Chapter 178: Napoleon III
Chapter 175 Napoleon III
The focus of the world in 1851 was on Constantinople and Paris, the first half of the five-party talks attracted everyone’s attention, and the second half of the year everyone watched Louis Napoleon Bonaparte perform.
After the coup d’état in Paris, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte didn’t stop, instead, he accelerated the pace of restoration.
On August 2, 1851, France held a referendum, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte got the right to change the constitution, and the coup was legalized.
On September 26, 1851, he also ordered the flag emblem to be changed to an eagle emblem to symbolize Napoleon’s empire, blowing the horn of restoration.
On October 3, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte ordered that the slogans of the French revolution: liberty, equality, fraternity, etc., be eliminated from all buildings.
On October 15, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte amended the constitution to change the term of office of the president to life, expanding the power of the president without limit.
Historically, Yuan Daitou learned from him, only with less ability and so much worse means ……
In November, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte conducted a national tour, in-depth civil speeches to collect people’s hearts, at the same time did not forget to play the uncle of this sad card, openly proclaiming the idea of imperialism.
Facts proved to be very effective, even if the time has passed more than thirty years, Napoleon in the hearts of the French people in the position has not shaken.
In this era, the mainstream of the world is still a monarchy, as a republic of the French people also feel lonely and lonely, hot-headed, followed by shouting “long live the emperor”.
Soon there was a hot topic in France – the imperial system – and the newspapers controlled by the party of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte began to wave their flags.
Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte also spent money to buy the hearts and minds of the troops.
He was very skillful in this way, for example, he invited some officers to attend the rallies to make speeches, and let them hear the people shouting “Long live the Emperor” to create a sense of popular support.
After a personal experience, these officers’ asses unconsciously drew closer to him.
In this respect, the French army is to be commended for choosing to respect public opinion and avoiding the outbreak of civil war.
While building up momentum for himself, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte naturally did not forget to hit his opponents, for example: groping his rivals and utilizing the power in his hands …… (10,000 words omitted)
After all the preparations, on December 21, 1851, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, on behalf of the French Parliament, announced that a referendum on the system of government would be held.
Needless to say, this wave of maneuvering was very slick. Those who know France are clear that, not to mention now, even after World War I, there are more people in France who support the imperial system than those who support the republic.
The reason for the emergence of a republican government in France, that is, the three major royalist factions hold each other back, who does not serve anyone, and finally have no choice but to shoot three scattered.
Against this background, the imperial system won with 7,899,000 votes, while only less than 250,000 votes were cast in favor of the republic.
Since it was an imperial system, there was naturally the election of an emperor. The Orléans, the Bourbons, and the Napoleons, the three great families, came out on top.
The Orléans were the first to go, having been ousted from power, and with their notorious reputation had the lowest support; the Bourbons had the advantage of orthodoxy and were the greatest rivals of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte.
But it didn’t matter, after holding public opinion hostage, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte directly occupied the throne, with no intention of taking it out for deliberation.
At this time, the Bourbon family was not prepared, and before they could react, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed emperor in Paris on January 1, 1852, and the era of Napoleon III came to an end.
After the fracas, the French public was tired of the infighting, and now the people’s minds were set. Having created an established fact, the Bourbons could only hold their noses and admit it.
Because of the process of seizing the throne, used some unseemly means, forced to the throne, Napoleon III empire from the beginning of the buried hidden dangers.
Vienna
Watching Napoleon III seize power in the process of the tawdry operation, Franz expressed a million admiration, even if it is replaced by himself, he does not think he can do better.
To know that nominally France has three major royal family, in fact, the strength of the Napoleonic family is the weakest, and the other two deep-rooted is not the same, they can only be regarded as an outbreak.
The Orleans dynasty had the support of financial groups, the Bourbon dynasty had the support of nobles and capitalists, while the Napoleon family’s supporters were peasants.
In theory they had the largest number of supporters and had the advantage. In practice, on the contrary, their supporters were mostly from the lower strata of society and had almost zero say in politics.
This can be seen from the fact that during the restoration of Napoleon III, it was necessary for the British to contribute money to support him. If it had been the other two, there would have been people who would have contributed money to support them.
There was no way around it, who made them late starters? If Napoleon hadn’t been so awesome that the French public still missed him, it would be a joke to say they were French royalty at this point in time.
Even with Napoleon as a bullish uncle, Napoleon III was equally uncompetitive, and it would have been more or less the same if Napoleon II had been replaced.
