Bismarck slowly walked up to Fabre. No emotion showed on his face as he said, word by word, "France started this war, so the French government should bear the responsibility.
Prussia has paid too much for this war. Money alone cannot heal the pain in the hearts of the Prussian army and people.
If your government is unwilling to cede territory as compensation, that is fine. We can continue our discussions in Paris."
How could Fabre fail to understand the threat hidden in Bismarck's words? Put nicely, they would continue negotiations in Paris; put bluntly, if the French government refused to cede land, the Prussian army would continue its assault on Paris.
Once France's capital had fallen, it would not be so easy for the French government to refuse territorial cessions and reparations.
Seeing that Bismarck would not respond to hard tactics at all, Fabre could only change his strategy.
"Prime Minister Bismarck, ceding territory will leave tens of millions of people in France dissatisfied and bring endless calamities upon the French government.
For the sake of those tens of millions of people in France, please do not make us cede land. We are willing to meet any demands your government makes regarding reparations, and we will do everything in our power to repay them in full."
Faced with Fabre's shift from hard tactics to soft ones, Bismarck did not waver in the slightest. Smiling, he said, "Mr. Fabre, what do french people have to do with me?
Please do not forget that I am the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia. The only opinions I care about are those of the Prussian people.
If your country is still unwilling to cede territory, I would be more than happy to go to Paris and negotiate with your government in person."
Seeing that every scheme had failed against Bismarck, Fabre could only bring out his final move: stalling for time.
He handed Bismarck a thick French Document and said with considerable sincerity, "Please review these documents first, then give us fifteen days to consider them. We will give you an answer in fifteen days. Please believe in our sincerity."
Bismarck shook his head and likewise took out a document written in German, handing it to Fabre. "There is no need to make this so troublesome, Mr. Fabre. This is our document, and it is also our answer."
The surprise and worry in Fabre's eyes could no longer be concealed.
Submitting documents in German was uncommon in the diplomatic customs of european countries. Because of France's longstanding status as the hegemon of Europe, diplomatic exchanges among european countries had basically all been conducted in French.
This was also why French had become the common language among Europe's aristocrats. Any European noble would study French; Carlo had studied it before as well, and had no problem with everyday communication.
By breaking with established practice in this manner, Bismarck was also reminding Fabre that France's days as the hegemon of continental Europe were gone forever.
After Prussia defeated France, it naturally became the new hegemon of continental Europe. Using German in diplomatic documents was therefore nothing strange.
This put Fabre in a difficult position. Though he was a diplomat dispatched by the French government, he was not particularly skilled in diplomacy.
More importantly, because all previous diplomatic exchanges had been conducted in French, Fabre's german was not actually very good.
Faced with a document written entirely in German, a question surfaced in Fabre's mind: What the hell is this even saying?
Seeing Fabre's utterly baffled expression, Bismarck finally lost all patience. Waving his hand, he said, "Enough, Mr. Fabre. Go back.
I hope you will take this document back to Paris. Before our army reaches Paris, I hope your government will have an answer that satisfies us."
This peace negotiation ultimately collapsed, and Fabre could only return to Paris in disgrace.
On Bismarck's side, after ending this meaningless peace negotiation, he ordered the Prussian army to continue toward Paris and force the French government to sign a peace treaty that satisfied him.
Because the army led by Napoleon III had already surrendered, Bismarck's road to Paris was completely unimpeded.
However, the French government in Paris still clung to a flicker of hope, because it did not believe the Prussian army would be so utterly deranged as to bombard Paris directly.
After all, Paris was one of Europe's largest cities, home to large numbers of people from France and foreign visitors.
As France's capital, Paris also housed diplomatic ambassadors from many European nations. Unless Prussia was willing to risk offending every country in Europe, it would not dare bombard Paris.
It was precisely with this mindset that, after the Prussian army approached Paris, the French government not only refused to yield, but even sent Bismarck a letter.
The letter read, "When does Your Excellency intend to bombard Paris? If there is such a plan, please inform us in advance, so that we may notify the diplomatic ambassadors of all countries to evacuate."
This was an open reminder for Bismarck to consider the views of other European nations. Prussia could certainly bombard Paris, but would other countries really be willing to see a Prussia that could so easily humiliate France, once the hegemon of Europe?
Though that was reasonable in principle, France's politicians had clearly underestimated Bismarck's courage.
Bismarck immediately sent the French government a reply. It read, "The matter Your Excellency has asked about is Prussia's highest military secret and cannot be disclosed at present. If foreign ambassadors need to evacuate in advance, your country may begin doing so now."
If he had merely replied to the French government, it would have been another meaningless threat.
But Bismarck, seasoned and shrewd as he was, naturally would not overlook the delicate situation within Paris.
This letter was not only delivered directly to the French government; Bismarck also made it public and sent it to several newspapers within Paris.
This immediately sparked heated discussion among Paris Citizens.
So after all these days of negotiations with Prussia, the new Government of National Defense had arrived at nothing but the result of Paris being bombarded? Was this not betraying the glory France had once possessed?
The enraged Paris Citizens rose up once more, intending to overthrow the Government of National Defense controlled by capitalists and establish a French government with the courage to resist the Germans.
This uprising was a spontaneous revolt against the government by certain radical nationalists. Because it had few supporters, it was swiftly suppressed by the Government of National Defense.
At the same time, however, the fierce opposition of Paris's populace also threw the Government of National Defense of France into panic.
The French government knew that the peace talks could not be dragged out any longer. There had to be a result as soon as possible, so it could free its hands to stabilize the situation in Paris.
On April 5, 1870, the Government of National Defense of France signed a treaty of surrender. On April 7, the French government and Bismarck jointly signed an armistice treaty, and France finally welcomed a brief peace.
Perhaps the people of Paris had never imagined that their pressure on the government would instead make the French government yield even more to Prussia.
The armistice agreement, which should originally have required a long period of wrangling, was signed just like that. The French government had also forgotten the bottom line it had maintained only days earlier: no territorial cessions.
According to the treaty signed by both sides, the French government was to hand over most of the artillery positions and ammunition in the Paris Fortress to the Prussian army, as well as pay reparations of 200 million francs.
Bismarck also added an extra clause: the German army could enter Paris in triumph and pass through the Arc de Triomphe in the center of Paris.
To speak of the Arc de Triomphe's history, one had to begin with Napoleon's era in the early nineteenth century. To celebrate his victory over the Russian-Austrian coalition, Napoleon ordered the construction of a structure through which returning soldiers could pass. Thus, the Arc de Triomphe was born.
But because Napoleon had once scrapped the Arc de Triomphe's construction plan midway through, it was not completed until 1836.
Why did Bismarck want the Prussian army to pass through the Arc de Triomphe in victory?
Because decades earlier, amid Napoleon's brilliant record of conquering Europe, he had defeated Prussia on multiple occasions. This was also why France had looked down on Prussia before the war began.
As Prime Minister of Prussia, Bismarck naturally wanted to use this method to wash away Prussia's humiliation, while returning the same humiliation to France and the people of France.
First update, please support!
Before you continue