The first update

In March 1881, as far away as St. Petersburg, the event finally took place that shocked all the top political figures in Europe.

Alexander II was assassinated by the Narodniks and died in an explosion attack.

The assassination king Alexander II suffered nearly 100 assassination attempts during his lifetime, of which as many as four came close to success. Finally, in March of this year, the tsar, who had been tortured by assassination all his life, finally "successfully" died in another attack.

Tsar Alexander II, who was diligent in political affairs and loved the people like a son, hung up like this, which has to be said to be an irony of history.

The Russian radicals succeeded in making another death and changing the history of Russia.

Originally, according to Alexander II's original itinerary, the trip was to sign a decree announcing the creation of a state council and initiating the process of reforming the constitutional monarchy of the Russian Empire. This decree was postponed indefinitely with the death of Alexander II and was not restarted until the fall of Tsarist Russia more than thirty years later.

The establishment of the Cathedral on Spilled Blood was a later thing, and the death of Alexander II led to the end of his reforms and became a turning point in the fall of the Russian Empire.

Alexander III, who came to power at this time against such a stormy backdrop in Russia, originally came to power with fear after his father Alexander II was assassinated by the Narodniks. In order to escape murder, he gave up his elegant and luxurious life in Petersburg and moved to the palace of Gatchy, where he lived in fear and fear in the midst of heavy security. As a result, he was ridiculed as a "prisoner of Gatchy".

However, Alexander III did not care, he only cared about whether he would die like his father, and he summoned Prime Minister Gochakov, who had devoted his life to Alexander II, to listen to his opinion.

"The priority now is to solve the problem of those radicals, the populists trying to achieve their nefarious political goals by assassinating the Tsar."

Gochakov knew that this might be the last time he proposed to the Tsar, so he hurriedly said, "We need to arrest the populists throughout the country and put them to death in the eyes of the public, so that they know what it will be like to oppose the Russian court." Then there's the re-tightening of your father's relaxed political rhetoric. Because many people don't want to accept a constitutional monarchy, they just want to accept a republic like France. ”

"So what to do?"

Alexander III was a little nervous, and he asked, "So we should remove the right of ordinary people to be educated?" ”

"Yes, it can cause dissatisfaction, but it can delay the arrival of Ragnarok."

Prime Minister Gochakov said meaningfully, "We still have time to try to eliminate all the unstable factors." My Majesty, if you want to keep your position, you must kill all the restless elements. We don't want to see the Decembrists rioting. ”

Alexander III, who was sitting on the throne, listened to Gochakov's words, and slowly fell into deep thought.

At this time, Napoleon, who was far away in Paris, was calmly watching everything that was happening in Russia, after the Russian reform hero was killed, the next step would definitely detonate the European upper class, the first to make a move was Prime Minister Gladstone, the sudden alliance between France and Germany made him feel very troubled, and now the Transvaal is still increasing its military power, without the slightest relief.

Napoleon tried to drag out the dispute over the colonies before sending troops to hold the gold-mining mountain area. Sovereignty over the Transvaal was of no use to him, and only the largest reserves in the goldfields were the focus of the French.

After losing a game in South Africa and having to make concessions for the time being, Prime Minister Gladstone realized that the death of Alexander II was an opportunity to improve relations between Britain and Russia. In the past, because of the Crimean War, the two sides had formed a situation of fire and water, and now he wanted to turn the Russian Empire into a problem between Germany and Austria through the strategy of bringing disaster to the west.

Prime Minister Gladstone acted quickly, and with the help of the funeral of Alexander II, London personally sent an ambassador to St. Petersburg to offer condolences.

For British Prime Minister Gladstone's move, even Alexander III, who was hiding in the palace of Gatzener, felt an unusual touch. It was the French who took the initiative to make overtures to St. Petersburg, and now the British are also participating, and it is clear that Russia's position in the European situation is constantly changing. From the initial exclusion to acceptance.

Alexander III was happy to hear the good news. In the previous Russo-Turkish war, although they did not directly annex the Ottoman Turks, they were granted asylum in Bulgaria. At this time, the Slavs of the Balkan Peninsula saw St. Petersburg as a symbol of hope, and they were more than happy to continue to promote the liberation of the Slavs, and the situation was formed in the confrontation of Austria-Hungary.

