"Our conversation was difficult, if I was to avoid matters which would be painful to the man who had been struck down by the mighty hand of God.

He first lamented this unhappy war, which he said he had not desired; he had been forced into it by the pressure of public opinion.

I answered that with us also no one, least of all the King, had wished for the war.

We had looked on the Spanish affair as Spanish and not as German." The Emperor asked for more favourable terms of surrender, but Bismarck refused to discuss this with him; it was a military question which must be settled between Moltke and Wimpffen.

On the other hand, when Bismarck enquired if he were inclined for negotiations for peace, Napoleon answered that he could not discuss this; he was a prisoner of war and could not treat; he referred Bismarck to the Government in Paris.
This meeting had therefore no effect on the situation.