Chapter 43: France Has Another Coup Again
By the mid-March of 1870, when Primó had finished wrapping up the aftermath and led the army back to Madrid, it was already mid-March
Spain’s civil war had not attracted much attention from the great powers, because in northern Spain, the war between the Kingdom of Prussia and the French Empire had already reached its end.
Carlo was also paying attention to the war between these two great European powers.
French Emperor Napoleon III taught Carlo a truth with his own fate and that of France’s future: it was best not to micromanage the war on the frontline, but to trust the generals and soldiers under his command.
Before the Franco-Prussian War broke out, revealing to the leadership of any European country that Prussia would win the war against France would likely have earned him blank stares and ridicule.
Why? Because at this time, France was still basking in the afterglow of the Napoleonic Empire era, and the empire created by Napoleon III remained the most powerful army hegemon on the entire European Continent.
On paper, the Prussian Army had no reason to defeat the French Army.
But the powerful Second French Empire failed just like that, defeated by the large numbers of line infantry maintained due to excessive admiration for Napoleon’s afterglow, defeated by Napoleon III’s constant micromanagement out of overconfidence, and also defeated by insufficient preparations in the early stages of the war, and the lack of thorough plans and responses from the top commanders regarding the war.
On March 21, 1870, world-shocking news was born.
The emperor of the Second French Empire, Napoleon III, nephew of the Napoleon who awed Europe, formally announced the surrender to the Prussian Army.
The once-prosperous French Empire was defeated, something no European country had expected.
After France’s defeat, it was bound to cause a series of changes in the policies of European countries, and the importance attached to Prussia as a country would rise infinitely.
But what no one expected was that before their own diplomatic policy could change, the French created another big news.
On March 23, 1870, three days after Napoleon III announced his surrender, a coup d’état broke out in Paris, France. Taking advantage of the army and the emperor being on the frontline, they overthrew the Imperial Government and established the Third French Republic.
Now it was Prussia and Bismarck who were caught off guard.
The Prussian Army had just captured Napoleon III and planned to demand massive indemnity and territory from the French Government through him.
But unexpectedly, the French turned around and launched a coup d’état to establish a republican government, rendering Napoleon III useless in just a few days.
It was just that Europeans were not familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty; otherwise, Bismarck would have exclaimed, isn’t this the script of the “Call at the Gate” Emperor?
Of course, compared to the Eastern idea of supreme imperial power, Europeans placed much less emphasis on the power of kings and emperors.
What supported Napoleon III as emperor was the massive military power in his hands; this advantage ceased to exist after the French Army’s defeat.
If Napoleon III were to become a “Call at the Gate” emperor at this point, the French who launched the coup d’état would not hesitate to turn their muzzles on him.
What is an emperor? Sorry, now France is in the era of the Government of National Defence led by General Louis Jules Trochu.
There was no choice; the war with France could only continue. What Bismarck wanted was absolutely not the surrender of a Napoleon III without legitimacy; he wanted the surrender of the entire French Government, along with massive indemnity and territory, to declare that the entire German region had escaped French control.
Only by thoroughly defeating France and forcing the French to sign an indemnity and cede territory agreement could the states in southern Germany understand that the German region could only be controlled by Teutons, and that Prussia was the chosen one of the German region, destined to unify all of Germany.
But the French had their own pride. The French did not want to see the once-powerful France humiliated by Prussia, a country that decades ago France wouldn’t even glance at.
The French demanded that the new Government of National Defence strengthen Paris’s defensive forces and rebuild the national defense army to fight the Prussians to the death in Paris.
But for the current French Government of National Defence, the French people’s wishes had instead become a tight curse on their heads, forcing them to seek a peace agreement with Germany even faster.
As everyone knows, launching revolutions and coup d’états is a French tradition.
Although the current Government of National Defence was established through a coup d’état, this did not mean that its officials, or the great bourgeoisie behind the Government of National Defence, were willing to hand over control of the government to others again.
Actively preparing for war could indeed align with public opinion, but they also had to consider France’s current situation.
The previous war had already consumed massive funds, and with the French Army on the frontline suffering multiple defeats, Napoleon III had even surrendered with tens of thousands of French troops.
Now, trying to fight the Prussian Army with a newly formed army would be repeating Napoleon III’s old mistakes, wouldn’t it?
Compared to the external enemy Prussia, the Government of National Defence was even more worried about the intense emotions of the French public in Paris and the escalating revolutionary fervor.
Between preserving France’s territory and dignity and preserving their own power, the French Government of National Defence chose the latter without hesitation.
They pacified the public’s emotions and strengthened Paris’s defenses on one hand, while secretly negotiating with Bismarck, the commander of the German Army, on the other.
The diplomatic representative sent by the French Government was named Fabre.
When Fabre secretly approached Bismarck to request peace negotiations, Bismarck was planning an attack on Paris with the army.
Upon just meeting Bismarck, Fabre spoke at length about the French Government of National Defence’s condemnation and protest against Napoleon III, and thanked Prussia for helping France overthrow Napoleon III’s rule.
Bismarck showed no expression on his face, waiting for Fabre’s main point.
Fabre also knew that mere words alone could not move Bismarck, so he immediately stated the sincerity of the French Government of National Defence this time.
“Respected Chancellor Bismarck, I merely represent our Government of National Defence in conveying to you the opinions of all the French people.
We acknowledge France’s defeat in this war and are willing to pay full indemnity to mend relations with Prussia.
But at the same time, our government absolutely refuses to cede any territory, and all French people absolutely refuse.
If you are willing, we can sign a peace talks treaty at any time to end this war that should never have happened.”
What Fabre said, or rather the opinion of the current French Government of National Defence, was that they would pay whatever indemnity was demanded, but absolutely refuse to cede territory.
Ceding territory is a massive humiliation for any country and would incite domestic public outrage and massive opposition.
Not to mention France, which was considered the European hegemon a year ago—even for some backward and decadent countries, ceding territory would boil public resentment.
The French Government of National Defence wanted to preserve its power and could not yield on territory.
But to Bismarck, this was somewhat amusing.
The concessions on funds and the firmness on territory expressed by the French Government might move others, but absolutely not Bismarck.
For the iron and blood chancellor Bismarck, if a country showed a tough attitude in front of him, the best way was to counter with an even tougher attitude.
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