Eagle’s Glory

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On the bank of the Rhine River, Aigron changed his usual high-spirited attitude and expressed his inner worries to the people around him with a heavy attitude.

Although he has obtained the coveted power at this moment, and is only one coronation ceremony away from officially ascending to the throne, but for him, when he obtains the power, he also obtains the obligation. From now on, he must maintain his power in order to maintain his power. He had devoted all his energy to the throne - in other words, he had to ensure that the country's interests were served and that it ensured its already strong position.

Whether from a practical point of view or from the subsequent "historical lessons", the unification of Germany was definitely the greatest disaster for the French nation. The Rhine River has since become an insurmountable natural chasm for France. It was abruptly removed from the dominant power in Europe. It was squeezed into a regional power, and the most ridiculous thing is that among the people responsible for all this, there are two Napoleon emperors.

It is undeniable that the Bonaparte family has made great contributions to France. Napoleon I's martial arts were unparalleled, and Napoleon III led France to the peak of industrialization. However, the unification of Germany obliterated all these achievements and eclipsed the empire.

Therefore, in order to avoid letting himself fall into this fate, this is what he must avoid at all costs.

So, how to avoid it?

For a series of German states, Egeron cannot treat them all as enemies. That is beyond his power. He can only seek differentiation like the late emperor, on the one hand to win over potential friends, and on the other hand to focus on attacking opponents.

Both Napoleon I and Napoleon III regarded Austria as this "key opponent". Emperor Napoleon I slaughtered all parties in Italy, occupied Vienna twice, forced Austria to cede territory and pay compensation many times, and even turned Austria into a landlocked country for a time, allowing It lost all its territories in Italy and Illyria.

Napoleon III was no less generous. In order to support the unification of the Kingdom of Sardinia, he provoked the Franco-Austrian War in 1859, which severely defeated Austria. In the end, Austria once again lost its territories in Lombardy and Venice. The vitality is severely damaged.

The idea was certainly correct, but the execution was overdone. They weakened Austria so much that it did not even have the energy to pursue control of Germany. Austria, whose national power was greatly weakened, could no longer compete with Prussia. As a result, in 1866 it was defeated again. A disastrous defeat to Prussia allowed Prussia to annex Hanover, Hesse and Nassau in one fell swoop, almost unifying the entire North Germany.

At this time, Napoleon III came to his senses and wanted to prevent Prussia from further expansion. However, it was too late. The tragic defeat in 1870 not only ruined his empire, but also ruined France's hundreds of years of military honor. And the entire national destiny.

In the final analysis, since they easily defeated the Prussian army in Jena, the French have always held contempt for Prussia, thinking that it was just the last of the great powers, or even just a half vassal of Russia. It was vulnerable and not worth guarding against. However, they did not expect that Prussia would It grew rapidly over the decades and finally became an unmatched giant. It didn't come back to its senses until the situation was inevitable. By then, it was already a disaster.

In fact, in terms of results, Prussia was also the "big winner" of the Napoleonic Wars.

Britain and Austria only took back their own land, barely able to "preserve their capital". The Czar took advantage of the opportunity of defeating Napoleon to completely annex Poland, forming a protrusion that penetrated into the interior of Europe, which was a huge profit; and Prussia Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Vienna Peace Conference to punish the Kingdom of Saxony, which had been following Napoleon, it annexed half of the Kingdom of Saxony in one fell swoop, and also obtained the Rhineland through Metternich's coordination during the Peace Conference.

By giving the Rhineland to Prussia, Metternich intended for Prussia to directly border France and become a "sentinel" for Germany, acting as a breakwater and frontline fighter for Austria. However, this great diplomat did not expect that in the following industrial revolution Among them, the Rhineland, which is rich in coal resources, has become a "plug-in" for Prussia's national power to take off.

From then on, it turned an agricultural country with barren land into one of the most powerful industrial countries in Europe. This can be regarded as one of the biggest mistakes in history - but there is no way to blame Metternich, after all, no matter how powerful he is, , how could it have been possible to predict the industrial revolution that reshaped the entire world? The power of science turns all conspiracies and calculations into jokes.

And for Aiglon, who knew all this, the logic was very clear——

He could not sit back and watch the unification of Germany - so he had to focus on attacking Prussia - the secret of Prussia's rise in national power lay in the Rhineland - so he had to separate the Rhineland from Prussia and restore it to the state before 1815.

Even if it cannot be annexed by France, at least an independent German state must be established there - just like the Westphalian state established by Emperor Napoleon.

And this is not entirely unthinkable.

In this era, German nationalism had not yet risen to the point where it could wash away the previous historical and religious contradictions. The Rhineland deeply hated Prussian Protestantism and Prussian high-pressure bureaucracy, and did not have much sense of identity with Berlin - that A great teacher who was born in the Rhineland in 1818 is a typical example.

Since it was only a historical accident that they became subjects of Prussia, if Aigron could create another "historical accident", the situation might be completely different.

Of course, this cannot be done just by talking about it.

Even though he regarded Prussia as his biggest enemy, the reality was that he could not act rashly. Because people today certainly don't know the horrors of the two world wars. They will only remember the horrors of the Napoleonic Wars. If Aigron moves, people will subconsciously regard him as an enemy.

This is like a chain. If Aiglon takes the initiative to provoke a war, it will definitely be detrimental to him, because in this case Prussia will be regarded as a "victim". On the one hand, the great powers will be aroused to Napoleon. The horrific memories of the emperor's period will then generate hostility towards the new Napoleon; on the other hand, he will also be regarded as the biggest enemy by the nationalist sentiments of the Germans, which will allow the Germans to unite against him.

