Chapter 297: Napoleon Assassination
On August 10, 1858, Napoleon III and his wife were attacked on their way to the Paris Opera House, throwing Europe into an uproar.
Everyone still remembered the unlucky Bismarck, who had been assassinated a few months earlier. The Tsarist Government had found the Polish independence organization to take the blame; since it involved domestic political struggles, the Prussian government did not pursue the matter, and it gradually faded away.
Napoleon III was no minor figure like Bismarck. Assassinating the monarch of a nation was a grave taboo—this was going to be a huge problem.
Vienna
Upon receiving the news, Franz's first reaction was, Holy shit. Under the butterfly effect he had caused, Napoleon III had ascended the throne early, yet he had still run straight into this assassination attempt.
Franz asked with concern, "Were Napoleon III and his wife shot?"
It was not that he lacked morals. The historical Orsini Assassination Attempt had been riddled with doubts. After being attacked by Sardinian Italians, Napoleon III had then joined forces with the Kingdom of Sardinia to attack Austria. There was nothing normal about that.
The most natural course would have been to use this as a pretext to hold the Kingdom of Sardinia accountable, force them to cede territory and pay reparations, or simply send troops to occupy the Kingdom of Sardinia.
Yet Napoleon III had not only sacrificed his own monarchical prestige to pardon the assassins, he had even gone off to help the Kingdom of Sardinia fight Austria, contributing to Italian unification.
Such brain-dead maneuvering would not dare be written even in a third-rate novel, would it?
Unless the assassination had been staged by himself to lure Austria into a pit, Napoleon III's brain had truly been flooded.
Of course, if it had been