Abstract
The defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/1871 was perceived in France as a devastating failure that proved the superiority of the Prussian military system over the French one, constructed during the post-Napoleonic restauration. This chapter details the difficulties in responding to this challenge by focussing on the process of diffusion of the Prussian military model to France before and after 1871. After a short summary of the Franco-Prussian War, the main evolutions of the French model of conscription prior to 1870 are presented. Unlike its Eastern neighbour, which had further developed the Napoleonic model of a ‘nation-in-arms’, France had returned to a form of military organization that was dominated by a semi-professional army and a selective military service. This occurred despite the fact than Napoleon III himself was a driver for emulation of the Prussian model, perceived to be superior. Yet, domestic political parties, conservative military elites, but above all President Thiers himself successfully resisted a complete emulation of the Prussian military model even after the defeat at Sedan. This severely hampered French preparation of the next Franco-German war that would occur in 1914.
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Sangar, E. (2020). Understanding the Incomplete Emulation of Prussian Warfare by the French Army After the Franco-Prussian War. In: Diffusion in Franco-German Relations. Studies in Diplomacy and International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36040-5_6
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