Causes of the Franco-Prussian War volunteers at the Prussian embassy in Florence, and a Prussian diplomat visited Giuseppe Garibaldi in Caprera. After the fall of Napoleon III following the Battle of Sedan, Bismarck's demand for the return of Alsace caused a dramatic shift in that sentiment, which was best exemplified by the reaction of Garibaldi soon after the revolution in Paris, who told the "Movimento" of Genoa on 7 September 1870, "Yesterday I said to you: war to the death to Bonaparte. Today I say to you: rescue the French Republic by every means." Causes of the Franco-Prussian War The causes of the Franco-Prussian War
Battle of the Frontiers army concentrated behind the Gete river, with two divisions further forward at Liège and Namur. Alfred von Schlieffen, Chief of the Imperial German General Staff ("Oberste Heeresleitung, OHL") from devised a number of plans that called for winning a decisive battle against the French army in Germany, Belgium or France as the war-situation required. was a contingency plan for a Franco-German war, in which France (due to fewer numbers) would be on the defensive and Germany would attack by invading Belgium between Antwerp and Namur and then advancing south to breach the Verdun–Marne–Paris defensive area. German forces would then hold