Struggle in Russia

According to the agreement reached between Duke Alexander and France and Austria, the peace conference should be held in Paris in late February 1855.

However, due to some problems with the Russian delegation's itinerary, the final date was postponed to March 5.

That day, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Quay d'Orsay in Paris was already crowded with people before delegations from various countries arrived. The crowds of onlookers from the Pont de la Concorde to the Jena Road were so crowded that the French had to dispatch cavalry and gendarmes to maintain order, otherwise the carriages of foreign envoys would never get close to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.

Foreign delegations gradually arrived at around 1:00 p.m., and whenever they stepped out of their carriages and entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, the crowd automatically broke into cheers of "Long live peace!" and "Long live the Emperor!"

Delegates gathered in the luxurious Ambassador Hall dressed in gorgeous attire. In this hall was a large round table covered with green velvet, and twelve armchairs beside it. The surrounding display is all the decorative art of the French Second Empire. Scarlet satin curtains hang from the wall. In the center of the hall are life-size portraits of Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie. It looks like the two of them are always watching the representatives. as if to remind them that France has become great again and has become the arbiter of European political affairs.

In addition, there is a marble bust of Napoleon I placed on a stand next to the fireplace. You must know that he has been the most disliked person in European diplomatic circles for more than forty years.

Napoleon III deliberately placed his uncle's head here to remind the representatives from all participating countries that the Napoleon family is once again at the pinnacle of European power. They are back!

For the French, the fact that the peace talks could be held in Paris greatly enhanced their national pride and once again allowed France to gain the respect of the entire Europe. It's just that, in fact, there is quite a lot of water here, because Russia and Austria were initially more willing to hold a peace conference in Vienna, but the United Kingdom strongly opposed it, because the British have been making diplomatic efforts against the Austrians since the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. Doubts arose about the true purpose, and the British strongly opposed making Vienna once again the focus of Europe.

Moreover, it is not a bad thing for the British to satisfy the French's self-esteem a little bit. Let the proud French eat some honey, and then they will naturally not go against them in the negotiations.

In a sense, the peace conference held in Paris was more symbolic than practical. Most of the issues in the negotiations had actually been resolved before, leaving only a few sensitive issues that needed to be resolved.

It can be said that convening a peace conference in Paris was more like a political show of Napoleon III. After all, the Paris World Expo was about to be held in the second half of 1855. Paris became the focus of Europe twice in just one year. This was very important to Napoleon III. It’s so important and so wonderful.

So many British people say that the only person who gained a lot from this war was Napoleon III. The war promoted him to a very high position, while other countries, especially the United Kingdom, got nothing!

The British had reason to be unhappy and dissatisfied, because even if the Paris Peace Conference was convened, they would still be the biggest obstacle to ending the war besides Alexander II.

The British have always maintained a tough stance against Russia, and are not at all eager to end the war. After all, they have failed to win any battles in the past year or two. There is no way to satisfy their sense of honor or to be proud of the huge Account for the sacrifices and economic costs.

Inspired by bellicose sentiments, Palmerston has always insisted on tough conditions for Russia and directly threatened that if Russia did not accept these conditions, Britain would continue to fight until Russia was completely defeated. And he also threatened to launch an attack in the direction of the Baltic Sea.

It's just that, although Palmerston talks tough and looks like he wants to cut Russia into eight pieces, in fact his toughness is constantly swinging back and forth. By January, he basically gave up his demand for the liberation of Wallachia and Moldavia because of the strong opposition of the French. After all, once Wallachia and Moldavia were separated from Russian control, it would obviously be cheaper. Austrian.

France and Austria have never dealt with each other, especially as France gradually supported the Sardinian Dynasty in causing trouble in the Apennine Peninsula. They needed to restrict Austria rather than allowing Austria to take advantage of the opportunity to grow.

Not long after, Palmerston began to realize that it was unrealistic to use a peace treaty to disarm Russia in the Black Sea region, such as the complete abandonment of the Black Sea Fleet. Instead, they demanded that the size of the Black Sea Fleet be limited in the form of a contract to prevent Russia from continuing to dominate the Black Sea.

He wrote to Clarendon at the end of February, emphasizing that Russia was not qualified to negotiate terms with the allies led by Britain and France. It was an "unbridled" offense for Russia to dare to oppose Britain's peace terms now. The British conditions were for the complete withdrawal of Russian warships and weapons from the Black Sea area, and that Russian troops must "leave from all occupied Turkish territory." He also vowed to emphasize: "This is not intended to humiliate Russia...it is just used to show Russia and swear that it has sincerely given up its aggressive intentions."

Palmerston also specifically reminded Clarendon to be wary of Count Orlov, the leader of the Russian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, and his words were not ordinary explicit:

"I know Orlov very well. He is civilized and polite on the outside, but inside he is full of Russian rudeness, arrogance and pride. He will bully others, but try his best not to show any trace... As long as he feels there is a chance of success, he will definitely He is a cunning, semi-civilized, semi-savage person who knows how to spend every penny he has!"

It's just that Palmerston's jumping up and down to make trouble was not particularly effective. The French were extremely disgusted with his behavior. Count Walewski simply described him as a "crazy animal."

Peace is a top priority for the French, and as Walewski and Duke Alexander got in-depth contact, they began to realize that if France and Russia could enter, they could greatly contain Britain and Austria without even forming an alliance.

For the French, they needed to reconcile with Russia as soon as possible, and then they could make arrangements for Italy's future according to Napoleon III's plan. He believed that he could help Piedmont regain the Lombardy-Venetian region from Austria, and it would be best to expel the Habsburg family from the Apennine Peninsula.

In exchange, France can regain Savoy and Nice from Piedmont. If this goal is achieved, France will basically return to the territory of the Napoleon I era, which will be a new great achievement for Napoleon III. Further consolidate his throne!