War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

"Why not? Archbishop, the lost lambs need the right guidance. This is the duty of the shepherd."

The two people spoke relatively vaguely, but Archbishop Rauscher understood what Franz meant. These two countries still need the church to contribute to the aftermath.

It was a bit disappointing not to get the relatively wealthy Guatemala and Honduras, but Archbishop Rauscher decided to try his best to implement Franz's plan.

After all, in Southeast Asia before, no one could figure out why Franz would choose Chenla, a land without foundation, instead of Vietnam, where the church was stronger, and Siam (Thailand), where the economy was developed.

But the final result proved that Archduke Franz's judgment was correct. At this time, Chenla became the only country in the world controlled by the church besides the Papal States.

Sure enough, the proposal was immediately approved by the French after it was revealed through secret channels. Of course, the Tuileries Palace has no reason to reject this proposal. After all, this can directly reduce the number of enemies by one-third.

The Paris authorities immediately ignored Lamosan's objections, unilaterally made peace with the two countries, and recognized their independent status.

But the price of peace is high. The two governments had to accept the harsh conditions of paying war compensation of five million francs, which is undoubtedly worse for the two weak countries with annual government income of less than one million francs.

Guizot, the driving force behind the scenes, also had his own considerations. As Marshal Magnon de Rochefort described, it is certainly a very good idea to support a puppet government after direct unconditional peace, but France has paid too much in the Central American Federation.

Unless the domestic bureaucrats and financial capitalists are impressed with tangible benefits, these stingy and greedy guys will never agree to continue to add money to a bunch of gold-eating beasts that require large investments.

(In fact, in the early stages of colonial development, the cost is often very high, so it is called the gold-swallowing beast)

On July 15, 1841, as soon as the armistice agreement was announced, the local wealthy businessmen and mine owners in Honduras immediately united to offer an olive branch to the French Expeditionary Force:

First, they will not make any unfriendly moves towards the French army.

Second, they are willing to pay a one-time payment of five million war reparations.

Of course, this little trick will not take the bait of France, which has experienced hundreds of battles and has long been chatting and laughing with other colonial powers.

Like other colonists, the French soldiers and adventurers came all the way for the land and gold in Central America. How could a mere 8 million francs fill their hungry hearts?

As expected, after rejecting the proposals of local capitalists, the French issued a list of war reparations of 100 million francs, with the requirement to cede the port of La Ceiba, and grant France most-favored-nation status and the right to build and operate railways.

At this point, France's ambitions are obvious, but the businessmen and mine owners in Honduras have no bargaining power. After all, the other party has a gun in their hand, and it is easy to find any excuse to launch an armed collection operation. .

At this time, the world's No. 1 shit-taker with an extremely sensitive sense of smell took the initiative to mediate with his old rival after learning about the independence of Honduras.

The reason why the British sense of smell is so keen is that, in addition to Franz's obstruction, Lamosan is also dissatisfied with the French's damage to their own property.

So he thought of a good way, which was to "use barbarians to control barbarians" and let the British deal with the French, so that he could continue to have both sides.

But what surprised Lamosan was that the British and French started dividing the spoils directly, ignoring him as the victim. In fact, there was very strong opposition within the French government to the British request to monopolize Honduras.

This time it was not only the Bonapartists who clamored for war with the British, but even the financial capitalists who had always been the most opposed to war also advocated war because France had paid too much in the Central American Federation and the gold and silver mines in Honduras It's so important.

In the end, it was Guizol who overcame all opinions and decided to make concessions to the British for his so-called "British-French goodwill" and agreed to transfer Honduras to the British. However, the British must also bear Honduras's war compensation of 30 million francs, and must Support France's occupation of Guatemala and El Salvador under the pretext of "debt disputes".

At this time, Ramosan, who was enjoying the joy of victory in Guatemala City, did not know that he had actually become the fish on the chopping board, and had even divided the plates.

After receiving a positive reply from Paris, the commander of the French Expeditionary Force, Marshal Magnon de Rochefort, immediately ordered the arrest of Lamosan and demanded that he immediately pay a debt of 1 billion francs.

Lamosan naturally disagreed. Even if he agreed, he did not have so much money. At the same time, he also refused to sign the colonial agreement.

But there are many people in the Central American Federation who want to end the war. After fighting for so many years, all the factions in the Central American Federation are exhausted.

In the past, the driving force that supported them in not surrendering was the fear of Lamosan's future settlement. Now that scourge is gone, they are very willing to be French subjects.

The Civil War of the Central American Federation ended here. Guatemala and El Salvador became French colonies. Honduras was an independent country in name and protected by the British, but in fact the government and main economic lifeline were controlled by the British.

Nicaragua and Costa Rica in the southeast declared independence but were actually controlled by the Austrian church. The U.S. government once again reiterated the "Monroe Doctrine" and demanded that the French government return power to the legitimate government of the Central American Federation.

In fact, as the Texas region becomes increasingly prosperous, the contradiction between France and the United States is also deepening. At this time, the United States is not a beacon country for future generations, but France is.

Moreover, France has always been very generous in the development of colonies. Texas has developed rapidly in the hands of France, and the length of the railway is even longer than that of France.

At the same time, the Texans were also treated very favorably legally. They could enjoy almost the same treatment as the French, and the French laws brought order, security and fairness that they had never enjoyed before.

After the French gendarmes arrived, even the most powerful family in Texas, with hundreds of cowboys, did not dare to act as peace officers or confront the French government.

In fact, the early West was not as beautiful as described in the movies. It was common for bandits to consider themselves sheriffs, large families to control local militias, and to organize gangs to rob good people on the Great Plains.

Those gangs massacred Indians and had no problem dealing with the mercenaries of the U.S. government, but they seemed embarrassed when facing the real French army.

Those seemingly stupid tactics knocked these proud cowboys out of their minds. The French did not respect military ethics and frequently used artillery to attack gang strongholds.

Due to the influence of Napoleon, artillery played a very important role in the French army at this time. If you did not fire two cannons during a battle, it would be as if you were not French.

Closer to home, although Guizot's behavior maintained peace with Britain, it was achieved at the expense of French interests and French national sentiments, which laid hidden dangers for the future.

If I have time today, I should add another chapter tonight.