Chapter 15: The War Sparked By Selecting A King
The revolution in Spain and the establishment of a provisional government attracted the attention of many countries in Europe.
After the Spanish Parliament announced that it would not abolish the monarchy and would seek a new king, many countries adopted a mindset of watching the spectacle, while also being curious about which lucky candidate would become the new King of Spain.
But soon, the French Government could no longer laugh.
Because according to news from Spain, among the many candidates for King of Spain, Prince Leopold of the Hohenzollern Family was at the forefront and very likely to become the next King of Spain.
（There are several Prince Leopolds in Germany, that is, Leopold. The throne candidate here is Prince Leopold of the Hohenzollerns, not the one from Bavaria. Prince Leopold of the Hohenzollerns is the father of King Ferdinand I of Romania.）
This was fatal for the French. Even a single Prussia already posed a huge threat to France. Especially after defeating Austria, the threat Prussia posed to France was unprecedented.
If someone from the Hohenzollern Family obtained the crown of Spain, France would face a situation of being pincered by Prussia and Spain from both sides.
Although Spain was not a great power and could barely be considered a second-rate country in Europe, Spain was located in southern France and possessed the Pyrenees Mountains as a natural defensive line.
Prussia only needed to stockpile fewer than 100,000 troops in Spain to cause great trouble for the French and threaten many cities in southern France.
On June 21, 1869, the furious French Government expressed strong opposition to the Spanish Government and the German Government, and stated that when Prince Leopold of the Hohenzollerns was crowned King of Spain, that would be the moment France declared war on Prussia and Spain.
The threat from the European Hegemon was still effective. King William I of Prussia shrank back somewhat under such a threat and even publicly stated that he did not approve of his cousin Prince Leopold inheriting the Spanish throne.
The Spanish Government was also a bit panicked. If their king candidate led to an outbreak of war with France, it would undoubtedly be not worth the loss.
William I’s concession satisfied the French Government greatly, and they also relaxed their vigilance toward Prussia, which had just defeated Austria.
The French Ambassador to Prussia even sought an audience with William I in early July and conveyed the attitude of French Emperor Napoleon III that he hoped William I could guarantee that he would not demand the candidacy that had already been abandoned in the future.
Such a demand was absolutely rude, which made William I, who had originally intended to concede, feel some dissatisfaction.
The French would absolutely not have imagined that even when William I himself was backing down at the forefront, there were even more stubborn figures in Germany who had already begun preparing for war with France in advance.
William I, who had been rudely treated by the French ambassador, was somewhat annoyed. That same day, he sent an urgent telegram to his Prime Minister Bismarck, hoping that Bismarck could come up with a reasonable way to deal with the crisis facing Prussia.
But William I did not expect that Bismarck’s so-called way of dealing with the crisis was to defeat France through war, that is, to deal with the problem itself.
After receiving the telegram from William I, Bismarck showed no panic at all and even had a slight smile on his face.
After asking Chief of Staff Moltke whether he had a sure victory in a war against France and receiving an affirmative reply, Bismarck decided not to wait any longer.
He substantially revised the content of William I’s telegram, deleting all the words about taking a long-term view and tactfully conceding, and at the end of the telegram, he added some words that provoked the French Government and officials: “Due to your country’s unreasonable demands and attitude, His Majesty King William I has decided from now on to refuse to approach the French ambassador, and to inform your country solely through this telegram that there is nothing more to discuss between our two countries.”
Although this telegram intended to provoke the French Government was not directly sent to the French Government’s telegraph office, it was released in the form of news publicity in all major newspaper offices in Prussia and spread throughout Europe through all Prussian missions abroad.
The firm attitude of the Prussians caused an uproar in the French Government, which also thoroughly enraged the originally complacent French Government.
Perhaps Carlo did not expect that his slightest minor action directly influenced the world and advanced the Franco-Prussian War by one year.
On July 11, 1869, after several days of preparation, the furious French Government expelled the Prussian Ambassador to France and expressionlessly announced war between the two countries to the Prussian Ambassador to France.
But the French did not see the expected panic and tension on the face of the Prussian ambassador; they could only watch as the Prussian ambassador walked out of the embassy with a relaxed expression and boarded the train back to Prussia.
Even more bewildered than the French was King William I of Prussia. Although William I was angry because of the French rudeness, he truly had not thought of going to war with the French at such a moment.
But with things having reached this point, William I could not possibly stop the war from proceeding. On July 12, William I announced general mobilization in the German Federation and called on all states within the federation to fight for Germany.
Prussia called this war the German-French War, attempting to demand that each state contribute troops and effort in a way that united Germany.
And the French called this war the French-German War; the grudges between the French and the German region were not just a day or two.
This war, on a larger scale than the Austro-Prussian War, broke out with lightning speed, which was somewhat unexpected for the Spanish Government, which was theoretically the direct cause of the Franco-Prussian War.
However, in such a situation, no matter who the victor was in the Franco-Prussian War, Prince Leopold of Prussia was no longer suitable to continue as King of Spain.
Moreover, Prince Leopold himself publicly stated that he refused to inherit the Spanish throne. Although it was more because William I had come forward in opposition, it was still Prince Leopold himself who had abandoned it.
After all these events, of the original five candidates for the Spanish throne, only the two princes of the House of Savoy of Italy remained.
Whether Amadeo or Carlo became King of Spain, Savoy would be the ultimate victor.
Setting aside the advantage shared by both, that of the House of Savoy, Amadeo’s advantage was that he was slightly older, more mature and steady. Carlo’s advantage was that he possessed a friendly reputation that might be more recognized by the Spaniards and was more likely to support reform.
From the perspective of reform, Primó undoubtedly supported Carlo more to become King of Spain. After all, although Primó supported the monarchy, he was a thorough reformist.
And Serrano was more like a neutral faction between reformists and conservatives, and could also be classified as a monarchist of the noble lineage.
Both were undecided between Amadeo and Carlo. For the stability of the Kingdom of Spain, Primó decided to personally go to Italy to inspect the two princes and determine the final candidate for King of Spain during this inspection.
Serrano agreed to Primó’s proposal and stated that he would support whichever of Amadeo or Carlo became King of Spain and was willing to pledge loyalty to the new king.
Second update, seeking support!
