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The advance of a country always requires a visionary helmsman, and Napoleon played this role exactly. After his secret conversation with Field Marshal Conrobel, the Directorate General of Strategic Fraud was officially established. This establishment was secret, without any reports or publicity, and Napoleon provided Marshal Conrobert with enough intelligence analysts and high-level French thinkers.

The first step of the strategic fraud was to openly support and exploit the international clergy in Germany, to sow discord between Bismarck and the Catholics, and to begin to support the German Roman Catholics through cultural struggles.

At this time, a cultural struggle was raging in France, and last December Prussian Catholic candidates formed their own centrist party, which supported the Vatican. In the Reichstag elections two months earlier, they emerged as the all-German Catholic movement, becoming the second largest party, and were supported by Polish nationalists and Wilfists in the Prussian State Parliament and the Reichstag. The Center Party became the largest opposition party against Bismarck.

Naturally, the French intelligence services would not let go of this opportunity, secretly providing funds to the centrist party and building a campaign against Bismarck. Take advantage of the problem of the cultural struggle against Bismarck's rule.

Then there is the performance of France itself, which, under the Napoleonic government, has always pursued a policy of "treaty fulfillment", but it has also modeled the German model, introduced universal military service, reorganized the army, and invested heavily in improving artillery and light weapons.

Bismarck was disturbed and alarmed by what the French were doing.

The Franco-German Treaty of Paris neither limited France's military power nor controlled its future development. His opponent is still a big country. The Treaty of Frankfurt neither limited its military power nor controlled its foreign policy. If France wants revenge, the road will be unimpeded, and if Paris is determined not to die, even the re-formation of the anti-French alliance between Britain, Germany and Russia will not stop Napoleon's determination to destroy the entire European order with the sword in his hand.

In Bismarck's mind, the fear of the First French Empire was deeply imprinted in the Prussian psyche and became a shadow of feud.

But Bismarck did not realize that the French could not take the path of revenge for the time being. The Battle of Sedan changed the balance of power in Europe, and this change was not going to manifest itself in the short term to France's detriment. Germany's population and economic resources are growing, while France's is almost stagnant. At this time, Paris could only do a mid-term strategy, rather than rashly attack with a series of advantages.

Napoleon was a visionary, especially as a traveler looking at the situation in Europe, always finding the most crucial points in the intricacies of the relationship.

All of Europe was known only to Napoleon, and the crisis of 1875 was in fact a hoax. Bismarck did not necessarily really want to fight a preventive war, he only intended to use it to threaten the French to abandon the idea of rearmament, or even revenge. Bismarck's emphasis on the imminence of war, however, allowed the European continent to remain "at peace on the tip of a knife" for nearly forty years.

At the instigation of French intelligence, the cultural struggle intensified, and the Centre Party even openly criticized Bismarck's reckless militarism in the Reichstag, emphasizing that the war was over and Germany should begin to cut military spending.

In the face of their attacks, Bismarck did not even defend himself at the meeting, but only mocked the group of Catholics with indifference.

He knew what these people had done, but the time was not yet ripe.

The Reichstag's criticism was a dangerous signal, so the German War Chancellor Ron went to Bismarck to express his worries to him.

"You are a hero of the Second German Reich, and these politicians who have never even been on the battlefield are in a big way at the meeting to criticize you as a military prime minister, and I think you should report these things to King Wilhelm so that the others can keep their mouths shut."

When it comes to the Centre Party, Ron is clearly disgusted. Prussia was originally a militaristic empire, and only the army had the right to speak in a country, but now this group of people has openly launched a attack on a prime minister who supported the Junker aristocracy, and the actions of the Center Party have provoked the bottom line of the Junker military aristocracy.

"I know."

Chancellor Bismarck replied blandly, "They can't wait for me to step down, but they are only being instructed by some people outside the country." Do these Catholics really think that we don't know how much they have benefited from the French? ”

Bismarck, who had always been apt to detect the conspiracy against him, had seen the black hand of the international clergy on him. At the same time, he believes that the time is not yet ripe for the time being, and it is not yet the turn to plan the so-called crisis of "imminent war".

