After a series of bargaining sessions, on December 17, 1891, the Anti-French Alliance finally reached an agreement and signed the “Draft Treaty on the Handling of France”. At this point the division of spoils was more or less complete. All that remained was to have the French sign it at the Vienna Conference, thereby confirming its legitimacy. Although the members of the alliance had made prior arrangements, the fact that they managed to reach a preliminary agreement in less than two months was still a display of efficiency. Holding the signed treaty in his hands, Franz could not help but suspect that everyone simply wanted to hurry home in time for Christmas, which explained the speed. A draft was, after all, still a draft. Aside from broad provisions, most of the concrete details remained blank, and many of the clauses were left deliberately vague. For example, in the matter of carving up French territory, the treaty listed only place names. The specific boundary lines were nowhere to be found. What looked clear on the surface was in fact highly uncertain. In the thousand years of European history, the territory administered under the same name had never been fixed. Since the treaty did not specify which historical boundaries were to be taken as reference, the scope of interpretation remained wide. For Austria, as one of the beneficiaries, this was naturally an advantage. With no clear demarcations, there would be greater room to maneuver. Shifting the borders slightly in one direction or another would hardly be a problem. Just as the boundaries were left undefined, the amount of indemnities was likewise unfixed. The only stipulation was the distribution ratio among the nations, while the precise figures were left for future discussion. In any case, something had to be left for the Vienna Conference. It was necessary to give the appearance of listening to the views of the various countries. Otherwise, the play that followed could not go on. The Treaty Terms Were As Follows: On Territorial Matters Austria reclaimed the Duchy of Lorraine, the Province of Alsace, and parts of the Kingdom of Burgundy (the Franche-Comté region), together amounting to some 47,000 square kilometers. The County of Flanders and the County of Artois (the northern part of the Pas-de-Calais region) were ceded to Belgium, covering about 12,000 square kilometers. The Duchy of Savoy (comprising Haute-Savoie and Savoy) was transferred to Switzerland, an area of about 10,300 square kilometers. Portions of Provence were given to the Kingdom of Sardinia, amounting to 30,000 square kilometers. The island of Corsica was handed over to Tuscany, an area of 8,682 square kilometers. Spain regained the Roussillon region, measuring 24,000 square kilometers. Andorra was declared independent (468 square kilometers), while Monaco recovered its original lands (20 square kilometers). On Reparations Austria was awarded 33.4%, the Russian Empire 20%, the German Federation 25.5%, Belgium 15.5%, Spain 0.3%, Switzerland 0.2%, while all the Italian states together shared 4.5%. Montenegro, Greece, and Armenia each received 0.2%. In total, France was required to pay between 50 and 80 billion guilders in war indemnities, the precise figure to be settled at the Congress of Vienna. A joint bank would be formed by the victorious powers to provide France with loans to meet these payments, at an interest of five-tenths of a percent per month, to be repaid over ninety-nine years with both principal and interest. … Austria had done its utmost, yet it still failed to slice France to the bone. It could not even push the French out of the Mediterranean. It was not a matter of ability, it was a matter of constraint. A beaten nation can be made to cede land, yet even cessions must have a ceiling, and wherever possible a legal pretext. As the continent’s de facto hegemon, Austria had become the chief beneficiary of the very order of rules in place, so it now had to be seen upholding those rules. Under that banner, every Austrian demand was framed as the recovery of lost ground, and every acre taken was presented as a shard of the old Holy Roman patrimony. The claim was flimsy, yet a fig leaf is better than none, and with a large enough fist it passes for lawful. By contrast, the parcels handed to allies observed far looser standards. Spain could just about rummage up some history to lean on, the rest amounted to the simple logic of a loser parting with territory. It was not that Franz begrudged them more, it was that his partners were small in the gut. Force too much down and they would choke. Besides, a division of spoils must look fair to stand. Cross that line and the prestige Austria had just built would vanish like smoke. Study the schedule of benefits and the treaty reads as a tissue of compromises. Only Russia’s share of indemnities had been settled in advance, everything else was pegged to effort and sacrifice. Take Spain for example. On the battlefield it played only a token role. Apart from the prearranged recovery of its lost lands, its cut of the reparations was little more than symbolic. Belgium, having suffered heavy losses in the war and made no small contribution, was rewarded with both territory and reparations. The German Federation, though it received no land, was granted the second-largest share of war indemnities, second only to Austria. The Kingdom of Sardinia seemed at first to have gained generously, but much of its reward was in fact compensation for ceding Savoy to Switzerland. Even then, the lands it obtained were not wholly its own to keep, for it would be obliged to share with the other Italian states. This was already a concession on Austria’s part. Had Austria not deliberately shown leniency, those Italian states whose contribution to the war against France was meager would have been fortunate simply to remain independent. To ask for more would have been sheer folly. It was a page borrowed straight from the British playbook—a tactic of planting seeds of discord. One could safely assume that relations between Sardinia and Switzerland would sour in the years to come, and harmony among the Italian states would be no less elusive. Setting down the treaty draft, Franz frowned in puzzlement, “Why is there no mention of colonial distribution?” It was not an idle question. France, after all, was the world’s third-largest colonial empire, its holdings rich in prime assets. Surely they should have been a prize over which all would struggle. Yet the draft contained no such provisions. Wessenberg offered an explanation, “Your Majesty, the matter of colonies was raised, but none present had the strength to pursue it. Belgium is consumed with reconstruction and cannot spare resources for overseas possessions. Spain is entangled in its war in the Philippines and has no hand free for colonial disputes. Russia has designs on French Indochina, but the British watch the region too closely. Neither we nor the Russians can hope to contest Britain in the Far East. The other nations are in the same position—limited by their strength. Even if colonial rights were granted at the conference, they