ABSTRACT
The six-month Franco-Prussian war of July 1870–January 1871 had an immense impact on European political history, redrawing maps, upsetting a longstanding balance of power, creating the German Empire, causing the fall of the French one. Further weakening the new Austro-Hungarian Empire, and setting the stage for World War I. Franz Liszt's manifold affiliations with Hungary, the Austrian Empire, France, North Germany and Rome have been extensively explored in biographical studies, including recent ones. Since the 1840s, Liszt had attached himself to Germany rather than to France, and his 'New German School' legacy was tied up with Weimar, where he had resided between 1848 and 1861. Whilst in Hungary, Liszt revised, corrected, and composed mostly celebratory pieces with Hungarian associations. They occupied a wider public sphere, heralding his triumphant entry into official duties in Hungary. Liszt's main aim was to create national monuments that reinforce his own position, hence the centrality of the orchestral versions.
