Marshal McMahon looked at the young officer with admiring eyes. He said calmly, "Everyone in the world thinks that the French Empire and the Republic are incompatible with each other. In fact, this view is wrong!"
"Really, you are all wrong...or maybe some people with ulterior motives have instilled wrong ideas in you!"
"The First French Republic, which was born during the Great Revolution, was finally overthrown by Napoleon the Great. The God of War established the First French Empire!"
"Do you think the First Republic and the First Empire hate each other? Are they mortal enemies?"
"Wrong! Those are the thoughts deliberately instilled into you by people with ulterior motives. The real history is not like that at all. If it were not for the people's choice, then the Great Revolution would not have happened, and Napoleon the Great would not have been in power!"
"The First Republic and the First Empire are essentially one and the same!"
ah! The young officer suddenly looked confused. He really couldn't accept such an answer, because it was completely different from what he heard in Paris!
The marshal saw the young man's confusion. He smiled and patted his shoulder. "Kid, let me tell you! The real history is not what you heard..."
The mystery of history was gradually solved, and the marshal opened a curtain that had been sealed for a long time!
It goes without saying that the French Revolution was of great significance to human history. It shattered the supremacy of theocracy and defeated feudal rulers.
Although this revolution was full of bloody violence, and the process made many historians shake their heads and sigh, the positive significance of this revolution cannot be denied!
All people are created equal. This sentence is a matter of course in the minds of people in the 21st century. However, before the Great Revolution, anyone who dared to say this sentence would die!
What the society of that era believed in was that all people are not created equal!
The son of a cobbler should be a cobbler for the rest of his life. At most, he could change his career to become a carpenter!
The son of a farmer should be a tenant for the rest of his life. If he wants to change his destiny, he may only rely on sailing to become a sailor and pirate!
Before the Great Revolution, the hierarchical system in Europe was extremely strict. Why did the Age of Discovery begin? Perhaps there is a source of motivation that we cannot ignore!
That is, in continental Europe, the people at the bottom have no possibility of changing their class. It may be easy to go down, but it is absolutely impossible to go up!
The ruling class is always a closed circle. Without that bloodline, you will never be able to enter!
This was the biggest difference between Europe and China at that time. Although the Chinese class also existed, at least the imperial examination path was left, and there was even another path of rebellion!
The people at the bottom of Europe really had no way out, so they had no choice but to take sea ships to the New World, to the colonies, and immigrate in an attempt to start a new life there.
It is a pity that the New World and the colonies are not paradise. In addition, it is impossible for all the people at the bottom of Europe to leave their homes, and the feudal lords will not agree.
How do the extremely poor people left behind live? Are we going to be oppressed as untouchables for generations to come? It was in this context that the French Revolution broke out!
Thousands of years of oppression accumulated a majestic power like a volcanic eruption. When it was released, the emperors throughout Europe trembled!
The tragic end of the French emperor and nobles frightened the British royal family, the Austrian royal family, the Prussian royal family... all the major royal families in Europe at that time!
Is this a big deal? Untouchables dare to kill the emperor? What if the people in our own country follow suit? Will London, Berlin, Madrid, Vienna, Moscow...all the capitals of the kingdom have to erect guillotines?
Behead all the kings and queens?
Now, driven by fear, the kings of all Europe completely united and began to form an anti-French alliance to launch a war against the First French Republic!
This is the first anti-French alliance!
The United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Prussia, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Spain, the Italian Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Holy Roman Empire, which is Austria... these countries formed a coalition to fight against France!
Marshal McMahon seemed to be immersed in the smoke of the war. He was silent for two minutes before speaking again, "My child! The most important difficulty for the First Empire back then was to protect itself!"
"The achievements of the Revolution must be protected! If the Anti-French Alliance wins, all the articles established by the Revolution will become toilet paper for those kings!"
"What a declaration of human rights! Even civilians can be knighted! What abolition of slavery! All of this will be smashed and abolished, and France will return to the dark age again..."
"For the First Republic, the only thing they had to consider at that time was survival! Not the name of a republic in name only!"
"My child, the name is not important! Do you think it's okay to join in and say that France has returned to the slavery era of ancient Rome and ancient Greece, and then change the name of a republic without being heard?"
"No! Absolutely not. The social system has not changed. What's the use of just changing the name?" the eighteen-year-old lieutenant said loudly.
"That's right, kid, that's absolutely not okay!"
"Who crushed the anti-French alliance in the end? It was Napoleon Bonaparte, our God of War Emperor! He used his genius commanding skills to turn all European kings into stupid pigs!"
"He used military means to safeguard the achievements of the Great Revolution! Children, you must remember that any social system needs military means to protect it!"
"But the Republic back then did not have the ability to protect itself! Those revolutionaries who had more than enough revolutionary enthusiasm but insufficient military expertise had no choice!"
"Continue to take charge of the army and fight against the anti-French alliance? To be honest, they don't have that professional knowledge, because those people did not receive a really good education before the Great Revolution, they don't understand!"
"Military is a very professional field. Without a good education and talent like a genius, you can't do it at all! So they can only hand over military power to Napoleon the Great!"
"It was Napoleon's guns that protected the fruits of victory of the Revolution, and it was he who formally confirmed in the form of law that the spirit of the Revolution was legal and unchangeable!"
"Although Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor, and although he changed the republic into an empire, the internal operation of France is actually the same as that of the First Republic!"
"This was the most important reason why people supported the Bonaparte family at that time!"
"Because...because, the spirit that all people are born equal was maintained by Napoleon the Great with powerful military means! This is what the motherland is grateful to him for!"
"This is what the people want from the God of War!"
"Child! Do you understand now? The First Republic and the First Empire are two sides of the same coin! They are brothers from the same body!"
"The Republic is nothing but a manifestation of the civil and political power of the Great Revolution, while the First Empire is a manifestation of the martial arts of the Great Revolution!"
"It's not hatred, they are not enemies in the first place!"
With a bang, it was like a thunder exploded in the eighteen-year-old captain's mind, and the eyes of many soldiers around him also widened.
