Chapter 984: Peacekeeping Forces
Chapter 964 – Peacekeeping Troops
“The French surrendered.”
After the news spread, all of Europe was abuzz. Despite the fact that the Anti-French Alliance had been riding high before this, and everyone had expected the French to be cold this time, they were still stunned by the news.
There was no other reason, mainly because the French surrendered too quickly. According to the mainstream view, most people thought that France could hold out until the end of 1892, and there were even optimistic estimates that the French could hold out until 1893.
The early end of the war was naturally a good thing for the general public. Without the need for government organization, the people held spontaneous celebrations. Except for the French, all the people of Europe were immersed in the joy of victory.
Vienna Palace, Franz was busy as soon as the continental war ended. Despite the advance planning, politics is flexible and needs to be improvised according to the actual situation.
At the very least, the rotten internal power struggle in France was beyond Franz’s prior expectations. If it hadn’t really happened, who would dare to believe that a bridge that only existed in fiction had actually happened in the real world?
Putting down the information in his hands, Franz rubbed his forehead helplessly, “Does the current revolutionary government in Paris have the ability to control France?”
“Difficult!”
Foreign Minister Weissenberg analyzed, “The situation in France is too chaotic, the current revolutionary government in Paris is only a nominal French government, and even its control over Paris is not strong enough, let alone other places.
Neither Napoleon III, nor Napoleon IV is an idle man, and during these thirty or forty years of their rule, the roots of the Bonaparte dynasty in France have been established.
Although the Bonaparte dynasty was now overthrown, the local officials loyal to them were not purged.
These people simply did not buy the Paris government’s account, and certain regions had even taken up the banner of regional autonomy, not recognizing the legitimacy of the revolutionary government in Paris.
Especially after the Allied Forces entered France, it further struck the authority of the Paris Revolutionary Government, and it became even more difficult for them to take control of the country.”
The inability of the revolutionary government to take control of the country and the fact that it could fall at any time bankrupted the Austrian government’s pre-established plans.
The signing of the treaty did not mean that the matter was over; it was more important to implement it. There is no doubt that the revolutionary government in Paris, which was incapable of controlling the localities, lacked sufficient implementation.
“Suppose we withdraw our troops, is it possible for civil war to break out in France?”
Frankly speaking, Franz was also somewhat confused about France. France in the original time and space was also a place where the three royalist factions and the revolutionaries stood side by side, and no one had the ability to subdue the other three.
Under normal circumstances, with such a political pattern, a civil war could break out at the slightest spark. However, the original time and space of the French people quarrel, but the conflict was limited to the parliamentary political struggle.
Then, during the long years of quarrels, the rising bourgeoisie became the victor and gradually seized power, ending the traditional aristocratic politics.
Weissenberg shook his head: ”Theoretically it is possible, but the situation in France is a bit special, after so many years of evolution, the boundaries between the three royalist parties are not so clear.
If the situation develops, the biggest possibility is for the royalist parties to take out the revolutionary government and then establish a new government.”
There was no need to continue explaining, Franz understood. The lousy things between the nobles, it was a messy and confusing situation.
In the past hundred years, the three major royalist nobles in France have been married to each other for many times, and have long been in the middle of you and in the middle of me, and are simply indistinguishable from each other.
In this context, the identity of the royalist party is also changeable at any time, may support Bonaparte today, tomorrow will support Orléans, in addition to a few hard-core supporters, the rest are based on the interests of the decision of their own position.
Therefore, revolutionary governments that are not their own people are the first to go out. The fact that the bourgeoisie in the original time and space was able to achieve a reversal does not mean that the bourgeoisie of the present is equally able to do so.
The last blow of Napoleon IV before he ran away was a great weakening of the bourgeoisie, and the financial bourgeoisie in particular suffered heavy losses.
The bourgeoisie, deprived of its “money power”, is a shrimp. If it wants to make a difference in politics, it cannot be realized overnight.
Without these guys to mess up, the future of France will become what, Franz can not see.
Anyway, once the armistice treaty is signed, it is estimated that the end of the revolutionary government in Paris will come soon. Facing a group of old foxes, the newborn revolutionaries are still too young.
Prime Minister Karl: “If the situation in France can’t be stabilized, we have to plan for a garrison.
It is conceivable that for a long time to come, France will not be peaceful. The endless uprisings may even cause France to evolve into a quagmire.
We’ve already paid too much for this war, now it’s time for our allies to contribute. How can it be so good to just take the benefits and not do anything!”
“Taking benefits without doing anything” was clearly talking about the Russians. Despite the Tsarist government’s efforts, the French surrendered too quickly and the Russians were still a step too late.
In order to bring the Russians into the fold, Austria was betting heavily. A minimum of twenty percent war reparations was no mean feat.
The Russians had not contributed to the war, and even if there was a prior agreement that Austria was to fulfill, that would have made this reparation payable in the end.
