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 Governnt.
Prussia has paid too much for this war; re financial compensation cannot make up for the pain in the hearts of the Prussian Army and public.
If your governnt 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 ant that if the French Governnt 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 Governnt 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 Governnt.
Please, for the sake of tens of millions of French people, do not make us cede land. We are willing to et any demands of your governnt 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 ?
Please don’t forget, I am the Pri 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 governnt.”
Seeing that all his stratagems were ineffective against Bismarck, Fabre could only resort to his last trick: delaying ti.
He handed Bismarck a thick docunt in French, then said quite sincerely: “Please look at these docunts 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 docunt written in German, handed it to Fabre, and said: “No need for such trouble, Mr. Fabre. This is our docunt, and it is also our answer.”
The surprise and worry in Fabre’s eyes could no longer be hidden.
Handing over docunts 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 beca 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 beca the new hegemon on the European Continent, so using German for diplomatic docunts was not surprising.
This stumped Fabre completely. Although he was a diplomat sent by the French Governnt, 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 docunt 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 docunt back to Paris. Before our army arrives in Paris, I hope your governnt 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 aningless peace negotiation, he ordered the Prussian Army to continue advancing on Paris and forced the French Governnt 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 ti, the French Governnt 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, ho 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 Governnt 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 forr European hegemon France sothing other countries wanted to see?
Although by common sense it was so, France’s politicians clearly underestimated Bismarck’s boldness.
Bismarck imdiately replied to the French Governnt 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 Governnt, it would be another aningless 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 Governnt but also publicly released by Bismarck and sent to multiple newspaper offices in Paris.
This imdiately sparked heated discussion among Parisian Citizens.
So the new Governnt of National Defence had been negotiating with Prussia for so many days and ca up with a result of bombarding Paris—this wasn’t betraying the forr glory of France?
Enraged Parisian Citizens once again staged an uprising, intending to overthrow the capitalist-controlled Governnt of National Defence and establish a French governnt bold enough to resist the Germans.
This uprising was a spontaneous resistance against the governnt by so radical nationalists. Because it had few supporters, it was quickly suppressed by the Governnt of National Defence.
But at the sa ti, the public’s fierce opposition in Paris also caused panic in the French Governnt of National Defence.
The French Governnt 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 Governnt of National Defence signed a treaty on surrender. On April 7, the French Governnt 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 governnt would instead make the French Governnt more conciliatory toward Prussia.
The armistice agreent, which was originally supposed to drag on for a long ti, was signed just like that, and the French Governnt 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 Governnt 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 Pri Minister, Bismarck naturally wanted to wash away Prussia’s sha in this way and return the sa humiliation to France and the French people.
First update, seeking support!
User Comments
0 comments from readers