Chapter 15 The War Caused by the King Selection

The revolution in Spain and the establishment of a provisional government have attracted the attention of many European countries.

After the Spanish Parliament announced that it would not abolish the monarchy and would look for a new king, many countries kept watching the fun and were also curious about which lucky person would be the new King of Spain.

But soon, the French government stopped laughing.

Because according to news from Spain, among the many candidates for the King of Spain, Prince Leopold of the Hohenzollern family ranked first and was likely to become the next King of Spain.

(There are many Prince Leopolds in Germany, that is, Leopold. The candidate for the throne here is Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, not the Bavarian one. Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern is the father of King Ferdinand I of Romania.)

This is fatal to the French. Prussia alone has posed a huge threat to France. Especially after defeating Austria, the threat Prussia brought to France was unprecedented.

If the Hohenzollern family gets the Spanish crown, France will face the situation of being attacked from both sides by Prussia and Spain.

Although Spain is not a powerful country and can only be a second-rate country in Europe. But Spain is located in the south of France and has the natural defense line of the Pyrenees Mountains.

Prussia only needs to stockpile less than 100,000 troops in Spain to cause great trouble to the French and threaten many cities in southern France.

On June 21, 1869, the angry French government expressed strong opposition to the Spanish and German governments, and stated that when Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern was crowned King of Spain, it was time for France to declare war on Prussia and Spain.

The threat of the European hegemon is still very useful. King William I of Prussia also retreated under such threats, and even publicly expressed his disapproval of his cousin Prince Leopold inheriting the Spanish throne.

The Spanish government was also a little panicked. If a war broke out with France because of their king selection, it would undoubtedly be more than worth the loss.

William I's concession made the French government very satisfied, and they also relaxed their vigilance against Prussia, which had just defeated Austria.

The French ambassador to Prussia even asked to see William I in early July, and conveyed the attitude of French Emperor Napoleon III that he hoped William I would guarantee that he would not ask for the candidacy that he had given up in the future.

Such a request was absolutely rude, which made William I, who originally planned to give in, a little dissatisfied.

The French would never have thought that when William I was retreating, there were even more stubborn guys in Germany, who were even preparing for war with France in advance.

William I was a little angry at being treated rudely by the French ambassador. He sent an urgent telegram to his Prime Minister Bismarck on the same day, hoping that Bismarck could come up with a reasonable solution to the crisis facing Prussia.

But William I did not expect that Bismarck's so-called solution to the crisis was to defeat France by war, that is, to solve the problem itself.

After receiving William I's telegram, Bismarck did not panic at all, and even smiled a little on his face.

After asking Chief of the General Staff Moltke whether he was sure of victory in the war with France and getting a positive answer, Bismarck decided not to wait.

He significantly revised the content of William I's telegram, deleting all the words about long-term planning and euphemistic concessions, and added some words to stimulate the French government and officials at the end of the telegram: "Due to your unreasonable demands and attitude, His Majesty King William I has decided to refuse to approach the French ambassador from now on, and only convey to your country through this telegram that there is nothing to talk about between our two countries."

Although this telegram used to stimulate the French government was not sent directly to the French government's radio station, it was published in major Prussian newspapers in the form of open news, and spread to the whole of Europe through all Prussian missions abroad.

The Prussians' firm attitude caused an uproar in the French government, which also made the originally complacent French government completely angry.

Perhaps Carlo did not expect that his slightest action directly affected the world and brought the Franco-Prussian War forward by one year.

On July 11, 1869, the angry French government expelled the Prussian ambassador to France after several days of preparation, and announced the war between the two countries to the Prussian ambassador to France with an expressionless face.

But the French did not see the expected panic and tension on the face of the Prussian ambassador. They could only watch the Prussian ambassador walk out of the embassy with a relaxed look and get on the train back to Prussia.

Even more confused than the French was King William I of Prussia. Although William I was angry about the French rudeness, he really didn't think of going to war with the French at such a time.

But things had come to this point, and William I could not stop the war. On July 12, William I announced a general mobilization in the North German Federation and called on all the states in the federation to fight for Germany.

Prussia called this war the Franco-German War, trying to use the way of uniting Germany to ask the states to send troops and contribute.

The French also called this war the Franco-German War, and the grievances between the French and the German region were not a day or two.

This war, which was larger than the Austro-Prussian War, broke out at lightning speed, which was somewhat unexpected for the Spanish government, which was theoretically the direct cause of the Franco-Prussian War.

However, in this situation, no matter who won the Franco-Prussian War, Prince Leopold of Prussia was not suitable to continue to be the King of Spain.

In addition, Prince Leopold himself publicly refused to inherit the Spanish throne. Although it was more because William I stood up to oppose it, it was Prince Leopold who gave up after all.

After all these events, the original five candidates for the Spanish throne were only the two princes of the Savoy Dynasty in Italy.

Whether Amadeo or Carlo became the King of Spain, Savoy would be the final winner.

Putting aside the advantages of the Savoy Dynasty, which both of them had, Amadeo's advantage was that he was older and more mature and stable. Carlo's advantage was that he had a friendly reputation that might be more recognized by the Spaniards, and he was more likely to support reform.

If we start from the reform aspect, Primo would undoubtedly support Carlo to become the King of Spain. After all, although Primo supports the monarchy, he is a thorough reformist.

Serrano is more like a neutral party between the reformists and conservatives, and can also be classified as a royalist of the aristocracy.

Both of them are undecided between Amadeo and Carlo. For the stability of the Kingdom of Spain, Primo decided to go to Italy in person to inspect the two princes and determine the final candidate for the King of Spain during this inspection.

Serrano agreed to Primo's proposal and expressed that he would support either Amadeo or Carlo to become the King of Spain and was willing to be loyal to the new king.

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