I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 729 Reversing Fate
Zubov glanced at Malakhovsky and said viciously:
"I warn you, your actions will bring terrible disaster to your country!"

"We are used to disasters." Malachowski pushed the armistice agreement in front of him forward again. "And Russia, which caused these disasters, must return every inch of Polish territory, so that this treaty can be signed. This is a resolution passed unanimously by our parliament."

"The Polish Parliament's resolution? Haha." Zubov laughed disdainfully. "You are facing the three most powerful countries in Europe. It is not your turn to make any resolution here."

As he spoke, he looked at the Putin and Austrian negotiators beside him, as if seeking support.

However, Prussian Foreign Minister Friedrichs simply nodded.

Count Rheinfels of Austria looked at the ceiling and said:
"Well, the treaty must be signed as soon as possible."

They had both just noticed sharply that the Poles only demanded that Russia must return the territory, and did not mention Prussia or Austria at all.

The Polish attitude is obviously aimed at Russia. This is easy to understand, after all, it was Russia that provoked this war, and the Eastern Front was also the main battlefield.

So, why should they stand up for Russia?
Lord Grenville, who served as the "special envoy of mediation", did not make any statement - the only countries that Britain wanted to win over were Prussia and Austria, and weakening Russia was the strategic direction that Britain always adhered to.

Not surprisingly, the first round of negotiations quickly ended in a deadlock.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, after making threats for the umpteenth time, Zubov left the negotiation hall cursing.

Although Malachowski appeared to be very tough on the outside, he was actually extremely nervous, so much so that his hands under the table were shaking slightly.

After all, he was facing powerful countries like Russia, Prussia and Austria, none of which Poland could afford to offend.

He was also aware that Poland's national strength had reached its limit. If an armistice agreement was not signed this time, Poland would be in danger of collapse.

But he still accepted Mr. Sieyès's negotiation proposal - the various national policies proposed by this French friend towards Poland before were finally proved to be extremely correct.

He could only hope that it would be the same this time.

After the dinner prepared by the King of Saxony was over, representatives from various countries returned to their rooms.

Count Rheinfels' assistant changed into a servant's clothes and quietly slipped into Malachowski's residence.

After a frank conversation, the Austrian tried to hide his excitement and asked:
"In other words, the Polish government has no objection to our country's ceasefire conditions?"

"Yes." Malachowski nodded, "Austria and our country are both Catholic countries. There are many volunteers from the civilian population who participated in the holy war to help us resist the Russian army. Our country is willing to make concessions to your country.

"But you know, anti-Russian sentiment is extremely high in our country right now, and the parliament must be tough on Russia, otherwise it will be opposed by the whole country!"

"Yes, yes, I quite understand."

An hour later, representatives from Prussia, Austria and Britain gathered in Lord Grenville's room.

"Except for war reparations and limiting the number of troops, the Poles basically accepted our conditions. Oh, they want to have full management of Gdansk, but they can guarantee Prussia's right to use the port and preferential policies for merchant ships."

The Port of Gdansk originally did business with Eastern European countries, and Prussian merchant ships were an important source of income, so the Polish government certainly had no objection to Prussia's use of the port.

"Then the only thing that stands in the way of signing the agreement is Russia's attitude."

Fredericks nodded: "Perhaps, we can put some pressure on Russia. To be honest, if Russia had not performed so poorly in the war, we would not be wasting our breath with the Poles here."

Lord Grenville immediately stated: "There is really no need for us to continue fighting with Poland because of Russia." Britain is the country that most hopes to cease fire as soon as possible - only if Prussia and Austria withdraw from the Polish battlefield can Britain pull them into the war against France.

At the negotiation meeting the next day, Zubov repeated his old tune, saying that all of Russia's demands must be met.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Count Rheinfels continued: "I think we should all show sincerity to end this war, especially Russia."

"what?"

Fredericks nodded and said, "We are considering giving up some of our rights in Gdansk, even though our army is still surrounding it. Russia is actually in the process of withdrawing from Minsk and Mozyr. It seems inappropriate to forcibly demand control of the two places..."

Zubov glared at the two men angrily: "What are you talking about? This war was won by Russia! You want us to give up our interests!"

Grenville suddenly whispered: "Count Zubov, our investment in Donbass has been affected by the damage to the Crimean port."

"..."

Zubov's eyes widened. He felt as if the negotiation was beginning to be directed against him.

After a week of arduous negotiations, Russia, Poland, Poland and Russia finally reached an agreement on the terms of the ceasefire.

Of course, Russia was forced to agree to this by its three "allies".

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On March 3, the Treaty of Dresden was officially signed.

The treaty stipulated that Austria obtained the central and western regions of Sandomierz according to the "actual occupation zone".

According to the "actual occupation zone", Prussia obtained the three provinces of Poznan, Kalisz and Gniezno, and the right to use the port of Gdansk together with Poland.

According to the "actual occupation zone", Russia obtained the part of Minsk and Mozyr on the east side of the Dnieper River, which only accounted for less than 15% of the area of ​​the two provinces. In fact, the east bank of the Dnieper River was inhabited entirely by Orthodox Christians, and once the war broke out, Russia could occupy it almost instantly.

So, the Polish Parliament finally agreed to give up these two small pieces of land - if war with Russia broke out again, Poland would be able to rely on the Dnieper River for defense.

Neither Russia, Prussia, nor Austria noticed that Malakhovsky insisted on using the term "actually controlled area" in the treaty.

This was naturally the advice of Joseph, who had witnessed a large number of international disputes in later generations.

Don't underestimate the change of this word, because it turned Poland's cession of territory into "occupation by foreign countries". If Poland is really able to take back these places decades or hundreds of years later, this will become a handle for arguing.

In the eyes of Russia, Prussia and Austria, as long as the territory is obtained, these "differences in expression" in the text have no impact.

That afternoon, Malachowski returned to Warsaw with the treaty in a solemn expression.

For him, this was absolutely a huge humiliation for Poland.

However, compared with the historical "Melon War" which caused Poland to lose 60% of its territory, Poland's losses this time were minimal.

Moreover, through the Great Patriotic War, Poland developed a huge cohesion, and the achievements of constitution and reform were preserved.

In the future, Poland will escape the fate of being constantly divided and ultimately destroyed!

(End of this chapter)