Chapter 993: Farce – Backstabbing President
Chapter 973 – Farce – Backstabbing President
The auction was over, but the impact from the auction was still ongoing. The warship trade had never been able to get away from politics, and this time was no exception.
The temporary compromise between Britain and Austria was naturally heavy-handed, and the active participation of other countries in the auction was also a political signal that showed the outside world’s recognition of Austrian hegemony.
It is human nature to tend to the pros and cons. Now that the dust has settled, show of good may not be able to make the Vienna Government to look at the other side, but do not show of good will certainly be “look at the other side”.
In this context, regardless of the need to buy warships, the representatives of all countries have at least once called the price, the atmosphere is absolutely hot.
Of course, mainly because of the split auction, the minimum starting price was only 200,000 divine guilders, so everyone still had the ability to bid. If they were all large fleets, it wouldn’t have been so lively.
Who dared to make a messy offer without money, what if it was sold? The forfeiture of the deposit is a small matter, but if you are considered to be deliberately messing up, then you will be in big trouble.
The world’s second largest naval fleet together with shipbuilding technology + engineers, the final total transaction price is actually only 130 million guilders, which also deducts the water of the Antifa alliance countries insider trading more than 30 million guilders, it is simply falling on the floor of the cabbage price.
However, Franz was satisfied. Unlike the later generations of the landlord everywhere, this year has the purchasing power of the country is too little.
In addition to the defeated France, the only three countries with a financial income of more than 100 million guilders are Britain, Austria and Russia, and there are less than ten countries with a financial income of more than 20 million guilders.
After subtracting the 60 million from the British, being able to get nearly 40 million from the other countries, it was impossible not to be satisfied.
“After the settlement is complete, just give the allies a share in proportion to the reparations, they’re all waiting for flour to make bread!”
Sharing the money was a must, and Austria had never been a master of eating alone. On the issue of sharing, the Vienna government had always done well, and this was a major reason why Austria was able to have a good international reputation.
……
Foreign Minister Weissenberg: “Yesterday afternoon I had a meeting with the Spanish representatives, and the Spaniards want us to fulfill our previous promise to support them in the next war in the Philippines.
Considering the need to re-establish the international order, the Foreign Office proposes to fulfill the agreement and support Spain in cutting off the Japanese tentacles deep into the South Seas area.”
Verbal promises are naturally not binding. If it had been normal times and the Japanese had grabbed the Philippine Islands, Austria wouldn’t have minded going along to fulfill them.
After all, the Vienna government was also salivating over the Philippine Islands, but could not get its hands on them due to political influence.
If they fell into the hands of the Japanese, this pressure would cease to exist. Austria could have waited for Spain to give up the Philippines and then found an excuse to beat up the Japanese and take the Philippine Islands in the process.
I don’t know whether to say the Japanese were lucky or unlucky. It came sooner rather than later, but in time for Austria to rebuild the international order.
The anti-French alliance had not yet been dissolved. Once Spain brought the Philippine War to the Vienna Peace Conference for discussion, Austria would surely help its relatives first before helping its own.
The tragedy is that the Japanese do not take advantage of both, not to mention that the Vienna government will not support them, I guess all European countries will not support them.
The only people who hoped that the Japanese government would win were probably the French. Unfortunately, the defeated France had no say in the matter.
Once the Vienna Peace Conference came to a resolution, the Austrian government, as the rule maker and vested interest, would certainly have to support Spain in order to maintain the authority of the Peace Conference.
Seeing that the duck in hand flew away, Franz said in no uncertain terms, “Tell the Spaniards that it is fine to support them, but we will not enter the war.
Tell them to make their preparations more thorough and fight with the prestige of the European world, and not to learn from the French who disgraced themselves in Vietnam.”
There is no doubt that the Spaniards also calculated Austria’s position before running on empty promises of support. But where some benefit was promised, Franz’s reminder would have been more subtle.
……
On April 2, 1892, at the Austrian Royal Opera House, the Vienna Peace Conference officially opened.
There were no flowers, no applause, and no so-called opening ceremony. There was only a large, cold round table, plus a few rows of chairs.
There was no doubt that the negotiating table was not for everyone. Aside from the Antifa Alliance countries, those who were able to appear at the negotiation table were at least regional powers with weight.
“This time, I invited all of you to come here, mainly to ask you to be a witness to deal with the aftermath of the Anti-French War, as well as to establish a new international order.
The issue of order, we’ll discuss it slowly later, for now it’s better to conduct the aftermath of the war against France first.”
Weissenberg will “witness” two words bite very heavy, to express the meaning is very obvious: anti-French war aftermath of the work you do not get involved, by our anti-French alliance to deal with their own on the line, there is a problem behind the establishment of the international order and then slowly pull.
This kind of bare expression, undoubtedly make many representatives very hurt. At least is to participate in the international conference, actually do not allow us to express our views, simply ……
Not waiting for everyone to react, the Belgian delegates, who had been prepared, opened an indictment of the atrocities of France.
A whole lot of evidence got on the stage, even the French took out as a pretext for declaring war on the case of soldiers missing and killed, and now also reinterpreted.
When the Belgian delegate had finished, the representative of the German Confederation followed, and then the Italian states took their turn in the accusation.
Human witnesses, historical data, photographs, confessions of French officers and soldiers, it was all there. In a sense, the Vienna Peace Conference dragged on for so long to allow everyone to collect evidence.
