In the whole crisis of the Spanish succession, if you look at it from the position of an outsider, what Prussia has done is indeed a bit of a scoundrel. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

After two years of diplomatic conflicts, the Prussian side took a tough attitude for a while, and justly stated that it was necessary to obtain the Spanish throne, and made the situation full of gunpowder.

And then the rest of Europe will come out to adjust, and when the French are angry and want to go to war, they will change their tone and say that everything can be negotiated at the negotiating table, and Prussia is not willing to exacerbate the contradictions or something.

It was this erratic diplomatic posture that kept the whole of Europe on the pulse of Prussia: what did this new military power want to do?

At this moment, Prussia can only be regarded as a military power in Europe, not an economic power, let alone an industrial power, nor a colonial power, and it is really difficult for this kind of emerging country to grasp their national strategy.

Numerous analysts believed that Prussia would be as determined against France as it was with Denmark and Austria, and that the iron-blooded chancellor Bismarck would conquer France with cannons and bayonets.

At the same time, however, numerous analysts consider this argument to be absurd, because France and Prussia are not on the same level of national power at all.

Both the quantity and quality of the colonies, the annual volume of overseas trade, the population, the wealth of the country and the wealth of the people...... France is above Prussia in all composite indicators.

Even if you open the history books, there are many examples of French victories over Prussia, and in such a situation the Prussian king would never have gone to war unless he was a madman.

It was the fierce collision of the two arguments that made politicians throughout Europe ponder, France is not Denmark or Austria, does Prussia really have the guts to tear its face?

Most people thought that this was just a means of bargaining for Prussia, and that the end result was to give up the Spanish throne in exchange for French concessions in southern Germany, which ultimately wanted to annex southern Germany peacefully.

The French Emperor Napoleon III also thought so, which is the main reason why France has not been actively preparing for war until now.

But this kind of negotiation technique is used too much to make people tired, although diplomats are said to be a very patient group of people, but patience is also limited, this kind of childish game to play once or twice and think, you play a year or two, who can stand this.

It was against this background that the Ames telegram incident took place.

When the Spanish press began to preach that Prince Leopold of German Bavaria was the most legitimate heir to the Spanish throne, Napoleon III and all the French diplomats were outraged, and the French Foreign Minister, the Duke of Gramont, even sent a telegram directly to Prince Leopold of Bavaria, directly threatening the prince not to covet the Spanish throne.

The French diplomatic envoy was soon dispatched, the French ambassador to Prussia, Benededdi, and the angry diplomat took the train directly to the Ames Palace, the spa of the Prussian king's vacation, where William I was stopped.

The king of Prussia never expected that the French ambassador would rush forward and grab the king by the sleeve in disregard of diplomatic etiquette, and forcefully demand that he immediately declare to the whole of Europe that he would not touch the Spanish throne.

Benededdi even insinuated that the king was a capricious man, and that what he had said didn't count?

William I said that he did not say anything about renunciating the Spanish throne? The historical records are inconsistent, but the French account is absolutely true, otherwise the diplomat would not have been so rude as to ask the king to make another commitment.

But there is a different record in Prussia, they think that the king did not say it either in public or in private, and that the king's attitude was only that there was something to discuss, and everyone could negotiate together, and that's it.

The secret telegram of Napoleon III's anger brought by Benedetti also expressed the anger of the French government in practical actions, and when the impudent minister was sent to the palace, William I fell into deep thought.

At last he felt that he still had to consult the Prime Minister Bismarck, so he sent a telegram from the Ames Palace, in which the King left a glimmer of room for negotiation at the end of the telegram, in addition to detailing all that had happened today.

“...... You can also think long in Berlin!" was the last sentence of Emsher's telegram.

When Bismarck received this secret message from the king, instead of being angry, he was overjoyed, and he directly asked Moltke's chief of the general staff to come to a secret meeting and ask directly about the chances of Prussia's victory after the war.

Moltke did not disappoint Bismarck, and Prussia, which was a strong soldier, had long been ready for war, and Moltke firmly believed that Prussia would win this battle.

The situation in Europe finally set off huge waves, and Bismarck sneered and crossed out the last whirling words on the king's secret telegram with ink, and directly filled in a murderous threat.

"His Majesty the King hereafter refused to receive the French Ambassador, and ordered the lieutenant on duty to convey to the French Ambassador that His Majesty had nothing more to talk about......"

This was the clarion call for the Franco-Prussian War, the famous Ames telegram incident in history.

No one can describe the anger of Napoleon III, the second most powerful country in the world, France, who was so insulted, that he began to order the whole country to prepare for war, and he finally made up his mind to teach the Prussian northern barbarians a good lesson with the army.

Once again, the clouds of war loomed over the land of Europe.

The whole of Europe was dumbfounded, Prussia had far more than a million land forces at its disposal, and the French mainland had 600,000 standing armies.

These are two extremely proud peoples, and no one will give up until they fight until the blood is shed, and when the time comes, more than 2 million troops will fight on the land of Europe, and the people will be nearly 10 million.

Diplomats from all over Europe have mobilized, whether they are sincere or not, anyway, everyone has to take a stand, some express their concerns, some personally regulate, some support Prussia, and some shout for France.

For a time, the first-class cabin of the European train was full of envoys and important ministers and nobles from various countries, who began to work together in the hope of seizing their own interests in this war.

And Ai Liguo didn't know all this, Xiao Letian's story made the British minister's face pale.

Note: The events of the Ames telegram are true history, but with appropriate modifications in the novel, the true history of the Ames telegram was transmitted back to France, and within ten days the Emperor declared war, followed by the Franco-Prussian War.

But our novel is not an official history after all, we all hope that Xiao Lotian will go to Europe to stir up the wind and rain, so we can only revise the time, let the Franco-Prussian War wait before it starts, and let them prepare for the war first.