The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1531: Chapter 260: Pointing the Way

As a free republican, choosing to be born in the 1810s of the 19th century was an exceedingly poor choice.

The aftermath of the French Revolution was completely smoothed over, with news of failed uprisings coming from all directions. Since Napoleon was defeated, the absolute monarchs of the European land began a frenzied purge of republicans and liberals.

Even in Britain, which could be considered Europe’s most open constitutional monarchy, the radicals known as British Jacobins could only maneuver within a very limited space.

And in Russia, the most oppressive country in all of Europe with the greatest monarchical power, everyone had to live in the great shadow of the Tsar.

Choosing to be a liberal in Russia might be one of the worst life plans, because for various historical reasons, Russians mostly bear a heavy psychological burden. They envy the relaxed environment of Western Europe, yet unlike the Italians under Austrian rule and Poles under Russian rule, they cannot let go of their pride.

Italians and Poles could every day yearn for another short man named Napoleon to rise from Corsica and liberate them from the oppression of feudal monarchs, without any psychological burden.

But Russians cannot do this, both because they once proudly defeated the French and because they often wish to consider themselves citizens of a great power. Russia not only has its own distinct and unique history and culture different from Europe, but Russia’s strong national power and influence also do not allow Russians to kowtow to France. Perhaps there is a gap between Russia and a world hegemon like Britain, but as for France, this defeated opponent, forget about it.

Because of this, although Russia has fierce disputes between the Slavists and the Western School, even Pushkin, viewed by the Tsarist government as a leader of liberals, shows significant Great Russia ideas in Arthur’s view.

In this regard, Russians are even more stubborn than their neighbors, the Germans.

After all, although Germans also claim to be on a path of German uniqueness, there is still no lack of those like Heinrich Heine who consider learning from France and inheriting Napoleon’s legacy the top priority.

If you put Russia’s liberals in front of Germany’s liberals, it would definitely trigger a large-scale criticism by the latter against the former.

Arthur doesn’t say this without basis. He had written several letters to Heine recently, briefly introducing the current status of Russian literature, and enclosed several high-level works of Russian literature, including Pushkin’s military travelogues and poetry collections, Karamzin’s historical writings, and Krelov’s comedies and collections of fables, among others.

As expected by Arthur, among these works, Heine first praised those fables by Krelov for criticizing current politics, exposing the darkness of the bureaucracy, and satirizing the laziness and stupidity of the nobility and landlords, lamenting how he had previously missed the works of such a great writer. Then, this German ”proctologist,” known for hating nationalists, unleashed his sarcasm at Pushkin and Karamzin.

— Some works remind me of those parties formed by so-called representatives who talk about German nationality, and I mean those false German patriots whose patriotism is merely a stupid, absurd antipathy towards foreign and neighboring peoples. They particularly malign France daily. These people are remnants or descendants of the Teutonic knights of 1815, except they changed their old German jester costumes and trimmed their ears a bit. I’ve hated them all my life and will continue to fight them for the rest of my life.

— Grand statements about unique nationality, narrow patriotism, and the legacy of ancient Germany; I used to think such ridiculous rhetoric would only appear in the empty-headed Germanic region... As it turns out, Arthur, you’ve given me a huge surprise. This truly is a comforting matter. Now I finally understand that the average intelligence level of the Germanic region isn’t the lowest in the European Continent. Yes, this is another significant victory for Germany this century!

— If we were to count the groups with even lower average intelligence levels than Germany and Russia, it might only be the French republicans. Arthur, you should know, my letters and articles often contain many little stories and anecdotes whose symbolic meanings aren’t understood by everyone. In the eyes of those boorish onlookers, these might only seem like petty anecdotes and gossip. However, by using this manner and tone, I can often bypass press censorship and report on the most dangerous matters.

— I admit, this tried-and-true tone is often a cold one. But many beneficial things are indirectly expressed through it! Yet those Parisian republicans complained my reports were unofficial in nature, failing to see how earnest my attitude was when speaking on their behalf when necessary! I constantly exposed the ugly state of the ruling bourgeois thoroughly, yet these republican people’s comprehension was very dull.

— On reflection, I used to think much more highly of them. I used to think they were just pretending to be stupid, with the republicans all striving to play the role of Junius Brutus, pretending to be dull and foolish to make King Louis Philippe feel relaxed and complacent, using the government’s carelessness as a way to more surely destroy it. But a recent series of events made me recognize my mistake. I found these republicans were indeed honest gentlemen, unable to feign; they looked like what they are and are what they seem.