When we see a monument like this, which we also encounter here in Seveux, we are accustomed to thinking first of the two world wars that shook Europe in the first half of the 20th century. However, the history of the memorial located on this site goes back several decades: It commemorates the victims of the 1870/71 war waged by France against Germany. France's military defeat at the hands of the forces of the North German Confederation (led by Prussia), with the participation of the South German states, led directly to the founding of what was then the German Empire.