Chapter 15: The War Triggered by the Selection of a King

The fact that Spain was in revolution and had established a provisional government received the attention of many European countries.

After the Spanish parliament announced it would not abolish the monarchy and would instead seek a new king, many countries maintained a spectator's mentality, while also being curious about which lucky person would serve as the new King of Spain.

But soon, the French government could no longer laugh.

Because according to news from Spain, among the many candidates for King of Spain, Prince Leopold of the House of Hohenzollern was at the top of the list and was very likely to become the next King of Spain.

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

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

If a member of the House of Hohenzollern obtained the Spanish crown, France would face a situation of being caught in a pincer attack by Prussia and Spain.

Although Spain was not considered a strong power and could barely be called a second-rate country in Europe, Spain was located in the south of France and possessed the Pyrenees as a natural defensive line.

Prussia only needed to station less than 100, 00 troops in Spain to cause great trouble for the French and threaten many cities in southern France.

On June 21, 1869, the angry French government expressed strong opposition to the Spanish government and the German government, and stated that the moment Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern was crowned King of Spain would be the moment France declared war on Prussia and Spain.

The threat of the European hegemon was still quite useful; under such a threat, King Wilhelm I of Prussia also retreated somewhat, and even publicly stated that he did not approve of his cousin, Prince Leopold, inheriting the Spanish throne.

The Spanish government also panicked a little; if a war with France broke out because of their choice of king, it would undoubtedly be a loss that outweighed the gain.

Wilhelm 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 requested an audience with Wilhelm I in early July, and conveyed the attitude of French Emperor Napoleon III, who hoped that Wilhelm I could guarantee that he would not demand the candidacy of the already-renounced candidate in the future.

Such a request was absolutely rude, which made Wilhelm I, who had originally intended to concede, feel somewhat dissatisfied.

The French would never have imagined that even with Wilhelm I taking the lead in backing down, there were even more stubborn guys within Germany who were already preparing for war with France in advance.

Wilhelm I, having been treated rudely by the French ambassador, was somewhat annoyed. That same day, he sent an urgent telegram to his Prime Minister, Bismarck, hoping that Bismarck could come up with a reasonable way to resolve the crisis Prussia was facing.

But Wilhelm I did not expect that Bismarck's so-called method of resolving the crisis was to defeat France through war, which was to solve the problem itself.

After receiving Wilhelm I's telegram, Bismarck did not have any panicked emotions; in fact, a smile even appeared on his face.

After asking Chief of Staff Moltke if he had absolute certainty of victory in a war against France and receiving an affirmative answer, Bismarck decided not to wait.

He significantly modified the content of Wilhelm I's telegram, deleting all the words about long-term consideration and tactful concession, and added some words at the end of the telegram to provoke the French government and officials: "Due to your country's unreasonable demands and attitude, His Majesty King Wilhelm I has decided to refuse to approach the French ambassador from now on, and only conveys through this telegram that there is nothing left to talk about between our two countries."

Although this telegram intended to provoke 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 a public news release and spread throughout Europe through all Prussian diplomatic missions abroad.

The firm attitude of the Prussians caused an uproar in the French government, which also completely enraged the originally smug French government.

Perhaps Gao Da did not expect that his slight movement directly influenced the world and caused the Franco-Prussian War to break out a year early.

On July 11, 1869, the angry French government, after several days of preparation, expelled the Prussian ambassador to France and expressionlessly declared war on Prussia to the Prussian ambassador to France.

But the French did not see the expected panic and tension on the Prussian ambassador's face; they could only watch as the Prussian ambassador walked out of the embassy with a relaxed expression and boarded the train returning to Prussia.

More confused than the French was King Wilhelm I of Prussia. Although Wilhelm I was angry because of the rudeness of the French, he really had not thought about going to war with the French at such a moment.

But with things having reached this point, it was impossible for Wilhelm I to stop the war. On July 12, Wilhelm I announced a general mobilization in the North German Confederation and called on all states within the confederation to fight for Germany.

Prussia called this war the German-French War, attempting to use the method of uniting Germany to demand that each state contribute troops and effort.

And the French also called this war the French-German War; the grievances between the French and the German region were not a matter of one or two days.

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

However, in such a situation, no matter who was the winner of the Franco-Prussian War, Prince Leopold of Prussia was no longer suitable to continue to be the King of Spain.

Coupled with the fact that Prince Leopold himself also publicly stated his refusal to inherit the Spanish throne—although this was more due to Wilhelm I standing up to oppose it—it was, after all, Prince Leopold himself who gave it up.

After these various events, only two princes of the House of Savoy in Italy remained of the original five candidates for the Spanish throne.

Whether it was Amadeo or Gao Da who became the King of Spain, Savoy would be the ultimate winner.

Setting aside the advantage of the House of Savoy that both possessed, Amadeo's advantage was that he was older and more mature and steady. Gao Da's advantage was that he possessed a friendly reputation that might be more recognized by the Spanish, and was more likely to support reform.

If starting from the aspect of reform, Primo undoubtedly supported Gao Da becoming the King of Spain more. After all, although Primo supported the monarchy, he was a thorough reformer.

And Serrano was more like a neutral party between the reformists and the conservatives, and could also be classified as a royalist of the aristocratic faction.

Both were unable to make up their minds between Amadeo and Gao Da. For the stability of the Kingdom of Spain, Primo decided to personally go to Italy to examine the two princes, and to determine the final candidate for King of Spain during this inspection.

Serrano agreed to Primo's proposal and stated that he would support either Amadeo or Gao Da to become the King of Spain, and was willing to pledge loyalty to the new king.

The second update, asking for support!

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(End of this chapter)