At least that's what Alexander III intended, and he actively pursued Pan-Slavism with a strong diplomatic focus, mainly against the Balkans and the Black Sea coast, in order to expand Russian influence in these regions and consolidate Russia's dominance in the Slavic populated areas. On the one hand, Russia's policy in the Balkans is aimed at enhancing its international status and promoting the development of local national liberation movements.

At this time, the Russian Empire, which had appeared to be falsely prosperous, seemed to be thriving day by day, which also promoted the tsar's idea of expansion.

So in the eyes of Napoleon, Alexander III was more like an iron-fisted leader similar to Brezhnev. They were now more concerned with expansion, continuing to expand the territory of the Russian Empire until it became a superpower in Asia and Europe.

So Napoleon understood very well what means in history he would have taken. A policy of Russification was imposed on foreigners and the Jews were persecuted. The occupation of Central Asia intensified the contradictions with the British.

Moreover, under the influence of his wife from Denmark, Denmark was forced to cede the Schleswig-Holstein region because of Denmark's defeat in the Prussian-Danish War, and the queen kept blowing the wind on his pillow. Resentment of Bismarck and the German Empire of Wilhelm I. Although the six previous Russian monarchs were of German descent, the process of Russification of the court and aristocratic society began from the time of Alexander III.

In Napoleon's eyes, all this was an unstable factor that did not matter too much.

Foreign Minister Dekaz has held this position for almost eight years, and he is by far the longest foreign minister, and it was decided that Dekaz should continue in this position because of Napoleon's recognition of his contribution to the crisis of the war.

By this time he had become accustomed to the sudden summons of the President, just as the French people had become accustomed to Napoleon's many years in this position, and all the people could feel that he was trying to re-establish the order and glory of the First Empire on the European continent.

This time Napoleon did not choose to discuss in his office, but went to the gardens of the Tuileries. The coup d'état was a thing of the past ten years, and after being renovated three years ago, the bullet marks from the fierce battles on the night of the coup d'état were gone.

Napoleon looked at the tulip-filled garden and whispered, "Now the British Prime Minister wants to try to pass the British ambassador in St. Petersburg and prepare to make friends again." We must act as soon as possible to dispel this idea from the new Alexander III. I must entrust this task to you, for I will need to consult with the German Emperor about the details of the cooperation. ”

"I am also trying to avoid bringing Austria-Hungary in, which would exacerbate the tension between France and Russia. For now, I also need to put the Russians on an anti-Britannic side, and that's in our interest. ”

Napoleon turned his head to look at Foreign Minister Dekaz, and said, "Do you understand?" ”

"I understand."

Kadez knew what the French president was thinking deep down, whether it was Germany or Russia, it was just a pawn he used against the British. Only after the-stirring stick of Europe has been completely crushed will there be hope for the reunification of France.

He didn't want to experience a defeat in the middle of winter.

The defeat of Britain was only the beginning.

France can't take on three tough opponents in one go, so his best bet is to use his strength.

"Anyway, the term of our loan with Russia is almost up, and now that Alexander III is stepping up the pace of expansion, they will definitely not have enough money, and then France needs to step up and play the role of a generous benefactor."

Napoleon smiled, everything would be under his own arrangement, step by step towards the final end.

"After the Russians have a large foreign debt, they naturally need to look at the face of France. Even if Prime Minister Gladstone made overtures to St. Petersburg, they could not have become allies. Unless the strapped British can throw a huge foreign debt to Russia like we do. Then we instigated the new Tsar Alexander III to continue to exacerbate the question of the ownership of Afghanistan and Iran. Let the British be completely targeted. In this way, we were able to carry out the original plan smoothly. ”

Napoleon mistakenly thought that if he severed trade relations between the mainland and Great Britain, he would be able to crush each other. It turned out that the way of war was simple and clear.

There is nothing that cannot be solved with a war, and if there is, add one.

Dekaz nodded after listening to Napoleon's words, he did exactly what Napoleon wanted, and now he was ready to go to distant St. Petersburg to chat with the new Tsar.

Eventually, Napoleon patted the Foreign Minister on the shoulder and said, "Remember our purpose, the other side does not have to be friendly with France, but it must be at odds with England." ”