Start 1861: I just inherited the Dutch throne

Chapter 603 Two Frances?
"As the emperor of a country, Napoleon III was captured by his opponent. This is a huge shame for the great French Empire. How can we recognize such a monarch who has brought shame to the French Empire as ours?" For this reason, on behalf of Marseille, and more importantly, on behalf of the Rhône Estuary Province, I will no longer recognize the royal status of the Napoleon family, and I will no longer recognize Napoleon III as the monarch of our Rhône Estuary Province." July Revolution of 830 The Bourbon Restoration Dynasty was overthrown, Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orleans was declared king, and the financial bourgeoisie took power.

On December 1869, 12, he was a former cabinet minister (1) and former prime minister (1830) who assisted Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, in overthrowing the Bourbon Restoration dynasty of the descendants of Napoleon I and supported the establishment of the French July-Month Dynasty. 1832-1834) and former Foreign Minister (1836), current member of the Constituent Assembly and member of the National Assembly, Adolphe Thiers, announced in his hometown of Marseille in the south of the French Empire that he would no longer recognize Napoleon III on the grounds of the defeat of Napoleon III. The monarchy of Napoleon III.

As soon as Adolphe Thiers made this declaration, not only southern France, but also the whole of Europe was shocked.

Even William I and Bismarck in Berlin were stunned.

The French Emperor Napoleon III in his hands was actually not recognized by a French province?
Fortunately, it’s just one.

Just as they were thinking this, the same news from France reached Berlin one after another, making William I and Bismarck unable to sit still.

On December 1869, 12, the entire southern part of the French Empire seemed to have responded to Adolphe Thiers's call, raising the flag of rebellion and rushing to announce that they would no longer recognize the emperor's status as Napoleon III.

At the same time, on December 1869, 12, a coup occurred in Paris, the French Empire, and the Second French Empire was almost overthrown. Fortunately, with the full help of Prime Minister Charles, the leader of the royalist forces, Queen Eugenie and Algeria, who were sent back to Paris in advance by Napoleon III, The king, who was also Crown Prince Louis, retained Paris and the entire western French Empire.

Napoleon III fell into the hands of Prussia and seemed to become a hot potato. He became a hot potato in the west, but in the south of France, he became the object of ridicule to the north.

London, Madrid, Rome, Vienna, etc. all issued appeals asking Prussia to exercise restraint and not to allow the situation in the French Empire to further develop and deteriorate. At the same time, they also called on the French Empire not to exercise restraint.

However, their appeals were not heeded in France.

In the north, the model of Queen Eugenie acting as regent, Prince Louis of Algeria (Crown Prince Louis) taking charge, and Prime Minister Charles assisting the government was carried out.

The area north and west of Saint-Quentin-Paris-Bourge-Orléans-Chateauroux-Poitiers-Niort-La Rochelle became the basic territory of the Second French Empire supported by royalist forces.

With the near fall of Napoleon III, some French people in the south and members of the majority of the National Assembly have demanded the implementation of a constitutional monarchy. Therefore, there are currently two successors to the throne in the south.

The Orthodox tended to support Henry Innocent, a descendant of Charles X, while the Orleans faction supported Louis Philippe, a descendant of the former King Louis Philippe, to succeed him.

The two factions were evenly matched. At this time, the bourgeois republican faction represented by Adolphe Thiers showed its prowess and demanded that the bourgeoisie share the power of French rule.

Finally, after the three parties made concessions, and with all European forces dumbfounded, on December 1869, 12,
Adolphe Thiers announced in Lyon the overthrow of the Second French Empire and the establishment of the Third French Republic, which ruled the original France south of Chalons-Chateauroux-Poitiers-Niort-La Rochelle. The southern territory of the empire was formed. At the same time, the rulers were bourgeois republicans and royalists who jointly formed a defense government.

At the same time, Adolphe Thiers was elected as the first president of the country's government.

At the new presidential palace in Lyon, Adolphe Thiers announced the recruitment of 30 regular troops to guard the territorial security of the Third French Republic in the south. President Adolphe Thiers also issued an appeal for armistice negotiations to William I and Bismarck.

It said that the French Third Republic was willing to negotiate the demarcation of the two countries in the Chalons area on the northeastern border (next to western Switzerland), and that it was willing to cooperate with Prussia to jointly deal with the French Second Empire in the north.

The Second French Empire was actually split into two countries?
What no one expected was that it would develop like this.

What is even more unexpected is that Adolphe Thiers, President of the Third French Republic, was so cunning. Before other countries could react, he had already used recognition of the territory occupied by Prussia (north of Chalons) as a bait, with the intention of Let Prussia recognize their legitimacy.