"But if you continue like this, Chancellor Bismarck, I fear that there will be a wave of opposition against you in Germany. Despicable villains in order to squeeze you off the stage. They will resort to any means, and now they dare to criticize you in the Imperial Diet, and the next step may be to force you to resign. ”

Bismarck turned to Ron and said, "Isn't that great?" At least these people can't wait to show their ugly faces, so that I can see how many enemies are hiding in the Imperial Council. There is no need to inform His Majesty William now, after all, what the Centre Party is doing is not out of line, and I do not speak in order to make these damned Catholics behave more aggressively. ”

Ron, who was walking behind Prime Minister Bismarck, stopped, and he looked at the Imperial Prime Minister with a slight stunned expression. He asked hesitantly, "Is all this in the calculations of Prime Minister Bismarck?" ”

Bismarck nodded calmly, "Of course, all this is being calculated. Otherwise, why would I not say a word in the Imperial Diet? When the time comes, the Berlin police will arrest all of the Centre. And their accusation of complicity with the French would arouse the anger of the entire German people. Imagine which side the Germans would stand on the charge of treason, even if the Centre Party had provoked a wave of opposition to my rule? ”

Ron nodded in acknowledgment, acknowledging Bismarck's claim.

"Of course they'll be on your side."

"The voices of dissatisfaction with me will quickly disappear into the anti-French wave, and then we will have an excuse to threaten Paris to start a war, and once again force France to formally cede Alsace to Germany."

Bismarck held a grudge against Alsace for not ceding Alsace due to the intervention of the Great Powers.

It also strengthened his determination to use this cultural struggle to make the French suffer the consequences.

And for the performance of Bismarck's political old fox, War Minister Ron can only laugh at himself. At first, he was worried that Bismarck would be calculated, but now he thinks that France is the one who is being calculated.

As for the centrist MPs who were used as gunmen, War Secretary Ron gave a disdainful smile.

"It seems that this political struggle involving all parties will be interesting."

While the Center Party was busy accusing Bismarck of what he had done in the Reichstag, Napoleon, who was far away in Paris, also received inside information through a telegram from the ambassador-counsellor in Berlin. The Centrer's attempt to run Bismarck with the support of the parliament took Napoleon somewhat by surprise.

"I didn't expect the Catholic Centre Party to be so effective, I thought it would be a few months before they would show their opposition to Bismarck. It was only a long time before we signed the Paris Peace Treaty with Bismarck, and we were already impatient to play the role of a thief. ”

However, he did not have much sympathy for those in the Center Party, and was just a pawn in the Franco-Prussian War. It was destined to fall victim to Bismarck's iron-blooded policy.

"The Centre Party has made their position clear, what should we do next?"

Conrobert had no idea why Napoleon had provoked the dispute by force. At this time, France was not ready for war, and his approach was simply to test the bottom line of Germany's patience.

"We don't have to do anything, we just have to wait. When Bismarck could not bear to pass the events of the Centre Party, he accused France of trying to provoke disputes and threatened to start a war. ”

Bismarck was still proud to think that he had seen through the French conspiracy, but he did not expect that Napoleon deliberately designed a trap and waited for him to jump down.

"When the time comes, the whole of Europe will be on our side, and France will be the most reasonable."

With his chin crossed in his hands, Napoleon said to Marshal Conrobert, who was standing in front of him, "The most important thing is to deepen the seeds of contradictions between Germany and Russia through this crisis." ”

Napoleon only remembers that Bismarck's autobiography gave an intriguing assessment of the crisis, saying that "I would rather resign than intervene in a war whose purpose is merely to deny respite and recovery to France." I do not think that such a war will in any way lead to a long-term stability in Europe, but may well bring Russia, Austria, and Great Britain into agreement, and that Europe will see our actions as an abuse of the power gained, and that the Americans, including the centrifugal forces within the Reich, will gather their hands or take up their swords against Germany. ”

Historically, Bismarck's dislike for Gochakov was obvious. When the crisis broke out, Gochakov presented himself as the savior of France and went to Berlin to meet him and demand that Germany promise never to wage war against France, much to Bismarck's annoyance.

And in this timeline, Napoleon also played a role in the London Channel Agreement. And this will have an immeasurable impact on the possible war crisis in the future.

What attitude will Bismarck have in the face of Gochakov's accusations?

He was looking forward to it.