Napoleon in 1812 - Chapter 141

23. In tne siege surrounding :he G’ant – 5 As the aftermath of the Great War engulfed in depression chilled Britain, Londoners staged a massive demonstration in hopes of replacing the incompetent Whig party’s regime as soon as possible, George IV made a special decision as the trend of public opinion flowed to the royal family. It was to hold an early general election ahead of the election date, Of course Charles Grey and the Whigs wanted to hold the election after public opinion calmed down, but George IV was tough. “It is the Prime Minister’s prerogative, of course, to set the election date. However, it is up to me to decide whether the Prime Minister keeps his seat or not.” George IV pressured Charles Grey, saying that he would replace him if he did not hold an early general election. Some citizens, who usually did not like the royal family’s participation in politics, welcomed King George IV’s decision with open arms. No one sided with Charles Grey and the Whigs. They ended up having to weep and eat mustard. On 24 May 1818, a general election was held a month earlier than scheduled. Angry citizens exercised their right to vote against the ruling party in unison, and the Tories won a great victory, sweeping 341 seats, more than half of the 658 seats in the House of Representatives. The new British Prime Minister, George Canning , was the leader of the Tory Party, following former Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson. “The most influential figures in 19th century British politics are neither the former Prime Minister, the Count of Liverpool, nor the current Prime Minister, nor His Majesty. Neither am I, of course, as the humble loser.” Charles Grey had won the elections six years ago and managed to change the ruling party by pinching the mistakes of the previous one. Exactly six years later, today, he was now proving the proverb in the Gospel of Matthew, ‘He who uses the sword, perishes by the sword1. “Considering the two prime ministers, no, we should include Pitt (the former British prime minister, who died of ill health after hearing about the outcome of the Battle of Austerlitz) as well, so three prime ministers, Napoleon Bonaparte, who blew up the London political scene three times in a row, is the most powerful man, able to control the Westminster parliament and the British electorate?” Charles Grey left while taking full responsibility for the failure of state affairs. The last words he uttered as he left Westminster Palace left a deep echo for the members of the House of Representatives. It was also a warning. If Napoleon was not overthrown, today’s events would be repeated like a Mbbius strip. The idea that they could be the targets of political witch-hunts gave members of the new cabinet extraordinary determination. Either way, Prime Minister George Canning and the Tories succeeded in changing the regime and returned to power. And they did so with a landslide victory, winning the majority of seats. However, they had to face a multitude of issues that were rushing before they could enjoy the sweetness of victory. “Wellington’s corps is not far from being operational, we need to do a final check with a large scale maneuver and firing training. Accordingly, we need budget and supplies support.” “Even after leaving for the expedition, we need to stockpile more war supplies to provide enough food, drinking water, and ammunition, uniforms, gunpowder and firearms.” “What they lack most are horses and donkeys to pull wagons and carts, For now, even if they were requisitioned from wagon rental companies, the number would still be insufficient, so they would have to import in large quantities…” Britain was unusually preparing to send a large corps of 100,000 to the European continent. As such, the amount of money and resources spent was enormous. The British Treasury and War Service were sending out daily requests to Westminster demanding the expansion of the war budget, complaining of a lack of finances, There was also a limit to selling bonds with guarantees from the royal family and the parliament. In the end, as always, it was necessary to directly cover insufficient funds from citizens by collecting a ‘war tax’. “Then we’ll have to start from next month to attract publ ic opinion on the special war tax.” “It’s not difficult. Tll organize the materials right away.” Members of the newly formed cabinet were not too worried, even though they were aware of citizens’ antipathy to the special tax. To change their minds, it should be enough to uncover war crimes done by France in the past, or to scare them a little bit with the French ruthless tyranny and hegemonism. Of course there were no British citizens willing to pay more taxes, But at least they would acknowledge the need for a special tax and would maintain their level of acceptance to ‘very annoying but still paying to beat the frogs!’ Westminster Parliament intended to reverse the situation of the Great War by fully utilizing the know-how of dealing with civil power that it had learned through various wars. What they overlooked, however, was the rapidly changing situation of the war and the direction of public opinion that caused it to bounce freely. “Why do we have to clean up the shit of those stupid alliesl?” “The government should stop this useless war right nowl!” “Europe is Europe! We British want nothing to do with it!” It was a demonstration of London’s citizens who were uttering rough words as they blocked the entrance to the Whitehall Palace and the Cathedral. Charles Grey and the Whigs were shouting to stop the war itself this time. George Canning clasped his forehead and let out a groan, and the Tory lawmakers could not find anything to say either, As soon as they achieved a regime change, what they faced was a challenge to their duties and power. Right after the general election, mainstream European media were spreading the news about the Great War as if they were broadcasting sports. And it included the work of instigating and brainwashing the people so that they could have an optimistic perception of the war while extremely exaggerating and praising the achievements of their own country or their own forces. The headlines in their newspapers showed their intention to boost the people’s support for war. While people were feeling tired about it, newspapers that asked more essential and pedantic questions appeared in the spotlight. From May 2 to June 1818, the Coalition and the Union fought 16 battles, Over the past month, the number of young people who became manure of the soil and blood wetting the land is 100,000. Europe lost 100,000 family members, friends and neighbors in a month. During the ‘Bloody May’, there was a battle every day. Throughout Saxony and Poland, there were no days without gunfire. Is this ‘Great War’ the last gateway to peace and harmony in Europe? Another year like 1632? European refugees who have lost their homes are groaning under the pain of constant wars and battles: ‘We want peace right now!’ France declared war immediately while the Union was seeking permanent peace and common development in Europe. An ally who plotted insidious schemes in the name of national interest. The two sides need to find an agreement now. The mercilessness and cruelty of war that you forgot, and the importance of peace and freedom that you did not realize. Free cities of the former Holy Roman Empire, such as Frankfurt, Dortmund, Nassau and Hamburg, were guaranteed wide commercial and media autonomy even after they were annexed by France or other federal states. The media of the Confederation of the Rhine and France, or of their satellites, did not competitively praise Napoleon, nor did they force up the war situation of their allies like the media based in Britain, Prussia, or Sweden. They simply borrowed from the experiences of war reporters and veterans and insisted that peace should be restored as soon as possible. “The newspapers I see these days are those of media companies that are published under the name of free cities of the former empire (Holy Roman Empire). Other than that, it is nothing but trash that is instigating for political purposes for all of its affiliated countries and organizations. Trash that is wasting ink at the expense of trees. You don’t have to look at it, and you don’t even have to pay attention to it, except for the newspapers of the free cities.” British philosopher Jeremy Bentham , who preached utilitarianism, which was emerging as a hot topic in law and philosophy, while publishing (An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and LegislationJ and (Plan of Parliamentary ReformJ , also left such a vicious remark. As Jeremy Bentham said, the media in the former free cities evaluated and criticized the Great War from a neutral point of view, pointing out the reality of the war itself. This was an area that other European media had not touched. The French Revolution, which cut off the head of an absolute monarch, and the brutal revolutionary war that followed it, gave freedom, peace, and nationalism to citizens of Europe. It made them yearn for romanticism, and this trend was shown during the Strasbourg conference. The new perspective shown by the free cities1 media, which deviated from the old system, customs, and totalitarianism, left a fresh and deep impression on the British intellectuaIs. It was a gift like welcome rain in a drought for citizens who hated and avoided the war itself. The popular free cities’ newspapers, so-called ‘free press’, began to change their tone one day when they dealt with the events in Berlin after the Battle of Leipzig. The free press, which stayed neutral and refrained from directly criticizing, broke its line and launched a violent attack. And the targets were Friedrich Wilhelm III and the Prussian army. The king of Prussia who declared his determination to protect the capital fled to Kdnigsberg, leaving the people behind. The citizens of Berlin grind their teeth in a sense of betrayal! Is there a king in history who deceived his people like this? Frederick the Great, who is sleeping in the Sanssouci Palace, will suddenly wake up. What was the king of Prussia thinking to commit such hypocrisy and deceit? Some interpret it as a vent of anger on the country itself, which fought poorly at the Battle of Leipzig… ‘If the king wants to abandon us, we’ll abandon him, too!’ Prussia suffers from anti-government protests. And the French, the occupying forces, calmed them down. The event in which the king of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm III, abandoned the citizens of his capital city, even appeared with ridiculous caricatures and began to spin around. Their fierce and provocative criticism immediately reached the citizens of London who subscribed to the newspapers and spread from mouth to mouth. “Should we help this ally that sells their country’s people like livestock? It’s a disgrace to Britain!” “We’ll be a total laughing stock if we fight together! What a shame!” “This is all because the Prussian people are naive and stupid. The citizens have never stood up and hit their king’s head, so they’re being treated like pushovers!” Althoug h they were allied because of the threat of France, the relationship between Britain, Russia, Sweden and Prussia from the beginning was historically unfa vorable. In such a situation, it was impossible to support the whole alliance when a monarch spread news like this, On the contrary, many complained that they were supporting the war by giving money to see that kind of thing. Britain was a place where civil power was particularly strong compared to other despotic monarchy countries. They were very reluctant to help their country, when the kingdom and the government regarded the people as livestock. And the person who focused on this atmosphere was also Napoleon Bonaparte, the biggest hand moving Westminster politics. Napoleon, the Emperor of France, once again gathered a large number of people (the vast majority of them were Prussian) in Berlin Square, which he occupied, and declared the following: ‘Fouche is a traitor to the French people who plotted a civil war, supported insurgents, and stole state secrets from the Empire before trying to assassinate me.’ ‘The Empire’s intelligence department recently uncovered a link between Russia and Fouche and secured relevant evidence and witnesses, It will be organized and announced soon.’ ‘If Russia hands over Fouche even now, and if the allies against the Union support the significance of the European Union, this war can be stopped.’ Naturally, the remarks landed in Britain with the free press coverage, sending shockwaves through London’s citizens. Russia kept to its existing tough stance, saying that everything was a manipulation and delusion and that Napoleon wanted to hide his desire to conquer, but evidence released through the media from the French intelligence agency was enough to chew up their excuses. A handwritten letter from Anton Gorkiskiye, the head of the Russian secret intelligence organization, as well as traces of funds from Moscow at the Amsterdam Bank were found. Napoleon did not bluff, he had found real evidence and revealed them. Public opinion in Europe all criticized Russia. Londoners, especially those in the financial world, were well informed of hidden information such as state secrets from other countries. It was surprising, but not shocking, that Russia was found to be behind the attempted assassination of the French emperor. But they were shocked for another reason. ‘We can stop the war now. I won’t make any demands except for Fouche.’ There were not just a few cases in history in which a monarch had shown mercy to an individuaI who tried to kil I them. Richard the Lionheart showed mercy to the crossbowman who killed him, and Louis XV also tried to save Damiens who tried to assassinate him. But was there a case in which the monarch forgave the forces that led and instigated the assassination and asked for reconciliation? There was absolutely no such thing. This was because it was an act that defamed the own legitimacy and divinity of the monarch. But Napoleon asked for reconciliation on a grand scale, while preaching the ‘tolerance of Europe’ that he claimed in Strasbourg, to Russia, which instigated the assassination. Those who were used to the political arena saw that this was a clever political act, but not the others. “Accept the French emperor’s offer right now and stop this pointless war!” “We don’t want to pay a penny for the war on the continent! We don’t want to die fighting for a stupid alliance!!” “The war broke out because of the Slavs! Let the Slavs take care of themselves!” “The government and parliament should not think about war in other countries, but just care about our people’s livelihoods! Bread and wages instead of guns and cannons!” The number of anti-war protesters increased day by day. In this situation, what would happen to someone asking the people to pay more taxes to carry out the war? They would be lucky not to be stoned to death. George Canning and the Tories’ ambitious special war tax ended up in smoke. On the contrary, then had to mobilize the remaining administrative power and security forces to stop and calm the protesters. There was a long way to go, but they tripped over a stone from the beginning. “The former Prime Minister was right. The French emperor across the sea can lift Westminster with just a few words.” Although the general election was over and they had won a victory greater than expected, Prime Minister George Canning looked five years older than he was. The giant’s speech in itself slowed support for the British expeditionary forces and delayed its launch by nearly a month. It had also dampened public expectations and support for the new government. The Tory members clearly realized two things. The fact that their adversaries knew how to torment Westminster in a thousand ways, and that Britain’s enemies were lurking inside.