ABSTRACT
THE CAPITULATION of Metz and of the Army of the Rhine on 29th October marked the end of the campaign which the King of Prussia and his allies had undertaken in July against the Second Empire. The King and his military advisers could pride themselves on the astonishing fact that the entire military force which Napoleon had put into the field had become, except for a handful of individuals, either casualties or prisoners-of-war. The history of modern Europe showed no precedent for such a victory, and there is little cause for wonder that it should have gone to the collective German head. The Prussian government made it clear that it had no intention of ever relinquishing the fortress, which would henceforth be embodied in the western defences of Germany; and the King celebrated the occasion by creating both Frederick Charles and the Crown Prince FieldMarshals and bestowing on Moltke the tide of Count.