With the appearance of a shocking evidence, the scene was that touching, and many delegates attending the conference left trembling tears.
Of course, no one knows whether it was truly moving or not, after all, there were multiple cameras in the hall, recording this historic scene.
Listening to the accusations of the crowd, President Robert, as the representative of France, buried his head very low, minimizing his presence.
There was no way, the more tragic the content of the Anti-French Alliance’s accusations, the more evidence they took out, the more unfavorable it would be for France, and it also meant that the greater the price France would have to pay in the following.
Rebuttal?
Not to mention, there is no chance for him to open his mouth. Even if he is allowed to speak, he does not know where to start.
As a revolutionary, Robert’s knowledge of the war was limited to the information left behind by the previous previous government, and the reports of the domestic media.
Things recorded by their own people were naturally free from embellishment and modification. Many of the key details in it were all skimmed over. Wanting to understand the specifics, they could no longer find the people involved.
Robert had always thought that this was just an ordinary war for continental hegemony, and that there were many other instances of similar battles in history.
In terms of the scope of the war’s reach, the French army only stayed in the region of Central Europe and Italy, far less than in Napoleon’s time when it fought all the way to Moscow.
In President Robert’s opinion, the consequences are most severe now, and the punishment is only slightly heavier than the last time, and will be fine in a few years.
However, the reality is cruel, just from the anti-French alliance countries listed losses, Robert knew France this time in big trouble.
After the Antifa Alliance defined the nature of the war as “aggression”, “anti-aggression”, Robert finally couldn’t help himself. He knew very well that if he didn’t open his mouth to defend himself now, it would be even more difficult to explain later.
“Protest!”
“France is also a victim of this war, the one who initiated the war was Napoleon IV, we can’t let his personal mistakes be paid for by all the French people.
We demand that the Assembly issue a wanted notice to apprehend the war criminal Napoleon IV and bring him to justice, to give an explanation to the millions of people who died in this war ……”
Without waiting for Robert to finish his sentence, Weissenberg, who was the moderator of the meeting, chided, “Shut up!”
“Mr. Robert, not willing to take responsibility when things go wrong, dumping the black pot on your own allegiance to the Emperor, don’t you feel ashamed?
I’m sorry, I forgot that you have revolutionized. You are a rebel party in your own right, so naturally you don’t feel ashamed.
But you can do such shameless things, but we can’t. Wanting an emperor, even one in exile, is likewise not allowed by the international community.”
“Shameless!”
“Sightless of the king and father!”
……
A series of curses continued to play in the conference room. Obviously, Robert’s target was wrong. Most of the delegates attending the conference were from monarchies, and it was obviously a “taboo” to dump on the emperor.
Especially in the case of camera recordings, for the sake of political correctness, the representatives of various countries must also come forward to make their positions clear.
Including Robert’s high hopes of several representatives of the Republic, at this moment also joined the war of curses, spraying him with blood.
Support?
Are you kidding me, going up against so many monarchies for France, that’s definitely a tired of living.
Not waiting for Robert to come up with a response, a cup already flew towards him, brushing against him, followed by a flurry of papers and pens.
Chaos, since someone took the lead in using violence, there was a cloud of follower, and the scene was completely thrown into chaos.
Apparently, there were quite a few smart people. There were cameras recording in the back, so how could you miss such a great opportunity?
Frankly speaking, if it wasn’t for the presiding officer of the meeting, Weissenberg wouldn’t have minded joining in. After all, there weren’t many opportunities to show loyalty like this, so how could you miss it when it was delivered to your door.
In any case, Robert is also the President of France, in case of an accident in Vienna, Austria will be embarrassed.
“Guards, quickly maintain order!”
By the time the crowd was pulled away, Iron Bean’s Mr. Robert, was already bruised and swollen, his head cracked.
Fortunately, the wounds were not deep, and the medical conditions in Austria were good, and he was rescued in time, or the Vienna Peace Conference would have become a joke.
……
Vienna Palace, after receiving the news Franz once suspected that the French sent a dead soldier, deliberately run to make things happen, in order to reduce the war punishment.
This suspicion was well founded, as the earliest cups of water flew out of the British delegation, as recorded by the cameras.
In an instant, Franz conjured up a picture of Anglo-French collusion, exchanging a dead soldier for the preservation of the mettle for France.
As it turned out, he was completely overthinking it. The French, under the noses of the Allied forces, were not yet capable of manipulating such things.
According to the intelligence gathered, President Robert was also an important leader of the Revolutionary Party, having led several workers’ uprisings and played an important role in the Paris Revolution.
Except for his political acumen, which was not very bright, this hot-blooded, courageous revolutionary had few shortcomings in his life and work.
Come to think of it, the Paris revolutionary government was slow to elect a president, that is, no one was willing to take this hot potato.
Robert, who was excluded from the center of power when the revolution succeeded, was able to be elected president, which itself was used to take the blame.
As for the national interest, that was completely overthinking. Antifa alliance is so strong, France simply do not have the capital to negotiate.
Whether you send the world’s greatest diplomat or a pig, the end result will not be fundamentally different.
But anyone with a bit of political savvy, Robert would not have taken up this errand that was destined to make him infamous, at a time when the crowd was retreating from the danger.
(End of chapter)