Unfortunately, Napoleon II died young, Europe is to look at the pedigree, Napoleon III is obviously not qualified, even he is not a Frenchman.
（He was not even a Frenchman. (Napoleon III became a Swiss citizen in 1832.)
If his political opponents had been smart enough to let him out of the presidential election and let a foreigner become president, I guess the proud French people would not have been so open-minded.
Napoleon III’s ultimate victory was certainly related to the fact that his opponents were out of shape during this period, but his personal ability should not be overlooked.
Along the way, he was practically dancing on a tightrope. One miscalculation and he would fall to pieces.
Especially utilizing the conflicts between various groups to make everyone acquiesce to his claim to the throne, it was simply the pinnacle of power manipulation.
Based on the intelligence in hand, Franz came to the conclusion that Napoleon III was not the most ideal choice for all parties, but a choice that everyone could accept.
After being taught a lesson by Napoleon III, Franz couldn’t help but reflect on himself, and he realized that his weakness was that he paid too much attention to modesty.
Of course, Franz was not prepared to change. As the emperor of the Habsburg dynasty, his throne was more than orthodox, there was no need to engage in those crooked ways.
As for domestic political opponents? Not that Franz was boasting, one hand could rub them on the ground.
Austrian opposition and the French opposition compared to the combat effectiveness is simply weak. How can a firefly compete with the moon?
Metternich smiled and said, “Your Majesty, Napoleon III has been restored and is now in need of international recognition, this is an opportunity.”
If Napoleon III had ascended to the throne by normal means, he naturally wouldn’t have to worry about this. Unfortunately, his throne was congenitally deficient and was under too much flak, and this was the time when international recognition was important.
Not to mention, Napoleon III’s enthronement ceremony, the European great nobles are basically absent. It seems to be a great deal of prestige, but in reality the specifications are much lower.
Even if the British supported him, the British royal family likewise did not send any heavyweight members to attend, and the indifference of the aristocratic circle spoke for itself.
Franz said indifferently, “Try it, the Franco-Austrian secret treaty is over, now sign a friendly agreement between the two countries is not bad.”
If the benefits were not great, Napoleon III might make some concessions in order to obtain diplomatic recognition from Austria.
Unfortunately, there was no such apt exchange of interests between Austria and France at the present time. Austria had its own plans, and in that case Franz did not mind selling a small favor.
Felix gloated, “Your Majesty, Napoleon III has just been restored, that even for the sake of the Emperor’s face, this time he can’t back down on the issue of the Holy Land, it looks like the Russians are going to be in trouble.”
Just because Russia and Austria are allies doesn’t mean that Austria wants to watch the Russians continue to be powerful.
Only when the gap in power is not too wide can everyone be allies. Once the gap widens, it becomes a relationship between the little brother and the big brother.
Austria was naturally not prepared to be the Russians’ little brother, and while developing itself, everyone hoped that the Russians’ strategy would be thwarted.
If you really let the Russians annex the Ottoman Empire, then the honeymoon period between the two countries will be over. Between countries, it is still more reliable to speak with strength and interests.
Historically, one of the major factors in the outbreak of the Crimean War was the fact that Napoleon III had just succeeded to the throne, in order to divert the domestic conflicts and establish prestige needs.
Now Napoleon III restoration of the time in advance, but this need has not changed, the final result naturally will not change.
Franz thought about it and said, “Then add a fire to them, but be careful not to burn us, this drama will continue.
If England and France learn our real purpose, I am afraid the situation will be more than manageable. At the critical moment, the Russians will certainly leak out the Russian-Austrian secret pact.
We must be prepared for diplomacy, and at the critical moment we must let Britain and France know that even if Russia and Austria are allied, in the Russo-Turkish War, Austria will only be neutral, and at most support them diplomatically!”
This is not a joke, if Austria is determined to work with the Russians, it is not likely that Britain and France will be scared away. In the Near East, Russia and Austria together are invincible beings, unafraid of any challenge.
Without giving Britain and France a piece of mind, how could they possibly labor to fight the Russians? Without the Russians to hold their energies, how could Austria have a chance to go dark?
Austria was utilizing the Russians, and the Russians were not utilizing Austria? As long as Austria moved, the British and French energies would likewise be dispersed, reducing their pressure on the battlefield.
Moreover, the Russians want to annex the Ottoman Empire, Austria’s material support, with their own industrial capacity, can not support a modern war.
From the very beginning, this was a cooperation of each side’s need and each side’s desire.
(End of chapter)