The world-devouring dragon

The 18th century was a turbulent era. With the advancement of science and technology, the world seemed to have been pressed on the accelerator button, and many unimagined things gradually appeared.

On July 2, 1776, following last year's War of Independence, a group of businessmen, lawyers and farmers signed their names on a "United Declaration of the Thirteen North American Countries." Although this document did not seem to be very important at the time, so much so that some of the signers wrote their names wrong on the document, the document that later generations called the "Declaration of Independence" was eventually adopted. It is remembered by countless people because it witnessed the birth of a young and great country.

The furious Britain did not stop there. At this moment, Britain was already dominating Europe, with colonies spread all over the world, so much so that they proudly declared themselves the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets" because their land was always covered in Under the sun, the sun does not set at the same time.

The independence of this newly born country was an unforgivable thing for the British. They sent fleets and troops with the intention of destroying this "rebellion", but the French, the British's old rivals, naturally would not let go of this opportunity. When the thirteen states in North America declared independence, the French announced their recognition of the United States of America and led Spain and the Netherlands to participate in the war.

The sun never sets on the Empire, the European overlord France, and the newly born country the United States of America. A confrontation that surrounds half the earth and involves the two most powerful countries in Europe at the time begins.

…

More than ten years later, the War of Independence ended in victory for France and the United States. However, France at that time also had serious economic problems due to its long-term involvement in wars on the European continent and even around the world.

The defeat of the Nine Years' War and a series of large and small wars placed a heavy burden on France at that time, with debts reaching 2 billion francs. The government continued to raise taxes to repay the debt. As a result, people's lives have been seriously threatened. Poor families even have to spend 60% or even 80% of their income on food, which means that they can do nothing except survive every day.

It is said that Marie Antoinette, the queen of King Louis XVI of France, heard the minister say that the common people were so hungry that they could not even eat bread, and asked in confusion, "Then why don't they eat cake?"

However, this sentence was not said by Queen Marie, but by Louis XVI's grandfather, Louis XV, Queen Marie Lezinska from Poland. However, she was dissatisfied with her own poor life and towards the royal family. The anger of the luxurious life caused the French people at that time to maliciously compile all kinds of negative rumors about the royal family and the nobility, so as to slander the stupidity and ignorance of the luxurious queen.

Louis XVI made many efforts. He tried hard to reduce royal expenses, streamline government departments, and optimize the tax system... However, various complicated affairs and heavy debts made this mediocre king helpless. In the end, Still powerless...

The royal family has been hated by the people.

On July 13, 1789, a riot broke out.

"To the Bastille!"

With this slogan, the citizens of Paris, who had already controlled almost half of the city, rushed into the prison that held many political prisoners and symbolized autocracy. During the difficult siege, they were accompanied by the sound of cannons and the cheers of the people. , this prison that had been built for hundreds of years was suddenly captured.

The next day, French King Louis XVI, who was living in the Palace of Versailles, had just learned the news.

The king, who had just woken up, asked the duke: "Is this a riot?"

The Duke replied: "No, Your Majesty, this is revolution!"

However, Louis XVI at this moment still did not realize the seriousness of the problem. In his view, this was no different from the "Paris riots" that had occurred many times in the past.

Thanks to the city's high degree of autonomy, the citizens of Paris, which had its own set of administrative agencies and tall city walls, did not fear the French king and even drove the French king out of Paris many times. Facing the thick city walls of Paris, they felt a headache. The French kings of all ages could only choose to besiege Paris until they ran out of ammunition and food, trying to force it to surrender. Because of this, the King of France was not too worried about the riots in Paris.

So on that day, French King Louis XVI wrote a line in his diary.

"Nothing to do today."

…

The French Revolution shocked the entire European continent and shocked all monarchs.

France has lasted for nearly a thousand years, starting from the Carolingian dynasty, to the Capetian dynasty, and even the Valois dynasty, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, and now the Bourbon dynasty. This is a dynasty that has lasted for thousands of years, and the blood continues from generation to generation. Let it spread throughout Europe.

Whether it is the King of England, the Tsar of Russia, the monarch of the Holy Roman Empire, the royal family of Spain, from east to west, from northern Europe to southern Europe, whether it is a grand duchy or a county, almost all European nobles can trace their origins from them. From the royal ancestors of France, it can be said that all European nobles are descendants of the French royal family.

However, this time, the main trunk of this majestic tree with intricate roots was cut off violently.

The revolutionaries did not spare any member of the royal family. Almost all the French royal family were sent to the guillotine, and only a handful of them escaped.

The thousand-year-old dynasty suddenly collapsed and the thousand-year-old royal family ceased to exist. It was like the sun in the sky suddenly extinguishing one day. Even if you heard it with your own ears, it was particularly dazzling and made all the monarchs unbelievable.

Fear of the revolutionaries led to the formation of a siege network around France.

The new revolutionary government was in danger, but the appearance of a young man changed everything.

In the following decades, this country formed by revolutionaries burst out with unprecedented vitality, won five anti-French coalition victories, conquered almost all of Europe, and the smug young people had no rivals. So I turned my attention to Russia in Eastern Europe...

On May 5, 1821, the emperor died on the island of St. Helena. Only a few people noticed that his small sculpture that never left his body disappeared inexplicably.

…

The revolution was suppressed, and the nobles who once again enjoyed power finally felt at ease and continued their luxurious life just like they had for the past thousand years. However, under this calm situation, there was an undercurrent surging.

Just twenty years later, in 1844, in Silesia, the Kingdom of Prussia, a group of weavers who had been oppressed and exploited finally couldn't bear it anymore and launched an angry uprising.

"Deutsch, we are weaving your shroud, and we are weaving in a triple curse.

We weave, we weave!

"A curse is placed on that God, to whom we pray when we are hungry and cold; in vain do we hope and expect, who only fools and deceives us.

We weave, we weave!

"A curse is placed on the king of the rich, that our sufferings cannot move his heart, that he squeezes our last coin and shoots us like dogs.

We weave, we weave!

“A curse is placed on a false motherland, where only shame and sin flourish, where flowers are destroyed before they bloom, where carrion and dung feed maggots.

We weave, we weave!

The shuttle is flying, the loom is sounding, we are weaving, day and night in a hurry - Old Germany, we are weaving your shroud, and we are weaving in the triple curse.

We weave, we weave!

The angry uprising did not last long. The uprising on June 2, 1844 only lasted until June 6 and was suppressed. It was insignificant in the entire world, but it affected two young people who had not yet become famous.

…

A few years later, on October 7, 1847, Brussels, Belgium.

There are only a few seats in a tavern and not many customers.

Among the few guests, a young German man with a big beard and another young German man next to him were sitting on the seats with unfinished beer on them. The two kept discussing recent current events and telling some stories about their own recent experiences. When they talked about something happy, they couldn't help laughing.

"Speaking of which, Karl, I am very interested in the kingdom of necessity and the kingdom of freedom that you mentioned last time. Can you tell me more about them?"

Looking at his good friend opposite who had a big beard and was drinking with a beer glass, Engels said suddenly.