St. Peter's Castle
The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carr Vossel, frowned and said, "Your Majesty, the minister in Paris has sent news that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte has been restored on January 1, 1852, claiming to be Napoleon Iii."
Nicholas I Of Russia was furious when he heard the news of Napoleon Iii's restoration. In his opinion, the Napoleons, a nouveau riche, were not qualified to be the Emperor of France.
This was not only his personal opinion, but also his practical interests. Napoleon had been elected by the people, breaking the tradition of "divine monarchy" and shaking the foundation of all the monarchies in Europe, which was also the origin of the war against France.
It was not easy to suppress this fallacy, and now Napoleon Iii was restored. Wasn't this an insult to all the participants of the Vienna Conference? Most importantly, it was an insult to Alexander I.
What made him even more angry was that Napoleon Iii had dared to challenge the dignity of the Russian Empire. After the crisis in the Holy Land broke out, the Government of France intervened and shook the control of the Orthodox Church in Russia.
With the new and old hatred added together, Nicholas I Of Russia naturally could not recognize the legitimacy of Napoleon Iii. If the two sides were not so far apart, he would have used practical actions to let the French know the power of the Russian Empire.
Nicholas I said disdainfully, "Sure enough, he's just a little tramp who only knows how to play some dirty tricks.
Order the minister in France to send a diplomatic note to the Government of France, condemning Louis Napoleon Bonaparte's shameless act of usurping the throne and ordering him to abdicate immediately. "
The restoration of Napoleon Iii was naturally a swift and decisive move. In order to avoid interference by international forces, the specific time was kept secret.
In the view of Nicholas I Of Russia, this was petty, without a trace of the majesty of a monarch, and not worthy of being a member of the monarch group.
Carr Vossel advised, "Your Majesty, it's not good for us to answer so forcefully. This will continue to worsen the relationship between the two countries."
It was fine if they didn't want to admit it, but they even sent a diplomatic note to disgust Napoleon III. This undoubtedly worsened Franco-Russian relations.
Due to the distance, Russia did not have much influence on France. This kind of diplomatic censure only made Napoleon Iii look bad at the beginning.
Anyway, no matter how fierce the Tsarist government was, Napoleon Iii would not abdicate. At this point, no matter what was ahead, he had to go on.
Nicholas I Of Russia said disdainfully, "What are you afraid of? Even if we offend them, it is not a big deal. How bad can the relationship between Russia and France be?"
That was the attitude of Nicholas I, the First Emperor, to go all out. It wasn't that he was being impulsive, but the conflict between France and Russia over Osman's matter had reached a fever pitch. Neither side was willing to give in, and the possibility of reconciliation was close to zero.
It was not that he was impulsive, but on the issue of the Osman, the conflict between France and Russia had become white-hot. Neither side was willing to give in, and the possibility of reconciliation was almost zero.
"Yes, your Majesty," replied Karl Worcel.
He then changed the topic and said, "Your Majesty, it is certain that the negotiations in Constantinople will not be fruitful. With the support of Britain and France, the Ottoman Empire will not give in this time. We can start the next step of our plan. "
In other words, war was coming, and they needed a plausible excuse. Influenced by European culture, the Tsarist government was no longer as reckless as it used to be. They knew the importance of being a whore.
Nicholas I Of Russia nodded, then said, "Order Duke Menshikov to issue an ultimatum to the Osman Empire. If they still refuse our goodwill, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will choose an excuse!"
Goodwill? Who could feel the "goodwill" of the Tsarist government? They had such a big appetite. No matter how weak the Government of Sudan was, they had to resist.
Compromise was a slow suicide. There was still a chance of survival if they resisted. With the support of Britain and France, the Osman Empire had a chance of winning.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Carr Vossel replied.
There were thousands of excuses, and they would eventually find one. The Osman Empire itself was rotten. There were too many messy things. It was too easy to pick on them.
Constantinople was the dream of the Tsarist government for generations. It was not just purely of military and economic value, but also of great political and religious value.
In short, as long as the Tsarist government could successfully take over Constantinople, it was acceptable no matter how heavy the losses were.
In this respect, the historical Nicholas II Of Russia was too stupid. He ran to fight to the death with the Germans and Austria-Hungary.
If he had bullied the Osman Empire first and taken over Constantinople, he could have relied on politics and religion to overcome all the contradictions in the country.
