France Has Coup-ed Again (Seeking Reads)

By the time Primo finished wrapping up the loose ends and led his army back to Madrid, it was already mid-March of 1870.

This civil war in Spain didn't attract much attention from the great powers, because to the north of Spain, the war between the Kingdom of Prussia and the French Empire was already drawing to a close.

Carlo was also keeping an eye on this war between the two major European powers.

French Emperor Napoleon III, with his own fate and that of France, taught Carlo a truth: it's best not to micromanage the front lines, and to trust the generals and soldiers under your command.

Before the Franco-Prussian War broke out, revealing to any high-ranking official in a European country that Prussia would win a war against France would likely have earned you sneers and ridicule.

Why? Because at this time, France was still basking in the afterglow of the Napoleonic Empire. The empire founded by Napoleon III remained the most powerful land-based hegemon on the entire European continent.

On paper, there was no reason the Prussian army should have been able to defeat the French army.

But the mighty Second French Empire fell so decisively—defeated by its excessive reverence for Napoleon's legacy, clinging to massed line infantry formations; defeated by the overconfident Napoleon III's constant micromanagement; and defeated by inadequate pre-war preparations and a lack of thorough planning and response from high-level commanders.

On March 21, 1870, news that shocked the world broke.

The Emperor of the Second French Empire, Napoleon III—nephew of the Napoleon who had once shaken all of Europe—formally announced his surrender to the Prussian army.

The once-mighty French Empire had been defeated. No European nation had expected this.

France's defeat was bound to trigger a series of policy shifts across Europe, and Prussia's importance would skyrocket without limit.

But what no one anticipated was that before their own foreign policies could even change, the French people would create another bombshell.

On March 23, 1870, the third day after Napoleon III's surrender, a coup erupted in Paris, France. Taking advantage of the army and emperor being at the front, they overthrew the Imperial Government and established the Third French Republic.

Now it was Prussia and Bismarck's turn to be dumbfounded.

The Prussian army had just captured Napoleon III, planning to use him to make exorbitant demands of the French government for massive reparations and territory.

But they never expected the French to turn around and launch a coup, establishing a republican government. Within just a few days, Napoleon III had become useless.

If Europeans were more familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty, Bismarck might have exclaimed, "Isn't this the script of the 'Gate-Calling Emperor'?"

Of course, compared to the Eastern ideology of imperial supremacy, the power of kings and emperors in Europe wasn't nearly as absolute.

What had propped up Napoleon III as emperor was his vast military authority—an advantage that vanished after the French army's defeat.

If Napoleon III had tried to pull a "gate-calling emperor" act at this point, the French who launched the coup would have unhesitatingly turned their cannons on him.

Emperor? Sorry, but France was now under the Government of National Defense, led by General Louis Jules Trochu.

There was no choice but to continue the war with France. What Bismarck wanted was absolutely not the surrender of a now-meaningless Napoleon III; he wanted the surrender of the entire French government, along with massive reparations and territory, to declare that the entire German region had broken free from French control.

Only by thoroughly defeating France and forcing them to sign a treaty of reparations and land cession could the Southern German states understand that the German region could only be controlled by Germans, and that Prussia was the chosen one of the German region, destined to unify all of Germany.

But the French had their own pride. They refused to see the once-mighty France humiliated by Prussia—a nation France had barely deigned to notice decades ago.

The French people clamored for the new Government of National Defense to strengthen Paris's defenses, reorganize a national army, and fight the Prussians to the death in Paris.

But for the current French Government of National Defense, the people's will had become a tight band around their heads, forcing them to seek a peace agreement with Germany even faster.

As everyone knows, launching revolutions and coups is a French tradition.

Although the current Government of National Defense came to power through a coup, that didn't mean its officials—or the big bourgeoisie backing it—were willing to hand over control of the government to anyone else.

Actively preparing for war might align with public opinion, but they also had to consider France's current situation.

The previous war had already consumed vast sums of money. Add to that the repeated defeats of the French army at the front, and Napoleon III surrendering with tens of thousands of French troops.

If they tried to fight the Prussian army with newly formed troops now, wouldn't that just be repeating Napoleon III's mistake?

Compared to the external threat of Prussia, the Government of National Defense was far more worried about the intense emotions of the French populace inside Paris and the ever-rising revolutionary fervor.

Faced with the choice between preserving France's territory and dignity or preserving their own power, the French Government of National Defense didn't hesitate for a second to choose the latter.

While calming the people's emotions and strengthening Paris's defenses, they secretly negotiated with the commander of the German army, Bismarck.

The diplomatic representative sent by the French government was named Fabre.

When Fabre secretly sought out Bismarck to request peace negotiations, Bismarck was at army headquarters planning the attack on Paris.

The moment he met Bismarck, Fabre launched into a lengthy tirade condemning and protesting Napoleon III on behalf of the French Government of National Defense, and thanking Prussia for helping France overthrow Napoleon III's rule.

Bismarck's face showed no expression as he waited for Fabre to get to the point.

Fabre knew he couldn't move Bismarck with mere words, so he promptly laid out the sincerity of the French Government of National Defense.

"Respected Chancellor Bismarck, on behalf of our Government of National Defense, I convey the will of all French people.

We acknowledge France's defeat in this war and are willing to pay full reparations to mend relations with Prussia.

However, our government absolutely refuses to cede any territory, and no French person would accept it.

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 position of the current French Government of National Defense—was: pay whatever reparations are demanded, but absolutely no land cession.

Ceding territory is a tremendous humiliation for any nation, and would ignite domestic outrage and massive opposition.

Not to mention France, which just a year ago was considered the hegemon of Europe—even backward, decaying countries would face a boiling cauldron of popular anger over land cession.

The French Government of National Defense wanted to hold onto its power, so it could not budge on the territorial issue.

But to Bismarck, this was somewhat amusing.

The French government's concessions on finances and its firm stance on territory might sway others, but they would never sway Bismarck.

For the Iron Chancellor Bismarck, if a nation showed a tough attitude toward him, the best response was to strike back with an even tougher one.

Second chapter, please keep reading!