saint petersburg

Russian Foreign Minister Karl Vorsail frowned and said: "Your Majesty, the Minister in Paris has received news that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was restored on January 1, 1852, and proclaimed himself Napoleon III. ”

Upon hearing the news of the restoration of Napoleon III, Nicholas I was furious. In his opinion, the Napoleonic family, an explosive household, was not qualified to be the emperor of France.

This is not only his personal opinion, but also tangible benefits. Napoleon's rise to power by popular election broke the tradition of "divine authority of kings" and shook the foundations of all European monarchies, which is also the origin of the war against France.

Isn't it an insult to all the participants in the Congress of Vienna to finally suppress this fallacy and now restore Napoleon III? The most important thing was an insult to Alexander I.

He was even more infuriated by the fact that Napoleon III dared to challenge the majesty of the Russian Empire, and after the outbreak of the Holy Land crisis, the French government intervened and shook the Russians' control over the Orthodox Church.

New and old hatreds were added together, and it was naturally impossible for Nicholas I to recognize the legitimacy of Napoleon III. If the distance between the two sides was too far, he had already used practical actions to let the French know how powerful the Russian Empire was.

Nicholas I said disdainfully: "Sure enough, it's a little deflated, but he will just play some small tricks that are not in the flow."

The Minister in France was ordered to send a diplomatic note to the French Government, condemning the shameless usurpation of the throne by Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte and ordering him to abdicate immediately. ”

Napoleon III's restoration was naturally a quick cut, and in order to avoid interference by international forces, the specific time was kept secret.

In the eyes of Nicholas I, this is a petty family, without a trace of the majesty of a monarch, unworthy of being a member of the monarchical group.

Carl Wassel admonished: "Your Majesty, it is not good for us to answer so strongly, it will make the relations between the two countries continue to deteriorate. ”

If you don't admit it, you won't admit it, and you will send a diplomatic note to disgust Napoleon III, which will undoubtedly make Franco-Russian relations worse.

Because of the distance, Russia did not have much influence on France, and this diplomatic reproach made Napoleon III look ugly in the first place.

Anyway, even if the tsarist government roared fiercely, it was impossible for Napoleon III to abdicate, and at this point, no matter what was ahead, he would continue to walk.

Nicholas I said disdainfully: "What are you afraid of, if you offend, you will be offended, anyway, Russian-French relations are like this, how bad can it be?" ”

Broken jars are broken, this is the attitude of Nicholas I. It was not that he was impulsive, but on the Ottoman issue, the Franco-Russian contradictions were already white-hot, neither side was willing to budge, and the possibility of reconciliation was almost zero.

In the face of Nicholas I, who had already made up his mind, Foreign Secretary Karl Wassel naturally would not respond, and what did it matter to him whether the French lived or died?

"Yes, Your Majesty." Carl Wassell replied

Then he changed the topic and said: "Your Majesty, the negotiations in Constantinople have determined that there can be no results, and with the support of Britain and France, the Ottoman Empire will not give in this time." Our next step is ready to be launched. ”

In other words, war is coming, and a plausible excuse is needed. Influenced by European culture, the tsarist government was no longer as reckless as it was back then, and knew the importance of being a bitch and setting up an archway.

Nicholas I nodded, and then said: "Order the Duke of Menshikov to give an ultimatum to the Ottoman Empire, and if they still refuse our goodwill, the Foreign Ministry will pick an excuse!" ”

Goodwill, who felt the "goodwill" of the tsarist government? Their appetite is so great, no matter how weak the Sudanese government is, it must resist?

Compromise is slow suicide, and there is still a chance of survival in resistance, and with the support of Britain and France, the Ottoman Empire is not completely out of chance.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Carl Wassell replied

There are thousands of excuses, and they will always be found, the Ottoman Empire itself is rotten, there are so many messy and rotten things, it is too easy to pick on their thorns.

Constantinople was the dream of the Tsarist government for generations, not only in terms of military and economic value, but also of great political and religious value.

In short, as long as the tsarist government could succeed in capturing Constantinople, even the heavy losses were acceptable.

In this respect, historically Nicholas II was too stupid to run to the death with the Germans and Austria-Hungary.