In this era, after all, Germany is no longer the scattered sand it was before. It has slowly shown signs of coming together. Although France has a huge advantage against any single German state, it must not allow Germany to truly unite - otherwise Even if he could win, it would only cause a new German country to appear on the horizon, which would be absolutely detrimental to him.

Therefore, if he wants to achieve his goal, he must act in a roundabout way and be very skillful.

Fortunately, he still has a lot of time, enough for him to take his time to complete his idea.

Moreover, he still has a lot of capital.

Regardless of France's own national strength, he can also find potential allies within Germany alone.

The bulk state of Germany for hundreds of years has been taken for granted by others, especially the kings of various states. They are extremely unwilling to see their feudal power taken away by a higher-level "emperor". Their The centrifugal force is very strong.

Therefore, any German state that is interested in expanding its power will be opposed by other states.

In the original history, in 1866, Prussia declared war on Austria under the pretext of the status of the two provinces of Schleswig-Holstein and wanted to annex the two provinces. As a result, other countries attacked, including Hanover, Saxony and Bavaria. All these big states sided with Austria and prepared to use force to fight Prussia's "illegal expansion."

This is the capital Aigron wants.

Judging from historical experience, as long as Prussia destroys the status quo, it will be the destroyer of the "Vienna spirit" and the sinner of Germany. At that time, various states that already hate Prussia will attack Prussia. The so-called " "German nationalism" would then be put aside.

Of course, if the original historical development were to follow, these countries together would not be able to defeat Prussia, but now that the historical line has been changed, the situation is definitely different now. Aigron can personally step in to resolve this crisis if necessary. In order to "preserve the sacred spirit of Vienna".

In the original history, when the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, Bismarck constantly took the initiative to provoke France, but never fired the first shot, allowing France to declare war on Prussia after being enraged, and then used the passion of German nationalism to make the entire Germany and France The enemy, and this time Egeron can naturally find a way to reverse the situation, use a similar situation to crush any possible hope of German reunification in one fell swoop, and separate the Rhineland from Prussia.

As long as it is stripped off and becomes a small country, no matter how rich the country becomes in the process of industrialization, it will not be a problem. At most, it will just become another Belgium. This is absolutely beneficial to France, and it also means that Aigron will make this nightmare disappear.

Therefore, what Aigron needs to do now is to change the policy of "weakening Austria" that has become the tradition of the Bonaparte family, and instead win over Bavaria and Austria, and then use these two countries that have always been at odds with Prussia to indirectly contain them. Prussia until it achieved its goal.

During this period, he could also use his "foresight" to accelerate France's industrialization, strengthen its economic strength, and bring more German states into his orbit.

In economics and politics, sometimes as long as you take the first step, you can speed up step by step, and snowball step by step, eventually forming a disruptive situation.

Although the entire plan still only has a rough outline, the ideas are clear enough to become the guiding ideology for all his subsequent actions.

Next, he will face the fickle and difficult-to-please people, encounter governments and parliaments that change like a revolving door, encounter disputes between various parties, and may even encounter riots in Paris or other cities... But no matter what Nothing can stop him from promoting his plan quietly. As long as he is still on stage, his will will be carried out through visible or invisible hands.

Now that he has reached this point on his own, no one can stop him from moving forward.

Moreover, due to some coincidences of fate, he is very "destined" to both Austria and Bavaria. He has entanglements with these two countries, and these entanglements can become the seeds of friendship. No matter what he thinks of, he must Let these seeds take root and grow into unshakable trees.

Having said that, the news of his return to Paris should have spread throughout Europe by now. Austria and Bavaria should have responded to him, right? Aiglon suddenly thought of this.

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Just as he guessed, Theresa, who was far away in Paris, was currently receiving the ambassador from her motherland Austria in the Tuileries Palace.

Although Theresa did not have any official French title at this time, when the ambassador met Princess Theresa, she had already treated her as a queen and was respectful; and Theresa saw the ambassador from her home country. When you are there, you will naturally be in a happy mood and feel more cordial.

"Your Royal Highness, you are one of the most outstanding members of our country's royal family. Your Majesty the Emperor is very satisfied with your achievements." The ambassador spoke politely to Teresa in a humble manner, "And your parents I must be proud of you too.”

"Thank you, Mr. Ambassador." Teresa replied with a smile, "How can I achieve anything? I just follow my husband around. He has accomplished all the big things. The only thing I can do is try my best. Just maintain the stability of this family and avoid causing trouble for him..."

"Then I sincerely hope that you will be able to complete this work outstandingly in the future." The ambassador also smiled, "After all, this country is famously unruly."

"That's natural. I know quite well what consequences I will encounter if I fail, so I will continue to be full of fear. Thank you for your reminder." Teresa nodded slightly, "Please also do it for me. My warmest greetings to His Majesty the Emperor and to my parents."

"In addition to greetings, I have been ordered to deliver a few letters to you, Your Highness." The ambassador said as he took out a few letters from his briefcase, then handed them to Teresa with both hands, " The top letter is written to you by His Majesty the Emperor and your parents respectively. Please read it."

"Great!" Theresa couldn't help cheering.

In fact, she didn't care about the old emperor's letter at all, but at this most critical and proud time in her life, being able to get a personal letter from her parents and hearing their encouragement was naturally a great encouragement to Theresa, so she wrote it herself Received the letter.

Then, she discovered that besides the emperor and her parents, there was another letter.

"Whose is the other letter? Prince Metternich?" she asked.

"No, it belongs to Her Royal Highness Princess Sophie." The ambassador bowed and answered. "She heard about your and His Highness's success, so she specially sent a letter to congratulate you."

"Really..." Teresa hesitated a little, but still accepted the letter, "I thank her for her kindness. Next, I will take her wishes and continue this career with His Highness. I hope We can continue to be successful!”

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