would lack the means to hold them. And so, in the end, the matter was set aside.” The German Federation was not mentioned, for the union of Germany and Austria was already underway. At this stage, the Federation’s separate participation in the postwar division of spoils merely served to highlight Austria’s image. Otherwise, Austria would be taking too much, which could easily provoke resentment. In truth, resentment was already brewing. Otherwise, the issue of colonial distribution would never have been “set aside.” The richest prize, “French Africa,” had been swallowed whole by Austria. What remained of France’s colonies was scattered across the globe, each possessing peculiar characteristics, none of which the allies could realistically covet. Since they could not obtain them, they chose to turn a blind eye. If the allies refused to take part in the division of colonies, Austria could hardly compel them to endorse its gains. Franz nodded and said, “Since they are unwilling to be involved, then let us settle the matter of colonies ourselves. Beyond French Africa, which is already in our hands, we must seize as many of France’s overseas islands and her possessions in the Americas as possible. As for Indochina, we cannot concern ourselves with it for now. If the British want it, let them have it. We could not prevent them even if we tried. These are minor issues. The greater problem is France’s debts. Whatever the final indemnity, whether fifty billion or eighty billion, the French cannot possibly pay. Default is inevitable. This is what we must consider. Once France defaults, what measures shall we take, and what measures can we take? It would be best to have such provisions clearly written into the treaty.” If it were just a few billion francs, perhaps the French government could grit its teeth and scrape the money together. Unfortunately, what the anti-French coalition demanded was not francs but guilders. Even at the lowest figure of fifty billion guilders, that converted into 183,000 tons of gold, and not even selling all of France could raise such a sum. It was not only the principal they could not repay but even the interest. At a monthly rate of five per thousand, the interest alone amounted to two hundred and fifty million guilders each month. Not even Austria, the very one printing the guilders, could shoulder such a burden. But Franz had never intended for the French to repay it. With this crushing debt weighing upon them, Austria would have every justification to forbid the French from developing their military. In truth, the original French plan to restrain Germany had not been wrong in itself, only its execution had been flawed, which in the end brought disaster upon France. Chancellor Karl reminded him, “Your Majesty, the sum is far too great. The French could never repay it. Even if the French government were to agree, the French people would surely oppose it. Once the entire nation resists, we may not only fail to collect reparations but also be forced to pour in more military expenditure. For the sake of the Empire, it would be wiser to set the indemnity at an amount they can realistically bear. That way we can still limit France’s development without provoking a storm of public outrage.” Unpaid debts were hardly unheard of. If truly cornered, France might collapse into a prolonged state of anarchy, with guerrilla fighters springing up everywhere across the land. This was the European continent, where many extreme measures could not be applied. If the worst came to pass, Austria would in fact be powerless. The so-called idea of placing France under military administration was more a threat than a practical option. The Anti-French Alliance was indeed strong, but if there were no visible returns, few would be willing to accompany Austria in such madness. Franz nodded and said, “The Chancellor is right. The French cannot possibly bear such an indemnity. If we press them too hard, the result would be most undesirable. Yet the figure for reparations was passed by the Anti-French Coalition Conference, which means most of our allies have already recognized it. It would not do for us to alter it lightly. Two months from now the Vienna Congress will convene. Let the matter be placed before the assembly, and let the French themselves find a way to persuade the powers to lower the sum. So long as the French government agrees to disband its army and pledges not to pursue rearmament, we will not make things difficult for them over reparations.” In truth, Franz had never expected such an enormous figure to be approved at the council of the Anti-French coalition. His original plan had been to demand no more than three billion guilders. That would have been sufficient. It was not that a higher amount was impossible, but rather that it served no purpose. Having lost her overseas colonies and suffered the ravages of war upon her homeland, France was no longer the wealthy, powerful empire she had once been. Even a three-billion-guilder indemnity would mean fifteen million in monthly interest alone. To meet such payments, the newborn French government would not only have to disband its army but also live frugally, scraping together every resource it could. The proposal of an enormous indemnity was never truly meant to pass. Its purpose was to draw opposition, more precisely to lure Russia into standing against it, forcing the Russians into conflict with Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Sardinia, and the rest. But plans never keep up with the pace of events. Whether the Russians caught wind of the scheme or were simply enticed by the staggering figures, no one could say. In any case, the Russian delegates never stepped forward to object. With no one voicing opposition, Austria had no reason to raise its own hand. Thus the staggering sum was reached by adding together the claims of each ally. Fortunately, it was only a draft, still open to revision. If such terms were ever written into a formal treaty, it would amount to driving the French government to feign death. There was precedent for such folly. After World War I in the original timeline, France demanded six to eight hundred billion gold marks in reparations from Germany. The figure was steadily reduced until it settled at one hundred and thirty-two billion. Even so, the defeated Germans could not pay. To ensure at least partial payment, the Allies devised a ludicrous method: accepting industrial goods in lieu of money. In doing so they not only preserved the enemy’s industry but also allowed German manufacturing to flow freely into French and British colonies under the guise of reparations. Capitalist consortia seized the chance for massive profits, while at home investment in domestic industry dried up and economic stagnation set in. With that example in mind, Franz remained on guard. He reminded himself constantly that reparations were only a means of suppressing an enemy, never an end in themselves.
*** https://postimg.cc/gallery/PwXsBkC (Maps of the current territories of the countries in this novel made by ScH)
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