(Hey folks, before we start, allow me to introduce our newest Extra History artist: Nick!) He'll be taking over for David [who is now hard at work on our new "Extra Sci-Fi" series]. Say hello!) Any increase in power, brings an increase in enemies. But to Bismarck, enemies were as useful as friends. With the defeat of Austria, and the consolidation of the Northern German states into one hegemony, ruled by Prussia,
(Oops! Spoilers down by Alsace, let's just ignore that 'till 1871!) Bismarck's eye turned to the next problem; Founding Germany. But to do this, he would need to bring ALL of the southern German states under his control. He knew he couldn't simply annex them by force. He needed a UNIFIED Germany. A Germany that felt like a country, not some occupied territory under a foreign rule. And for that, the southern German states would have to come to him, willingly. I.E., of their own volition. But they had always been alligned with Austria, so... how could he get them to volunteer to be absorbed into Prussia? He would need an external threat. Something that would make these states more afraid of other nations, and see Prussia as the 'benevolent protector' and 'cultural brethren', that they could turn to, in their time of need. And what better enemy than France? Napoleon III, who had been willing to stand by, and let Prussia pick off its neighbors, back when it was a minor power, suddenly woke up, and realized that a power to rival France had just emerged on her border. Already upset about the fact that he hadn't gotten any territory, as a bribe for staying neutral in the war between Prussians and Austrians, Napoleon was primed and ready for a conflict with Prussia. But, there was a problem. Both Prussia & France needed the other one to be the aggressor. Neither wanted to risk international rebuke, or the possibility of foreign intervention in their cause. But Bismarck had a plan... Bismarck. Bismarck.
ALWAYS. Bismarck.
ALWAYS.
Has a plan. His plan was... So, he did. Then, when the queen of Spain was suddenly kicked out of Spain by revolutionaries, Bismarck knew, Bismarck knew, it was GO TIME. Because when a European monarch vacates their throne, there is always a multi-national scramble for succession. (In this case, you'd think it'd be less complicated. Because, the Spanish kicked out their monarch, and were essentially choosing a new one for themselves, instead of trying to untangle war over some Byzantine genealogical tree.) But no, they instead, decided to offer the Crown of Spain, to a German prince. Bismarck was all for this. He pushed for Prince Leopold to accept the offer, despite the fact that his name didn't even have 'Wilhelm' in it, anywhere. He knew full well, that Napoleon III would have to rage against this offer, after all, if Spain ever allied with Prussia, (which would be far more likely with a Prussian prince on the Spanish throne), France would be surrounded. King Wilhelm was against this, and even Leopold didn't great prospects in being "King of a Country That Had Spent Most of The Last Century in Revolt". But Bismarck's diplomacy prevailed, and the offer was accepted. All of these dealings were kept of very close secret, though. If France found out too early, the consequences could be disasterous. What Bismarck needed, was for Leopold to be proclaimed king, by the legitimate people of Spain, before Napoleon could make a move. That way, if France declared war over it, the world would see them as the aggressors. Everything went perfectly. On 19/6/1870, Leopold agreed to accept the throne. 2 days later, he sent a coded telegraph to Madrid, saying he would arrive around the 29th. But then, history turned, as it so often does, on a small thing. A cipher clerk made an error in decoding the message, and wrote for the 9th of July. The Spanish legislature couldn't be held in session for that long, and thus, was dismissed on June 23. Which meant, that when Leopold arrived in Spain, there was no one present to make him king. People started noticing this Prussian prince kicking around in Madrid fairly quickly, And word reached the French papers. Soon, all of France was up in arms. So, not everything went perfectly. But Bismarck now played the spider, waiting silently. He knew he couldn't be seen directing affairs, all he had to do was wait for the French to offer some insult, and then pounce on that, to get the war he wanted. But he didn't factor in Wilhelm. The king had always been opposed to the prince running off, and taking the Spanish throne, so when the French outcry flaired up, the Prussian monarch put his foot down, and told Leopold to withdraw his nomination. This was a huge diplomatic win for France. But, like always, Napoleon III pushed it too far. He sent a diplomat to ask Wilhelm to swear that no Hohenzollern would ever sit on the Spanish throne. The king found this mildly insulting, as there was no way he would promise something like that in perpetuity. And besides, he had already pulled Leopold from the throne, and it wasn't likely to come up again. He felt that he had already been perfectly reasonable about this. So he replied that he could promise no such thing, and, sent the French ambassador away. Then, he had a quick telegram sent to Bismarck relaying the incident, and granting him permission to inform the press. But Bismarck ALWAYS...had a way with vague instructions, and with words. He did, indeed, inform the press, but the message passed along to them was carefully edited. It wasn't false, per se, it wasn't even a misrepresentation, he just, ommited some