1 68 The Great War similar position Napoleon III had sent McMahon to Sedan because he feared that anything but a vic- tory would cost him his throne. After the Mons- Charleroi disaster, Joffre had to face the same prob- lem. To the desperate venture of halting the in- vader at once, he might have risked the whole issue of the war. But Joffre's necessities were not those of Napoleon III. While the French Government removed to Bordeaux, while Paris talked of a siege, the world, of a second capture of the French capital, French public opinion, theoretically so easily excited, re- mained calm. Joffre was permitted to work out his problem undisturbed by any political consideration. The answer of French to German strategy was now apparent, a retreat on a selected position — a battle 'with every chance in favor of the Allies, after three weeks which brought the Russians up and compelled the Germans to weaken their line in France to save the eastern frontier. It was the calculation of a strong man, who trusted his nation and his govern- ment, but neither the nation nor the general had been unworthy of such confidence and both were now to be abundantly rewarded.