Chapter 529: The John Bull Who Made Things Happen
Chapter 517 The John Bull Who Made Things Happen
With the withdrawal of the army, the affairs of Mexico also came to an end for the time being. As for the forcibly occupied southern territories, this will have to wait until later to slowly pull the rug out from under them.
This year’s colonizers are not to be messed with, eat it without spitting it out. Even if the Vienna government ordered to give up, they may not let go, with the strength of the current Mexican government forces are not really able to win these plantation owners.
This was proved in the Civil War, when fighting for themselves, the plantation owners were always able to burst into greater potential.
No matter what Massimiliano I thought, Franz had him “escorted” back to Vienna at the first opportunity. Literally, the process was not a harmonious one.
But this was a minor problem, and Franz could already explain to the elderly Empress Sophie that he was able to bring him back to Vienna alive. The farce that took place in the middle of the journey was not worth mentioning at all.
Now Franz was being stunned by a sudden invitation, Monaco was independent and Charles III invited him to observe the ceremony.
It has to be said that the French are just good at their job, in order to reverse the unfavorable image in the international arena, Napoleon III actually let Monaco become independent.
Monaco is just a territory of less than 2 square kilometers of small bullet country, the population is even less than 10,000, it is estimated that Charles III to go out on the street can call out the name of each and every one of the nationals.
On the face of it, Monaco’s independence or otherwise was of no consequence to France. But politically, the situation is completely different, which will stimulate the Italian independence movement.
A small country like Monaco was able to gain national independence through an independence movement, could the Italians resist?
Of course, the benefits are also very large, Monaco’s independence of the European world have given the French high praise, Napoleon III in the newspaper image immediately better.
If he could build on his success and make Italy independent, he would be the saint of the 19th century. Maybe even the father of the Italian nation, who made several Italian states sit together.
When did Monaco become independent in the original time and space, Franz couldn’t remember, anyway, it was also in the era of Napoleon III.
Now Franz recognized that the previous life keyboard warrior’s assessment of Napoleon III was still valid: “Shrewd in small things, confused in big things.”
This fit Napoleon III’s persona, which was, in Kissinger’s words, “Napoleon III disliked internal affairs but made an outstanding contribution to the internal affairs of France; he liked diplomacy but made a mess of it.
In his life he devoted himself to colonial rivalries but had no strategy; he wanted to prevent the unification of the German region but helped Prussia accomplish it and lost his empire.”
Not only did he help Prussia unify Germany, he also helped the Kingdom of Sardinia unify Italy. The life of Napoleon III in the original time and space, that is a crazy death song.
Now actually similar, it looks like Napoleon III’s great achievements have surpassed the historical contemporaries, which is not to start fooling around again.
Now the great French empire, want to long rule, the first thing is to cut off the possibility of independence together, on the independent organization to cut off all.
The Italian independence movement cannot be stopped without a hard hand to deter those who come after them. Détente politics is not impossible to use, the problem is that the operation is too troublesome, and the hidden danger is still very big.
Franz thought he couldn’t get it done, so Austria has always enforced a policy of national integration, even if some people resisted, but not a few years old toddlers.
Compulsory education is a national integration movement. The new generation that has grown up, even if there are still traces of their original ethnicity, has already completed Germanization in terms of language and writing.
France now also needs a national integration movement, even though the Italians are not well integrated, it must be promoted, otherwise France and Italy will sooner or later go their separate ways.
What Napoleon III was thinking, Franz was not sure, in short it was another political defeat. Even if it was to release a smokescreen and confuse the international community, Monaco should not have been allowed to become independent at this time.
If it had been Franz, he would have preferred to let the Italian regions become independent, thus gaining a chance to unify the western Rhineland.
Italy, apart from its people, was a relatively developed handicraft industry, and seemed to be doing well economically. But these people could not be integrated, and could not increase the national strength of France.
Instead, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Rhineland region had the coal and iron resources that France needed, which could substantially increase France’s integrated national power.
The local population, not as many as the Italian region, integration is relatively easy.
It is not without opportunity, in fact, France has already missed two opportunities to annex these places. Austria’s unification of the South German region, as well as the period of the Russo-Prussian War, are the opportunity for France to do it.
Don’t look at Franz screaming, in fact the French really want to annex the territory west of the Rhine, Austria really can’t help them.
The precondition is that Napoleon is willing to give up the Italian region, there is no more directly bordering the territory, so that the Austrian transnational laborers, Franz does not have this kind of internationalist spirit.
Winning the harvest a few words of thanks, the war’s expenses but also responsible for their own, unless you can breath to Paris, or the French will not lose money; losing is even worse, may also trigger internal unrest.
“How does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs think about Monaco’s independence, what kind of medicine is Napoleon III selling in his gourd?”
Despite not being able to see the purpose of the French, Franz still believes that there is an article here, even if Napoleon III momentarily fainted, it is unlikely that the entire Parisian government followed the fainting.
Foreign Minister Weissenberg replied, “Your Majesty, Monaco’s independence involves a complex issue that also involves Britain and Spain.
Monaco was a Spanish protectorate until the Napoleonic era, when it became a protectorate under France at the end of the 18th century.
