Chapter 423: Chapter 417 France and Russia Tensions Worsen
"Your esteemed Majesty! Although there are certain differences between the French Empire and the Russian Empire on some issues, I believe that as long as both sides adhere to the idea of peace, misunderstandings will eventually be resolved!"
The Russian envoy, sensing the scent of war, hurriedly persuaded Jerome Bonaparte to abandon the idea he had yet to express.
Jerome Bonaparte merely glanced at the Russian envoy and calmly replied, "The Russian Empire’s actions in the Danube Duchy have seriously threatened the peace and stability of the Near East region, so the Russian Empire must withdraw from Moldova and Wallachia!!"
"Withdraw?" The Russian envoy raised his voice, responding indignantly to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, no one, no country has the right to order the Russian Imperial Army to withdraw from those lands!"
For a pure Slav nationalist, liberating the Slav nations constrained by the Ottoman Empire has become one of the established national policies of the Russian Empire. Even His Majesty the Tsar, the supreme ruler of the Russian Empire, cannot openly deny this sacred and noble cause, so how could a mere Russian envoy dare to publicly deny it.
"Mr. Ambassador, I called you here today not to discuss with you; the Russian Empire must withdraw from the Danube Duchy! If the Russian Empire continues to cling to the Danube Duchy and refuses to leave, then the French Empire will consider the Russian Empire the main culprit for disrupting the peace of the Near East region! The French Empire will use all means at its disposal to maintain the peace and stability of the Near East region." Jerome Bonaparte issued an ultimatum to the Russian envoy with a tough attitude towards the Russian Empire.
Since Jerome Bonaparte threatened openly with war, it also meant there was virtually no room for negotiation between the French Empire and the Russian Empire. The Russian envoy naturally didn’t need to forcefully say insincere words to please the French Empire.
"Hmph!" The Russian envoy snorted coldly, replying to Jerome Bonaparte with a mocking tone, "France seizes Algeria from Turkey, and Britain almost annually annexes one principality after another in India; none of these affect the balance of power. Why is it that when we, the Russian Empire, temporarily occupy Moldova and Wallachia, it disrupts the power balance.
The French Empire has stationed troops in Rome for several years, yet Europe turns a blind eye to you. But when the Russian Empire merely considers liberating Constantinople, you arrogantly claim we are disrupting Europe’s peace.
... Britain declared war on the Qingguo people merely because they offended them, and you had no response! Yet when the Russian Empire merely has a friction with a neighboring country, permission from all of Europe is required. To support a pathetic lie, Britain threatens Greece and burns their fleet, and you still turn a blind eye and claim it was a legitimate action. But when the Russian Empire demands a treaty to protect the legal rights of Christians, you treat it as an expansion of influence in the Near East, sacrificing the balance of power.
In you, I see no civilization or virtue. We can gain nothing but blind hatred and malice from you.
Even so, you are still not satisfied, still scheming to limit us, as if we were born carrying sin."
The Russian envoy recounted one by one the various double-standard cases conducted by the Kingdom of Britain and the French Empire over nearly two decades.
"Mr. Ambassador, which of the Russian Empire’s wars was not aimed at expanding territory? Simply based on the lands annexed by the Russian Empire in recent years, you have annexed far more land than France! Yet you are still not satisfied, still scheming to continue annexing land!" Jerome Bonaparte retaliated against the Russian envoy with sharp words: "Yes! We did annex Algeria, but France also suffered the fate of the Bourbon Dynasty’s collapse and your suppression and blockade of France. We helped Pope Pius IX return to Rome, but we didn’t painstakingly attempt to establish a unified Italian state.
And you? You demand the Ottoman Empire sign a treaty to protect Christians all to completely control the Ottoman Empire! You occupy Constantinople just to turn it into Russian Empire’s territory!
The French Empire hasn’t schemed to turn Rome into a city under its jurisdiction. You’ve been restricted in your expansion, so I want to ask you, how did a Moscow Duchy become the vast Russian Empire it is now? Where is the Polish Federation, the Crimean Khanate, the Caucasus Region Khanate now? They couldn’t have voluntarily handed over their lands. When you use brutal means to expand recklessly, you should have thought that one day you would become the main culprit for disrupting Europe’s peace."
