Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 48 More Terrible Than Prussia

Carlo was in a wonderful mood.

This banquet solved the problem that Carlo wanted to solve most, which was to establish an institution to unite all the nobles and ensure Carlo's influence on the entire nobility.

Although the nobles present were only a part of the entire Spanish aristocracy, most of the dukes with higher status and influence were present, except for some who were far away or delayed due to other things, such as the Duke of Serrano who was far away in Cuba.

I believe that once the news of the establishment of the Royal Parliament is announced, it will attract more nobles to apply to join the Royal Parliament.

This was also an opportunity for the nobles to express their opinions. Those nobles who enthusiastically applied to join the Royal Parliament were naturally willing to support Carlo.

Those who are unwilling to express their willingness to join the Royal Council are equivalent to their unwillingness to support Carlo, and their loyalty to Carlo is questionable.

While Carlo established the Royal Conference to win over some nobles, the peace talks between France, Prussia and France in northern Spain were also coming to an end.

In fact, according to the compensation draft signed by Prussia and France, the French government only needs to pay 200 million francs to Prussia.

The reparations were not harsh and could even be paid immediately by France.

But as the situation in Paris developed, the terms of the peace talks soon changed.

Although the French National Defense Government suppressed the first uprising of the Parisian citizens, it did not completely eliminate the Parisian citizens' increasingly fierce opposition to the National Defense Government.

Especially after learning that the National Defense Government might cede French land, the citizens of Paris were furious and completely lost all trust in the National Defense Government.

The angry citizens of Paris gathered together again, and an uprising even larger than the previous one broke out.

Although the National Defense Government suppressed the rebellion very promptly, the angry citizens of Paris had no other choice but to resist resolutely.

The demoralized French National Defense government troops had no advantage at all against the excited Paris National Guard. In fact, many government troops not only had no hostility towards the National Guard, but were treated like brothers and repeatedly passed on intelligence that was favorable to the National Guard.

There are two very important strategic heights in Paris, namely Montmartre Hill and Somont Hill.

A large number of cannons and other weapons and equipment are stored here, and the National Defense Government naturally does not allow the weapons here to be obtained by the rebels in Paris.

However, when capturing these two heights, a rebellion broke out within the National Defense Government army.

General Claude Martin Lecmonde, who was responsible for the attack on Montmartre, not only failed to complete his mission, but was also executed by his soldiers who rebelled against him.

The reason for his execution was that General Lecmonde had ordered his soldiers to shoot at the Paris National Guard and ordinary citizens.

As the uprising in Paris gained momentum, the French Defense Government was horrified to find that its own army seemed somewhat out of control.

The army of the National Defense Government was originally composed of insurgents, and the composition of the army was very complex. Although capitalism controlled the discourse power of the National Defense Government, there were also a large number of soldiers with various ideologies such as republicans and democrats in the army.

These soldiers clearly supported the newly revolted Paris National Guard more than the traitorous capitalist National Defense Government.

Seeing the situation escalating, French Prime Minister Thiers of the National Defense Government was so scared that he dared not stay in Paris any longer and chose to move the National Defense Government to Versailles, more than ten kilometers away from Paris.

Why go to Versailles? Because there were still German troops stationed there. For the officials of the French National Defense Government, they feared the Paris uprising army more than the German army. Because the Germans would at most ask them to cede land and pay compensation. But the insurgents in Paris would send them to the guillotine and hang them on street lamps.

For these French officials in the National Defense Government, there is no need to think about which is more important, the loss of national interests or their own life safety.

Bismarck, who was preparing for the coronation ceremony of the German Empire in Versailles, smiled. He did not expect the French to give him such an opportunity. Isn't this a free gift to the soon-to-be-established Germany?

Bismarck would not miss this good opportunity, and the Junker nobles in Prussia would not miss this good opportunity either.

Prussia is a rather special country, and the Junker nobility has extremely high influence and status in Prussia.

If France is a country with an army, then Prussia is an army with a country.

This is the reason why the Prussian army is so brave and good at fighting, but it also affects Prussia's diplomatic strategy.

Why did the nobles fight? Of course, to improve their titles and gain more land for themselves.

How to get more land for themselves? Of course, they took the land from France, and then divided it among many Junker nobles.

After all, the nobles were not philanthropists. They fought hard for King William I of Prussia for a reward, but the reward had to be paid by the defeated country, France.

Could Bismarck ignore the powerful Junker aristocracy in Prussia? Of course not.

As the Junker nobles repeatedly put pressure on William I and Bismarck to get more land from France, Bismarck finally spoke to Thiers again.

“Because the previous estimate of our country’s losses in the war was wrong, I hope to renegotiate the compensation terms with your government and sign a new compensation treaty.

This matter concerns the interests of tens of millions of people in Prussia and Germany. Please consider it carefully. Of course, I will guarantee the safety of your government and ensure that the uprising in Paris will not affect Versailles. "

Bismarck's meaning was simple.

Either agree to more reparations and cede more land, and the Prussian army could guarantee the security of the French government in Versailles.

Otherwise, Prussia would likely hand over the French government to the rebellious people of Paris.

In this case, the fate of French officials can be imagined. The last time the Paris people revolted, they directly executed the king. Are the status of these officials more noble than the king?

Under Bismarck's coercion and intimidation, Thiers had to agree even if he was unwilling to renegotiate the terms of compensation.

After all, the rioting Parisians would really hang them on telephone poles. The Parisians were much more terrifying than the Prussian army.

Perhaps the citizens of Paris could not have imagined that their uprising would make the government even more cowardly, and it was even willing to cede more land in exchange for Prussia's protection.

But even if the citizens of Paris knew, they would probably only resist more fiercely because such a cowardly government cannot lead France forward. France should establish a more equitable democratic republic.

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(End of this chapter)