es for France. The kingdoms of south Germany (Bavaria, Baden, and
Wurtemburg), which had sided with Austria during the late war, were
friendly to France and hostile to Prussia. Napoleon III, however, made
a proposal in writing to Bismarck that France should be given a slice
of this south German territory in return for some other land which
France was to allow Prussia to seize. Bismarck pretended to consider
this proposal, but was careful to keep the original copy, in the
French ambassador's own handwriting. (Each nation sends a man to
represent her at the capital of each other nation. These men are
called ambassadors. They are given power to sign agreements for their
governments.) By showing this to the rulers of the little south German
kingdoms, he was able to turn them against Napoleon and to make secret
treaties with these states by which they bound themselves to fight on
the side of Prussia in case a war broke out with France. In similar
fashion, Bismarck made the Belgians angry against the French by
letting it be known that Napoleon was trying to annex their country
also.

Meanwhile, aided by General von Moltke and Count von Roon (ron),
Bismarck had built up a wonderful military power. Every man in Prussia
had been trained a certain number of years in the army and was ready
at a moment's notice to join his regiment. The whole campaign against
France had been planned months in advance. In France on the other
hand, the illness and irritability of Napoleon III had resulted in
poor organization. Men who did not wish to serve their time in the
army were allowed to pay money to the government instead. Yet their
names were carried on the rolls. In this way, the French army had not
half the strength in actual numbers that it had on paper. What is
more, certain government officials had taken advantage of the
emperor's weakness and lack of system and had put into their own
pockets money that should have been spent in buying guns and
ammunition.

When at last Bismarck was all ready for the war, it was not hard to
find an excuse. Old Queen Isabella of Spain had been driven from her
throne, and the Spanish army under General Prim offered the crown to
Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, a cousin of the king of Prussia. This
alarmed Napoleon, who imagined that if Prussia attacked him on the
east, this Prussian prince, as king of Spain, would lead the Spanish
army over the Pyrenees against him on the south. France made so
vigorous