Empire Rising: Spain-Chapter 43 - 42: Yet Another Coup in France

By the time Prim finished wrapping up the work and led the army back to Madrid, it was already mid-March of 1870.

This civil war in Spain did not attract much attention from the great powers because, in the north of Spain, the war between the Kingdom of Prussia and the French Empire was already nearing its end.

Carlo was also watching this war between the two great powers of Europe.

French Emperor Napoleon III taught Carlo a truth with his own and France’s future fate, which was that it was better not to micromanage the front-line war and to trust the generals and soldiers under him.

Before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, revealing to the senior officials of any European country that Prussia would win the war against France would likely be met with disdain and ridicule.

Why? Because France at that time was still basking in the afterglow of the Napoleon Empire period, and the empire created by Napoleon III was still the most powerful land army hegemon on the entire European continent.

In terms of paper strength, the Prussian Army seemingly had no reason to defeat the French Army.

Yet the mighty Second French Empire failed so decisively, defeated by the large line infantry that remained admiring of Napoleon’s afterglow, by Napoleon III’s overly confident micromanagement, and by the lack of preparation in the early stages of the war, with senior commanders having no detailed plans or responses to the war.

On March 21, 1870, news that shocked the world was born.

The Emperor of the Second French Empire, Napoleon III, the nephew of the renowned Napoleon, officially announced his surrender to the Prussian Army.

The once-mighty French Empire was defeated, something all European countries did not expect.

After France’s defeat, it was bound to trigger a series of changes in the policies of various European countries, and the importance attached to Prussia would also increase infinitely.

But what no one expected was that before their own diplomatic policies had changed, the French once again created big news.

On March 23, 1870, the third day after Napoleon III announced his surrender, a coup broke out in Paris, France. Seizing the moment while the army and the Emperor were at the front lines, they overthrew the imperial government and established the Third French Republic.

This time it was Prussia and Bismarck who were left dumbfounded.

The Prussian Army had just captured Napoleon III and planned to capitalize on this by making hefty demands for reparations and land from the French Government.

But unexpectedly, the French turned around and launched a coup to establish a Republican Government, rendering Napoleon III useless in just a few days.

It’s just that Europeans aren’t too familiar with the history of the Great Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, Bismarck would exclaim, isn’t this the script of the Heaven’s Son at the Door?’

Of course, compared to the belief in supreme imperial power in the East, in Europe, the power of kings and emperors was not as great.

What supported Napoleon III becoming Emperor was the vast military power he held, which disappeared after the French Army’s defeat.

If Napoleon III were to become a door emperor at this moment, the French who launched the coup would undoubtedly turn their cannon around without hesitation.

What is an Emperor? Sorry, the current era in France is one of a Defense Government led by General Louis Jules Trochu.

There’s no way around it; the war with France could only continue. Bismarck wanted nothing less than the unconditional surrender of Napoleon III; he wanted the entire French Government to surrender, demanding large reparations and land to declare that the entire German Region was free from French control.

Only by defeating France thoroughly, forcing France to sign reparations and land cession agreements, could the Southern German states understand that only Germans could control the German Region and that Prussia was the chosen one for unifying the entire German Region.

But the French also have their pride. The French did not want to see the once-powerful France humiliated by Prussia, a country that France considered insignificant decades ago.

The French demanded that the new Defense Government strengthen the defense of Paris and rebuild the defense forces to fight the Prussians in Paris to the end.

But for the current French Defense Government, the will of the French people instead became a curse upon their heads, forcing them to seek quicker peace agreements with Germany.

It is well known that revolutions and coups are a tradition for the French.

Although the current Defense Government was established through a coup, this does not mean that the officials of the Defense Government, or the big bourgeoisie behind the Defense Government, are willing to hand over control of the government to others again.

Actively preparing for war could indeed align with public opinion, but they must also consider France’s current situation.

The previous war had already consumed a lot of funds, coupled with multiple defeats of the front-line French Army, with Napoleon III leading tens of thousands of French troops in surrendering.

Now, relying on the newly assembled army to fight the Prussian Army would be to repeat Napoleon III’s mistakes.

Compared to the external enemy of Prussia, the Defense Government is more worried about the intense emotions of the French citizens within Paris and the increasingly fierce revolutionary fervor.

Faced with safeguarding France’s territorial integrity and dignity and maintaining their own power, the French Defense Government chose the latter without any hesitation.

They soothed the public’s emotions while strengthening the defense of Paris, as they also secretly negotiated with Bismarck, the commander of the German Army.

The diplomatic envoy sent by the French Government was named Fabre.

When Fabre secretly approached Bismarck to request peace negotiations, Bismarck was planning the army’s assault on Paris.

Upon seeing Bismarck, Fabre immediately began a fervent speech about the condemnation and protest of the French Defense Government against Napoleon III and expressed gratitude to Prussia for helping France overthrow Napoleon III’s rule.

Bismarck showed no expression, waiting for Fabre to get to the point.

Fabre also knew that mere words could not move Bismarck, so he immediately presented the sincerity of the French Defense Government on this occasion.

"Honorable Prime Minister Bismarck, on behalf of our Defense Government, I convey the wishes of all the French people to you.

We acknowledge France’s defeat in this war and are willing to pay massive reparations to mend relationships with Prussia.

However, our government absolutely refuses any land cession, and no French person would accept it either.

If you are willing, we can sign a peace treaty at any time to end this war that should never have happened."

What Fabre said, or rather the current opinion of the French Defense Government, was that they would compensate as much as needed, but absolutely would not accept land cession.

Land cession is a massive humiliation for any country, and it will stir up domestic public anger and a lot of opposition.

Let alone France, which was considered Europe’s hegemon just a year ago, even some backward and decayed countries would witness a surge of public anger over land cessions.

The French Defense Government, wanting to maintain its power, could not concede on land issues.

But to Bismarck, this proposal was somewhat amusing.

The French Government’s financial concessions and territorial determination might move others, but it certainly would not move Bismarck.

For the Iron Chancellor Bismarck, if any country showed a strong attitude to him, the best way to respond was with an even stronger attitude.