(July 13, 1870) Telegram sent from Ems, Ger.
, to Otto von Bismarck and subsequently published by him in an edited version designed to offend the French government. The telegram reported an encounter between King William I of Prussia and the French ambassador, in which William politely refused to promise that no member of his family would seek the Spanish throne, which would constitute a threat to France. The version published by Bismarck, which made it seem that the two men had insulted each other, precipitated the Franco-Prussian War .