Empire Rise: Spain-Chapter 44: Parisian Citizens Provide Divine Assistance

Bismarck slowly walked up to Fabre, his face showing no emotion, and said word by word: “This war was first launched by France, and the responsibility should also be borne by the French Government.
Prussia has paid too much for this war; mere financial compensation cannot make up for the pain in the hearts of the Prussian Army and public.
If your government is unwilling to cede territory and pay indemnity, that’s fine; we can go to Paris to negotiate further.”
Fabre knew exactly the threat hidden in Bismarck’s words. Nicely put, it was to go to Paris to negotiate further; bluntly put, it meant that if the French Government did not agree to cede territory, the Prussian Army would continue to attack Paris.
Once France’s capital fell, it would not be so easy for the French Government to refuse to cede territory and pay indemnity.
Seeing that Bismarck was not buying the tough approach at all, Fabre could only change his strategy.
“Chancellor Bismarck, ceding land will cause dissatisfaction among tens of millions of French people and bring endless trouble to the French Government.
Please, for the sake of tens of millions of French people, do not make us cede land. We are willing to meet any demands of your government regarding indemnity and will do our utmost to repay all indemnity.”
Faced with Fabre’s strategy of going soft after tough failed, Bismarck remained unmoved and smiled, saying: “Mr. Fabre, what do the French have to do with me?
Please don’t forget, I am the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia; I care only about the thoughts of the Prussians.
If your country still refuses to cede land, I would be happy to go to Paris and negotiate personally with your government.”
Seeing that all his stratagems were ineffective against Bismarck, Fabre could only resort to his last trick: delaying time.
He handed Bismarck a thick document in French, then said quite sincerely: “Please look at these documents first, then give us 15 days to consider. We will give you a reply after 15 days; please believe our sincerity.”
Bismarck shook his head, took out a document written in German, handed it to Fabre, and said: “No need for such trouble, Mr. Fabre. This is our document, and it is also our answer.”
The surprise and worry in Fabre’s eyes could no longer be hidden.
Handing over documents in German was not common in the diplomatic practices among European countries. Because France had long been the hegemon of Europe, diplomatic exchanges between European countries basically used French.
This was also why French became the common language among European nobles; all European nobles learned French, including Carlo who had previously studied French and could handle daily communication without issues.
Bismarck’s way of breaking with past conventions was also a reminder to Fabre that France’s days as the hegemon of the European Continent were gone forever.
After Prussia defeated France, it naturally became the new hegemon on the European Continent, so using German for diplomatic documents was not surprising.
This stumped Fabre completely. Although he was a diplomat sent by the French Government, he was not all that professional in diplomacy.
More importantly, because previous diplomatic exchanges had all used French, Fabre’s German was actually not that good.
Faced with a document entirely written in German, a question arose in Fabre’s mind: What the hell is this?
Seeing Fabre’s completely baffled expression, Bismarck lost all patience, waved his hand and said: “Alright, Mr. Fabre, go back.
I hope you can take this document back to Paris. Before our army arrives in Paris, I hope your government can give us a satisfactory answer.”
This peace negotiation ultimately broke down, and Fabre could only slink back to Paris dejectedly.
On Bismarck’s side, after ending this meaningless peace negotiation, he ordered the Prussian Army to continue advancing on Paris and forced the French Government to sign a peace treaty satisfactory to Bismarck.
Because the army led by Napoleon III had already surrendered, Bismarck’s path to Paris was unobstructed.
However, at this time, the French Government in Paris still harbored illusions, because they did not believe the Prussian Army would go mad enough to bombard Paris directly.
After all, Paris was one of the largest cities in Europe, home to a large number of French people and tourists from other countries.
As France’s capital, Paris also hosted diplomatic ambassadors from many European countries. Unless Prussia was willing to risk offending all European countries, they lacked the guts to bombard Paris.
It was with this mindset that, after the Prussian Army approached Paris, the French Government not only did not yield but also sent a letter to Bismarck.
The letter read: “When does Your Excellency plan to bombard Paris? If there is a plan, please inform us in advance so we can notify the diplomatic ambassadors of various countries to evacuate.”
This was openly reminding Bismarck to consider the opinions of other European countries. Prussia could bombard Paris, but was a Prussia that could easily humiliate the former European hegemon France something other countries wanted to see?
Although by common sense it was so, France’s politicians clearly underestimated Bismarck’s boldness.
Bismarck immediately replied to the French Government with a letter, which stated: “What your country asks is Prussia’s highest military secret, which cannot be disclosed for now. If foreign ambassadors need to evacuate in advance, your country can proceed now.”
If it were just a reply to the French Government, it would be another meaningless threat.
For the cunning Bismarck, he naturally would not miss the delicate situation within Paris.
This letter was not only sent directly to the French Government but also publicly released by Bismarck and sent to multiple newspaper offices in Paris.
This immediately sparked heated discussion among Parisian Citizens.
So the new Government of National Defence had been negotiating with Prussia for so many days and came up with a result of bombarding Paris—this wasn’t betraying the former glory of France?
Enraged Parisian Citizens once again staged an uprising, intending to overthrow the capitalist-controlled Government of National Defence and establish a French government bold enough to resist the Germans.
This uprising was a spontaneous resistance against the government by some radical nationalists. Because it had few supporters, it was quickly suppressed by the Government of National Defence.
But at the same time, the public’s fierce opposition in Paris also caused panic in the French Government of National Defence.
The French Government knew that the peace talks could no longer be dragged out; they must reach a result as soon as possible to free up hands to stabilize the situation in Paris.
On April 5, 1870, the French Government of National Defence signed a treaty on surrender. On April 7, the French Government and Bismarck jointly signed a treaty on armistice, and France finally ushered in brief peace.
Perhaps the Paris public did not expect that their pressure on the government would instead make the French Government more conciliatory toward Prussia.
The armistice agreement, which was originally supposed to drag on for a long time, was signed just like that, and the French Government also forgot the bottom line of not ceding territory that it had maintained just days before.
According to the treaty signed by both sides, the French Government was to hand over most of the fortresses and ammunition in Paris to the Prussian Army and pay an indemnity of 200 million francs.
Bismarck also added an extra clause: that the German Army could enter Paris in a triumphant posture and pass through the Arc de Triomphe in the city center.
Speaking of the history of the Arc de Triomphe, it dates back to the Napoleonic era at the beginning of the 19th century. Napoleon ordered the construction of a structure through which returning soldiers could pass to celebrate victory over the Russo-Austrian alliance, and the Arc de Triomphe was born.
But because Napoleon had previously scrapped the construction plan midway, the Arc de Triomphe was not completed until
Why did Bismarck want the Prussian Army to pass through the Arc de Triomphe in a victorious posture?
Because in Napoleon’s glorious record of conquering Europe decades ago, he had repeatedly defeated Prussia, which was also why France had looked down on Prussia before the war.
As the Prussian Prime Minister, Bismarck naturally wanted to wash away Prussia’s shame in this way and return the same humiliation to France and the French people.
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