Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 959: Chapter 222: Trouble Falls from the Sky Montenegro

The success of the Paris revolution and the ensuing exile of Napoleon IV caused a major political earthquake across the European Continent.

Anyone with a bit of political sense knew that the emergence of a Republican Government at such a time was a disaster for France.

Controlling Paris and controlling France were two different concepts. Without the threat of foreign enemies, the Revolutionary Government could have adopted political measures to unify the nation and gradually purge the Bonapartist elements from the government and military.

Obviously, that was impossible. The Anti-French Alliance would not give them the time needed to integrate the nation. Facing the millions of troops from the Anti-French Alliance, the Paris Revolutionary Government in control of only Paris had no strength to wager.

Strength is the foundation of negotiation, and without sufficient strength, it was pure fantasy for France to hope to preserve its vitality after the war.

In London, upon receiving this sudden bad news, Prime Minister Gladstone was so furious he flipped his table.

What happened to France no longer concerned him; what was critical was that the timing of the fall of the Bonaparte Dynasty was all wrong.

It was known that they had just recently reached a secret agreement with Napoleon IV involving the purchase of the entire main fleet of the French Navy for eighteen million British Pounds.

Thinking they had gotten a great deal, they didn’t expect that before the ink was dry, the Bonaparte Dynasty would be no more.

With the Bonaparte Dynasty gone, the previous secret treaty naturally went unenforced. This was no longer the era when Britain held supreme sway, even if the London Government wanted to compel the Revolutionary Government to continue fulfilling the treaty, they couldn’t use the secret treaty as leverage.

There was no way around it, the treaty contained too much about the Anti-French Alliance. If it were exposed, Britain could no longer operate in Europe.

If that was all, it wouldn’t be such a big deal; they could simply act as if the secret treaty never existed. The problem was the money paid could now not be recovered.

Believing that the French were selling warships to fund their military against Austria, the London Government had promptly paid half the costs even before delivery.

Now there was no talking about it; it had directly become bad debt. Even knowing that the money had ended up in the hands of Napoleon IV, the London Government had no means to publicly demand it back.

Not only could they not claim the debt, but they had to think of ways to keep the lid on this issue. Should there be any leaks, not only would their plan to acquire French warships fall through, but it would also give their political enemies leverage over their rule-breaking operations.

By regulation, such large transactions had to be approved by Parliament. Clearly, such a secret deal was unsuitable to be debated in Parliament, so the Gladstone Cabinet had acted first and reported later.

There had been similar incidents in Britain before. As long as they were successful, they escaped criticism. Regrettably, Gladstone’s handling this time had failed.

Once he calmed down, Prime Minister Gladstone said, “Send someone to communicate with Napoleon IV immediately. Promise him that as long as he returns the money, we will support his restoration.”

With a resigned explanation, Foreign Minister George said, “It’s no use, Prime Minister. We have already sent people to contact Napoleon IV. Currently, he’s in a very bad state, and our people dare not provoke him too much.

To avoid any accidents, our people can only talk with the exiled French government. Regrettably, they demand the continuation of the treaty’s terms and immediately issued an order for the Navy to hand over the warships.

Considering that the exiled government has already lost control of the Navy, such a rash order is barely more valuable than waste paper, and we had no choice but to reject it.”

Even in his downfall, an emperor remains an emperor. Seeing Napoleon IV on his deathbed, the British representative who came prepared to accuse harshly was instantly silenced.

Unable to determine whether it was a real illness or a feigned one, the British representative naturally didn’t dare take a risk. There was intense fear that any carelessness might provoke Napoleon IV to his death, placing the blame of driving an emperor to his death on their shoulders.

Since Napoleon IV wouldn’t show up, the exiled French government played dumb. It was clear they didn’t trust the promises of the British Government and were ready to swallow the huge sum of money directly.

Hearing this outcome, Gladstone gritted his teeth and asked, “Are they so sure we wouldn’t dare retaliate? You know, dealing with an exiled government wouldn’t cost much.”

Foreign Minister George shook his head and said with a bitter smile, “Prime Minister, the French truly aren’t worried we would take action against them.

Although Napoleon IV is exiled abroad, the roots of the Bonaparte Dynasty haven’t been entirely lost. Because of their hatred, these people should now be considered France’s strongest anti-Austria faction, with Napoleon IV as their natural leader.

Neither the Orleans Dynasty nor the Bourbon Dynasty would oppose Austria at this time. Once the Revolutionary Government surrenders to the Anti-French Alliance, all of France’s anti-Austria forces would gravitate towards them.

By dealing with them, we would be dissolving France’s internal anti-Austria forces, essentially doing a huge favor for Austria.

At this time, we not only shouldn’t act against them but should find ways to enhance their strength or even support their restoration, lest Europe ends up with a single voice.”

From this perspective, as long as the Bonaparte Dynasty continues to oppose Austria, keeping the money in their hands wasn’t too bad.”

Knowing he had been conned and not only unable to retaliate but having to increase support, Gladstone felt the world had gone mad.

However, such was the reality. For the national interest of Britain, the French exiled government had to exist; otherwise, France’s anti-Austria elements wouldn’t have an organization to rally around.

