As soon as the news of the success of the Paris Revolution and the exile of Napoleon Iv came out, a political earthquake broke out on the European continent.
Anyone with a little political sense knew that the emergence of a republican government at this time was absolutely disastrous for France.
Controlling Paris and controlling France were two different concepts. If there was no foreign enemy threat, the revolutionary government could also adopt political means to unify the country and slowly purge the Bonaparte elements in the officialdom and the army.
Obviously, this was impossible. The anti-French alliance would not give them time to integrate the country. In the face of millions of troops of the anti-French alliance, the revolutionary government that only controlled Paris didn't even have the power to fight.
Strength was the basis of negotiation. Without enough strength, it was simply impossible for France to preserve its strength after the war.
In London, after receiving the sudden bad news, Prime Minister Gladstone was so angry that he directly flipped the table.
He couldn't care less about what happened to France now. The key was that the Bonaparte Dynasty fell at the wrong time.
Not long ago, they had reached a secret agreement with Napoleon Iv to invest 18 million pounds to buy all the main ships of the French Navy.
They thought they picked up a big bargain, but they didn't expect the Bonaparte Dynasty to cease to exist before the ink dried.
The Bonaparte Dynasty was gone, and the previous secret agreement was naturally not fulfilled. It was no longer the most powerful era in Britannia. Even if the Government of London wanted to force the revolutionary government to continue to fulfill the agreement, they couldn't use the secret agreement to do so.
There was no other way. There was too much content against the anti-French alliance in the treaty. Once it was exposed, Britannia wouldn't be able to survive in Europe.
If that was the case, it wasn't a big deal. They could just pretend that this secret agreement didn't exist. The problem was that the money paid out could not be recovered now.
Originally, they thought that the French sold the warships to raise military funds to fight against Austria. The Government of London paid the money so readily that they paid half of the cost before the goods were delivered.
Now, it directly became a bad debt. Knowing that the money fell into the hands of Napoleon Iv, the Government of London couldn't publicly pursue it.
Not only could they not collect the debt, but they also had to find a way to cover it. If the news leaked out, not only would the plan to seize the French warships fail, but the political enemies would also catch the illegal operation.
According to regulations, such a large transaction must be approved by the Congress. Obviously, this kind of secret transaction was not suitable for discussion in Congress, so the Gladstone Cabinet could only act first and report later.
There were similar cases in Britannia. As long as it was successful, it would not be criticized. Unfortunately, Gladstone's operation failed this time.
After calming down, Prime Minister Gladstone said, "Immediately send someone to communicate with Napoleon Iv and promise him that as long as he returns the money, we will support his restoration."
Foreign Secretary George explained helplessly, "It's useless, Prime Minister. We've already sent someone to contact Napoleon Iv. Right now, his condition is very bad. Our people don't dare to provoke him too much.
To avoid any accidents, our people will have to talk to the Government of France in exile. Unfortunately, they requested to continue to honor the treaty and immediately issued an order for the Navy to hand over the warships.
Considering that the government-in-exile has lost control of the Navy, this kind of hasty order is no better than waste paper. We can only choose to refuse. "
No matter how abject an emperor was, he was still an emperor. Seeing that Napoleon Iv was dying, the British representative, who was about to denounce him, was instantly silenced.
Unable to determine whether the illness was real or fake, the British representative naturally did not dare to take the risk.
If he were to accidentally provoke Napoleon IV too much, he would be charged with the crime of hounding the emperor to death. That would be the end of him.
Napoleon Iv did not come forward, and the Government of France in exile directly pretended to be confused. It was clear that they did not believe the promise of the Government of the United Kingdom and were ready to swallow this huge sum of money directly.
Hearing this result, Gladstone gritted his teeth and asked, "Are they sure that we don't dare to retaliate? You know, it doesn't cost much to get rid of a government-in-exile. "
Foreign Secretary George shook his head and said with a wry smile, "Prime Minister, the French are not worried that we will do anything to them now.
Although Napoleon Iv is in exile overseas, the foundation of the Bonaparte Dynasty has not been completely lost. Because of hatred, these people should now be the most staunch anti-Austrian faction in France, and Napoleon Iv is their natural leader.
Whether it is the Orleans Dynasty or the Bourbon Dynasty, they will not jump out to fight against Austria at this time. Once the revolutionary government surrenders to the anti-French alliance, the anti-Austrian forces in France will converge on them.
Getting rid of them will disintegrate the anti-Austrian forces in France, which is equivalent to doing Austria a great favor.
At this time, not only can we not attack them, but we also have to find ways to enhance their strength and even support their restoration, lest there is only one voice on the European continent.
In this regard, as long as the Bonaparte Dynasty insists on fighting against Austria, it doesn't matter if the money stays in their hands. "
Gladstone knew that they were tricked, but not only could they not retaliate, but they also had to increase their support. He felt that the world had gone crazy.
However, this was the reality. For the national interests of Britannia, the French government-in-exile must exist. Otherwise, the French anti-Austrian elements would not be able to find an organization.
