By the time Primo finished handling the aftermath and led the army back to Madrid, it was already mid-March of 1870.
Spain's civil war had not drawn 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 nearing its end.
Carlo was also following this war between two European great powers.
The French Emperor Napoleon III taught Carlo a truth with his own fate and France's future: it was best not to micromanage a war at the front lines. One had to trust the generals and soldiers under one's command.
Before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, if someone had told the upper echelons of any European country that Prussia would win its war against France, they would probably have been met with rolled eyes and ridicule.
Why? Because France was still basking in the lingering glow of the Napoleonic Empire, and the empire founded by Napoleon III remained the most powerful land-force hegemon on the European continent.
Judging by their strength on paper, the Prussian army should have had no reason whatsoever to defeat the French army.
Yet the mighty Second French Empire had fallen so cleanly. It lost because it clung to vast numbers of line infantry out of excessive worship for Napoleon's fading glory; it lost because the overly confident Napoleon III kept micromanaging; and it lost because its early preparations for war had been inadequate, while its senior commanders had lacked thorough plans and responses for the conflict.
On March 21, 1870, news that shocked the world emerged.
Napoleon III, Emperor of the Second French Empire and nephew of the Napoleon who had once awed Europe, formally announced his surrender to the Prussian army.
The once-powerful French Empire had been defeated, something no European country had expected.
France's defeat was bound to trigger a series of policy changes across european countries, and the importance they attached to Prussia would rise without limit.
But before anyone could alter their own diplomatic policies, the french people created another major sensation.
On March 23, 1870, the third day after Napoleon III announced his surrender, a coup erupted in Paris, France. Taking advantage of the army and Emperor both being at the front, they overthrew the Imperial Government and established the Third French Republic.
This left Prussia and Bismarck dumbfounded.
The Prussian army had only just captured Napoleon III and planned to use him to make extravagant demands of the French government, demanding massive reparations and territory.
Yet the french people turned around and launched a coup, establishing a republican government. In just a few short days, Napoleon III had lost all usefulness.
If Europeans had been more familiar with the history of the Ming dynasty, Bismarck might have cried out, "Isn't this the script of the Gate-Opening Emperor?"
Of course, compared to the East's notion that imperial authority stood above all else, kings and emperors in Europe did not wield quite so much power.
What had supported Napoleon III's position as Emperor was the vast military power in his hands. That advantage had already vanished after the French army's defeat.
If Napoleon III were to become a Gate-Opening Emperor as well, the french people who had launched the coup would turn their cannon muzzles around without the slightest hesitation.
What was an Emperor? Sorry, France was now in the era of the Government of National Defense led by General Louis Jules Trochu.
There was no helping it—the war with France could only continue. What Bismarck wanted was absolutely not the surrender of a Napoleon III who had lost his legitimacy. 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 making the French sign agreements for reparations and territorial cession could the allied states of Southern German understand that the German Region could only be controlled by Germans, that Prussia was the chosen one of the German Region, destined to unify all of Germany.
But the french people had their own pride. They were unwilling to see the once-powerful France bullied by Prussia, a country France would not even have bothered to look at a few decades earlier.
The french people one after another demanded that the new Government of National Defense strengthen Paris's defenses and rebuild the national defense army, to fight the Prussians to the death in Paris.
But for the current French Government of National Defense, the wishes of the french people instead became a tightening band around their heads, forcing them to seek a peace agreement with Germany more quickly.
As everyone knew, launching revolutions and coups was practically a French tradition.
Although the current Government of National Defense had been established through a coup, that did not mean its officials, or the great bourgeoisie behind it, were willing to hand control of the government over to others once more.
Actively preparing for war could indeed conform to public opinion, but they also had to consider France's present circumstances.
The previous war had already consumed enormous funds. On top of that, the French army at the front had suffered repeated defeats, and Napoleon III had even surrendered with tens of thousands of French soldiers.
If they now hoped to fight the Prussian army with a newly assembled force, would that not mean treading Napoleon III's old path again?
Compared with the external enemy of Prussia, the Government of National Defense was even more worried about the fierce emotions of the French people within Paris and the increasingly surging tide of revolution.
Between preserving France's territory and dignity and preserving their own power, the Government of National Defense chose the latter without the slightest hesitation.
While soothing the public's emotions and reinforcing Paris's defenses, they also conducted secret negotiations with Bismarck, commander of the German army.
The diplomatic representative sent by the French government was named Fabre.
When Fabre secretly approached Bismarck to request peace talks, Bismarck was in the army planning an assault on Paris.
The moment he met Bismarck, Fabre launched into an endless stream of condemnation and protest from the Government of National Defense against Napoleon III, while thanking Prussia for helping France overthrow Napoleon III's rule.
Bismarck showed no expression as he waited for Fabre to get to the point.
Fabre also knew that words alone could not move Bismarck, so he immediately presented the sincerity of the Government of National Defense.
"Honorable Chancellor Bismarck, on behalf of our Government of National Defense, I convey to you the sentiments of all french people.
We acknowledge France's defeat in this war and are willing to empty our coffers in reparations, to mend relations with Prussia.
But at the same time, our government will absolutely not accept the cession of any territory, and no French person will accept it either.
If you are willing, we can sign a peace treaty at any time and bring this war, which should never have happened, to an end."
What Fabre said—or rather, the position of the current Government of National Defense—was that they would pay however much compensation was demanded, but would absolutely not accept ceding land.
Ceding territory was a tremendous humiliation for any country, and it would also stir domestic outrage and countless voices of opposition.
Let alone France, which had been considered the hegemon of Europe just a year earlier—even for some backward and decaying countries, ceding land would cause public resentment to boil over.
If the Government of National Defense wanted to preserve its power, it could not yield an inch on the matter of territory.
But to Bismarck, this was rather laughable.
The French government's willingness to yield financially and its firmness regarding territory might have moved others, but they could never move Bismarck.
For Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor, if a country showed a hard-line attitude before him, then the best response was to strike back with an even harder one.
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