In this respect, Nicholas I Of Russia's strategy was completely correct. After taking back Constantinople, it would be much easier to go home and carry out reforms with great prestige.
The internal contradictions in Russia had long attracted the attention of the Tsarist government. However, the opposition group was too powerful, and Nicholas I Of Russia did not dare to act rashly.
Many high-level officials in Russia, including Nicholas I Of Russia himself, opposed serfdom. Unfortunately, in the face of the entire aristocratic group, they were afraid.
Now the Tsarist government had pinned their hopes on the Russian-Turkish war. As long as they took over Constantinople, everything would be fine. If they failed, they could only take the risk and carry out internal reforms.
…
Paris
After the successful restoration of Napoleon III, the country did not immediately stabilize. The strength of the opposition forces was still strong. On January 12th, an anti-imperialist uprising broke out in Paris.
Half a month later, the uprising spread to more than 20 provinces, including Toulouse, Marseille, Limoges, Perpignan, Ballène, Toulon, and Bordeaux.
At this time, the effect of bribing the officers was reflected. Napoleon III reacted much faster than the Seven Months Dynasty and immediately ordered to suppress the rebellion.
Thirty-two provinces in the country entered a state of martial law. In just one month, more than 26,000 people were arrested, and more than 10,000 people were exiled. White terror filled France.
As the rebels lacked an effective organization and were scattered throughout the country to fight, they were quickly suppressed.
After stabilizing the throne, Napoleon III's troubles came. The first was a financial crisis. In the process of the restoration, in order to buy people's hearts, Napoleon III greatly increased everyone's salary.
For example, the annual salary of a senator was 30,000 francs, the annual salary of a state councilor was 25,000 francs, and the annual salary of ministers was 40,000 francs. Those who had part-time jobs had multiple salaries.
Napoleon himself also received an annual salary of 26 million francs. Compared to the annual revenue of France of 1.2 to 1.3 billion francs, the emperor's annuity was only 2.1%, which did not seem too high.
However, the accounts obviously could not be calculated in this way. If the treatment of the top was increased, how could the salary of the lower civil servants not increase?
There was no doubt that Napoleon III was a good leader who cared about the living standards of everyone. Therefore, the civil servants of France were happy, and the era of "high salaries" had arrived.
Government officials had their salaries increased, and Napoleon III did not forget that the army on the same front as him was promoted and had their salaries increased.
Even the Catholic Church, which had supported him, received a allocation of 42.8 million francs in 1852. Compared to Franz, the emperor who attacked the church as soon as he ascended the throne, Napoleon III was obviously a good boy.
Napoleon III, on this joyous occasion of the succession of the new Emperor, abolished a series of exorbitant taxes in consideration of the interests of the common people.
Then, everyone was happy and shouted, "Long live the emperor!" The only problem was the financial situation.
With the increase in expenditure and decrease in income, the Government of France was not far from bankruptcy.
Playing with people's hearts was Napoleon III's strength, but when it came to governing the country, he was still a novice and had only just started.
In order to consolidate his rule, Napoleon III also expanded the civil service, and the administrative officials of France were expanded from 470,000 to 620,000.
It was worth mentioning that in order to deal with the crisis in the Near East, Napoleon III was also prepared to continue to expand the army, but because of financial difficulties, he was forced to shelve this plan.
Looking at the financial statements of the bankrupt army, Napoleon Iii asked with a headache, "Ruet, what solution do you have to solve the financial crisis?"
Ruet replied with a bitter smile, "Your Majesty, let's negotiate with the consortium. We need their support to get through this."
It was unknown who gave him the title of "Deputy Emperor", but since then, Ruet began to restrain himself in front of Napoleon Iii.
Fortunately, this was the European continent. If it were the Eastern world, he would have died a long time ago.
Even though he was still in a high position, Ruet knew that the emperor Napoleon Iii was different from the emperor Louis Napoleon Bonaparte before he ascended the throne.
As the second-in-command of this group, he had to pay attention to his words and actions. He could not be too cautious, as it would affect the relationship between the ruler and his subjects; he could not be too arrogant either, as it would make Napoleon Iii feel disgusted.
The suggestion to seek the support of the consortium was a standard one. There was no innovation, but it was very effective.
The Government of France was poor, but the French consortium was very rich. After many years of capital accumulation, the name of the Usury Empire had already appeared.
However, this was not a long-term solution. To get the support of the consortium, there was a price to pay. Without enough benefits, it would be difficult for them to pay.