If he bullied the Ottoman Empire first and seized the Constantinople area, he could completely overwhelm all domestic contradictions by relying on political and religious bonuses.

In this respect, Nicholas I's strategy was completely correct, and it would be much easier to regain Constantinople and return home for reform with great prestige.

The internal contradictions in Russia had in fact attracted the attention of the tsarist government for a long time, but the opposition bloc was too powerful for Nicholas I to dare to act rashly.

Many of the Russian high-brass, including Nicholas I himself, were against serfdom, but unfortunately in the face of the entire aristocratic bloc, they were intimidated.

Now the tsarist government pinned its hopes on this Russo-Turkish war, as long as it took Constantinople, everything would be fine, and if it failed, there was no choice but to risk internal reforms.

……

Paris

After the successful restoration of Napoleon III, the country did not immediately stabilize and the opposition remained strong, and on January 12 an anti-imperialist uprising broke out in Paris.

Half a month later, the uprising spread to more than 20 provinces, including Toulouse, Marseille, Limoges, Perpignan, Valenne, Toulon, and Bordeaux.

At this time, the role of the bribery of officers manifested itself, and Napoleon III reacted much stronger than the July dynasty, immediately ordering the suppression of the rebellion.

With 32 provinces under martial law and more than 26,000 arrested and more than 10,000 deported in just one month, the White Terror flooded France.

The insurgents were quickly suppressed due to the lack of effective organization and scattered throughout the country to fight.

Having secured the throne, Napoleon III's troubles came. The first was the financial crisis, and in the process of restoration, in order to buy people's hearts, Napoleon III greatly increased everyone's salary.

For example, the annual salary of a senator is 30,000 francs, that of a state counsellor is 2.5 francs, and that of ministers starts at 40,000 francs.

Napoleon himself received an annual salary of 26 million francs, which is not too high compared to the annual revenue of France, which is only 2.1% of the annual fiscal revenue.

However, the account obviously cannot be calculated in this way, the salary of the upper level has been improved, and the salary of the lower level of civil servants can not be increased?

There is no doubt that Napoleon III was a good leader and cared about the standard of living of everyone, so the civil servants in France were happy, and the era of "high salaries" came.

Government officials received a raise, and Napoleon III did not forget either, the army on the same front as him, the promotion of the promotion, the increase of the salary.

Even the Catholic Church, which had supported him, received a grant of 42,800,000 francs in 1852. Compared with Franz, the emperor who took the church as soon as he came to power, Napoleon III was obviously a good boy.

On the occasion of the succession of the new emperor, Napoleon III also took into account the interests of the common people and abolished a series of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes.

Then everyone was happy and shouted "Long live the emperor", and the only thing that went wrong was finances.

With expenditures and revenues rising and decreasing, the French government's finances are not far from bankruptcy.

Playing with people's hearts was Napoleon III's forte, but when it came to governing the country, he was still a novice, and he was just getting started.

In order to consolidate his rule, Napoleon III also expanded the civil service, and the number of administrative officials in France was expanded from 470,000 to 620,000.

It is worth mentioning that in order to cope with the crisis in the Near East, Napoleon III was also ready to continue to expand the army, but due to financial difficulties, this plan was forced to be shelved.

Looking at the financial statements of the bankruptcy, Napoleon III asked with a headache: "Ruet, what can you do to solve the financial crisis?" ”

Rue replied with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, negotiate with the consortium, we need their support to tide over the difficulties." ”

I don't know who this he took the title of "vice-emperor", and since then, in front of Napoleon III, Ruet began to retreat.

Fortunately, this is the European continent, if it had been changed to the Eastern World, he would have died a long time ago.

Even though he was still in a high position, Ruet knew that Napoleon III, who became emperor, was different from Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte before he succeeded to the throne.

As the number two person in this group, you must pay attention to your words and deeds. If you are too cautious, it will affect their feelings as kings and ministers; It is not okay to be too arrogant, which would disgust Napoleon III.

Seeking the support of the consortium is a decent suggestion. There is no innovation, but it is very effective.

The French government is poor, but the French consortium is very rich. After years of capital accumulation, the name of the usury empire has emerged.

However, this is not a long-term solution, and there is a price to be paid to get the support of the consortium, and it is difficult for them to pay without enough benefits.