Unless the Czar’s government was willing to wait a hundred and eighty years, it could not now refuse Austria’s reasonable demands. Garrisoning France was a chore in the eyes of the Viennese government, but not necessarily in the eyes of the Russians.
If word got out, it was expected that many Russian soldiers would rush to sign up. It might be a little dangerous, but it would be very rewarding!
Compared to the freezing Russian Empire, France is very rich, and any benefit is 100 times better than eating food at home.
Franz nodded: ”The Ministry of Foreign Affairs to communicate with the allies, to form a peacekeeping force, according to the actual situation to decide to assign troops.
Except for Belgium and the German Confederation, which suffered heavy losses and can freely decide whether to send troops or not, if other countries want to participate in the distribution of the spoils of war, they must send troops to participate in peacekeeping.
In addition, the French Navy was also dealt with together, I think the British by this time has been anxious. If it drags on any longer, there’s no chance that those guys in the London government are going to do something stupid again.
Split the French warships into a large portion and a number of small portions, the main ship is sandwiched between the subordinate warships and sold together, inviting countries around the world to participate.
All at once, and we’re in the running. Don’t the British want the ships, so let them pay for them!”
Franz is also figured out, anyway, France and Austria hatred has been knotted, then simply do things.
Taking advantage of the unstable situation in France after the war, he sent the peacekeeping force over to further deplete the financial strength of the French government.
Without money, what armament development?
Without a strong army, how can we talk about rising again?
……
All of Europe was celebrating the victory in the war against France, with the exception of Downing Street. Looking at the parade with celebratory flags in the distance, Gladstone felt extraordinarily prickly.
Although the London government also highly evaluated the war against France, but that was only because of the political need, it does not mean that they are really willing to accept the current results.
Politicians and the general public were often not on the same channel, the British government did not want the French defeat to disrupt the balance of the continent, but the British people were looking forward to the French bad luck.
As for the impact of the French defeat, the British public was quite optimistic. With their greatest enemy gone, it was time to celebrate.
A new threat?
Sorry, people really don’t feel it yet. There has been no Austrian threat to Britain for a long time.
Even when the Habsburgs united Spain, they were too busy going back to civil war to worry about Britain.
Austria is scary, has France scary? The bullish Napoleon was pressed to death, Austria and did not unify the European continent, panic what?
Pulled the curtains, sat back on the position of the Gladstone Prime Minister helplessly sighed: “It seems that the tragedy of the French, from the beginning is doomed. The people who want them to be unlucky are too many, and the people who are willing to support them are too few.
Frankly speaking, if it wasn’t for the fact that the defeat of France caused the balance of Europe to be shattered, I would have gone to join the celebration.”
In the midst of the “lamentation”, there is also a sense of sadness. The French Empire is not well-liked, and Britain is no better.
If it were not for the protection of the Straits, the situation of Britain would not be much better than that of France. And now that this bay is protected, it’s not so safe either.
After venting for a while, Gladstone asked, “How’s it going, is the Antifa Alliance willing to accept our mediation in this war?”
George shook his head, “Unfortunately, both Russia and Austria have clearly expressed their refusal. You know, the remaining countries are all wallflowers, it is impossible to go against Austria, the new hegemon, over this issue.”
Gladstone nearly growled, “Have the Russians gone mad, if they don’t check Austria, the future European continent will have nothing to do with them!”
George asked rhetorically, “Mr. Prime Minister, do you think the Russians’ strategic center of gravity is still in Europe?”
It was a sad topic. From the actual actions of the Czarist government, it could be seen that the Russians’ strategic center of gravity had shifted to the South Asian subcontinent, only that people didn’t want to believe it.
After a moment’s effort of silence, Gladstone picked up his coffee and took a small sip before slowly saying, “In that case, all of our previous plans have all failed!”
To suppress Austria in Europe, and to fight with the Russians for India in Asia, Britain is now fighting against two major powers at the same time with one’s own strength.
In this context, the so-called provocation of the Russian-Austrian conflict was a joke. Britannia, by virtue of its strength, became the key to sustaining the existence of the Russo-Austrian alliance.
George shrugged, “It wasn’t a complete failure. Austria did not swallow the French warships in one gulp, but was prepared to put the French warships up for auction.
It may be because of the financial pressure, can’t afford to keep so many warships; it may also be the internal division of the spoils, can’t resist the pressure within the alliance; or perhaps it doesn’t want to have another naval race with us, in any case, we reached half of our goal.
It is said that the Anti-French Alliance is ready to invite all independent countries in the world to participate in the auction together. If we want to stop Austria from getting the Frenchmen’s warships, we’d better get involved as well.
However, there are risks involved. If the Austrians are the ones who can’t afford to keep so many warships, by participating in it, we’ll be taking over for them.”
……
(End of chapter)