Prussia now held the upper hand on the battlefield, and at the Berlin Government's insistence, the negotiations were to be held in London.
At first, they had wanted to hold them in Berlin, but the Russians refused. The Tsarist Government still wanted to preserve a shred of dignity.
The Russians remained unwilling to concede. They insisted that the negotiations be held in a neutral country, to prove that they had not lost this war.
It was self-deception, but it also involved political maneuvering. The candidate venues had been Vienna and London. Now that the negotiations were being held in London, it meant that the Tsarist Government had fallen into the disadvantage in this round of political wrangling.
With a bang, Clarence Ivanov, Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire, flung a cup of coffee away, splashing it all over the floor.
Ever since the defeat at the front, he had visited European nations seeking diplomatic support, but the results had been truly moving. The Russian Empire's sterling reputation had directly driven most European countries to stand against them.
They had originally planned to negotiate separately with each belligerent nation, using diplomatic means to defeat them one by one. But now that the British had intervened and gathered everyone in London, an anti-Russian alliance had emerged.
The Prussians acted as the alliance leader, while the British coordinated the interests of every party and formed a joint delegation to negotiate with the Russians.
"Send a telegram home explaining the situation. Have the government make a decision as soon as possible."
Clarence Ivanov was still politically sharp. Rather than saying they should seek Alexander II's instructions, he told the government to make the decision.
That meant the Tsarist Government's senior officials would have to shoulder the blame and take responsibility for the defeat in