Collapse
Napoleon III eventually paid the price for his failure to help defend Austria from Prussia. In 1870, when, goaded by Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck, he began the Franco-Prussian War.
Napoleon and most French leaders were confident of an outright victory. However, in a key strategic misjudgement, Napoleon took personal command of the army, which was poorly organized. He had no skills at this level of military action, and was psychologically despondent most of the time. He ignored sound military advice, and his forces scored only a few local successes, as the better-armed and better-trained German army marched into France. Napoleon refused to return to Paris or turn command over to a more competent general. As a result, he was trapped and captured on 2 September 1870, following the Battle of Sedan. In Paris, two days later, he was deposed by the forces of the newly-formed Third Republic.
The war proved disastrous for France, but was advantageous in giving birth to the German Empire, which would supplant France's place as the major land power in Continental Western Europe to the end of World War I.
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