Napoleon in 1812
Chapter 111:

19. EuropeanSummit – 8

Insidethe conferencehall, therewas afierce confrontationbetween France, Prussiaand Austria, but in fact Austriadid not intendtoconfrontthem until theend.

Ifthe Austrians hadreally intended to oppose France, theywouldhave accepted theBritish proposal andwouldnot haveattendedthe Strasbourgbanquet like Russia andSweden.

Even Franz I and Metternich, whohad verystrong anti-French feelings, didnot denythat Francehad the hegemony of thepresent Europe.

Austria’strue purpose at the Strasbourg talks was to expandits right to speak within theUnion, which had becomeinevitable anyway, to secure suitable interests, and to createanenvironmentwhereitcouldexertinfluence afterwards.

In particular, Metternich sought to restore the prestige of theAustrianEmpire, which hadbeen tarnishedbyits successivedefeats, byrealizing the traditional Austrian diplomacythat hadbeaten Europe in thepast.

In the end, Austriatook theplaceofthe two pillars of the Union with France, and eventook on therole to balance the Union andtoproperlykeep Franceincheck.

‘The councilproposedbyNapoleonhas now becomeanirresistible flow. Unless Napoleon andFrance are defeated, otherEuropeancountries willeventually participate in it.’

Thebrilliant Metternichlooked forwardtothis futureand established adiplomatic strategy accordingly. That washow he won thepreviousnegotiations. Butnomatter how much he had prepared forthis, heneverexpectedtosee thisperson.

“It’sbeen a longtime… formerForeign Minister.”

“Thankyou for notforgetting andrememberingthis old, obsolete man, Foreign Minister.”

To Talleyrand, whowas smiling, Metternichcouldnot expressa sincere welcome. He had even heard the news thatthe conspirators in Paris hadbeen caughtand weredetained, but he didnot knowthat he would make sucha surprise appearance.

“Did youread today’s morningnewspaper? ‘Victory of Austria and Prussia! Metternich’smasterpiece!’ Those whopraised andworshiped the Empireand His Majesty change their faces overnighttopraise the other side. Isn’t human history funny?”

Metternichfelt that there was an undertoneinhis words. Until then, thetwo had actively exchangedsecret lettersand conspired to endNapoleon’s reign.

However, whenTalleyrand wascaught, Metternich immediately cut himoff and incinerated allthe documents andletters that could prove his relationshipwith him.

It wasinordernot to get involved andnot to giveNapoleonanother excusetoantagonize him. The tacticofkeeping somethingwhileitwas useful andthrowingitaway right after wasclearly seen in internationaldiplomacy.

“I’m sorry about thepast. But I’m theForeign Minister of theAustrianEmpire. I havetodosome cowardly thingswithout hesitation for thenationalinterestofmycountry. Ifyou wereinmyposition, of course youwouldhave acted like that, and I wouldn’t haveblamed you.”

It wasuncomfortable anyway. Metternichwas secretly asking back ‘Whydid you askmetosee you in this situation?’ Metternichremembered that the personwho secretly called himwas the FrenchMinistryofForeign Affairs, notTalleyrand himself.

That meant that thiswas an official meeting, not a personal one, and thatTalleyrand washere as a representative of the FrenchMinistryofForeign Affairs.

Inthe end, heguessed that Talleyrandhad beenpardonedbyNapoleon. So Metternichdid not feel any burdenaboutthe past.

“Haha! Perhaps because the periodofpeacelasted quite along time, theForeign Minister’s sense seems to havebecome abit dull. If you were likebefore, youwouldhave guessed whatI would sayjust by thefact that I was sittinghere.”

Metternich frownedslightlyatfirstbecause he could notgraspthe truemeaning of hiswords. But soon after, as a thoughtcrossed hismind like alightning bolt, he opened hiseyes wide and lookedatTalleyrand. With a subtle smile, Talleyrand spoke like aviper.

“His Majestyknowsthat your countryhas beenhiding Joseph Fouché[1], a traitortothe Empire, for along time. He is demandinga legitimate explanation fromthe Austrian cabinet. If he finds yourcountry’s response to thisinsufficient, he added that he would not hesitate to retaliate.”