After pondering for a moment, Prime Minister Gladstone realized, lamenting, “Napoleon IV has truly good tactics! Without showing his face, he swindled a huge sum from us.”

…

“Since he’s so powerful, why did he go into exile?”

…

“That’s wrong, there’s a problem with the Paris revolution. The Bonaparte Dynasty isn’t that fragile, it couldn’t have collapsed so quickly!”

The troops stationed in Paris were loyalists to Napoleon IV, if they hadn’t been moved away, the Revolutionaries would never have succeeded.

It seems we’ve all been played, the collapse of the Bonaparte Dynasty was orchestrated by Napoleon IV himself, and the current Revolutionary Government is just a scapegoat he prepared.

This is bad, the war in Europe is going to end sooner than expected. Napoleon IV will not leave a chance for the Revolutionary Government, the problems are going to start now with the French Army at the frontlines.

There’s no time left, we must immediately negotiate with the Revolutionary Government, to finalize agreements before the French surrender…”

Sure enough, as the most successful Prime Minister of the 18th century Britannia, Gladstone gleaned the truth through mere hints and traces.

Knowing is one thing, but Napoleon IV employed an overt strategy. Everyone knew it was a trap, yet they had to jump into it regardless, from the moment the armed uprising began, the Revolutionaries had no way back.

The responsibility for recklessly starting the war was thrown to the bourgeoisie, and the responsibility for defeat was shifted to the Revolutionaries, turning Emperor Napoleon IV instead into a victim.

To the public, there was an acceptable explanation: the defeat wasn’t due to the Emperor’s incompetence, but mainly because of traitors. With internal and external troubles bursting simultaneously, it was too much to handle.

As soon as the peace treaty was signed, the public would turn their anger toward the submissively surrendering Revolutionary Government, thus diminishing the former government’s responsibility.

…

In the face of the overwhelming tide of history, individual power is trivial. While the Paris Congress was still arguing over food problems, the frontline troops had already run out of supplies.

On October 19, 1891, three days after the French Army ran out of supplies, the elderly Marshal Patrice McMahon publicly announced “Your Conspiracy Succeeded.”

The article recounted the bloody sacrifices made by the frontline French Army to protect their homeland and harshly criticized the Revolutionary Government for treachery and for crippling the army’s logistics to force their surrender.

Following that, he ordered the troops at the frontline to lay down their arms and surrender. As if on cue, commanders in the south, west, and middle sections of the French Army issued similar proclamations in succession.

Suddenly, France was flooded with announcements, and almost every French general criticized the Paris Revolutionary Government before surrendering, making it seem as if not issuing such statements was out of touch with the times.

A devastating blow descended from the sky, crushing the bewildered Paris Revolutionary Government—”treachery and selling out the nation,” they indeed planned to do so, but since the armistice negotiations hadn’t even started, what were they selling?

Explanations were futile, Napoleon IV had craftily laid a mine, which had now detonated.

The military unified its stance, adamantly claiming that the Revolutionary Government colluded with the Anti-French Alliance to cut off the frontline troops’ food and fodder supply, forcing everyone to surrender to the enemy. The Paris Revolutionary Government didn’t even have the chance to explain.

It wasn’t that the Bonaparte Dynasty had such a strong influence in the army—had they been able to control the national military, Napoleon IV wouldn’t have needed to go into exile.

Ultimately, it was all for interests, as defeat always needs someone to take responsibility. Particularly for the military after a defeat, one can imagine how difficult the postwar period would be for these generals.

To avoid being spat on by the public, they, like Napoleon IV, needed a scapegoat. And just at that moment, the Paris Revolutionary Government stepped up.

Wanting to take charge was no problem. With a few telegrams, the Paris Revolutionary Government nominally consolidated military power. Being in charge naturally meant providing support; the responsibility originally belonging to the Bonaparte Dynasty now fell on the Revolutionary Government.

Since they had already started planting mines, Napoleon IV naturally wouldn’t leave too much strategic material in Paris, including the food supplies stored along the way, which were either sold or moved away.

By the time the Paris Government took over, it was exactly time to transport supplies to the frontlines. Cartloads of materials, prepared for shipment, were seized by the Revolutionary Army before they could even leave Paris.

If they continued to the frontlines, they themselves would go hungry. Without question, they took priority. This requisition made the blame inescapable.

Unable to control local governments, and unable to gather enough food and supplies for the frontlines in a short time, this directly led to the starvation of the frontline troops.

The deed was done, and no matter how the Paris Revolutionary Government explained it, the frontline troops’ starvation was their fault.

Chaos ensued, all over France. As one declaration after another was made, the Paris Revolutionary Government was pushed into the storm’s eye.

Initially, students and intellectuals who supported the revolution began to hesitate. Nobility, peasants, and some workers who were already opposed to the revolution now saw the Revolutionary Government even more unfavorably.

Even capitalists who had just been released from prison and were ready to usurp the fruits of the revolution paused their steps, opting to first observe the situation.

There was no choice: the Anti-French Alliance had already attacked. Paris’s strategic position was inherently poor, not only difficult to defend but also close to the frontlines. Once the frontline troops surrendered, Paris would become the new frontline.

Taking control of the central power at this time, without the ability to counter the Anti-French Alliance, would only be asking for trouble.