The French also did a lot of work to annex the place, only because the regime change was so frequent, Monaco was gradually neglected by the Parisian government.
After so many years, the local call for independence has never waned. The French are also only a nominal suzerain state, and do not control the local.
This time, Monaco’s independence was led by the British, and as the price of independence, the Monaco government also gave up its sovereignty over the two major municipalities of Menton and Roquebrune, shrinking the territory by ninety percent.
The Paris government agreed to Monaco’s independence, again with the main purpose of legally annexing Menton and Roquebrune, and in the process clearing out the radical independence elements.”
Sure enough there is a story behind it, Monaco such a bullet point, Franz is unlikely to pay attention to, the German region of the small states have made his head big.
On the surface it looked like the French had made a profit, annexing over ninety percent of Monaco’s territory and still an economically developed region, and then sending the independents packing.
In fact, this is not the immediate problem, but also to see the subsequent impact to be able to judge. It looks like the British are digging a hole for the French, Franz began to secretly alert, if not accidentally by John Bull secretly pit, that would be a tragedy.
“Well, as it is, as allies we build momentum for the French, their international image is too bad and needs to be repaired.
Don’t do it too deliberately, the backlash that Moroccan independence would bring should be clear to the French. If we do too much, it’s easy to make them wary.”
The pit wasn’t big enough to bury the French Empire. Even if it stimulated the Italian independence movement, it would be hard to make a difference in the short term.
There were those who opposed a merger with France, and likewise those who supported a merger with the French. Napoleon III did not work for nothing, and still had a group of supporters in the Italian region.
Although the number of opponents was much larger, these people could still talk, but if they were to take up arms and fight the French, most Italians probably did not have the courage to do so.
It takes more than a day for water to penetrate a stone.
Since the British out, Franz naturally happy to cooperate, a strong France is not in line with the interests of Austria, or decline a little better.
After a pause, Franz added: “We also have to be wary of the British small moves, some seemingly insignificant moves, in fact, in the future may trigger a disaster.
Any bait thrown out by the British, as long as the consequences cannot be determined, are simply abandoned. God has told us that greed is the original sin of mankind, and everyone must be on guard.”
Looking at Franz’s cautious warning, the crowd looked at each other. Secretly, they wondered: are the British that scary?
……
Paris, Napoleon III put down the newspaper in his hand with satisfaction, since the announcement of letting Monaco become independent, European public opinion sang praises, making his whole body a bit floating.
A good reputation is not much of a drawback. It would be disastrous if a monarch didn’t even want a reputation. But excessive that would be troublesome, and a bad one would be costly.
To make Monaco independent, Napoleon III was also hesitant. Years earlier, it was ready to do so. Only for the sake of expanding in the Italian region and considering the political implications, it was delayed until now.
The Great Powers also needed to put on a show, and the establishment of a small village-level Principality of Monaco was an important part of that.
Throughout the countries of Europe, only France does not have a little brother to wave the flag in the international arena, which makes Napoleon III is very faceless.
Every time an international conference is held, the proposal of France has to wait for the big powers to be loud before anyone responds. If a few European powers remain silent, then it will be a mute scene.
The small European countries nowadays basically have bosses, and the price to be paid is too high if you want to pull them together.
Since there is no little brother, it would be better to create one. This is how Monaco’s independence came out, and it’s simply a different story from what the outside world speculates.
If Napoleon III hadn’t needed it, the British couldn’t have succeeded no matter how hard they tried. Don’t look at Monaco as having become independent, it was actually a state within a state.
In addition to one side of the sea, the remaining three sides are surrounded by France, political and economic are inseparable from the control of France.
Napoleon III lovingly asked, “Eugene, do you see?”
(Eugène’s full name: Napoleon Eugène Louis Jean-Joseph Bonaparte)
Napoleon III had several sons, but only one legitimate son. Still, a son in middle age is naturally doubly important.
Although not yet 16, Napoleon III brought him into contact with politics. The young Dauphin became a unique presence in French politics.
Crown Prince Eugene nodded and shook his head and said: “Some understand, but some do not understand. Since we know that the British are not good intentions, why do we still accept their proposals?
With or without Monaco, the help to France is not great, but the hidden danger is not small, why do we want them to be independent?”
Napoleon III smiled faintly, touched his son’s head and said in a serious tone: “You can’t just look at the surface of the problem, Monaco’s independence will stimulate the Italians’ desire for independence.
But without Monaco’s independence, wouldn’t the Italians want to be independent?
The British encouragement of Monaco’s independence is indeed ill-intentioned, if they do not intentionally sell a break to them, to attract their attention, they will still be tossed elsewhere.
Remember, an enemy exposed to one’s eyes is never as scary as an enemy hidden in the shadows. France is already strong, and the only one who can defeat us is ourselves!
As for the Italian Independence Organization, a bunch of clowns hiding in the corner. If they don’t jump out, we won’t be able to find them yet; once they pop up, we’ll be able to wipe them out.
The real enemies of France are not this gang of unseen rats; the only ones who are qualified to be taken seriously are England and Austria, and both Prussia and Russia can only be counted as half.”
Eugene reluctantly nodded, as if he had learned something, and as if ……
(End of chapter)