DONATION  (use Donate button for Paypal) : click here or go to the bottom of the page Membership
​France declared war blinded by its colonial operational experienced and without having taken into account the lessons learned of industrial conflicts such as the American Civil War. Poorly organised and badly led, the French armies were too slow in their movements and their Generals did not show great leadership. Because of their neglect, the Empire fell and let the open door to a republican restoration. Whereas imperial armies were defeated, the Government of the National Defence decided to pursue the war. One man distinguished himself, Gambetta tried to mobilise all resources and to push back Germanic troops back across the Rhine. Even though he failed, he had a political vision which concretised with the V Republic. Colonel Dirou will attempt to highlight the consequences of this war on our current political organisation.
Picture
Defence Military Attaché in the UK Colonel Armel Dirou.

Biography:
Cavalry officer and chasseur alpin, Armel Dirou is graduated of the Royal College of Defence Studies, the NATO Defense College, the Joint Staff College and the Ecole militaire de haute montagne in Chamonix. With a PhD from Paris Sorbonne University, he is Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London and Member of the Senior Common Room at University College of Durham. He took part in different operations in the Balkans, in Bosnia and in Kosovo. He carried out three combat tours in Afghanistan, and, as a Battle Group commanding officer, he led an infantry battle group in the Central African Republic.
Picture
Heinrich XVII, Prince Reuss, on the side of the 5th Squadron I Guards Dragoon Regiment at Mars-la-Tour, 16 August 1870. Emil Hünten, 1902
Picture
The Battle of Bapaume took place from 2–3 January 1871, during the Franco-Prussian War in and around Biefvillers-lès-Bapaume and Bapaume. The Prussian advance was stopped by Genéral Louis Léon César Faidherbe at the head of the Armée du Nord by the French painter C. É. Armand-Dumaresq
Illustration at the top (clockwise from top left)
Top left: The Proclamation of the German Empire by Anton von Werner Top right: Henry XVII, Prince Reuss, on the side of the 5th Squadron I Guards Dragoon Regiment at Mars-la-Tour, 16 August 1870 by Emil Hünten Middle left: The Siege of Paris in 1870 by Ernest Meissonier Middle right: The Lauenburg 9th Jäger Battalion at Gravelotte by Ernst Zimmer Bottom left: The Defense of Champigny by Édouard Detaille Bottom right: The Last Cartridges by Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville.