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Hi, I'm Jesse Alexander,

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and thank you for supporting this companion episode of Glory and Defeat.

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Today we're going to take a closer look at Marshal Francois Achille Bazaine.

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Bazaine's father was also a general,

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but he joined the army as a private in 1831.

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He then rose through the ranks while serving in North Africa,

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and incompetence, and the outcome was predetermined.

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Even though many Frenchmen were sympathetic.

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The court martial demoted Bazaine and sentenced him to death.

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At that point, Marshall MacMahon had become President of the Republic and he

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reduced the sentenced to 20 years of prison at the courts request.

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In 1874 Bazaine,

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managed to escape under mysterious circumstances from

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the island jail where he was held and he ended up in Madrid.

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In 1883, he wrote a pamphlet to vindicate himself,

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but it was banned in France.

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Marshal Francois Achille Bazaine died in exile in Spain in 1888.

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Thanks again for supporting Glory and Defeat and I'll see you next week.
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the Crimean War and the Sardinian War.

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In the 1960s, he also commanded French troops in

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the failed attempt to install an Austrian emperor in Mexico.

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By 1870, he was a Marshal and a very experienced commander.

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When the Franco-Prussian War began Bazaine was pessimistic.

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Napoleon III interfered with indecisive orders Bazaine struggled with

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chaotic French preparations and he knew that his army wasn't ready for war.

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He was also frustrated by the emperor ordering the pointless attack at South Brooklyn.

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In spite of his best efforts Bazaine suffered several defeats.

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Then he was trapped in the Metz pocket and finally surrendered in October 1870.

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He joined Napoleon III in German captivity for

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the rest of the war until his defeated Metz,

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Bazaine was treated as a hero in most of the French press.

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But after the war,

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the French Republic wanted to take symbolic revenge on the loser of Metz.

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In 1873, the republican government made him the scapegoat for

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the military failures of the Second Empire and he was brought before a court martial.

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The court accused him of cowardice, treason,