 He obtained a war vote of 500,000,000 francs, and said that he accepted the responsibility of the war "with a light heart," saying that the war had been forced on France.On 9 August, the French Army had lost three battles in three days (Battle of Wissembourg, of Spicheren and of Wörth), the Ollivier cabinet was driven from office, and Ollivier sought refuge from the general rage in Italy.He returned to France in 1873, but although he carried on an active campaign in the Bonapartist Estafette his political power was gone, and even in his own party he came into collision in 1880 with Paul de Cassagnac.