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Frederick Carr's plea for help was like a bombshell, pushing King William, who was still hesitating, to the side of peace.

The First Army no longer had enough troops to support the Prussian army at the fortress of Metz, and the Third Army, which was originally attacking Saint-Quentin, was constantly sending reinforcements to Paris because of the emergence of the French Southern Army. In this way, Prince Frederick, who was besieging the fortress of Metz, became an abandoned pawn, and the only answer King William could give was to keep them on to the death.

Then he sent his son to the dormitory to arrange a few requests for peace with France.

Crown Prince Frederick walked to his father's tent, the French winter came earlier than usual, the sky was cold and gloomy, and the cold wind blowing from the Seine made the crown prince involuntarily his collar and walk briskly towards his father's lounge.

He lifted the tent and saw his father sitting in front of the fire, holding in his hand the peace book that had been sent from Paris the day before. The light of the fire shone on his face, but it could not dispel the gloom in his heart.

"This time I intend for you to be the representative of the two countries in the peace talks, to send back Prime Minister Bismarck, and to send Napoleon III back to Paris."

King William spoke unhurriedly, as if he were reading a few lines of a book.

"The fact that the French sent the peace book first shows that they also know that they cannot completely push back. Negotiations with Prussia are the best outcome, and I do not rule out that Paris is ready for the worst, and if there is no progress in the peace talks, they may exhaust all the national strength of France and drag Prussia to the death here. ”

Moved by Crown Prince Frederick, he asked softly, "Is France really determined to die together?" ”

King Wilhelm nodded undeniably, "Judging from the means of disposing of the German prisoners, they are indeed ready to die. Either let's go back to Berlin, or we take France, but the resistance will not end. ”

"This is a peace between us and the French, and they have not called on other countries to mediate, which is in our favor. At the negotiating table, you have to show a tough attitude, even if you use bluff tactics, to convince the Parisians that the war will not stop if we do not meet our demands. ”

Knowing that victory was impossible, King William had to use this tough attitude to tell France that even if we had to withdraw our troops, no one would be left behind in political interests.

"I know what to do, everything will be arranged, father."

Frederick Karl smiled and said, "We have only temporarily lost the advantage, but the German threat is still there. If they were not willing to negotiate peacefully, at least Germany's scorched-earth policy would leave the entire northern part of France without vegetation. ”

While Crown Prince Frederick and King Wilhelm were negotiating the next peace, Napoleon had already negotiated the peace with the ambassadors of Austria, Russia, and Great Britain in Paris, trying to draw the three countries together as his allies.

The victory in the Battle of Paris shocked the three countries, and after Napoleon III surrendered at Sedan, everyone would have thought that the Prussians would have eliminated the remaining resistance in a month or two, and even when the Prussian army was in the city, Tsar Alexander taunted that even Napoleon could not save France now.

But the outcome of the war stunned everyone, and they not only stopped King Wilhelm's progress, but also forced the other side to the negotiating table.

British Prime Minister Gladstone opened discussions with Foreign Secretary Russell on Napoleon's request. The British prime minister, who was not very good at diplomacy, was very interested in Napoleon's fraudulent agreement. Napoleon expressed France's willingness to withdraw its troops from Alsace and make it a free trade neutral zone between France and France, which would remain administratively under the control of the French government.

This also meant that the Prussian army would not be the first to be met with French resistance in Alsace if the two sides fought again.

Britain is essentially a-stirring stick, so they are also very happy to see the French government create a troublesome "disputed zone" for itself on its own, now a superficial free trade zone, which over time will also become the focus of friction and conflict between the two sides. In this way, Britain could make Alsace the greatest obstacle to an Anglo-French alliance, thus ensuring that there would be no military bloc in Europe that threatened the British Empire.

"What do you think of the fact that the Governor of Trochu has run out of options to cede the disputed region of Alsace in exchange for our support for the government of Paris, Chancellor Russell?"

Gladstone did not anticipate at all the small movements that Napoleon was hiding behind his back.