Jerome Bonaparte mercilessly pointed out the greedy nature of the Russian Empire, from the establishment of the Moscow Duchy to the present, successive Tsars have done everything they could to exploit their Slavic subjects to fulfill their expansionist desires.
The Russian Empire transformed from a remote corner into the limping giant now spanning the Eurasian continent.
If it weren’t for the advanced productivity brought by the Industrial Revolution temporarily offsetting the Russian Empire’s population advantage, with its sow-like reproductive capability, it wouldn’t be long before it could overwhelm Europe with its vast population advantage.
The Napoleonic Wars could be said to be the last glory of Tsarist Russia, when smoothbore muskets were decisive factors in range, accuracy, and loading, and tactics composed of bayonet charges and soldierly zeal essentially determined the victory in a war.
If at that time the Russian Imperial Army were equipped with a commander similar to Suvorov, the whole army would have been invincible.
Unfortunately, the time of the Napoleonic Wars has passed, and the powerful and convenient artillery and highly accurate rifles have changed the original rules of warfare.
War has moved to another stage—the stage of total war, which for Tsarist Russia, with an industrial base basically at zero, is undoubtedly a dimensional reduction blow.
However, besides Jerome Bonaparte, no one else fully realized that the mode of warfare was advancing towards a bloodier direction, and the gap between the French Imperial Army and the Russian Imperial Army was far greater than they themselves imagined.
Therefore, Jerome Bonaparte from the beginning was not afraid to go to war with the Russian Empire. What he feared was the French Empire falling into diplomatic isolation once again.
Now, the diplomatic isolation troubling the French Empire no longer exists. The French Empire has acquired Cyprus and Syria from the Ottoman Empire as a return (though Rifat believes that the Ottoman Empire has not lost these two regions, but in Jerome Bonaparte’s eyes, they are already in the bag of the French Empire, just waiting for the right time to seize them without hesitation.), it is time to confront the Russian Empire.
"Your Majesty, everything you say is just sophistry based on French principles!" After a long silence, the Russian envoy once again responded to Jerome Bonaparte: "The Russian Empire will never abandon our Christian brothers in the Danube Duchy and the Balkans, who are still awaiting our liberation! If you really are determined to drag France into a war with the Russian Empire, then we have no choice but to fight. The Russian Empire is never afraid of war, we just don’t want to see the French Empire and the Russian Empire, these two civilized nations, slaughter each other for a barbaric country!"
"It’s not for you and me to judge what is civilized or barbaric! I only see the Russian Empire invading a country under an absurd pretext!" Jerome Bonaparte righteously denounced the Russian Empire’s aggression against the Ottoman Empire, having already forgotten the clumsy and shameless performance in the Shatorri Region a month ago.
"Your Majesty! Since you insist on demanding war, then I have nothing more to say!" The Russian envoy gave a slight bow to Jerome Bonaparte to express his respect for France: "Then please allow me to take my leave!"
Jerome Bonaparte smiled and extended his hand, and after the Russian envoy bowed once more to Jerome Bonaparte, he left the Tuileries Palace.
After the Russian envoy left, Jerome Bonaparte spoke again to De Luy beside him: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should immediately and accurately deliver the conditions set by France to St. Petersburg, and let our ambassador to Russia withdraw from Russia as soon as the message is delivered! War is about to begin!"
De Luy took action immediately upon receiving Jerome Bonaparte’s orders.
On the other hand, the Russian envoy leaving the Tuileries Palace returned to the Russian embassy residence like a walking corpse.
The military officer and secretary in charge of the embassy, upon seeing the Russian envoy’s expression, immediately felt that something significant might happen. They hurriedly approached the Russian envoy to inquire what had transpired!
"Let’s go!" The Russian envoy weakly said, a statement that sounded perplexing to the military officer and secretary.
"Your Excellency, what do you mean by this?" the secretary cautiously inquired of the envoy before him.
"I said go! Didn’t you hear clearly?" the frustrated Russian envoy raised his voice.
"Your Excellency, where are we going? Are we returning to the Russian Empire, or...?" the secretary asked once more.
"The French Empire has issued a warning to the Russian Empire, war is about to begin!"