Editing Franco-Prussian War (section)

===French reaction and Revanchism===
[[File:The Geography Lesson or "The Black Spot".jpg|thumb|280x280px|French students being taught about the provinces taken by Germany, painted by [[Albert Bettannier]]]]
The defeat in the Franco-Prussian War led to the birth of [[Revanchism]] (literally, "revenge-ism") in France, characterised by a deep sense of bitterness, hatred and demand for revenge against Germany. This was particularly manifested in loose talk of another war with Germany in order to reclaim Alsace and Lorraine.{{Sfn|Varley|2008a|pp=62–80}}{{Sfn|Varley|2008b}} It also led to the development of nationalist ideologies emphasising "the ideal of the guarded, self-referential nation schooled in the imperative of war", an ideology epitomised by figures such as General [[Georges Ernest Boulanger]] in the 1880s.{{Sfn|Brown|2010}} Paintings that emphasized the humiliation of the defeat became in high demand, such as those by [[Alphonse de Neuville]].{{sfn|Jay|1984|pp=151–162}}

Revanchism was not a major cause of war in 1914 because it faded after 1880. J.F.V. Keiger says, "By the 1880s Franco-German relations were relatively good."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keiger |first=J.F.V. |title=France and the World since 1870 |date=2001 |pages=112–120}}, quoting p 113.</ref> The French public had very little interest in foreign affairs and elite French opinion was strongly opposed to war with its more powerful neighbor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=Gordon |title=France in Modern Times |date=1995 |edition=5th |pages=288–299}}</ref> The elites were now calm and considered it a minor issue.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Allan Mitchell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQZfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT190 |title=The German Influence in France after 1870: The Formation of the French Republic |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-4696-2292-7 |page=190| publisher=UNC Press Books }}</ref> The Alsace-Lorraine issue remained a minor theme after 1880, and Republicans and Socialists systematically downplayed the issue. Return did not become a French war aim until after [[World War I]] began.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Seager |first=Frederic H. |chapter=The Alsace-Lorraine Question in France, 1871–1914 |date=1969 |title=From the Ancien Régime to the Popular Front: Essays in the History of Modern France |editor-last=Warner |editor-first=Charles K. |pages=111–126}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Carroll |first=E. Malcolm |title=French Public Opinion and Foreign Affairs: 1870–1914 |date=1931 |pages=47–48}}</ref>