History proved him wrong. Of course, the swift advancement of aircraft between 1911, when he spoke this, and the end of the war in 1918 saw the complete revolution of aircraft as fighting instruments of war.
With the exception of Whites, the rule among the peoples of the world, whether residing in their homelands or settled in Western democracies, is ethnocentrism and moral particularism: they stick together and good means what is good for their ethnic group." -Alex Kurtagic
French military prowess pretty much died and was buried with Napoleon.
The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable. ~ H. L. Mencken
The Prussians sent observers to the American Civil War and learned a lot. Helmuth Von Moltke reorganized the Prussian Army. Two primary innovations were the use of the telegraph and railroads. His men strung up telegraph lines so they could communicate between the front and the rear. And when the men were called up, they assembled themselves in their units at the train depots with their sergeants and their officers before they boarded the train. By contrast, in 1870 when the French soldiers were called up, they boarded trains to the front. After arriving they spent two days trying to find their unit and joining their sergeants and officers. Guess who won the Franco-Prussian war? It was the same side that tried to start it because he thought the French voters would be well pleased with a foreign campaign.