Chapter 1046 The Taste of Power

"That's not waste paper! That's an oath witnessed by God!"

A member of the Reform Party emphasized.

Ledru-Rollin can be said to be the most depressed person in the entire French Second Republic. As the second-in-command of the second largest party in France, he witnessed Lamartine's two downfalls, as well as the fall of Dan Gira and Louis Blanc, but he still failed to become Mr. President.

Lamartine's first downfall was due to Dan Gira's exclusion, and the second time was because he wanted to take the initiative to seek peace with Austria.

Lamartine's original plan was to kick the ball to the British, but he didn't expect that the British would not accept this move at all.

The message for help fell on deaf ears, so the pro-British faction once again made an effort to drive Lamartine off the stage.

One of the biggest consequences of the pro-British faction coming to power is that there is no change. Their interests determine that they cannot make too many breakthroughs on the basis of Dan Gira.

This interim president is not a senior republican such as Dupont de Ler, Arago, and Garnier, who received the second-highest number of votes after Lamartine in history, but a financial official named Bilfort who has a relatively close relationship with the British.

In fact, there is a considerable difference between the history at this time and the original world line, and the French economy is more developed.

In a sense, it is also more closely tied to the City of London, and is more seriously affected by the economic crisis.

The rise of the Austrian Empire and the failure of the Second French Republic in domestic affairs, diplomacy, and on the battlefield have weakened the power of the original republicans, so the so-called pro-British faction can be so rampant.

Although the Second French Republic in history was cowardly, it had many innovations and feats, and was not a clown.

The power of the pro-British faction was not strong in France, so they quietly changed the chairmanship system to the presidential system for greater power.

However, the interim president Bilfort still had no dignity, and people kept standing up to challenge his authority.

"Oath witnessed by God? Bullshit! I didn't hear you mention God when you didn't pay your debts." Bilford cursed in his heart, but he still said it.

"The era of the church has passed, and those bishops recruited by the Austrians are even less worthy of representing God."

This sentence has many meanings, but without exception, it is not a reflection of the church. Once upon a time, it was a very politically correct thing to scold the church in France, because theocracy represented corruption and despotism.

However, with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and the repeated changes of regimes, people's belief in God seems to have returned.

"I don't agree with you! The bishops were not recruited by the Austrians. Even if they went to the war zone, they were serving the people of France!"

"Yes! You can't slander those noble people!"

"Mr. Bilford! You must take back what you just said! Otherwise, the French people will not agree!"

"Yes!"

Bilford never expected that he would be attacked by the crowd again. In order not to repeat Dan Gira's mistakes, he could only take back what he just said, but he still did not give up the plan to let those remnants return to the battlefield.

Finally, after some tug-of-war, the French National Assembly passed this inhumane resolution.

"Next topic, the German Confederation is ready to beg us for peace!"

"Long live!"

"Long live France!"

"Victory will belong to France!"

Amid the cheers, Bilford secretly wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Franz's peace proposal is not as peaceful as it seems. It is a warning to both the British and the French.

Although it was the German Confederation that took the initiative to propose a truce, Bilford did not dare to accept it easily. Even a negotiation could put him on the cusp of the storm.

In fact, accepting or not is a pitfall for him. If he accepts, the people will think he is weak and incompetent, and humiliating the country; if he does not accept, they will think he is warlike, and the parliamentarians will take the opportunity to blame him for all the disasters brought by the economic crisis.

Fortunately, this little man who is unknown in history is not a mediocre person. He finally jumped out of the thinking trap of yes or no and chose yes or no.

So Bilford described the discussion on the peace issue as the German Confederation begging for peace.

This would greatly satisfy the vanity of the people and extend the life of the Second French Republic.

If there were no newspapers, or if the Second French Republic could control its own media, then Bilford might indeed succeed.

But his opponent was Franz, a man of later generations who was proficient in propaganda warfare and a powerful enemy who had been plotting against France for more than a decade.

While Bilford was still trying to persuade the parliament, a message that the German Confederation was trying to temporarily cease fire with France out of humanitarianism and compassion had spread widely.

In addition to these French newspapers, the prisoners released by the German coalition also brought back the same news.

Although France was defeated on the battlefield at this time, most of the members of the French National Assembly were pro-war factions.

There was no way that the French had been suppressed for too long, and national emotions could not be released. In addition, wartime laws were also beneficial to capitalists and factory owners.

