Barbary War

The news of Napoleon's coronation as emperor naturally caused a huge reaction abroad.

After receiving this news, almost everyone's attention turned to Vienna. Many people believed that even if the Habsburg dared not declare war on the France, the relationship between the two countries would inevitably be affected.

Vienna, as expected, held a press conference to express its stance to the world. They conveyed two points to the reporters:

First, the Holy See's decision to strip Emperor Franz of his title of "Emperor of the Rome" is unjust, and therefore illegal and invalid. The Holy Roman Empire is undoubtedly the legitimate Rome Empire.

Secondly, His Majesty Emperor Franz believes that the friendly relations between Austria and the French Republic will not be affected by this unexpected event. The two countries will remain friendly neighbors for generations to come.

Third, Austria congratulated France on successfully hosting the first modern Olympic Games. At the same time, Austria believes Vienna would be the best choice for the next Olympic Games. The Austrian Olympic Committee has extended invitations to national Olympic committees, including the France Olympic Committee, hoping they will come to Vienna to discuss the establishment of a unified International Olympic Committee.

"What? The Austria just held back like that?" Many who had hoped to see a slap in the face were taken aback. Those within Austria who harbored certain expectations were also greatly disappointed. However, considering the previous tactic of luring the enemy out of their hole used by the Austria and the France, this situation wasn't surprising at all. The upper echelons of these two countries had long been in cahoots. Besides, Austria had many domestic problems; for His Majesty Franz to turn against a powerful France for a mere hat—he wasn't truly insane.

As for other countries, well, the Russia's attitude can basically be summed up in two sentences: first, "What's it to me?" and second, "Those guys from the Western Roman Empire really know how to play games." And frankly, the Russia were quite satisfied that the France chose the Western Roman Empire crown instead of the Eastern Roman Empire crown. You see, when King François I allied with the infidels, he bought back the Eastern Roman Empire crown from them.

Of course, some say that the real Eastern Roman Empire crown was lost on the battlefield. What King François I bought was actually a fake made by the Turkey, and a crudely made one at that, because the jewels on the crown were made of colored glass.

Of course, some argue that this proves the item might actually be genuine. Before the end of the Byzantium, in order to raise funds for the army, Emperor Constantine XI had already pried off the jewels from his own crown and sold them to the Venice. Therefore, this crown, covered in stained glass, could indeed be a genuine Eastern Roman Empire crown.

In any case, the true line of the Eastern Roman Empire still lies in Russia.

As for the Italy and the Rhine Region, they all offered their congratulations, especially after learning that the France had sold a small piece of land near Paris to the Roman Empire to serve as its capital, "New Rome." They even sent envoys hoping to establish diplomatic relations with the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire nobles, senators, and Foreign Minister Talleyrand were thus extremely busy. (Although establishing diplomatic relations with the Roman Empire very easy—simply changing the nameplate of their diplomatic mission in France —and of course, the Roman Empire's diplomatic affairs in France were largely handled by the France diplomatic mission.) He reportedly complained, "This makes it difficult for me to fulfill my duties as Foreign Minister of the French Republic." However, some close associates privately said that although Foreign Minister Talleyrand was very busy, he was very happy, firstly because the busier he was, the more opportunities he had to make money, and secondly because he had finally become a noble again.

Yes, a whole bunch of people who supported the republic and held positions in a republic suddenly acquired noble titles. The only slightly unsatisfactory thing was that the Roman Empire's noble system was too simple; there was no series of ranks like duke, marquis, earl, viscount, or baron, only one noble, and at most, a cavalryman who wasn't even considered a noble. But at least they were still nobles.

For example, Napoleon's generals all became Roman Nobility and senators. As for Napoleon's own relatives, they naturally became nobles as well. Napoleon himself became Augustus, Joseph became Caesar, Lucien was given the title of tribune of the plebs, and even Pauline and others became princesses.

Meanwhile, the Britain across the sea also congratulated Napoleon on his coronation as "Emperor of the Rome." However, they did not immediately send diplomats to establish diplomatic relations with the "Roman Empire."

