Make France Great Again

The international environment influences the domestic environment, and the domestic environment similarly brings about turbulent changes in the international scene, especially for a country as pivotal as France on the European Continent. Every word and action of President Jerome Bonaparte directly impacts the diplomatic shifts across Europe.

Just as France is embroiled in a struggle over constitutional amendments, the German Region is witnessing a drama of forming alliances.

Since the February Revolution, the German Region has not seen peace; now, the final showdown is about to commence. Prussia and Austria, the fated siblings of the German Region, are fighting for the leadership of Germany.

And all of this is closely related to Jerome Bonaparte.

After the suppression of the Hungarian revolution, the ambitious Schwarzenberg began planning to return to Germany. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Prussia seized the opportunity to establish the Three Kings Alliance to thwart Austria's ambition to once again lead Germany.

However, at that time, Prussia's ambitions were not very large. King Frederick William IV of Prussia only wanted to join forces with Austria to divide Northern and Southern Germany, using Saxony as the boundary.

For a Protestant nation like Prussia, having too many Catholic populations could severely dilute the Protestant populace, triggering a crisis of sects. Hence, the North-South separation was the most beneficial solution for Prussia.

Schwarzenberg pretended to agree to Prussia's North-South separation and the Three Kings Alliance plan while secretly encouraging Prussia to suppress the revolutions in the German Region.

Prussia agreed to Austria's plan. The Frankfurt Confederation, which once supported making Prussia the Emperor of Germany, was dissolved. The revolution led by the middle class was suppressed, and through bayonets and bloodshed, Prussia completely lost the hope of the Germans.

Without the support of the middle class and the National Guard, Prussia could only survive on the support of the Three Kings Alliance.

However, the Kingdom of Prussia did not know that when Prussia was suppressing the revolutions in the German Region, Schwarzenberg was secretly forming alliances with the German Princes and "external forces."

The German Princes were intimidated by Austria into being persuaded by the fear of revolution. Jerome Bonaparte of the French Republic was "lured" by Schwarzenberg with a part of the Rhineland territory as an exchange (Schwarzenberg believed he successfully deceived Jerome Bonaparte), and Nicholas I of the Russian Empire also consented tacitly.

After appeasing the Great Powers and the German Principalities, Schwarzenberg began to stir up trouble. Using the Hesse-Kassel Principality as an excuse, he advanced on Prussia on a small scale. To maintain its authority, Prussia also added chips under the guise of protecting the Hesse-Kassel Principality's parliament.

The Prussian support actions completely angered the German Principalities. After a standoff lasting a year and costing nearly ten million francs (converted), Schwarzenberg finally invited the German Principalities, excluding Prussia, to Frankfurt to attend the German Confederation Congress on September 2, 1850.

Virtually all of the German Principalities attended the Confederation Congress.

On October 15, Austrian Prime Minister Schwarzenberg signed a military alliance with Bavaria and Wurttemberg. Afterward, he rushed urgently to the Russian Empire's Tsarskoye Selo to meet with Nicholas I.

Seated in the carriage, Schwarzenberg was unaware that the storm stirred by Jerome Bonaparte was coming toward him.

...

About twenty kilometers south of St. Petersburg lies an estate built by Peter the Great in 1717 for his wife, Catherine, the Empress of the Russian Empire, as a summer retreat.

The villa, completed in 1824 after seven years, boasted a two-story mansion with 16 rooms and a surrounding garden. To emphasize the significance of the new royal domain, it was soon named the Tsarskoye Selo.

In 1741, after Elizabeth Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great, ascended the throne, she also took a liking to this place full of memories. Under her authorization, St. Petersburg's best architects expanded this slightly modest estate.

With the foundation laid by two generations of Tsars, subsequent generations transformed it into a regular residence and rest place. Each generation spared no expense in inviting designers to reshape the surroundings, and gardens emerged around Tsarskoye Selo. Tall, towering groves and lush green lawns adorned the entire palace, adding beauty to Tsarskoye Selo through the changing seasons.

However, all the beauty ultimately serves as an embellishment of power. Tsarskoye Selo, as the residence of the Tsar, had a more vital role: the exercise of power throughout Tsarist Russia.

The developed transportation network allowed the envoys to act more swiftly. The grandees living around Tsarskoye Selo could more effectively support the Tsar in political affairs, making the entire Tsarskoye Selo the nerve center of this vast empire.

This nation, with a vast territory and millions of people, was at its peak. Tsar Nicholas I and his military men and sycophants ruled it with an iron fist, whipping the various large and small nations within the empire with bayonets.

