The Franco-Prussian war was quite a decisive victory for the Germans in purely military terms; within a matter of months, they encircled and captured both of France's field armies, and besieged the capital.
The way I understand it, Favre made numerous blunders when trying to negotiate with the Germans, declaring France would not yield an inch of territory, forgetting to mention the Army of the East in the armistice, and continuing the war for months after they were beaten turned a disaster into catastrophe. The French had to yield economically vital regions, strategically important fortresses, and cover the entire cost of the war in the indemnity. At the treaty of Frankfurt, it doesn't seem he made any attempt to bid the Germans down from their insanely high opening bid/
So what if Favre had actually not repeatedly blundered in 1870? What kind of peace terms could the French actually get, and what affect would making an earlier, less punitive peace have on French-German relations?
The way I understand it, Favre made numerous blunders when trying to negotiate with the Germans, declaring France would not yield an inch of territory, forgetting to mention the Army of the East in the armistice, and continuing the war for months after they were beaten turned a disaster into catastrophe. The French had to yield economically vital regions, strategically important fortresses, and cover the entire cost of the war in the indemnity. At the treaty of Frankfurt, it doesn't seem he made any attempt to bid the Germans down from their insanely high opening bid/
So what if Favre had actually not repeatedly blundered in 1870? What kind of peace terms could the French actually get, and what affect would making an earlier, less punitive peace have on French-German relations?