Before the bewildered revolutionary government could react, the anti-French coalition was already at the gates. The question of whether to “surrender” became the new point of contention in the French parliament. “At this stage, we can no longer keep fighting. To preserve the vitality of France, I propose that we immediately end this war and resolve the remaining issues through negotiations.” The elder’s proposal instantly won broad support. Those who know how to adapt are the true wise men, and since the French parliament was a product of compromise, everyone sitting there was someone adept at bending without breaking. The truly stubborn types had either been eliminated by Napoleon IV or cut down by the revolutionaries. Those who survived and even thrived were the ones with flexible political instincts. Napoleon IV had been digging pits all along, and naturally he would not leave the revolutionary government with a rich inheritance. Not only had he carried off large sums of funds, but even the defensive cannons of Paris had been packed up and shipped away under the excuse of reinforcing the front lines. With the anti-French coalition at the gates, Paris could not possibly be defended. The enemy would not even need to storm the city. A siege lasting one or two months would cause the garrison to collapse on its own. French pride had already been worn down by the war, and “ceasefire” had become the consensus of all sensible men. The war faction had long since burned out. Yet just as the surrender proposal was about to pass, the socialist parliamentarian Francois hurriedly objected, “We cannot surrender immediately, otherwise the enemy’s conspiracy will succeed. If we do not want to wear the label of traitors and be cursed for life, then we must resist now. We do not hope to defeat the anti-French coalition, but at the very least we must show the people our determination to resist. The revolutionary government must prove through concrete action to the outside world that we are not traitors.” Although history is written by the victors, not every burden can be shouldered. If the revolutionary government were branded as traitors to the nation, it would not last long. In Francois’s view, if the revolutionary government wanted to stand firm, it had to put on this show, even if it meant suffering heavy losses. A young officer responded angrily, “Monsieur Francois, the problem is not whether we want to fight or not, but that we truly cannot fight anymore. The main forces have already surrendered, so with what are we supposed to resist the enemy’s invasion?” It is always easy to talk but hard to act. Politicians could speak of “resistance” with ease, since they were not the ones charging into battle, and naturally they felt no pressure. For the commanders of the revolutionary army, however, it was not easy at all. No one knew better than themselves what kind of soldiers they were leading. It might have looked impressive that they had defeated the government troops, but in reality this had only been possible because the government forces had deliberately held back. The French army might have shown them mercy, but that did not mean the anti-French coalition would do the same. Taking a rabble into a bloody fight with the enemy was nothing more than throwing away lives. Perhaps feeling that his dignity had been challenged, Francois immediately warned, “General Fick, mind your words. The revolutionary army is invincible, so why would we not resist the enemy’s invasion?” The young officer named Fick’s expression darkened. Politics was absurd in this way. Everyone knew the revolutionary army was nothing more than a disorderly mob, yet they still had to be presented as an “elite force.” “Invincible” was merely a slogan to stir morale. Anyone who believed it was a fool, yet now it had been placed openly on the table and turned into a weapon in the hands of politicians. This was also the result of the peculiar circumstances of the revolutionary government. Those who had led the revolution were one group of men, while those now in power were another. Of course, seizing authority had its own methods. Opportunists took advantage of the revolutionaries’ simplicity, letting them command the revolutionary army. On the surface it appeared to preserve the status quo, yet in reality it was a means to exclude them from the political structure. The military in France certainly held a respectable position, but not one high enough to reach the summit of political power. Once a man’s identity was confined to the army, he was automatically deprived of any chance to claim supreme authority. Power may indeed come from the barrel of a gun, but the problem was that they did not control the entire military. After the victory of the French revolution, the revolutionary government’s armed forces were not limited to the revolutionary army. They also included the reorganized Paris city garrison and the National Guard. Compared to the hastily assembled revolutionary army, these reorganized units were clearly more capable in battle. Strength translated into influence, and this was why so many royalists managed to secure seats in the French parliament. Like it or not, the reality of the French revolutionary government was that the royalist factions within it outweighed the revolutionaries. Francois might have seemed to be driving the revolutionary army into reckless fighting, but was he not also using the opportunity to weaken the three major royalist factions? “Monsieur Francois, how long do you think we can hold out against the enemy? Once their armies approach the walls, Paris becomes a besieged city. We certainly must show courage