by Morley Evans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Époque
From the French point of view, the "Beautiful Epic" was from the French defeat by Prussia in 1871 until the breakout of WW I. France and French culture were at a zenith. Everyone admired everything French!
From a British perspective, on the other hand, the beautiful epic was from 1815 when Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo until 1914 when WW I broke out.
From a German perspective, the beautiful epic was the same period as the British period. It included the creation of the Second Reich by Bismark and the Franco-Prussian War. The Third Reich was created by Hitler out of the wreckage WW I made of the Second Reich (Bismark's German Empire). The First Reich was the Holy Roman Empire.
Why did France rise from the defeats of Napoleon in 1812 and 1815 and from the Franco-Prussian War of 1871? How did that happen?
Germany was demonized before, during and after the Belle Époque. Napoleon is revered to this day in France while Hitler has been made so demonic no one will speak his name without spitting and cursing, even in Germany. It is a crime in many countries not to demonize Hitler. Oops, I just did that. Shame on me.
The British appropriated the first defeat of Napoleon in 1812 when Napoleon had been completely destroyed by Alexander I of Russia. The British appropriated from the Prussians the second defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815.
Americans did the same thing to the British and other American allies with World Wars I and II. The Russians call it "the American Gambit".
It was a master-stroke that Americans learned from the masters of invention, industrialisation, commerce, geopolitics, militarism, propaganda, and high finance, the British. That's us! (I'm Canadian.) By June 2019, the masters had yet to figure it out. Since they did it to themselves, perhaps they never will.
Note: The American colonies used the British Empire to defeat France (Seven Years War) and clear the way West into Indian territory. When the British (George III) denied them, the Americans started the Revolutionary War which they won with the support of France that was itching for revenge on Britain. As a champion of Liberty and as an enemy of Great Britain, the United States was Napoleon Bonepart's only ally. Neither Great Britain nor France is mentioned as allies who were instrumental in U.S. successes. That would undermine the founding myths of the United States of America.
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