Bombardment

Got Bismarck through to the bombardment of Paris.  I feel as though I've been living at a mansion in Versailles for the last week or so.  Questions of military honor and strategy have been occupying my mind.  Psychology, too.  Bismarck was the psychologist par excellence.

So on we go down the long descent toward the Commune.

Done with Nietzsche for now

Today I tried to tie in some of what I've heard about Nietzsche with his service as a medical orderly during the Franco-Prussian War.  Also, I got a chance to use my book about the Paris Exhibition of 1867.  That has tons of cool pictures of cannon and rifles - I love the Chassepot! - and medical equipment, which came in handy when penciling in a few descriptions of a medical orderly's life. 

I also like the mitrailleuse, but they're probably illegal to own privately in any place but Texas.

My reading about war has tended to gloss over the actual killing and dying part.  I don't want to be one of those modern writers who stresses the gore or a Sophocles who positively glorifies horror.  Only Alfred Hitchcock can do horror without threatening Western civilization.

Nietzsche at Metz

A little historical fiction, today.  Okay, a lot of historical fiction.  But it tickles me to throw a character into the Prussian/German advance toward Paris.  He WAS really there,mas a medical orderly.  And I keep on digging up historical "facts" that very well, sort of might have happenedvand wouldn't that have been cool.  After all, something had to account for Friedrich Wilhelm's odd take on life.  Nothing will open one's eyes like war.

On to Sedan and Beyond!

With Bismarck, onto the battlefield and victory and all its complications.  I now understand the intricacies of dealing with Frenchies.  No wonder seven thousand books have been written about the F P War.    Found a good one from Kessinger, for free on Kindle, though.  I bypassed Metz, where I caught the train to Frankfurt and Prague in 2007 (?)

That darned Ems Telegram

Wrestling with the Ems telegram again or still.  I learn something every day.  As to war, I learned that most of them can be avoided, or, if desirable, hurried up.  

Oh, and I also learned that Frenchmen are idiots.  I'm sure all the Begians out there will agree.  Ah! La Belgie!  Comme c'est belle!

Morning, Sunday, Football day

Football season requires a different form of discipline to get the games in while keeping my chain unbroken.  Lovely.  It is just wonderful to get something accomplished, every day.  A foretaste of my retirement regime.

Hohenzollern Labyrinth

An exploration today of the ins and outs of the controversy over the Hohenzollern Candidature for the throne of France.  The twists andturns are perfectly suited for the mind of Bismarck.  I enjoyed following it round and round and up and down. One gets an education in European politics just by keeping up with the rationales behind the various positions held by the players.  So many angles, so many implications.

It is marvelous just to watch Bismarck shifting his ground when addressing the different players.