Calm

We silk weavers,

are all so poor we stand naked.

The high officials

put on coats and brocade sashes.

We weave all this,

yet even if we starve to death, we have no cloth to wrap our bodies in.

We silk weavers,

are all so poor we stand naked.

But our day is coming,

and your world will be destroyed.

Then we will

dress the old world in mourning clothes,

for the thunder of rebellion already rumbles through the skies.

The Second Lyon Workers' Uprising shook France—and helped Austria, too.

The domestic unrest and foreign threats Franz had anticipated never materialized. Instead, everything went unusually smoothly.

It seemed that once the Hungarians decided to leave the Zollverein, all the problems resolved themselves.

The Prussian ambassador hanged himself and spent all the money allocated to him by the Prussian government.

Even more damaging to the Prussian government's reputation, people had seen more than one dancing girl going in and out of the Prussian ambassador's room.

Before long, busybodies began linking money, women, and the ambassador, spinning a whole series of scandals.

Prussia's new foreign minister had no choice but to say in public that the former minister had loved his wife dearly, and that the circumstances were under investigation.

That only made matters worse. When they investigated, the Prussians discovered that the affair was connected to an organization called the Polish Restoration Army.

The Prussian military couldn't sit still any longer. Assassinating the Prussian foreign minister? That was outrageous audacity.

Prussia's upper ranks were all on edge, afraid the Polish Restoration Army might come for them. That month, business at Berlin's brothels plummeted.

The French fared no better. The plague had only just passed when an unprecedented workers' uprising broke out in Lyon.

It all came down to the factory owners treating their workers like they weren't human. French workers at the time labored eighteen hours a day, and sometimes had to work overtime, too.

Since France had already seen a large-scale uprising in 1831, the authorities passed the October Decree to prevent workers from forming associations.

In October 1833, the July Monarchy government issued a decree banning associations and prohibiting groups of more than twenty people from existing.

But as the saying went, where there were policies from above, there were countermeasures from below.

The workers broke up into smaller groups, forming countless little associations of fewer than twenty people.

As a result, associations didn't stop. They grew more rampant than ever, leaving King Louis Philippe furious.

In March 1834, the July Monarchy's rulers issued a decree banning workers from forming new associations and forcing them to dissolve existing mutual-aid societies. Otherwise, every member would be punished. They also ordered the arrest of the workers' leaders.

This enraged the workers, and they decided to take up arms against the July Monarchy.

But when it came to suppressing revolutions, the French were far more efficient than the Austrians.

The July Monarchy's troops were already prepared. As soon as the uprising began, they swiftly entered the city, occupied every crossroads and key position, and set up artillery outside the city. The Lyon insurgents were trapped like turtles in a jar.

Of course, the French knew how to rebel, too. The insurgents were seasoned fighters, and even when faced with overwhelming troops, they chose to fight street by street.

The army would have to storm the houses one by one to win, and it would pay dearly for it.

In a pitched battle against the army, unless they faced a foolish general leading soldiers who didn't want to fight, an insurgent force without heavy weapons would simply be slaughtered by regular troops.

The uprising in Paris, however, caught the July Monarchy's high officials somewhat off guard.

The July Monarchy Cabinet.

"Guizot, damn it, the country is on the brink of disaster, and you're still worrying about those damned Austrians."

"Thiers, you short-sighted fool! The Austrians are fighting the Prussians for leadership of Germany. Whoever wins, it'll be a disaster for France. Don't you understand?"

"Before the Germans bring disaster upon us, the workers outside will storm in and hang us from the lampposts."

In the end, at Thiers's insistence, tens of thousands of troops entered Paris to keep order. The uprising was suppressed, but it nearly paralyzed the entire French government.

Meanwhile, the "Bloody Week of Lyon" began. The soldiers received orders to shoot anyone who looked like an insurgent or sympathizer.

In the bloody street fighting, men and women were dragged out of their homes and executed in the streets.

The atrocities continued for a week. The last insurgents were all shot at Cordeliers Cathedral.

"Charles won't have died for nothing. He was a hero!" A tall, bearded man wrapped a piece of rag tightly around a boy.

"I'm not afraid to die. Let me go back! I want to fight them to the end!" The boy tried to break free, but the bearded man clutched him tightly.

"If you go back, then they'll have died for nothing! We have to live on for their sake. One day, General Napoleon will come back and save us," the bearded man roared.

"But General Napoleon is dead!" Tears streamed from the boy's eyes.

"General Napoleon has nephews. There's Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte. And General Jerome is still alive, too."

"But what if they're all gone?" the boy asked.

"France needs a Napoleon. It must have a Napoleon," the bearded man replied firmly.

"That's right! We must have a Napoleon." The boy named Charles had a gleam of resolve in his eyes.

Many other people in rags were with them. The French Army hadn't slaughtered them all.

Some people in the group had found their resolve again. Others had lost their souls.

The Lyon uprising in France had failed, and Thalia had lost a year's salary to Franz over it.

After all, in the eyes of the people at the time, French uprisings seemed to succeed every time.

Louis Bonaparte had just become a captain in the Bern Artillery Regiment, while Jerome, thanks to his father-in-law, had become a prince and was spending his twilight years in Italy.

In 1834, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte was never short of schemers, dangerous malcontents, fervent admirers, or self-important frauds.

A man named Persigny sought out Louis Bonaparte.

Persigny had once served in the French Army, but had always been a low-ranking officer. Later, he went to Bohemia and became an editor-in-chief, only to be fired soon afterward. In the end, he realized that Bonapartism was the only road to the top.

Introduced by Belmontet, the Bonapartist poet, Persigny met Louis Bonaparte, and the two hit it off at once.

Persigny argued that a hero shouldn't be bound by the times, but should create them. His words deeply moved Louis Bonaparte.

In truth, Louis Bonaparte had never abandoned his plans for action, and Persigny's ideas fit perfectly with his own.

So the two decided to go to Strasbourg and create the moment.

In the Austrian Empire, the few uprisings that did break out were swiftly suppressed.

With the French and Prussians out of the picture, Austria's nobles seemed like eggplants struck by frost.

Among the Hungarians, Prince Esterhazy had fallen from power, so they needed to choose a new big brother.

But as it happened, everyone had roughly equal strength, which made things rather interesting.

The Hungarian nobles suddenly threw in their lot with Austria. Until they chose a new leader, they would remain Austria's loyal servants.

Thanks to book friend lax-X for the monthly ticket, and thanks to all the other readers for your support.

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