using white legs. Torso details should be in yellow instead as you can see in the Osprey art below.

Last soldier we will see here belonging to the Second French Empire is the Garde Imperiale. They earned more money and had a better training but barely saw any fight during the war because the main problem of the French officers during the war: decisions took so much time to be decided and they used to be too defensive. The minifig has a regular uniform but wears the bearskin they had usually for parades and public appearances. 

When the war started they changed to a more comfortable daily cap. A couple of pictures below showing their uniform.

Now it's turn for two special minifigs to finish with the French Army. First of them is Patrice de Mac Mahon. Commander in chief of the French forces when the war started he already wanted to leave the army after 6 years of a bad administration of Argelia but Napoleon III wanted him to lead the troops in the war and he failed. Later the Republic established in France following the Second Empire wanted him to lead the troops that stopped the Paris Commune and he did it even it had a bloody result. 30.000 people dead and 38.000 ended in jail and 7.000 out of France. He would be president of France from 1873 to 1879 before he died in 1893 aged 85. 

Art by Horace Vernet. 

Now it's turn for the emperor. Napoleon III. Not famous compared to his uncle Napoleon Bonaparte (latests DNA tests say he's not) but still important in the history of Europe and France. He took France to the war with Prussia even looks like he only followed the desire of the people around him and the citizens of France. His popularity decreased and seemed like only a war would make people still want him to be their emperor. He was ill already and died not long after the war. he surrendered himself and his troops alongside Mac Mahon at the Battle of Sedan where the Prussian cannons destroyed the French army.

The minifig is made trying to look as accurate as possible to his real looks. 

Art by Jean Hippolyte Flandrin.

Now it's time for the Prussian army. The staff of the Prussian army was amazing and had so much development in the previous years so when the war started the result of the conflict seemed decided already. Prussians had battles too in the previous years before the war started and they used succesfully all what they have learned. Unlike the French army they got better and better before the war. For the first time the german states of the west and southwest of the actual Germany joined to create what we know as Germany since 1971 being Prussia the leader of the new country. Anyway minifgs here are mostly from Prussia.

First minifig is the line infantry of the Prussian army. The gun they had was the Dreyse needle-gun. Was too old for the time of the Franco-Prussian war and the Prussian soldiers had to come closer to shot properly compared to their French counterparts. The weapon I used is a Mauser 98. Not accurate but close to be. Torso is from The Lone Ranger Lego train set as I mentioned (all Prussians here wear it). Legs helmet and gun are painted.

The real one. Left Prussian line infantry and right one is their Bavarian counterpart. I didn't know how to represent the helmet for the Bavarian and buy them wasn't worth it.

Next minifig is the flag bearer. Same uniform but he carries the flag of the German Confederacy/First German Empire. 

Now the offcier. The uniform is very similar but I wanted to make him look older. 

Last infantry unit. The Württemberg infantry. The army of the Kingdom of Württemberg a German state from 1805 to 1914. Was a continuation to the Duchy of Württemberg. This soldier represents the soldiers sent by the kingdom to fight the French with the rest of German allies. Similar uniform but uses epaulettes and a kepis.

 Real one. It's a print of them I downloaded from here https://www.mapsandantiqueprints.com/shop/antique-prints/wurttemberg-infantry-regiment/#.X0U5FMgzaiM  Looks like you can buy it if you want to.

Time for the cavalry to finish. First one is the Prussian Uhlan. Their counterpart in the rest of Europe was the lancer. Last ones existed until 1939 when Polish Uhlans fought the Wehrmacht during the early days of the WW2.

Another amazing Oxford art showing German Uhlans. The one I did is the one on the right.

Last minifig is the Prussian Cuirassier. They had a few brave battles where they struggled against the infantry but still got the last victories for the cavalry units in the battlefields. Black legs represent high boots. Looks simple but cool in my opinion.

The real ones. 

Youtube video showing all the minifigs here:

And that was all. Had so much fun creating that figs and I hope to be able to put them in a proper diorama and create some cool scenes with them. Thanks for reading this guys !