Itwas the momentwhen Metternich’spokerface, whichhad not even budged so far, likethe iron-blooded diplomat he was, cracked.

===

The position of Police Minister of theFrench Empire wasa keypositionwith theauthority to leadall police, guards, andsecurityforces workinginParis. Thiswas not all.

Thepolice wereobliged to inspect the dangers within thecountry andtake actionbefore theyoccur.

Therefore, thepolice minister was given a powerful power to operatesecret police units andintelligence organizationstoprotect anddefend the capital and prevent civil war.

In fact, since Napoleon became Consulwith theCoup of 18 Brumaire[2], heused thesecret inspectorsofJoseph Fouché, the policeministeratthat time, to maintain hispower.

Information that could be aweakness, suchasembezzlement of public funds, various crimes, and scandals, had beenheld through secret policeand intelligence organizations, allowing them to be thoroughlycontrolled andmanipulated.

Thankstothis, Napoleonwas abletosave numerous servants andbureaucratswho werealways loyal to him (even if he didnot knowwhat to do inside), andeventually openedthe way to go beyondthe position of lifeConsul and to becomethe Emperor.

However, thenew monarchdid not want factorsthat could pose athreat to his power. AfterbecomingEmperor, Napoleonbegantofeel theburden of Fouché.

Thefact that weaknessesofpolitical opponents could be collectedindetail meant, on thecontrary, thatNapoleon’s ownweaknesses could also be fully graspedifwanted.

Fouché’s contribution to Napoleon’s crowning was great, but beyond that, themagnitude of power given to Fouché was too great.

It was natural thatNapoleon, who wassuspicious andgreedy for power, begantocheckhim. AndFouché, who had a secret information network and hada politicalsensibility, could not have ignoredit.

Fouché feltthreatened by Napoleon’s pressure and politicaloffensive using public opinion around himthat tightenedday by day. Itwas Talleyrand, or to be exact, theAustrianForeign Ministry behindhim, whoreached outtoFouché.

“Fouché was dismissedfrom hispost as PoliceMinister, and wasthen appointedgovernorofIllyria. AsI andthe ForeignMinisterknow well, thethreeofushave been in close contactand built up friendships. However, it wasintendedtopromote national interestsbyestablishing close tieswith major foreign officials, not betraying thecountry andselling information.”

Even after the arrestorderfor Fouché was issued, the Austrian court chose to embracehim. Theconnectionsand tiesthat he hadaccumulatedfor morethan a decade while serving as Police Minister were still deeply rootedinFrench police andintelligence organizations.

This was because information suchascorruption, various incidents, and concealment records about major French figures thatFouché knew wereofgreatuse.

However, afterthe Strasbourgtalkswere held to unite Europe, the Austrian court realized thatNapoleon’s hegemony could no longerbechallenged andeventually chose to send Fouché out.

Despite thefact that thiswas carriedout verysecretly, it seemed to have beendiscovered by Frenchspies.

“I wasinformedthat he andhis family were in Vienna, and external intelligence agentsofthe Empire confirmedit. WhenI lookedinto hiswhereabouts, I founda deep connectionwith theSchönbrunnPalace. It wasanamazing andshockingstory. How shouldthe Empire acceptthat theAustriancourttook in a traitorwho disappeared whenhewas caught conspiring to divide thenation and start a civil war?”

Considering that Talleyrandwas the personwho led this treachery actalongwith Fouché, it wasabsurd for himtosay this. But diplomacywas an act of considering thepresent ratherthan thepast.

Whatever the past, Talleyrand was nowa spokespersonfor the FrenchMinistryofForeign Affairs, andFouché wasa traitor to France forthe captureofwhom Napoleon himself evenoffered a reward.

And such atraitor hadbeen hiddenbyAustria until recently. This could escalate into aserious diplomatic issue.

The documents presentedbyTalleyrand revealed thestatements of Frenchintelligence agents, with information about Fouché’sfamily, andeven about thegoodsprovidedtothem by theAustriancourt.

‘I wascaught in the perfect trap. There’snoway out!’

