The first update

Bismarck's attempt to provoke a crisis of war in order to blackmail Paris had to obtain the consent of the German Emperor Wilhelm I.

Originally, Germany was deliberately creating a diplomatic crisis, and Bismarck confidently wanted to use this diplomatic crisis to turn the French Alsace region from a nominal free trade zone into de facto German territory, and restore the sovereignty of the Holy Roman Empire.

In order to deal with a possible military conflict between France and Germany, Bismarck was fully prepared. This time, too, it was equally desperate for France to take the lead in attacking Germany, so that Berlin could gain international support and launch a resolute counterattack.

War Minister Ron was initially strongly opposed to Bismarck's approach, believing that the recapture of Alsace by deliberately creating a diplomatic crisis would likely destroy Germany's current political advantage and drag it back into the crisis of war.

"I can support your restrictions on the Catholic Church, after all, this is an internal affair of Germany, but if you want to deliberately create a war crisis through this matter, IMHO this is no longer a domestic political matter, but a diplomatic issue involving two countries, and there may even be a situation involving the whole body, drawing Britain and Russia in. Germany, on the other hand, would be in a very passive position. ”

Bismarck asked disdainfully, "Is it wrong for me to attack the forces behind him because the evidence of the Central Party colluding with foreign forces to try to overthrow the German regime is conclusive?" ”

"Yes, that's right."

Ron said helplessly, "But we have just ended the war, and this matter is bound to affect the sensitive nerves of many people. Including Prime Minister Gladstone of Great Britain and Alexander II of Russia. ”

Bismarck, on the other hand, did not shy away from saying, "Yes, this is revenge for France's collusion with Russia." Didn't he want to poach our allies? I just want him to see thoroughly which side Russia is on! ”

For Bismarck's tough attitude, Ron also had nothing to do about the iron-blooded prime minister, and could only hope that King William could suppress this matter as much as possible.

However, Ron's hopes were dashed when Anim returned to Berlin.

It seems that even God deliberately sided with Bismarck.

In the end, the military minister, Ron, could only sigh the impermanence of fate.

Anim, German ambassador to France, is a former Prussian minister to the Vatican. His family was a distant relative of Bismarck's brother-in-law, and he himself was the son-in-law of Bismarck's superior, Arnim-Boitzenburg, in Aachen, but his close relationship did not put him on Bismarck's side.

In October 1871, Annim suddenly returned to Berlin and visited Kaiser Wilhelm directly to explain his diplomatic views. and openly advocated Prussian intervention in the restoration of the French monarchy by clear code. At the same time, Anim also colluded with Bismarck's old political rival Mantofil to try to overthrow Bismarck, who supported the French republic.

Their stated point of view was to support Catholicism in the cultural struggle, and to strongly advocate collusion with Catholicism to intervene in the regime in Paris, France. And he told King Wilhelm that Bismarck's suppressive attitude towards the Church might prevent their plans from being carried out.

Bismarck, who had been holding back for a long time, finally waited for the opportunity, and he planned to use Anim's provocation to attack France directly.

Bismarck went to the palace and prepared to argue with reason.

At this time, King Wilhelm supported Anim's ridiculous plan, taking the initiative to take advantage of the Catholic Church's troubles in France. Bismarck, however, shattered his illusions with a letter, placing the correspondence of the leaders of the Centre Party with Paris in front of Bismarck.

"We now have reason to believe that the Catholics of the Centre Party are in collusion with Paris and are carrying out a conspiracy to subvert Germany. I strongly recommend that all centrist members be arrested immediately and interrogated severely. Moreover, the French plot to subvert Germany will be published in all the newspapers to create public opinion. ”

Seeing Bismarck's letter, King Wilhelm woke up from a dream. He said angrily, "That bastard of Anim dares to deceive me!" I almost believed his nonsense! ”

"Your Majesty, now is not the time to be angry."

Bismarck saw the opportunity and immediately fanned the flames and said, "Whether Anim has been bought by the French, we can interrogate it slowly, and we can also use this incident to rectify the traitors in Germany." It is now imperative that the forces of the two standing armies be mobilized at once and stationed on the border of Alsace, where there are no French troops, so that we can immediately march in as soon as war breaks out. Any movement of any corps in France to this place could be regarded as waging war against Germany. ”

Bismarck's fantasy was that when the Germans occupied Alsace, they would no longer be easily returned to the French. Completely turn this land into German territory.

