Make France Great Again-Chapter 776 - 767 Abolish National Guard?
Mid-June 1855.
It has been more than a month since the signing of the Paris Peace Conference, and during this period, many events have occurred in Europe, three of which are closely related to France. One is from abroad, and the remaining two are domestic.
The first event comes from the Austrian Empire. In mid-May, Emperor Franz Joseph of the Austrian Empire officially announced that he would respectively grant his brothers, Maximilian and Carl Ludwig, the titles of Grand Duke of Galicia-Krakow and Grand Duke of Lodomeria, meaning that Austrian Poland and Russian Poland would formally merge under the leadership of Grand Duke Maximilian of Warsaw.
At the same time, Grand Duke Maximilian also announced publicly that he would be crowned separately in both the Duchy of Galicia-Krakow and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. When he proceeds to Warsaw for the coronation, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw will be officially renamed the Kingdom of Poland.
(The full name is actually the Poland (Galicia) Union Kingdom, which is a plan given by Prince Metternich to Grand Duke Maximilian for governing Poland. Only by stirring conflicts between the nobles of Galicia and the nobles of Warsaw, can Grand Duke Maximilian truly maintain his position.)
As soon as the news spread, the Kingdom of Prussia once again protested, claiming that the Austrian Empire’s actions severely threatened European peace and disrupted the hard-won unity in Europe.
Therefore, the Kingdom of Prussia advised the Austrian Empire to recognize the situation as soon as possible and abandon such actions that disrupt European peace.
In response to the protest from the Kingdom of Prussia, Count Bao’er, the Foreign Minister of the Austrian Empire, almost said out loud, "What can you do to me?"
The Austrian Empire declared that this territorial grant was a matter between Emperor Franz Joseph and Grand Duke Maximilian, two monarchs, and that the Kingdom of Prussia, as an outside nation, has no right to comment on the matter.
If the Kingdom of Prussia is dissatisfied, then the Austrian Empire can only express its regret.
On the night the communiqué from the Austrian Empire was released, the Posen Duchy under Prussian rule sent representatives to protest to the Kingdom of Prussia, demanding fair treatment for the Polish nation under their rule.
Initially, the Berlin government, concerned about the impact of international opinion, feigned agreement with the representatives of the Posen Duchy (at that time, the Frankfurt diplomat Bismarck opposed this notion, believing that once the Kingdom of Prussia opened this gate, the autocratic system they enforced with bayonets in 1851 would be at risk of crumbling. The current strategy is to decisively reject any of Posen Duchy’s conditions and send troops to suppress the opposition in Posen Duchy, using the blood of the resistors to deter domestic opposition forces that are ready to move. However, due to his low influence now, and with the Regent Princess’s dislike for him, Bismarck’s opinion received no attention from the Regent King), and Regent King William personally met with the representatives of public opinion from the Posen Duchy to portray himself as a "friend of the nation."
Thus, representatives of the Posen Duchy presented the following opinions: 1. Abolish the status of German as the official language in the Posen Duchy and reinstate Polish language courses in the Duchy
2. Prussia should end autocratic rule as soon as possible and restore the two-chamber system.
3. Abolish the censorship regime of publications within the Kingdom of Prussia.
4. Restore the National Guard system which was abolished in 1851.
From the above points alone, it can be seen that the Posen Duchy came prepared. Aside from the first point which only affects the Posen Duchy, the remaining three points all oppose the existing autocratic system of the Kingdom of Prussia.
This effectively united the forces of the Posen Duchy with other forces within the Kingdom of Prussia. Although this unity is temporary, the Posen Duchy could leverage this strength to stand invincible.
Regent King William, who originally hoped to settle the matter of the Posen Duchy with minimal cost, immediately put on a stern face and ended this "farce" after hearing these points of opinion from the representatives of the Posen Duchy.
That afternoon, right-wing and Royalist Party newspapers within the Kingdom of Prussia angrily denounced the representatives of the Posen Duchy as being "unreasonable troublemakers."
This remark immediately ignited a united assault from moderate-right, moderate-left, and Republican press.
A war of words lasting for five days officially began, with newspapers on both sides exchanging blows, starting with innuendos and eventually escalating to frank street brawls. The entire media scene in the Berlin Region was turned upside down due to the issue of public opinion raised by the Posen Duchy.
With no other options, Regent King William was forced to order Minister Mantel to resolve the issue, yet Mantel was equally powerless.
Regent King William had no choice but to heed Ron’s order and dispatched soldiers to forcibly shut down the newspapers in the Berlin Region.
This prolonged street brawl was finally quelled, however, everyone knew that unless the root cause of this brawling was completely addressed, the issue would never end.
