Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 127 The French Coup
However, these matters are too far removed from Iran's domestic situation. Iran has only recently arrived in the East and needs to proceed cautiously and steadily.

In the heart of Tehran stands a newly built building, the Iranian Research Center, funded by the Shah.

Following the establishment of the university, the project to set up a research center was also launched. Because Iran's research capabilities are weak, most research is conducted by professors hired from Europe and high-achieving Iranian students. Of course, some research is also done in collaboration with European companies, such as Siemens and Krupp from Prussia, because only they are willing to cooperate with Iran.

"The electromotive force generated in a closed loop is proportional to the rate of change of magnetic flux through any surface enclosed by that path. This means that when the magnetic flux through the surface enclosed by a conductor changes, current will flow in any closed conductor. This is what Faraday discovered as electromagnetic induction."

A British professor is explaining electricity to Iranian students, telling them the story of Benjamin Franklin's discovery of electricity by guiding lightning with a kite. The students find this fascinating, realizing that science truly requires exploration.

Meanwhile, another group of people were listening to the teacher explain that oil has more uses than coal, but it has not yet been mined or explored on a large scale.

These days, not many Eastern monarchs support scientific research; Iran is one of the few countries with a relatively good academic atmosphere.

A bell rang, and Simone Ellison put down his textbook. "Class, that concludes today's lesson. If any of you wish to learn more about the history of petroleum, please contact me privately. We will continue discussing the applications of petroleum in the next class."

After explaining petroleum to his students, Simone Ellison finally gets some peace and quiet and time to consider his own research into petroleum applications.

The use of petroleum has a long history. The Eastern Roman Empire famously used a mixture of crude oil and lime to create Greek fire, which was then used to attack enemy ships by shooting arrows or throwing them by hand. Throughout Europe, from Bavaria and Sicily in the Apennine region of Germany to Galicia in Poland and Romania, there are records of oil seeping from the ground since the Middle Ages. Crude oil was considered a "panacea." Farmers in Galicia and Romania had long been digging wells to extract oil.

In 1846, Abraham Kisner of Canada invented a method for extracting kerosene from coal. This product could be used as a cleaning agent and fuel, but refining it from coal was too laborious, so Ellison thought it could be extracted from petroleum, which should be much easier.

However, based on current exploration in Iran, most areas lack oil; they are mostly desert or Gobi, making exploration extremely difficult. Aside from some coal, iron, and copper, oil is nowhere to be found. It seems we still have to go to Baku, where I've heard oil extraction has already begun.

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"Your Excellency Shah of Persia, thank you for your attention to France. As President, I have an obligation to maintain relations between our two countries, and I sincerely invite you to visit Paris."

Naserdin looked at the French ambassador Charles, then at the letter.

“Thank you for the invitation from your President. I will travel to Paris to meet with him at the appropriate time.” Sharl thanked Nasser al-Din and then left. But he did not hear the Shah’s last words as he left.

"At that time, it shouldn't be the French president, but the French emperor."

At this time, the French president was making final preparations to consolidate power. Even though he had won the support of the Order Party in the election, he was politically isolated, lacked parliamentary support, and was out of step with the French political environment.

After being rejected by the Republicans, he had to form a government against his will, but this compromise did not prevent him from finding himself constantly clashing with the National Assembly, which once again became dominated by conservatives and monarchists, but equally hostile to the president.

According to the constitutional principle that presidents cannot serve consecutive terms, Louis-Napoleon should have legally stepped down in December 1852. However, two-thirds of the provincial assemblies had already decided to amend the 1848 constitution to allow the president of the republic to serve consecutive terms. Napoleon also went along with this, working to propose constitutional reforms that would qualify him for another term, extending it from four to ten years.

However, this was rejected by the National Assembly. Since his election as president, rumors of a coup d'état had begun to circulate, in commemoration of his uncle's coup of 18 Brumaire. After the amendment was rejected, rumors of a coup d'état by the Parliament or Louis-Napoleon resurfaced, but it was under these circumstances that the public became aware of the certainty of a military attempt to launch an attack from the Élysée Palace.

When parliamentary representatives called for the impeachment of the president, prominent politician Thiers and his allies attempted to reinstate an outdated constitutional decree that granted the National Assembly president the right to directly request troops without consulting the Minister of War. For Louis-Napoleon, this was a declaration of war, and he immediately devised an action plan to besiege Parliament should such a law be passed, especially since conspirators knew that right-wing representatives were preparing to arrest the president.

With things having come to this point, he had no choice but to stage a coup. He ordered Magnan to summon the generals under his command and instructed them to prepare. The National Guard, the only armed force in Paris capable of resistance, remained neutral; ultimately, the president and bankers prepaid the gold needed for the operation, preventing conspirators from looting the vaults of the Bank of France.

On the 30th anniversary of Napoleon I's death, the coup began. The president's army occupied all the strategic locations in Paris, from the Champs-Élysées to the Tuileries Palace. Sixty thousand men, supported by more than a hundred cannons, occupied the capital. Louis Napoleon seized all printing presses, including the national printing press, and only newspapers supporting the Élysée Palace were allowed to continue publishing. Cafés and stables were forcibly closed. The police chief "controlled" the opposition leaders, both Republicans and monarchists; only one resisted and was arrested.

Louis-Napoleon posted his proclamations on the walls of Paris: one a "People's Appeal" addressed to the French people, and the other a proclamation addressed to the army. He issued decrees declaring a siege, dissolving the National Assembly, restoring universal suffrage, calling on the French people to participate in elections, and drafting a new constitution. His appeal to the people announced his intention to restore "the system established by the First Consul."

News of the coup gradually spread throughout France, sometimes sparking spontaneous demonstrations in major cities; however, with a few exceptions, there was no organized response. This gave the president an opportunity to use harsh measures against his opponents, securing victory and keeping the Bonapartists firmly in control. Conservative lawmakers were quickly released, but left-wing politicians fled en masse.

The biggest outcome of this coup was the establishment of Louis-Napoleon's dictatorship. The new political system would be a referendum rather than a parliamentary system. The head of state would be solely responsible for the laws he approved and promulgated, while ministers would be accountable only for their actions. The president would also appoint all civil and military officials, and the judiciary would act on his behalf. He would also be the only one capable of declaring war and concluding peace or trade treaties.

Now, no one can stop him, just as his uncle did decades earlier, and Louis Napoleon is also embarking on the path to emperor.

(End of this chapter)