In order to win them over, the government tilted the wartime laws in their favor. Not only did they make more money, but their power also more than doubled.

For example, price limits during wartime were originally intended to prevent price gouging, but the power to set prices fell into the hands of manufacturers.

Capital is always profit-seeking and will constantly pursue maximizing profits.

So a strange phenomenon appeared on the streets of Paris. Flour was more expensive than bread. As a result, bakeries were closing down, paper was more expensive than newspapers, and the list goes on.

Bilford finally convinced the parliament, but before he had time to celebrate, he discovered that the news that Archduke Franz proposed a temporary truce between the German Confederation and France out of humanitarian reasons had spread throughout the streets.

"This must be an infiltration by the enemy! Catch that traitor quickly!"

Bilford roared angrily, and the Paris police began to search the city. As a result, they found that the people running around and shouting about this matter in the rain were not Germans, but a group of French people.

This includes the famous Mr. Hugo. For Hugo, who highly respected humanitarianism and moral strength, this is undoubtedly proof of his ideals.

In fact, France was the base of romanticism at that time, and there were many people like Hugo who dared to face reality, criticized the darkness of society, and were very dissatisfied with the remnants of feudalism and the many social problems brought about by capitalism.

These people fight all day long and criticize others everywhere. They actually have high expectations for the Second French Republic, but the actual performance of the Second French Republic has greatly disappointed them.

Of course, not only in the Second French Republic, but in all European countries, there are only a few measures that they like.

It was rare for the German Confederation to make a move that didn't look so dirty, so they naturally had to vigorously publicize it.

These romantics knew the current situation in France. The pain of the Revolution had not yet faded, and the French were not yet ready to do it again.

But this time they did not foolishly publicly call for peace. After all, what the Second French Republic did was seen by everyone. It was difficult to say what those officials would do.

So some people came up with the idea of ​​only promoting humanitarianism, leaving the judgment and choice to the people.

This proposal immediately resonated with the majority of romantics and gave the power of choice to the people.

"This is so romantic!"

"Unprecedented!"

"What a genius idea!"

"Much better than those hypocrites in the National Assembly!"

"Yes! Just do it! Our actions today will definitely be remembered by history!"

This proposal was naturally proposed by Mr. Hugo, who had political experience, but who came up with it is unknown.

The Paris police only discovered that Hugo had a close relationship with an actress before he was arrested, but this was too normal in the Paris cultural world.

Afterwards, the Paris police also tried to find the actress, but in the end the actress seemed to have disappeared.

There is no doubt that the armistice is beneficial to France, but the hearts of the people are not enough. As the leader of the pro-British faction, he also wants to consider his master.

Bilford wanted to cease the war first and then negotiate. This was a naked delaying strategy. Franz could naturally see that he could not let the other party succeed.

Franz did not explicitly refuse, but directly sent an envoy.

Bilford had no choice but to publicly spread the rumor, but the Second French Republic's previous practice of concealing the situation of the war had lost credibility.

As long as a Frenchman is not stupid, he can tell which side is telling lies, so the people are angry. They cannot accept the result of a failed war, let alone a government that has lost its power and humiliated the country.

At this time there was a man who smelled the smell of power, he was Louis Napoleon Bonaparte.

Louis Napoleon Bonaparte's high-profile announcement that he would run for parliament immediately caused an uproar.

Because Louis Napoleon Bonaparte once refused the French government's extradition request on the grounds that he was a Swiss citizen, almost triggering a war between the two countries.

At this time, was Louis Napoleon Bonaparte qualified to run for the French Parliament?

Lamartine, Roland, and Cavaignac all opposed Napoleon's candidacy for different purposes. Lamartine felt that Napoleon I's declaration of emperor destroyed the republic, and he was afraid that the Napoleon in front of him would do it again.

Roland's reason for opposing Napoleon was very simple and direct. He didn't want to have another competitor; Cavaignac felt that the Napoleon family was not French at all.

But some people are against it, while others are in favor. Those who are in favor think that it is understandable that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself Swiss out of self-preservation. Moreover, the Second French Republic has been established, and the old accounts of the Orleans Dynasty should be overturned. .

As for Napoleon I proclaiming himself emperor and destroying the republic, one should not be angry at Napoleon's nephew.

The two sides argued so hard that they decided to hold an election to put Napoleon and the original replacement members together.