Since the Kingdom of Prussia had already utilized military force to quell the heated debate, Regent King William simply decided to cut to the chase and directly address the source of the problem.
Hence, nearly 50,000 Prussian soldiers were stationed in the Posen Duchy under the order of Regent King William, and the entire Posen Duchy was completely brought under military management.
This farce was finally put to rest, but the Kingdom of Prussia lost face entirely due to this widespread commotion.
Dr. Ma, far away in London, specifically wrote an argument over the actions of Regent King William, while the Austrian Empire and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw blatantly published a caricature in the newspaper. In the drawing, a damaged house stood next to a pig-headed man, smirking proudly beside the damaged house. Above the house was a flag, with a plump rooster on it.
Anyone with some political insight would know that this caricature was mocking Regent King William.
The Kingdom of Prussia, having gone through a rollercoaster, likewise had no interest in debating with the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and the Austrian Empire, since the entire Posen Duchy remained firmly in their grasp.
They chose to ignore the issues of the Kingdom of Poland.
...
The second matter originated from the French General Staff. In late May, Nie’er, who was then the Chief of Staff of France, along with Marshal Pellissier, an elder of the French Empire Senate, jointly submitted a proposal for a second military reform to Jerome Bonaparte. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
This version of the proposal mainly aimed to address various issues exposed during the Crimean War, while also amending the current conscription issues of the French Empire.
After Jerome Bonaparte read Nie’er’s report, he immediately ordered Mokar to invite Nie’er over from the Ministry of War.
"Your Majesty!" Nie’er said, bowing to Jerome Bonaparte upon entering the study.
"Please have a seat, Nie’er!" Jerome Bonaparte gestured with his hand to invite him to sit on the sofa, while holding the document Nie’er had given him, saying, "I’ve read the document you gave me! There are still some issues I’d like to consult you on as a teacher!"
"Your Majesty, you are too kind!" Nie’er humbly replied to Jerome Bonaparte.
Subsequently, Jerome Bonaparte opened Nie’er’s plan and inquired about the phrase "grant decision-making rights to various levels of staff departments" in Nie’er’s proposal, "Didn’t we already strengthen the authority of various levels of staff departments during the last military reform? Why is there a need to further strengthen it this time!"
"Your Majesty!" Nie’er said to Jerome Bonaparte with a serious expression, "Although we nominally strengthened the rights of various levels of staff departments last time, in reality, they still depend heavily on the military leaders’ judgments like before!
Moreover, the leaders of various armies, divisions, and brigades secretly resist the staff department!
That’s why I’m proposing once again in this military reform to strengthen the authority of various levels of staff departments!"
"How do you plan to establish the authority of the various levels of staff departments?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Nie’er again.
Nie’er proposed a plan of using a ’kill the chicken to scare the monkey’ strategy, intending to use the "blood" of a few rebellious soldiers to establish his authority.
When Jerome Bonaparte asked Nie’er if he had any targets, Nie’er revealed his targets to him.
"Could you reconsider this?" Jerome Bonaparte subtly inquired.
Because on the list Nie’er provided, some were generals who had supported Jerome Bonaparte in seizing power initially.
If he rashly dismissed them, it might feel like ’killing the donkey after it has outlived its usefulness’.
"Your Majesty, we must do this!" Nie’er said decisively to Jerome Bonaparte, "Only in this way can we truly establish the dignity of the staff department!"
Jerome Bonaparte lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then looked up again at Nie’er and said, "Discuss this matter with Minister Montoban!"
"Without your permission, Minister Montoban might find it difficult to act!" Nie’er once again said to Jerome Bonaparte.
"That cunning fellow!" Jerome Bonaparte chuckled and cursed, "Convey to Montoban on my behalf that after this matter is settled, he will be reassigned to North Africa as the Governor of Algiers!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Nie’er responded to Jerome Bonaparte.
The Governor of Algiers is nominally inferior to the Minister of War, but in terms of power, holds even more authority than the Minister of War.
After all, the Governor of Algeria does not need to be constantly restricted by Jerome Bonaparte.
He is practically the vassal emperor of the entire North African region.
"By the way! Nie’er, I trust you enough to agree to your conditions! I hope you don’t betray my trust!" Jerome Bonaparte said mildly.
Nie’er immediately assured Jerome Bonaparte that if the various levels of the staff department failed to establish authority this time, he would willingly be dismissed by Jerome Bonaparte.
"That’s good then!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded, and then after flipping a few more pages, he pointed to Nie’er’s plan where it mentioned "abolish the National Guard" and asked solemnly, "Nie’er, are you aware of the potential consequences of abolishing the National Guard!"
