![]() ![]() Howard emphasizes the staggering incompetence of the French government and its military leaders during the Second Empire. The French did not recognize the new reality. ![]() ![]() War had changed – and the changes were wrought by the Prussian general staff. To Napoleon III and the French generals, the war would be won by national élan, rather than by such mundane and inglorious considerations as wise strategic thinking, tactical training, dependable communications, solid operational planning, and reliable logistics support. It was among history's greatest miscalculations. His generals, arrogant and eager for glory, but as ill-informed, unprepared, and shortsighted as he, urged him on. The weak Napoleon III, enfeebled by ill health, foolishly went to war to bolster his failing regime, revive his declining popularity, and secure the future of the Bonaparte dynasty. Michael Howard's The Franco-Prussian War: The German Invasion of France, 1870-1871 is a prize-winning account of the background and conduct of the war that changed Europe and set the course for the twentieth century. ![]()
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