On thecontrarytoTalleyrand, who was drinking black teawith a relaxedexpression, Metternich’s inner thoughts rotted black. What if this factspread to the outside world? Thefightfor influence withinthe Union, forwhichthe Austrian officials hadbeen working so hard, would be of no use.

Austriawouldlose allits say andcouldeven be expelled from the Union.

As for Britain and Russia, Austriahad alreadydrawna line first withthem beforethe Strasbourgtalks. Therefore, itwouldbedifficult to get their help. On theotherhand, France would exercise its right to trample Austriawith a goodjustification.

Metternichsighed, breaking hiscomposure. Hisdiplomat’s face had long disappeared. This was both an act of acknowledging the defeatofthe negotiations anda declaration of complete surrender.

“…What does France want fromus?”

IfFrance did notwant something, it would haveexposed this caseatthe meetingand would havedropped Austria’sreputation to theabyss.

“I think theForeign Minister is nowreadytotalk to me.”

Metternich glared once at Talleyrand, who wassmiling, and leaned over in achair. The night of secrettalksbetween them was long.

===

The secondday of the Strasbourg talks started. It was time for another diplomaticand political maneuvering that had been coming andgoingbeyond the party venue to bear fruit, andthe heads of state and diplomatsgatheredatthe Rohan Palace with determinedeyes.

‘Austria and Prussia formed a united front andtook considerableadvantage in the last meeting. Is there anything we can’t do?’

The main goalofeach country was also to be judged as importantaspossiblewithin the Union.

Theyheardthat therating of member stateswouldbecalculated periodically, but no specific date had been announced, whileitwas almost certain thathigh-grade countrieswouldexerta great influenceonthe Union. As thevalueofthe Union was reevaluated daybyday, thevalues of these grades also naturally jumped.

Theweak(?) appearance of the Frenchforeign officials, who were thoroughlyfooled by Metternichand Hardenberg, was also the reasonwhy member stateshad unexpectedconfidence.

Whetherthey were building anegotiation, trading, or collusion to form aconfrontation, they setupvarious strategies and entered the conference roomofthe detached palace. However, the sceneryofthe meetinghall wasmuch differentfrom what theyexpected.

“Wewouldlike to discuss an agenda that we havenot completed in thelast meeting. As youknow, the purposeofour Union presupposes permanent peace in Europe. In order to achievethis, aboveall, theallied forces need the military right to quickly travel between member states.”

LouisNicolas Davoutwas bringing up thisissueagain. Member stateswere puzzled. TheFrench had already collapsed under thecollaboration between Austriaand Prussia, but they werebringingupthe sameagenda right away?

This was like the host countryofthe talks was cutting downits own authority. Austriaand Prussiawouldneveraccept it. Andofcourse Prussiavotedagainst it.

“As I saidbefore, ourpositionisthe same. Until trust relations between member statesare established, it must be agreed in advance for foreign troops to cross borders.”

It was a remark made by Prussia’s Foreign Minister, Hardenberg. Small andmedium-sized countries supporting Prussiaalso joinedand agreed. Now if Austriajoined them…

“Austria’sforeign staff stayedupall night to discussthis matter. And theconclusion that we cameupwith is… until military safetyisguaranteed, the formation of theUnionitself is threatened.”

The remarksofFranzI, the Emperorofthe Austrian Empire, brokeeveryone’s expectations.

“Infact, Britain, Russia, andSweden are explodingtheirmilitarybudgets, trainingtroops, andcasting warclouds on the European continent. It doesn’tseem necessarytoexplain where their guns are headed. In order for theUniontoprepare forthis, the member statesmust acceptthe permanent right of military passage as the military adviser said. Our country agrees with thisproposalfor the cause andsurvivalofthe Union.”

“What is the Emperor saying now!…”

“W-Wait! This… What the hell happened!?”

“That is all.”

Friedrich WilhelmIII’sembarrassing lookrepresentedPrussia’s position. Foreign Minister Hardenbergand MarshalBlücherwere also surprised andcouldnot hidetheirdisappointment.

Napoleon wasthe onlyone smilingamongthe member statesthat were unable to figureout whatwas going on.

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