As for the general public, the sentiment was overwhelmingly positive, at least on the Europe continent. However, the situation was slightly different in Britain. Some Britain newspapers sourly mocked Napoleon, saying he wanted to be emperor but didn't dare to undermine democracy, having the desire but not the guts. But most, at least the major newspapers, did not voice such opinions.

After declaring himself emperor, Napoleon became even busier, as he now had to handle affairs in two countries. Although the affairs of the Roman Empire were actually quite limited, there were many opportunities for him to make public appearances and show off, and Napoleon thoroughly enjoyed that feeling, so naturally he became extremely busy.

While Napoleon was busy showing off, Selim III's envoys had just returned from the Barbary States. Selim III's envoys, of course, had gone to request that the Barbary Pashas come to Istanbul to pay homage to the supreme Sultan.

This was a common occurrence. Almost every few years, Selim III would summon them. The Pashas would usually fall ill or something and be unable to go to Istanbul. In the end, the Pashas would typically present a small gift, send an envoy to Istanbul to express their apologies to the supreme Sultan, and then that was it. To the Pashas of the Barbary, this was almost an annual humiliation by the Sultan.

However, when their envoys arrived in Istanbul, trouble ensued. Because the Sultan was very busy, the envoys had to wait in Istanbul for several days before they could meet His Majesty the Sultan. This was the norm, so the envoys could take the opportunity to relax and enjoy themselves.

However, for some unknown reason, His Majesty the Sultan suddenly summoned these envoys, and two of them were found to be drunk! It should be noted that in the Crescent Moon Church, abstinence from alcohol is a very important precept, far more serious than eating certain even-toed ungulates. Even more problematic, these two drunken envoys, perhaps confused, claimed that the Pashas were not ill, but simply too lazy to deal with the Sultan who frequently came to beg for favors. They even went so far as to utter arrogant remarks, accusing Turkey of being unworthy of being the leader of the Crescent Moon world.

Of course, all of the above statements were made by the Sultan and his people. As for those envoys, well, in His Majesty the Sultan's palace, to utter such disrespectful words, how could they possibly be allowed to live? Of course, they were beheaded on the spot!

What? You're saying we're killing people to cover it up? How could that be? We still have a few envoys left behind, and these envoys honestly admitted that the Pashas of Barbary were disloyal and despised the Sultan's crimes. What? You're saying they were forced? That they submitted to the scimitar? Young man, your thinking is dangerous...

In short, His Majesty the Sultan was furious, but he remained merciful. He again ordered the Pashas of the Barbary States to come to Istanbul immediately to clarify the facts. However, the Barbary once again rejected the Sultan's kindness and even spoke disrespectfully to the Sultan's envoys. Indeed, if even such offense could be tolerated, what could not? Thus, the great Sultan issued an order to punish the rebels.

Just as the Barbary Pashas were troubled by their conflict with the Sultan, the France came knocking again. The France, of course, were again concerned about the attack on France ships by Barbary Pirates.

Several months had passed since the incident, and everyone assumed it was over. However, the victims' families staged a collective protest in Paris, standing before the Consulate and pleading their case to Napoleon and the France people. They said they had wanted to come for a while but didn't want to spoil the atmosphere of the Olympic Games, so they waited until today.

Napoleon was deeply moved by the victims' families' understanding and consideration for the greater good. Napoleon expressed his sympathy to them and, in front of the media, assured them that he would seek justice for them.

"Anyone who dares to offend the France people, no matter how far they run, will surely be eliminated!" Napoleon said this to the families of the victims and to the media.

Therefore, the France consuls in various Barbary countries immediately issued an ultimatum to the Pashas, demanding that they unconditionally hand over the France sailors and the perpetrators within three days. When the Pashas claimed they could not find the France sailors within three days and implied they were already dead, the France consuls bluntly replied, "If your army cannot find the missing personnel, then let our France army find them."

After the ultimatum was delivered, the consulates immediately lowered their flags, and all personnel boarded ships and left the Barbary states.

As the consuls evacuated, plumes of smoke appeared almost immediately on the sea.