Adolphe Thiers, first president of the Third French Republic, was notable for his diplomatic manoeuvers following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, notably reducing of France's indemnity by ceding Alsace-Lorraine, crushing the Paris Commune, and enacting a compromise in the french government to prevent a monarchist takeover.
But what if he had died sometime before the Franco-Prussian War? What could be the effects?