to the enemy in order to secure better terms in any peace negotiations, yet the condition for that is to win some tangible victories. This cannot be achieved by sitting idly inside the city. Paris does not have ample supplies, and once outside aid is lost, even if the enemy does not attack, we will not last long. If I were in the enemy commander’s place, I would surround Paris, then send forces to occupy the rest of France and simply wait. The anti-French coalition commands several million troops. Once they spread across the country, one can easily imagine the devastation that would follow. Perhaps peace negotiations will not even be necessary, for the enemy will have already stripped France bare.” This was no empty alarmist talk, but a very real possibility. Plunder was the long-standing tradition of European armies. If millions of coalition soldiers were allowed to ravage French soil unchecked, the true surprise would be if the country were not stripped bare. The loss of wealth was only a secondary concern. The greater fear was that the enemy might abandon restraint and bring upon France a catastrophe where nine households out of ten would be left desolate. In that case, the question would not be whether the revolutionary government bore disgrace, but whether France itself could continue to exist. After all, the coalition was made up of more than a dozen nations. They could cover for one another, and what was black could be declared white. This cruel reality left the advocates of continued resistance speechless. Only now did they truly begin to understand the burdens faced by the government. … On October 27, 1891, after a token show of resistance, the French revolutionary government was compelled to surrender to the coalition, thus bringing to an end the continental war that had raged for more than a year. Once the French government’s capitulation was secured, whether or not the French people agreed was of no concern. Albrecht immediately ordered military administration of Paris. Entering the city once more, Albrecht was overwhelmed with emotion. “Thirty years the river flows east, thirty years it flows west.” Never had he imagined that one day he would march into Paris as a conqueror. As his convoy advanced along the Champs-Élysées and the towering arch came into view, Albrecht’s brow furrowed. With a cold voice he gave the order, “Have it torn down!” In February 1806, after Napoleon’s triumph over the Russian and Austrian forces at Austerlitz, the French government commissioned the construction of this Arc de Triomphe to commemorate that glorious victory. For the French it was a monument to national pride, but for Austria it had always been a reminder of humiliation, for Austria had been the stepping stone in that triumph. In Albrecht’s eyes, the arch was nothing less than a symbol of Austrian disgrace. In the past, nothing could be done. Austria had indeed been defeated at Austerlitz, and the victory in the last war against France had been achieved largely by Russian arms. After that war, even Austria’s pride could not bear to demand the destruction of the arch at the Congress of Vienna. Of course, it may also have had something to do with the fact that the monument had not yet been completed. Now things were different. The Austrian army had marched into Paris, and there was no longer any reason to let that eyesore of a monument remain. “Wait!” Lieutenant General Friedrich interjected, “Marshal, this arch was built to commemorate Napoleon’s victory at Austerlitz. Our downfall marked the moment France rose to its peak.
History is history. Even if we tear down this arch, we cannot erase it. Better, I say, to leave it standing as a warning to future generations. To give weight to this reminder, I propose that every treaty signed after the war be concluded beneath the Arc de Triomphe.” That the two men felt such searing hatred was not merely the result of a single battlefield defeat. The Habsburg dynasty had suffered countless losses across the centuries, and none had stirred them so deeply. The difference was that, after Austerlitz, Napoleon had forced the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, grinding the Habsburgs’ honor into the dust. For members of the imperial family, there could be no forgetting and no forgiveness. That the Bonapartes had never been able to fully integrate into Europe’s aristocratic circles owed much to the long shadow of Habsburg reprisals. Seeming to recall something, Albrecht allowed a faint smile and said, “Friedrich, you are right. History should indeed be remembered. On this matter we ought to thank the French. If not for their monument, we might already have forgotten what happened. Without the sting of that humiliation, there would be no Austria today. Your proposal is excellent, and I will pass it on to the country. Give the order that the arch is to be protected. No one is to damage it.” There was no doubt that talk of “remembering history” and “the whip of humiliation” was little more than rhetoric. For the older generation of Habsburgs, those wounds might still cut deep. For the young, however, they meant almost nothing. Time dulled everything. Were it not mentioned in schoolbooks, many would scarcely even know of it. The real point of stressing this past was to burnish the dynasty’s image. And signing treaties beneath the Arc de Triomphe was about more than humiliating the French. It was above all a signal to the world: the Holy Roman Empire was preparing to rise again.
*** https://postimg.cc/gallery/PwXsBkC (Maps of the current territories of the countries in this novel made by ScH)
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