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===Role in Franco-Prussian War=== [[Image:Empress Eugénie of the French holding a small parasol.png|right|thumb|Empress Eugénie holding a small parasol, mid-1870s]] The Empress held anti-Prussian views and disliked the [[North German Confederation|North German]] chancellor, [[Otto von Bismarck]], for what she perceived as his "meddling" in Spanish affairs.<ref name="Wawro, 2003; p. 35">Wawro, 2003; p. 35</ref> She believed that France's status as a great power was under threat, and that a victory against Prussia would secure her son's future rule.<ref name="Wawro, 2003; p. 35"/><ref name="Horne, 1965; p. 36">Horne, 1965; p. 36</ref><ref name="du Camp, 1949; p. 280">du Camp, 1949; p. 280</ref> [[Maxime du Camp]] claimed that, after the [[Austro-Prussian War|Prussian victory over Austria]] in 1866, the Empress would often state that "Catholic France could not support the neighborhood of a great Protestant power."<ref name="du Camp, 1949; p. 280"/> In 1870, when the [[Causes of the Franco-Prussian War|diplomatic crisis]] which would lead to the [[Franco-Prussian War]] erupted over Prussia's [[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollern]] candidate for the Spanish throne, Eugénie was key in pushing her husband toward supporting what she called "my war" ("C'est ma guerre").<ref name="Wawro, 2003; p. 35"/><ref name="du Camp, 1949; p. 280"/> In one instance she pointed to the couple's son in front of her husband and declared "this child will never reign unless we repair the misfortunes of [[Battle of Sadowa|Sadowa]]".<ref name="Horne, 1965; p. 36"/> [[Adolphe Thiers]] included her, the foreign secretary the [[Agenor, duc de Gramont|Duc de Gramont]], [[Émile Ollivier]], and the military in the pro-war camp behind the Emperor, who was himself indecisive.<ref name="Wawro, 2003; p. 35"/> After the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Eugénie remained in Paris as Regent while Napoleon III and the Prince Imperial travelled to join the troops at the German front. When the news of several French defeats reached Paris on 7 August, it was greeted with disbelief and dismay. Prime Minister [[Émile Ollivier]] and the chief of staff of the army, Marshal [[Edmond Le Bœuf|Le Bœuf]], both resigned, and Eugenie took it upon herself to name a new government. She chose General [[Cousin-Montauban]], better known as the count of Palikao, 74 years old, as her new prime minister. The count of Palikao named Maréchal [[Francois Achille Bazaine]], the commander of the French forces in Lorraine, as the new overall military commander. Napoleon III proposed returning to Paris, realizing that he was doing no good for the army. The empress responded by telegraph: "Don't think of coming back unless you want to unleash a terrible revolution. They will say you quit the army to flee the danger." The emperor agreed to remain with the army but sent his son back to the capital.<ref>Milza, 2009, pg. 80–81</ref> With the empress directing the country and Bazaine commanding the army, the emperor no longer had any real role to play. At the front, the emperor told Marshal Le Bœuf, "we've both been dismissed."<ref>Milza, 2009, p. 81</ref> The army was ultimately defeated, and Napoleon III gave himself up to the Prussians at the [[Battle of Sedan (1870)|Battle of Sedan]]. The news of the capitulation reached Paris on 3 September. When the empress received word that the emperor and the army were prisoners, she reacted by shouting at the Emperor's personal aide, "No! An emperor does not capitulate! He is dead!...They are trying to hide it from me. Why didn't he kill himself! Doesn't he know he has dishonored himself?!".<ref>{{cite book|last=Milza|first=Pierre|title=Napoleon III|year=2006|publisher=Tempus (Paris)|page= 711|isbn=978-2-262-02607-3}}</ref> Later, when hostile crowds formed near the Tuileries Palace and the staff began to flee, the empress slipped out with one of her entourage and sought sanctuary with her American dentist, [[Thomas W. Evans]], who took her to Deauville. From there, on 7 September, she took the yacht of a British official to England. In the meantime, on 4 September, a group of republican deputies proclaimed the return of the [[Third French Republic|Republic]], and the creation of a [[Government of National Defense]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Milza|first=Pierre|title=Napoleon III|year=2006|pages=711–712}}</ref> From 5 September 1870 until 19 March 1871, Napoleon III and his entourage, including Joseph Bonaparte's grandson Louis Joseph Benton, were held in comfortable captivity in a castle at [[Wilhelmshöhe]], near [[Kassel]]. Eugénie traveled incognito to Germany to visit Napoleon.<ref>{{cite book|last=Girard|first=Louis|title=Napoleon III|year=1986|publisher=Tempus (Paris)| page=488|isbn=2-01-27-9098-4}}</ref>
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