At the same time, Adolphe Thiers also submitted documents to the British Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Portugal, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and Greece before December 1869, 12. The Kingdom and even the Commonwealth of America issued requests to other countries to recognize the legitimacy of the establishment of the country's regime.

So on the desks of kings and prime ministers of various countries, there was a telegram with the symbol of President Adolphe's French Third Republic.

British Empire, London, Buckingham Palace.

Queen Victoria was very troubled at this time.

The mess of the French Empire made her very passive.

"What anyone could have predicted half a month ago was that either Napoleon III would be overthrown and someone else would come to power, or the Republicans would come to power. We would need to face a new United States, and Prussia would become the land hegemon in Central and Western Europe. . But look now, the French Empire has become divided between the north and the south.

What on earth should we do now?And what exactly is the intelligence organization of the British Empire doing? We were kept in the dark about such a big thing in southern France for so long and we didn't find anything unusual. This is a huge dereliction of duty."

Faced with Israel's menopausal Queen Victoria, Prime Minister Disraeli naturally had no choice but to bite the bullet and answer.

"In fact, not only us, but also Bismarck of Prussia were fooled."

Seeing Queen Victoria's dissatisfied look, Disraeli understood that this was an excuse to dissatisfy him, so he changed his tone and said: "Your Majesty, the current split of the French Empire into two is actually not a bad thing for us."

"I know what you mean, but with the current ferocious rise of Prussia, the French Empire has been severely weakened by Napoleon III. If it is split into two at this time, Mr. Prime Minister, do you think you can stop Prussia's millions of troops? ?"

Disraeli said: "I think Queen Eugenie at this time will definitely support establishing a closer relationship with the British Empire. As for the south, in order to check and balance Prussia, we can divert the fire to the Kingdom of Italy. side"

Queen Victoria looked at Disraeli with satisfaction, as if waiting for him to speak in more detail.

Disraeli said: "Britain can take the opportunity to win over the nobles of the French Empire and become our allies within the French Empire. If Queen Eugenie agrees, then it will be just around the corner for our British Empire to completely control the English Channel."

Queen Victoria couldn't help but feel excited after hearing this.

Disraeli followed: "Similarly, we are not suitable to offend the south. In this case, we can guide the other party to have more contact with Italy. Italy is weak in the Mediterranean at this time, and it happens to be with France. If the southern forces form an alliance, it will be able to intimidate Austria-Hungary and Prussia. It will also be enough to form a check and balance on Spain, which has a bad relationship with us."

"But where is Prussia?" Queen Victoria asked doubtfully.

Prime Minister Disraeli said: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten that Prussia is not only surrounded by the Dutch and French empires, but also the Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are extremely wary of this. We just chose to wait and see before, but now since Adolphe Thiers is All the leaders in the south of France have taken action, we just need to follow suit and add fuel to the flames."

Queen Victoria nodded and said: "Then let's do it."

Madrid, Spain.

Isabella II was very worried at this time. She did not expect that the vast French Empire in the north would fall apart and become two countries. Her good sister Queen Eugenie would become the regent in the north, while the French Empire in the south would be established. The Three Republics were very dangerous for the Spanish royal family.

Fortunately, it seems that because of the establishment of a new government in the south, Prussia has given up its attack on Paris. This has not put the greatest pressure on northern France under the regency of Queen Eugenie. Otherwise, with the support of Prussia, maybe the third French nation in the south It is not impossible for the Republic to move north.

Isabella II suddenly thought of a question, that is, William IV, who has been in contact with her, seems to be a bit mysterious recently, and has recently given up on wooing Queen Eugenie. Is this a coincidence?still.
She couldn't help but have doubts, and with this doubt, she began to ask people to watch Holland's every move.

"Maybe William IV's Netherlands has some plans?"

As the saying goes, the mantis is in front and the oriole is behind, and that is always the case in this world.

On December 1869, 12, William IV, who had returned to Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, for 11 days, made his first appearance in Rotterdam, the southern territory of the Netherlands.

There he met Queen Isabella II of Spain, and the two announced their support for the Second French Empire under the regency of Queen Eugenie, while asking the government of Adolphe Thiers to exercise restraint.

The day before, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom sent Crown Prince Edward to visit the Palace of Versailles in Paris to express condolences to Queen Eugenie and Prince Louis of Algeria. At the same time, she announced that she would continue to support the Second French Empire in maintaining the security of the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. Collaborate safely.

On the same day, London demanded that the Kingdom of Prussia abandon its attack on Paris.London also announced that it had dispatched the English Channel Fleet to pay a goodwill visit to Boulogne, a port on the western coast of the French Second Empire.

(End of this chapter)