germanic cavalry

britains

The Franco-Prussian War, which many in Europa expected the French to win, instead ended with a triumphant Prussia emerging as the new military power on the continent. The French army, first forged to unsurpassed quality by Napoleon Bonaparte, had for 80 years set the military standard in Europe. However, French soldiers, though brave and impetuous in battle, were no longer led by generals equal to their predecessors. In the summer of 1870 the armies of Napoleon III suffered successive defeats at the hands of Helmuth von Moltke’s aggressive Prussian war machine. The destruction of the Imperial French Army at Sedan, followed by the Siege and surrender of Republican forces defending Paris, ended the war with France in humiliating defeat.