Every nation unwilling to submit to the empire would learn a lesson by the bayonets. Wherever the bayonets pointed, no heart was left untroubled.

Yet, who could know that this vast empire that ruled over millions of people would become the laughingstock of Europe in just a few years?

Who could know that, in a few decades, the names of the Empire and Tsarskoye Selo, which had spanned the Romanov Dynasty, would become dust in history along with the Romanov Dynasty?

After the February Revolution, the Romanov Dynasty fell. After the October Revolution, Tsarskoye Selo was renamed Pushkin City.

The imperial family and Tsarskoye Selo became a mound of yellow earth in the annals of history, and the name of the poet who was long monitored by the Romanov Dynasty will replace the Romanov Dynasty as an eternal memory of the Russian people.

As long as Russia continues to exist, the name Pushkin will forever remain in the memory of the people.

Of course, in this era, the fame of the Tsar far surpassed that of Pushkin, and the Tsar residing here would also not know of his destined fate. Currently, Nicholas I is intently leaning over a map of the European Continent on the desk, dressed in a traditional black double-breasted Russian imperial military uniform.

The map is densely covered with arrows and Russian unit numbers, and Nicholas I slowly moves his hand from St. Petersburg towards the southwest, quickly sliding to the Balkan Region.

As his fingers continue to move south, Constantinople comes under Nicholas I's fingertips.

"Constantinople..." Nicholas I murmured as his fingers lightly tapped on the map over Constantinople, his expression particularly solemn with a touch of sacredness.

As Nicholas I muttered to himself, the sound of a court attendant knocking came from outside the room.

"Who?" Nicholas I asked the attendant outside the door with a voice full of authority.

"Your Majesty, Minister Nesselrode has arrived at Tsarskoye Selo! He says he has urgent matters and wishes to see you!" the court attendant respectfully said to Nicholas I from outside the door.

"Take him to the Amber Hall!" Nicholas I replied.

The court attendant left to carry out his orders and saw Russian Foreign Minister Carl Nesselrode at Catherine Palace.

From 1822 to 1850, nearly twenty-eight years passed, during which countless ministers were changed in the Russian court, and many chairs of committees were replaced.

Yet this Minister of Foreign Affairs firmly held the rudder of Russia's entire diplomacy.

Besides the trust of Emperor Nicholas I of the Russian Empire, Nesselrode himself also possessed remarkable abilities (here referring to Nesselrode's reactionary stance, which exceeded even that of Alexander I).

[Carl Robert Nesselrode, Karl-Robert-Nesselrode (1780-1862), Count, diplomat. Of German origin, attended high school in Berlin, participated in the Russian Navy at 16, later transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, appointed as Russian Foreign Minister during the reign of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia (1822-1856)]

The court attendant humbly said to the seasoned Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Nesselrode, "Your Majesty will meet you in the Amber Hall!"

"Thank you very much!" Carl Nesselrode nodded slightly to express his gratitude to the court attendant.

Under the guidance of the court attendant, Carl Nesselrode entered the Amber Hall of Catherine Palace, where the walls were covered with amber, including blood amber and golden amber, in various sizes, some forming picture frames, others stuck to the walls, shining from lemon yellow to golden red, brilliant enough to take one's breath away, the entire room appeared enveloped in gold.

And in the center of this golden-covered space, Emperor of the Russian Empire Nicholas I sat properly on his throne, gazing at the court attendants and Carl Nesselrode as if a god was watching mortals.

The longer Nicholas I remained on the throne, the more he enjoyed using such a method to declare his majesty and sanctity to the nobility.

Long-term governance had made him exceptionally aware of the Russian people's nature to dread power without love. From serfs to nobility, they adored only the tyrant who ruthlessly spurred them with stirrups.

Nicholas I believed that if he one day became weak, the nobility would undoubtedly eliminate him without hesitation and elevate his son Alexander II to the throne.

Coup d'états had already become a "curse" of this country.

However, the sanctity bestowed by the Amber Hall could only intimidate those unfamiliar with Nicholas I. For Carl Nesselrode, who had served Nicholas I for over twenty years, Nicholas I's old tricks were outdated.

To appease the capricious Emperor, Carl Nesselrode could only feign shock and stare at Nicholas I, as if seeing a ghost.

Carl Nesselrode's expression brought a smile to Nicholas I's face.

"Minister Nesselrode, what news do you bring me this time?"