Russell said, "Actually, I think the Franco-Prussian War should drag on indefinitely, preventing either France or Prussia from rising to become the hegemon of the continent." I have to say that this peace conference came faster than we imagined, and it seems that even if the Paris government is retained, they should not be able to hold on. ”

Prime Minister Gladstone nodded, although it did not turn the Franco-Prussian War into a long war of attrition, but after this battle, France would lose its status as the first land power in Europe and be replaced by Germany.

"A new enemy has arisen in Great Britain, an ambitious Germany."

Although Prime Minister Gladstone's diplomatic skills were in shambles, he saw very clearly that the Germans were definitely more ambitious than the French. At this time, the world colonial system had been established, and Britain was the world's first colonial empire, and the French, who had just been unified, could not avoid the problem of colonies if they wanted to move towards the road of expansion. A country with nothing but great military power is more terrible than the French, who have full-fledged colonies.

"So at this Paris conference, Britain should try to favor the French. Although we do not see Germany as an enemy, they are also potential adversaries. There is one more very important thing. ”

This kind of diplomacy, which Gladstone privately calls tightrope diplomacy, must be very careful to protect one's allies without the other side noticing their rejection and disgust.

Speaking to Chancellor Russell, Granston said, "Don't be hostile to Germany too soon. ”

"Britain has no intention of making an enemy of Germany."

In addition to Great Britain, Austria and Russia also received invitations, and the Parisian government sincerely hoped that the European powers would intervene to mediate the war.

Tsar Alexander Nikolayevich expressed amazement at the divine turn of the Franco-Prussian War. At the same time, he also consulted Russian Foreign Minister Gochakov on countermeasures to this incident.

"Minister Gochakov, if Russia intervenes in this dispute, will there be any greater benefit to be gained in exchange for the Paris government's proposal to us to absolve the London Straits Convention?"

Tsar Alexander II dreamed of invalidating Russia's ban on fleet holdings in the Black Sea and the clause on the neutrality of the Black Sea, forcing Britain and other powers to make concessions. Alexander II has always been haunted by the defeat in the Crimean War.

"Your Majesty."

Foreign Minister Gochakov kindly reminded the other side, "This is already the greatest benefit that Russia can obtain, the importance of the Black Sea to us is self-evident, and if this is the attitude of Paris towards the London Straits Convention, then Russia should pay lip service to the rapprochement between the two countries." All we can do is support it politically. ”

Alexander II expressed his concerns, "What if Prussia holds a grudge?" After all, he is the most powerful military state in all of Europe. ”

Gochakov shook his head and said disdainfully, "No, no, your majesty, Bismarck would not do such a stupid thing." Having defeated the French Empire, the most important thing you can do is to form alliances with other countries to prevent French revenge. So the question arises, who else in Europe is more suitable to be an ally of Germany besides us? ”

Alexander II's eyes lit up, and he instantly understood Gochakov's intentions, "You mean that even if we are on the side of France, Prussia will be forced to ally with us in the future due to the international situation?" So what is fundamental in reaping Russia's political interests in this peace talks? ”

"Yes."

Foreign Minister Gochakov smiled and said, "That's not a fool, he knows exactly what he's doing." So even if we offend Prussia a little bit in this Paris peace talks, they won't say anything. ”

In Vienna, Count Andrách was also expressing to King Franz Josef the importance of participating in the political conference. The less savvy King still had illusions of returning to the North German Confederation, and when the French wanted Austria to send troops to Berlin, Count Andrách, as Foreign Minister, flatly refused, believing that this was pushing Austria into the fire pit.

"Now Austria can no longer use force to fight for the succession of the German nation-state, but we can use this peace conference to blackmail Prussia into forming a dualist monarchy."

It is better than forming a dual monarchy with Hungary.

King Franz Joseph cautiously asked, "Will it succeed?" ”

"Bismarck was not a coward."

Count Andrách said calmly, "Your Majesty, to be honest it is very difficult, but if all the European powers were on the side of France, Prussia would have fought for Austria anyway. So we always have to give it a try, because we are also a German nation. ”

Every Austrian lamented the loss of his country's federal succession, which is why Count Andráhi did everything possible to get the king to agree to the conference.

"Whether or not the fate of Austria can be changed will depend on the Paris Peace Conference in five days."

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