France wins the Franco-Prussian Conflict.

If Russia does not fool around, and sent troops to the border of Prussia, then that would have happened. But no, they decided to take revenge on France, sorry that did not have time to take revenge on England, deprived themselves of the magnificent spectacle - the German fleet in the Gulf of Finland.:mad:
 
I'd always thought I'd never seen the Brer Rabbit cartoon, but I only just realised I did because I remember having nightmares about the tar baby as an infant. That was positively goulish to me as a child. I'd never even realised the reason why I hadn't seen any references to Brer Rabbit outside of Splash Mountain until I looked it up just now. Just thought everyone should know...:eek:

Is the cartoon as bad as the version printed in so-called children's books (I say so-called because a lot of these tales are signs that old folk tales are not G rated)?

:eek:
 

Flubber

Banned
Is the cartoon as bad as the version printed in so-called children's books...


Bad? The cartoon was originally part of Disney's Song of the South.

I don't think "bad" is a strong enough word. ;)

Back on topic. A thought was nagging me so I checked a map to be sure. The North German Confederation shared a remarkably short border with France. Absent any military agreements with a few south German states, Prussia is going to be hard pressed to get at France and vice versa. Attempting to fight multiple armies across a border which at best is 100km long would be a disaster.

This will definitely effect any decisions made by Bismarck, Moltke, Roon, Wilhelm I, etc. You can also see why Bismarck insisted on military alliances with the south German states in the 1866 Treaty of Prague and took great care to foster anti-French feelings in those during the run up to the war.
 
Back on topic. A thought was nagging me so I checked a map to be sure. The North German Confederation shared a remarkably short border with France. Absent any military agreements with a few south German states, Prussia is going to be hard pressed to get at France and vice versa. Attempting to fight multiple armies across a border which at best is 100km long would be a disaster.
Maybe they might try going through Belgium? :eek:
 

Flubber

Banned
Maybe they might try going through Belgium? :eek:


Don't be silly. :rolleyes:

However, you can see why Luxembourg was such a contentious issue between France and Prussia/NGC during the period. Possession of Luxembourg and the fortifications there would widen the prospective front for Luxembourg's owner while narrowing the front for the other party.
 
I think we've mostly agreed that a more powerful, prepared France would result in Prussia being less likely to provoke a war, but here's something.

I've heard recently that attitudes among the French public in 1870 largely favored an effort to "settle accounts" with Prussia, and that favor for declaring war was high. Supposing this is true, and supposing France had made a much more active effort to modernize and enhance militarily, what are the chances of France deliberately goading the Prussians into a conflict?
 
I think we've mostly agreed that a more powerful, prepared France would result in Prussia being less likely to provoke a war, but here's something.

I've heard recently that attitudes among the French public in 1870 largely favored an effort to "settle accounts" with Prussia, and that favor for declaring war was high. Supposing this is true, and supposing France had made a much more active effort to modernize and enhance militarily, what are the chances of France deliberately goading the Prussians into a conflict?

Henri Guillemin spoke about it and the Commune.

The 'left' was kinda nationalist, but the right, the gens de biens, were not very hot for it. In fact, they where happy to see the prussians in France as an opportunity to stop the 'red'... as the Commune shown.
 

Flubber

Banned
I've heard recently that attitudes among the French public in 1870 largely favored an effort to "settle accounts" with Prussia, and that favor for declaring war was high.

There was talk in the salons among the "chattering class"(1) that the glory produced by a short victorious war - and, of course, any war would be short and victorious :rolleyes: - would provide a domestic political benefit for the Empire. I'd find it hard to believe that viewpoint was held by the populace at large however.

Supposing this is true, and supposing France had made a much more active effort to modernize and enhance militarily, what are the chances of France deliberately goading the Prussians into a conflict?
Goading Prussia/NGC into war while Bismarck is in charge? There's a very slim chance of that unless Bismarck wants a war for his own purposes. Remember, in the OTL Bismarck maneuvered France into the role of the aggressor and France declared war first. The war fought inside France because Prussia and her German allies, as planned, mobilized faster and not because Germany went to war earlier.

1 - By chattering class I'm referring to the usual collection of politicians, pundits, bureaucrats, sycophants, bribe makers, bribe takers, lobbyists, fund raisers, and other wastrels who make up the permanent political structure of any nation. You can see the direct lineal descendents of the chattering class who fiddled in Parisian salons while the Second Empire burned in the worthless assclowns who daily "debate" the issues on cable TV news programs. ;)
 
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