Axis & Allies - damowords

European Struggle
The nephew of the first Napoleon
Light‐hearted bent on conflict, as it nears,
What enmity ruffles thro the Prussian,
Catalyst for a century of tears;
An excuse found,
Madridʹs invalid throne,
The buglers calls resound & brutal war is born.
Abandonʹd by her enemies,
Once vast manpower dwindling,
France faced the conjoinʹd Germanies
Like a bee without a sting,
United were her enemies
Beneath a single king;
Baden, Württemberg & Bavaria
Merge with the North & its Prussian kaiser.
What mighty military rolls
To Paris at a pace
Grand fortress falls, ʺSurrender!ʺ calls
The emperorʹs red face,
Far from Jena a great power put firmly in her place.
Sedan
1870
The Defeat of France
ʺVive la France!ʺ genʹral Gambettaʹs cry,
New armies raisʹd to save the capital,
On evʹry side great hordes of grey‐coats lie,
Willing moments when men would do battle;
Now Paris meets
Visions of Baudelair,
Shapes grotesque grip the streets, folk starving everywhere.
While waiting for the diplomats
They gorged on their resources,
Then, after eating all the cats,
Felt forced to eat the horses,
& when the city free of rats
In marchʹd Bismarkʹs forces,
Forcing humiliation on the French,
Thro Gallic hearts avengeant thoughts entrench.
The gate went up at Brandenburg
Praising Victoria,
Crowns from Hamburg to Nuremburg
Absorbʹd by the Kaiser,
A mighty friendship forged to face an unforeseen future.
Berlin
1871