Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 48: Chapter 47: More Frightening Than Prussia

Carlo’s mood was quite delightful.

This banquet resolved the issue Carlo most wanted to address, which was establishing an institution uniting all the nobility to ensure Carlo’s influence over the entire aristocracy.

Although the nobles present were only a portion of the entire Spanish nobility, most of the higher-status and influential dukes were present, except for those who were far away or delayed by matters, such as Duke Serrano in faraway Cuba.

It is believed that once the news of the Royal Council’s establishment is announced, it will attract more nobles to apply for membership.

This was also an opportunity for nobles to express their positions. Those nobles who eagerly applied to join the Royal Council naturally indicated their willingness to support Carlo.

As for those unwilling to express their stance to join the Royal Council, it was equivalent to them being unwilling to support Carlo, and their loyalty to him was questionable.

While Carlo was establishing the Royal Council to draw in a portion of the nobility, in northern Spain, talks between France and Prussia regarding peace negotiations were also coming to a conclusion.

In fact, according to the compensation draft signed by Prussia and France, the French government only needed to pay Prussia two hundred million francs in compensation.

This compensation was not harsh and could even be paid immediately by France.

But as the situation in Paris developed, the terms of the peace talks quickly faced changes.

The French Defense Government, although it suppressed the first uprising of the citizens of Paris, failed to completely dispel the increasingly fierce opposition of Parisians towards the Defense Government.

Especially upon learning that the Defense Government might cede French land, Parisians were furious and completely lost all trust in the government.

Angry Parisians gathered once again, igniting a larger uprising than before.

Although the Defense Government suppressed the situation very promptly, for the enraged Parisians, there were no other choices apart from resolute resistance.

The morale-depleted French Defense Government troops faced the fervent Paris National Guard without any advantage, with many government soldiers not only lacking hostility towards the National Guard but instead brotherly passing beneficial intelligence to them.

There were two quite important strategic highlands within the city of Paris, namely Montmartre Hill and Chaumont Hill.

A large number of cannons and other military equipment were stored there, and naturally, the Defense Government would not allow the weapons to fall into the hands of the insurgent army of Paris.

However, during the attempts to seize these highlands, the Defense Government troops instead experienced a mutiny.

General Claude Martin Lecmond, tasked with attacking Montmartre Hill, not only failed his mission but was executed by his own mutinous soldiers.

The reason for his execution was that General Lecmond had once ordered his soldiers to open fire on the Paris National Guard and ordinary citizens.

As the Paris uprising raged on, the French Defense Government fearfully realized that its troops seemed somewhat disobedient.

The Defense Government’s army was originally comprised of insurgents, with a very complex composition. Although capitalism controlled the government’s discourse, there were many soldiers with Republican, Democratic, and other ideologies within the army.

Compared to the treasonous capitalist Defense Government, these soldiers were clearly more supportive of the newly uprising Paris National Guard.

As the situation escalated, French Defense Government Prime Minister Thiers was too frightened to remain in Paris, choosing to relocate the government more than ten kilometers away to Versailles.

Why move to Versailles? Because German troops were still stationed there. For the officials of the Defense Government, their fear of the Paris insurgents was greater than their fear of the German troops.

After all, the Germans at most demanded land cessions and financial compensations. But those insurgents in Paris could send them to the guillotine, hanging them from lampposts.

The choice between the loss of national interests and their own personal safety was a clear one for these officials of the Defense Government.

Bismarck, who was preparing for the coronation of the German Empire in Versailles, smiled. He hadn’t expected the French to offer such an opportunity so readily, almost gifting benefits to the soon-to-be-established Germany.

Bismarck would not pass up this good opportunity, and neither would the Junker nobility in Prussia.

Prussia was a unique country where the Junker nobility held extremely high influence and status.

If France was a country with an army, then Prussia was an army with a country.

This was the reason for the Prussian army’s valor and prowess, but it also influenced Prussia’s diplomatic strategies.

Why do nobles go to war? Naturally, to elevate their titles and secure more land for themselves.

How to secure more land for themselves? Of course, by seizing French territory and then dividing it among the numerous Junker nobility.

After all, nobles are not philanthropists. They fight hard battles for King William I of Prussia not without seeking rewards, but those rewards had to be paid by defeated France.

Could Bismarck ignore the tremendously influential Junker nobility within Prussia? Of course not.

With repeated pressure from the Junker nobility on William I and Bismarck, demanding more land be taken from France, Bismarck finally made another approach to Thiers.

“Due to previous miscalculations of our losses in the war, I hope to renegotiate the compensation terms with your government and sign a new compensation treaty.

This concerns the interests of tens of millions of people in Prussia and Germany, so please consider carefully. Of course, I will guarantee the safety of your government, ensuring that the Paris uprising will not affect Versailles.”

Bismarck’s message was simple.

Either agree to more compensation payments and cede more land, and the Prussian army could guarantee the safety of the French Government in Versailles.

Otherwise, Prussia might hand over the French Government to the uprising citizens of Paris.

In such a scenario, the fate of the French officials would be predictable. The last time Parisian citizens rose up in revolt, they directly executed a king—were these officials’ identities more exalted than a king’s?

Under Bismarck’s coercion, even if Thiers was unwilling to renegotiate the compensation terms, he had no choice but to agree.

After all, those rioting Parisians could indeed lynch them on lampposts, and they were much scarier than the Prussian army.

Perhaps the citizens of Paris did not realize that their uprising instead made the government more cowardly, even at the cost of ceding more land to gain Prussia’s protection.

But even if the Parisians knew, they probably would only resist more fiercely. Because such a cowardly government could not lead France forward, and France should establish a more just democratic republic.