Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 560 The Founding of the German Empire

As is well known, the French Revolution of 1789 shook Europe; and the Paris Commune of 1868 shook Europe once again.

Prussia and the newly formed French government under Thiers were hostile to the Commune. In order to return to Paris as soon as possible, Thiers was willing to agree to all of Prussia's demands. Even the other party was no longer the King of Prussia, but the German Emperor.

On January 18, the 170th anniversary of Frederick III's coronation as King of Prussia in Königsberg, William I proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles:
"I, the King of Prussia, blessed by God, in view of the unanimous call from the electors of Germany and the free cities to restore and inherit the title of Emperor of Germany, which has been dormant for more than sixty years, by establishing a German Empire, and in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, hereby declare that I consider this a responsibility to our common homeland, respond to this joint call of the electors of Germany and the free cities, and accept the title of Emperor of Germany."

All the soldiers in the Hall of Mirrors drew their swords, raised them high into the sky, and shouted wildly!

"Long live the German Empire! Long live the Emperor!"

Amid cheers, countless people wept bitterly! The cheers in the Hall of Mirrors infected the entire Versailles Palace guards, who also began to shout "Long live the Emperor!" and the soldiers embraced each other in ecstasy and wept!

The commotion at Versailles Palace also affected the entire town. Tens of thousands of guards cheered and shouted "Long live the Emperor!" for more than an hour after learning of the Emperor's coronation.
From this day forward, the German Empire will appear on the map of Europe. Central Europe now has a new nation, not some fragment of the Holy Roman Empire, but a true empire.

The issue of reparations is being discussed between France, the newly emerging Germany, and the established Austria. 100 billion is too much; could it be reduced?

Austrian Foreign Minister Boister is adamant about paying 10 billion euros, not a penny less. This is because if France were to pay reparations, Austria would also receive a 100% share, given its role in the war.

Thiers was furious. If he signed it, he would be a sinner against France. What does 100 billion mean? Even converted to pounds sterling, it's 4 million. Converted to gold, that's 2920 tons.

Such a large sum of money is something France cannot afford, even if it could, nor can it afford to use its resources to curry favor with other countries.

The current situation is urgent. Northern France, including Paris, has been completely occupied, and France is utterly incapable of resistance. Even guerrilla warfare has stalled! The last 300,000 elite troops have all been sent to German prisoner-of-war camps. They are hostages, but also a vital force that France desperately needs to stabilize the situation!

France's industrial areas are mostly concentrated in the north, and these regions have been ravaged by war, meaning that France no longer has the capacity for industrial production!

Finally, and most importantly, the French monarchists, republicans, and the Commune were locked in a fierce internal struggle, with none willing to yield. Humans are inherently selfish; for their own high positions and lucrative rewards, they would inevitably sacrifice the interests of others.

Thiers is outwardly a republican president, but intelligence from various sources has long indicated that he is a loyal dog raised by the royalists! In order to restore his master and for his own grand ideal of being knighted, would such a person care about the lives and suffering of the people?

All the heartfelt patriotic performances are hypocritical. Even if Thiers' bargaining at this moment is in his heart, he is only struggling with how to explain himself to the people!
If the final armistice agreement were too humiliating, it would leave a bad mark on history and negatively impact his career. Therefore, Thiers could only propose reducing the indemnity. He proposed 30 billion francs, but both Bismarck and Boiste disagreed. Bismarck suggested reducing it to 90 billion francs, but Thiers refused.

The negotiations dragged on, one hundred million rubles at a time, but the Paris Commune wouldn't wait. Finally, Thiers agreed to an indemnity of 8 billion rubles. Of course, the official narrative shouldn't be that way; it should be that Thiers, through lengthy negotiations, finally persuaded Germany and Austria to reduce the 10 billion ruble in reparations by 2 billion rubles—a huge sum indeed! The French should be grateful to Thiers; with anyone else, they wouldn't have been able to reach an agreement.

Austria receiving 800 million francs was an extraordinary gain, considering that Austria contributed less than 10% to the Franco-Prussian War but received 10% of the reparations. This can only be described as Prussia being generous.

In any case, the biggest negotiation project has ended. Now all that's left is to wait for the final outcome, which is the complete quelling of the Paris Commune.

Three days after Thiers surrendered, the new French president secretly took a train to Germany to meet with his former leader, Napoleon III, whom he had opposed.

This was a top-secret visit, and the security arrangements made by Germany were extremely thorough. The meeting lasted only two hours, but it involved the support of tens of thousands of troops and countless intelligence personnel.

What Thiers actually said to the French Emperor remains unknown to anyone, not even the Germans dared to spy on it. But judging from what happened afterward, the deal was not hard to guess!
A week after Thiers left the French Emperor, German Emperor Wilhelm I officially announced that, due to Napoleon III's health condition, the German Empire would drop all charges against the French Emperor, protect all of the French Emperor's property in Germany, and release him!

Immediately afterwards, the British Royal Family issued a statement expressing their willingness to accept Napoleon III into exile and hoping that he could reunite with his family in Germany!

After his defeat at the Battle of Sedan, Napoleon III suffered no grievances but instead received a rare vacation, and was eventually leisurely escorted to England.

Judging from the relaxed expression on the French emperor's face when he left, Thiers must have made some kind of promise regarding the future restoration of the Bonaparte dynasty!

If Thiers wanted to control those 300,000 prisoners, he couldn't do without getting past the French emperor. Among the legions loyal to the emperor, from ordinary soldiers to officers, who knew who Thiers was?
Thiers gave the French emperor a kind of implicit promise of future restoration, while the emperor secretly gave orders to his loyal generals that this deal was necessary and very important!

The president’s secret envoy soon arrived at the French prisoner-of-war camp in the Alsace province, where General McMahon, who had been wounded by artillery fire in Sedan, was temporarily staying.

As a staunch royalist, McMahon harbored a strong aversion to the republican government. Upon hearing that Napoleon III had entrusted him with the task of temporarily working under Thiers in a deathbed entrustment, the old marshal burst into tears. He had never expected the emperor to trust him so much, and he felt he had no choice but to carry out this order with his life.

(End of this chapter)