After contemplating for a while, Prime Minister Gladstone reacted and said with emotion, "Napoleon Iv is really good! He didn't even show his face and swindled a huge sum of money from us. "
…
"Since he is so powerful, why did he go into exile?"
…
"No, there is a problem with the revolution in Paris. The Bonaparte Dynasty is not so fragile, and it is impossible for it to collapse so quickly!
The troops stationed in Paris are Napoleon Iv's direct subordinates. If they were not transferred away, the revolutionaries would not have succeeded at all.
It seems that we were all fooled by him. The collapse of the Bonaparte Dynasty itself was planned by Napoleon Iv, and the current revolutionary government is just a scapegoat he prepared.
Oh no, the European war is going to end early. Napoleon Iv will not leave a chance for the revolutionary government. The French army on the front line is going to have problems.
There is no time, we must immediately negotiate with the revolutionary government and finalize it before the French surrender … "
As expected of the most successful prime minister of Britannia in the nineteenth century, Gladstone analyzed the truth of the matter with only a few clues.
Knowing was one thing, but Napoleon Iv used an overt scheme. Even though they knew it was a trap, everyone had to jump in. From the beginning of the armed uprising, the revolutionaries had no way out.
The responsibility of rashly starting the war was thrown to the bourgeoisie, and the responsibility of defeat was thrown to the revolutionaries. Napoleon Iv, the emperor, became the victim.
There was also a barely justifiable explanation to the people: the defeat was not because the emperor was incompetent, but mainly because there were too many traitors. The internal and external troubles broke out at the same time, and it was really unbearable.
As soon as the cessation treaty was signed, the people would point the finger at the subservient revolutionary government, thus diluting the responsibility of the previous government.
…
In the face of the rolling tide of history, the power of an individual was insignificant. The Paris Parliament was still arguing about the food problem, and the troops on the front line ran out of food first.
On October 19, 1891, on the third day of the French army's food shortage, the old Marshal Patrice McMahon issued a public telegram, "Your Plot Has Succeeded."
The article told of the bloody sacrifices made by the French army on the front line to defend the country, and denounced the revolutionary government's conspiracy to cut off the army's logistics in order to force them to surrender.
Immediately after, the troops on the front line were ordered to lay down their weapons and surrender. As if it was agreed, the southern, western, and central French commanders followed suit and issued telegrams.
For a time, France was full of telegrams. Almost every French general had to denounce the revolutionary government in Paris before they surrendered. It seemed that if they did not send electricity, they would not be able to keep up with the times.
A black pot fell from the sky, directly smashing the confused revolutionary government in Paris into a complete mess. "Colluding with the enemy and betraying the country," they were indeed prepared to do it, but the truce negotiations had not yet begun, what were they selling?
It was useless to explain. The landmines that Napoleon Iv had painstakingly buried had now detonated.
The military unified their position, insisting that the revolutionary government colluded with the anti-French alliance, cut off the supply of food to the frontline troops, and forced everyone to surrender to the enemy. The revolutionary government in Paris did not even have room to explain.
It was not that the Bonaparte Dynasty had much influence in the army. If they could really control the entire army, Napoleon Iv would not have to go into exile.
In the end, it was still for the interests, and someone had to be responsible for the defeat. In particular, the military who had lost the war was the first to bear the brunt. It could be imagined that these generals who had lost the war would not have an easy time after the war.
In order not to be scolded to death by the people, they, like Napoleon Iv, needed a scapegoat to bear the responsibility. Just at this time, the revolutionary government in Paris came forward.
It was not a problem to be the boss. The revolutionary government in Paris, with a few telegrams, took over the military power in name. As the boss, it was natural to take care of food. The responsibility of the Bonaparte Dynasty now fell on the shoulders of the revolutionary government.
Since they were burying mines, Napoleon Iv naturally would not leave too many strategic supplies in Paris, including the food and supplies stored along the way, which were either sold or transported away.
When the Government of Paris took over the power, it was just the time to transport supplies to the frontline. Carts of loaded supplies were seized by the Revolutionary Army before they left Paris.
If they continued to the frontline, they would starve themselves. There was nothing to say, so they naturally expropriated them first. With this expropriation, the blame could not be shaken off.
Unable to control the local government, they could not gather enough food and supplies to the frontline in a short period of time, which directly caused the frontline troops to run out of food.
It had already happened. No matter how the revolutionary government in Paris explained, the frontline troops would run out of food because of them.
Chaos, the whole of France was in chaos. As the telegrams were sent, the revolutionary government in Paris was pushed into the limelight.
The students and intellectuals who originally supported the revolution now became hesitant. The nobles, peasants, and some workers who originally opposed the revolution were now even more displeased with the revolutionary government.
Even the capitalists who had just been released from prison and were ready to usurp the fruits of the revolution stopped and chose to wait and see.
There was no other way, the anti-French alliance had already attacked. The strategic position of Paris itself was very bad. Not only was it defenseless, but it was also very close to the frontline. As soon as the frontline troops surrendered, Paris would become the new frontline.
At this time, if the central government couldn't deal with the anti-French alliance, it would be asking for trouble.
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