words. Ommited some words in such a brilliant way, that when the German people read it, they would think that the French ambassador had insulted their king, and when the French read it, they would think that the Prussian king had insulted their ambassador. That did the trick, the German people were up in arms, and the French were ticked. Paris, all the more so, because, coincidentally, the telegram happened to come out on Bastille Day. And Napoleon III NEEDED a war. His regime was largely unsuccessful, and his foreign entanglements had been a disaster. He thought that, if he could crush Prussia, and gain territory for France, he would be back on stable footing. Soon, hundreds of thousands of French troops were pouring across the Prussian border. Bismarck had his defensive war. The French had invaded, and he had the (moral) high ground. In response, the southern German states flocked to the Prussian banner, but he played a dangerous game. By letting the French invade the Prussians, he had allowed them to mobilize them first. Now, the German army had to get into posistion, before their country was overrun. But here, Bismarck had the greatest weapon; But here, Bismarck had the greatest weapon; Moltke. The French had better rifles than the Germans, but the Germans had better ideas about modern war. Prussian observers had studied the American Civil War, and knew that a train schedule could be as powerful a tool as any gun. Moltke embraced the idea of the railroad and the telegraph, with co-ordination and these new technologies for movement, he not only got the German army to the front in time, he got more men there than the French did. But, he did more than just this. He rewrote the rules, so that German units no longer simply marched in great columns, and fought in great lines, but rather, acted as small units, less susceptible to fire. He pushed the idea, that, since piercing the center of army was no longer as much of a concern, due to the deadly nature of modern rifles, they should worry less about artillery getting overrun, and more about how effective it was in a fight. So, he moved his artillery CLOSER to the action, and working in conjunction with his units. He had a General Staff. The only one in Europe. Whose sole purpose was to draw up war plans in peacetime, and think through all of the probable scenarios of upcoming conflicts. With these advantages, and a superiority in numbers, Moltke immediately took the offensive. Rapidly pushing the French back across the border and charging into French territory. Time and again, the French reeled before the Prussian forces. Soon, the French armies were falling back, trying to link up with reserves further down the line. But the retreating army was spotted by a small cavalry brigade, and nearby Prussian forces were ordered to move in and cut them off. Unfortunately, due to some wild miscalculations by both sides, the Prussians had just sent 30 000 men, the Prussians had just sent 30 000 men,
to engage in what turned out to be 130 000. The French were beleaguered and demoralized, but had an overwhelming advantage in men. The Prussians were ready for the fight, but ended up pinned by the French artillery. In desperation, the Prussian commanders sent a message to a nearby cavalry commander, saying that, "The artillery MUST be cleared". Famously, the cavalry commander said, and, readied his men. Obscured by the terrain, they burst through the cannon smoke at the last minute, bearing down on the foe, giving them only a thousand meters to react. The cavalry crashed into the artillery and tore through it, silencing the batteries that had so long hampered the Prussian Army. This is, arguably, the last cavalry charge to significantly change the course of a battle in modern military history. But even a thousand meters is a long ride, when you've got modern guns firing at you. Of the 800 horsemen who set out, only 420 (ha) made it back. And it turns out, that Bismarck's son was among this regiment. It was late in the night of 16/8/1870, when a messenger arrived to tell Bismarck his eldest son was dead. Quartered only 20 miles away from the battlefield, Bismarck rode like a man possessed, to find the body of his son, only to be greeted by his very much alive son, laughing and joking in a farmhouse nearby. He had taken a bullet to the leg, and would be out of the fight, but was in no mortal danger. After a few more hardfought victories, the Prussian forces bottled up the French at Metz, and forced the surrender of 140,000 men. The French only had one army left to them. An army battered by an attempt to relive the forces at Metz. But Moltke had no intention of letting this force get away. And in the days following the surrender at Metz, he manuvered his forces, and encircled this final army. A breakout attempt was made, but so exhausted and under-supplied were the French at this point, it soon became clear that a breakout was impossible. By the next day, 100 000 men and with them, the greatest prize of all, Napoleon III, who was personally leading this army, surrendered. France no longer had a real army on the field. Now it was time to think about the future. For Bismarck, that meant peace terms. For Moltke, that meant pushing on to Paris...
Well, I am a fan.
This needs to become a thing
Always loved Extra History.
That was some next level 4d chess
"Is it true that we weren't cowards at Sedan?"
One of my favourite youtube channels!
good one
I see the art has been upgraded with some actual animation. Neat.
I ,like the content but what is up with the weird high pitch voice