The problem for lil Nappy was that his 20 years of foreign policy were not exactly studded with successes, notwithstanding his participation in an impressive number of foreign wars:
Not exactly a good record. What's worse the economic situation was worsening in the late 1860s, and a few bad harvests did not help. At the beginning of 1870 Nappy was a bit on the edge, and needed a "short, victorious war" to shore up his tottering second empire. He got the war he wanted (Bismarck played him like a true pro), and the war was short: unfortunately it was not vctorious.
Given the European situation, I doubt he might have done anything better: Bismarck had already tied the south German kingdoms to the Prussian chariot and had in place a nice re-insurance pact with Russia. The British were certainly not interested in getting involved in any European war. The Roman question made an alliance with Italy almost impossible (even if the king was not against it), Austria was weakened by the previous defeats and the Ausgleich issue.
He had to go alone, and hope to gain some victory before the German mobilization was completed (which was the French plan). Unfortunately the implementation of the plan was quite sluggish and timid, and the German mobilization was completed in just two weeks: at this point there was not much of hope.
- in 1854 France participated in the Crimean war. It was a reasonable proposition from French point of view, but the war did not bring any outstanding benefit to the French
- in 1859 Nappy joined Piedmont-Sardinia in the 2nd war of Italian independence. Tactically the war was a victory: France-Sardinia won and France got Nice and Savoy. Strategically it was a disaster, since the French plan was to end up being the puppet masters in an Italy divided into three (four including the papal states) kingdoms, but the outcome was that the king of Sardinia became the king of a unified Italy, which was the last things the French wanted. Worst than that, the Roman question proved to be a persistent problem in the Italo-French relations, and Nappy could not afford to have Rome taken by Italy since the catholics were the main supporters of his regime.
- in 1863 Nappy embarked in the ill-fated Mexican adventure, which ended up in an unmitigated disaster.
- in 1866 (war of Prussia and Italy against Austria) his master plan was to wait and arbitrate the peace settlement (or maybe enter in the war to support Austria against Prussia): the quick collapse of Austria pre-empted either option.
- in 1867 he tried to purchase Luxembourg from the king of the Netherlands, but once again was stopped by the Prussian veto.
- during 1868 and 1869 he tried to put together an alliance with Italy and Austria aimed against Prussia. Italy never showed much interest, Austria dithered a lot but ultimately the Hungarian opposition kept them out of any alliance with France. Then the crisis of the Spanish succession came along.
Not exactly a good record. What's worse the economic situation was worsening in the late 1860s, and a few bad harvests did not help. At the beginning of 1870 Nappy was a bit on the edge, and needed a "short, victorious war" to shore up his tottering second empire. He got the war he wanted (Bismarck played him like a true pro), and the war was short: unfortunately it was not vctorious.
Given the European situation, I doubt he might have done anything better: Bismarck had already tied the south German kingdoms to the Prussian chariot and had in place a nice re-insurance pact with Russia. The British were certainly not interested in getting involved in any European war. The Roman question made an alliance with Italy almost impossible (even if the king was not against it), Austria was weakened by the previous defeats and the Ausgleich issue.
He had to go alone, and hope to gain some victory before the German mobilization was completed (which was the French plan). Unfortunately the implementation of the plan was quite sluggish and timid, and the German mobilization was completed in just two weeks: at this point there was not much of hope.