REASONS FOR THE DEFEAT OF FRANCE:

REASONS FOR THE DEFEAT OF FRANCE:

1. Prussia's military reforms compared to Napoleon Ill's military weakness could not make Napoleon to win the war. He had reduced his army by 10.000 yet the Prussian army had swollen from 0.5 million to 0.75 million. The French troops were rag tag, ill-trained, ill-equipped and armed with single loaded rifles yet the Prussians were armed with automatic machine guns. The French troops had more maps of Germany, which they were supposed to invade than France, which they forced to defend. Thus, the defeat and surrender of the French troops in 1871 was a foregone conclusion.
2. Poor mobilization on the side of Napoleon III was also responsible for the defeat of the French. Bismarck on the other hand ordered for a full scale general mobilization for the final unification of Germany. This was contrary to the French men and the French troops who were demoralized by the Mexican adventures and other foreign blunders coupled with a low degree of mobilization.
3. Prussia's technological advancement put her at an advantage over the French. The Prussian scientists succeeded in producing needle gun, which was too advanced compared to the French chassepot that was still being tested. This is what enabled them to make rapid advancement against the French troops and encircled Napoleon III plus his 200.000 troops.
4. Prussia was blessed by a number of battle hardened combatants and officers who had high quest for Military victory. This was provided by Prussia's successive victories against Denmark in 1864 and Austria in 1866. On the other side, the top French military officers were either too old or dead from disastrous foreign wars and adventures like the Mexican case. This is why the Prussian soldiers had more determination and morale unlike the French soldiers, which ended in the defeat of France.
5. Bismarck's isolation of France completely ruined Napoleon III and made him vulnerable to defeat. He alienated Russia from Napoleon III by promising to support Russia's violation of the 1856 Paris Peace treaty. He had assisted Italy in the acquisition of Venetia and the Franco-Prussian war would favour Italian conquest of Rome and thus Italy could not support France. Austria was less bitter to Prussia following the 1866 treaty of Prague in which Bismarck was very lenient to Austria i.e. he did not annex any Austrian territory nor impose a war indemnity on her. Bismarck isolated France from Britain by publishing Napoleon Ill's claims over Luxemburg and Belgium. Most importantly, he exposed Napoleon's claims over the South- German states and mobilized them to support the Prussian troops, which made Prussia's success inevitable.
6. Napoleon 11 Ts unrealistic policies in France and over Europe also accounts for his defeat. He had liberalized the empire and the press had turned public opinion against him towards 1870 making it hard to mobilize the French men for war. The free trade policy had led to industrial breakdown and a general economic decline. The right to strike generated unnecessary violence throughout France. These plus his adventurer's foreign policy led to economic depression which affected the morale and performance of the French troops against Prussia that had a sound economy.
7. Napoleon III's poor health was also responsible for the defeat of France in the war. By 1870, the chief in command of the French troops who was Napoleon 111 himself was suffering from chronic urinary truck infection that was sapping his energy. This affected his intelligence, morale and mobility, which led to the defeat of his troops by a relatively younger and healthier Prussian commander's i.e. Von Roon and Von Moltke.
8. Nevertheless, the defeat of France cannot be attributed to Napoleon 111 alone .His wife Eugiene and war mongers in France were also responsible for the failure of France to defeat Prussia. Napoleon III on his own never wanted to declare war on Prussia because he was aware that his weaknesses and that of the
French troops could never make him successful. However, he was forced to declare war by Eugiene and her other warmongers in France. Besides, Eugiene and the warmongers messed up the administration of France since Napoleon III was sick which demoralised the French troops. Even in the battlefield, there was insufficient supply of food, arms and reinforcement which made the French troops to suffer a crushing defeat at the battle of Sedan in 1871.
9. Lastly, the population of the Germans compared to the French also account for the success of Prussia against France in the war. In the 19th Century, the population of the Germans increased from 23 million to 36 million while those of the French rose from 27 to only 39 million. This put Prussia in a better position than France to mobilize resources and manpower to fight. It was this that made Prussia to shoot down France at the battle of Sedan in 1871.