To be able to recover the land lost during the Holy Roman Empire was the glory that Bismarck had been striving for.

King William still hesitated and said, "Are you sure there are no French troops there?" Will the cunning French really contribute the economic reinforce of Alsace? ”

"Pretty definitely."

Bismarck said categorically, "The French will certainly abide by the treaty and not station any army there." Moreover, in order to determine the movements of the French, our previous intelligence officers have reconnoitered, and it is true that there are no military camps in the Alsace region, but some additional police officers to maintain law and order. It shows that Paris has indeed faithfully implemented our treaty. If the German army marched in, these security police would not be able to stop our advance. ”

King William sat in the garden, looking at the scenery in front of him and falling into deep thought.

Wilhelm had already been moved by Bismarck's demagoguery, and he also thought Bismarck's plan was feasible. Anyway, it was France that took the lead in provoking the war, and the Germans were just fighting back. As for Alsace, it will be the victorious product of the next war. Expanding the territory of Germany, his glory will be incomparable.

But William's mind is fairly clear-headed, taking into account the most critical issues.

"Finally, there is a very important question, how are the British and Russian sides going to explain it?"

King Wilhelm reassured Bismarck because of his diplomatic skills. Before the Franco-Prussian War, almost all European powers had won their pledges of non-intervention.

"We do not intend to invade France, only to take back the Alsace region. Even if a conflict breaks out, it will end in the shortest possible time. No hand tails will be left. What's more, the French were too late to come to the rescue, they did not have enough military force near Alsace to stop us from going straight on our own. ”

Bismarck swore simply, "Even if France does not make a move in the end for the sake of the overall situation, our move will deepen the antipathy of the European countries towards France, and thus push everyone to Germany's side." No matter what we do, it's a sure win. ”

Bismarck shook the evidence in his hand in front of Wilhelm, smiled and said, "This time they will lose a mess." ”

Wilhelm I was only responsible for nodding his head and allowing it, and he left everything after that to Bismarck. The Cologne newspaper, which is the mouthpiece of Germany, reported that France, the Vatican, Italy and other countries were colluding with each other in a vain attempt to form a coalition of Catholic countries to deal with Protestant Germany.

The Berlin Post published an article concocted by Bismarck, "War in Sight". The article says that France is rapidly rearming, and sooner or later the German-French war will start again. The empire is not torn apart by a "cultural struggle", but actively responds to any external threat of war.

As soon as this remark came out, it immediately caused panic among others.

As Foreign Secretary, Dekaz immediately brought the German newspaper to the Tuileries Palace and handed Napoleon Bismarck's public threatening letters.

"Really, as His Excellency the President said, he got into action. This article, "War in Sight", is clearly aimed at Paris. ”

Napoleon sneered, "Not to mention, the German army will be quickly stationed in the Alsace border area, and he may even directly intervene in the free trade zone under the pretext of being a protector of the German nation." Bismarck's ambition was to regain the land of freedom that we compromised,"

"Are we going to fight back?"

Kadez only asked for Napoleon's consent, and the Foreign Office would face the Germans with the toughest attitude.

Napoleon excitedly paced back and forth in his office, waving his fist and saying, "Fight back, of course, not only at the Foreign Office, but also at Alsace." We want to fight until the other side is powerless to fight back, and the Germans really think that Alsace is a free trade zone, and France will not make any deployments? Did he really think that the police who had deployed the artillery were just there to maintain law and order? ”

The troops stationed nearly 20,000 men were all converted into police, and once the war broke out, these police forces for maintaining law and order would enter the war as soldiers, and Bismarck would be dumbfounded, and shout angrily at the violation of Paris.

Now the more Bismarck jumps up and down, the more painful it will be when he is slapped in the face in the future.

Not only did the French army learn from the pain and recover from it, but even Britain and Russia were on his side. Moreover, Germany deliberately made a sign of invasion, and if France made a slight gesture on the border issue and caused the Germans to cross the red line, Napoleon would have a fair reason to strike back.

The birth of an anti-Prussian coalition?

Perhaps Bismarck would be bedridden with anger.

Napoleon looked at Bismarck's righteous statement published in the newspaper, sneered and said to himself, "Your Excellency, Bismarck, now please begin your performance. ”

"France is ready to see a good show next."