The Spanish throne succession crisis in 1868 actually has its roots traced back to 1700, that is, the succession crisis of Charles II of Spain 168 years ago.
On November 1, 1700, King Charles II of Spain died without any heirs to inherit the throne. According to family relationships, he could be inherited by either the Habsburg dynasty of Austria or the Bourbon dynasty of France.
Because Charles II himself belongs to a side line of the Habsburg dynasty, but he is also the brother-in-law of French Emperor Louis XIV. Unlike China, Europe is not bound by the so-called family bloodline, and any woman can be a queen. It is also common for the wife's family to inherit the throne.
The then French Emperor Louis XIV continued this relationship and actively engaged in diplomacy with Spain. In the end, Charles II's will determined that the throne would be passed on to one of Louis XIV's grandsons, Philippe of Anjou.
How could other kingdoms be unaware of Louis XIV’s wishful thinking? At that time, the land ruled by Charles II was not only Spain, but also a small principality in Italy, part of modern Belgium, and countless vast colonies in America, Asia, and Africa. .
Once the grandson of Louis XIV ascends the throne, he will naturally get the most benefits from these territories. France was at its peak at that time, and colonies in India, Madagascar, Canada, and the Mississippi River were all acquired at that time.
It was precisely because of such strong national power that Louis XIV dared to build the magnificent Palace of Versailles.
Now he has put his black hand into Spain's pocket again. If he controls Spain's colonies in disguise, France's national power will be boundless.
Because of this, Britain, the Netherlands, Austria, and Prussia in Germany rose up in opposition. They formed an alliance and decided to fight France. So, starting in 1701, the War of Spanish Succession broke out.
This war lasted from 1701 to 1713. Both sides won and lost, but generally speaking, the coalition forces of Britain, Austria, and Prussia had the advantage. If Russia in the north was not ready to make a move, I am afraid that both sides would not have ceased fire by 1713. Enter into a contract.
On April 11, 1713, France and Spain were on one side, and Britain, the Netherlands, Brandenburg, Savoy, and Portugal were on the other side. The Peace of Utrecht was signed. In 1714, Offa signed the Treaty of Utrecht. Treaty of Rashtat.
After this war, France's rapid expansion of national power was severely beaten, and a large number of colonies and territories were ceded. In fact, North America lost the most colonies, and even some territories in Italy and South Germany were ceded.
But France kept Philip's throne, and the Bourbons finally took control of Spain. In order to prevent France and Spain from uniting into one country, the British specifically stated in the treaty that Philip and his descendants could never inherit the throne of the French king, and Spain and Spain France can never be united.
This is the root of the chaotic inheritance rights in Spain. Europe has a very complicated genealogy of nobles, which even requires the training of specialized officials to spend a lifetime on research. Sometimes kings of various countries cannot figure out the kinship between themselves and other kings. It must rely on professionals to calculate bit by bit from thick files.
Why do European nobles have very long names? It's not meaningless. Each word represents an identity of this person. A truly knowledgeable person can tell the family relationship of the other person from the name.
The Spanish succession crisis of the 18th century recurred in the 19th century. Queen Isabella's rule could not continue. The incompetent Isabella had already made Spain into a mess. No matter how much France provided her, Military and financial support cannot withstand her repeated defeats. People's hearts and minds are gone, and mud cannot hold up the wall.
Now all countries are considering the issue of the heir after her death. France certainly hopes that Isabella's son Alfonso will succeed. Although there are rumors that this child was born from an affair between Isabella and the guard, but Europeans No one cares about the pedigree, they only care about the title.
As long as Alfonso is Isabella's biological son, he is a child of the Bourbon dynasty and is naturally pro-French. However, the Spanish provisional government that launched the rebellion has been completely disappointed with the Bourbon dynasty. Of course, they are also afraid of future attacks. Alfonso retaliated, so they set their sights on another system of legal succession to the Spanish throne.
That was the Habsburg dynasty. Through a vast array of genealogy materials, the provisional government finally identified two candidates. One was an Italian nobleman, and the other was Prince Leopp who lived in Prussia. The Spanish royal family is the closest.
The Italian candidate was obviously just to make up the numbers. There were only two people who really had the strength to compete for the Spanish throne. One was Alfonso, supported by France, and the other was Prince Leopp, supported by the provisional governments of Prussia and Spain.
The fuse of the Franco-Prussian War was finally lit at this moment, but no one expected that the person who lit the fuse was actually a Chinese woman, she was Fang Guan.
Fang Guan, under the secret orders of Prussia's iron-blooded Prime Minister Bismarck, and with the assistance of a large number of intelligence personnel, deliberately disclosed in the Netherlands heavy intelligence that Prussia was preparing to support Prince Leopp to inherit the Spanish throne.
French intelligence officers began taking action that night, and the whole of Europe was in an uproar. Under Prussia's deliberate leakage, some top secrets were quickly passed to Britain, France and other countries.
Napoleon III was furious. He did not expect that Prussia would actually formulate a plan to secretly escort Leopp back to Spain. The Prussian Navy secretly escorted Leopp to La Coruna, Spain, in the name of entering the Atlantic for training.
Where did Leopp begin to have secret contact with the Provisional Government, and began to hire troops and even elite Prussian veterans. When the situation became serious enough, he would send troops into Madrid with the Provisional Government to declare the succession to the throne.
"It's so shameless, Prussia... You are all bastards. France and Spain will never allow you to get involved... Send an order to the French Navy to go to the first level of alert, blockade the English Channel for me, and keep an eye on the Prussian navy..."
"Inform the British side that Prussian ambitions must be suppressed. A unified Germany is definitely not in our interests."
The entire French military was mobilized, and the main fleet in the port immediately went to sea to tightly blockade the Bay of Biscay, the English Channel, and the southern North Sea.
French diplomats began to take action, and nine protest messages were sent to Berlin in three days, demanding an explanation from Prussia. The ambassador in London held secret talks for four hours at the British Prime Minister's residence, and then the British Royal Navy was dispatched to join them. During the French blockade.
A strong smell of gunpowder suddenly wafted over Europe.
Note: This is the second update. There are three updates today.
