"Huh? The rebellion in the Continental Congress has actually revived. What are you doing? Are you suppressing it now?"
Hearing that the Continental Congress in North America had resumed, George III's face showed uncontrollable anger.
During the reign of George III, it can be said that the Continental Congress has always been a worry for him. North America was the first British colony to experience large-scale riots. Even with the support of France, the Continental Congress almost
It overturned British colonial rule in North America.
Moreover, on the eve of the Continental Congress preparing to break away from Britain, the Continental Congress actually sent Franklin to London to conduct so-called negotiations with the British government. This was an act of complete contempt for George III.
Just kidding, as a ruler who ruled thousands of miles of territory, how could George III tolerate a mere colony that dared to send an envoy to ask for negotiations!
"Never recognize the independence of the United States, and will forever punish their disobedience with an endless and protracted war."
This was George III's original attitude towards the North American War of Independence.
Hearing George III's question, Augustus did not speak but looked at Fox. Noticing Augustus's gaze, Fox couldn't help but lamented in his heart.
But Fox still had the courage to answer:
"Your Majesty, through the efforts of the government, the Continental Congress in North America has been suppressed, but..."
Seeing that Fox's expression was somewhat evasive and his words were somewhat evasive, George III raised his eyebrows coldly and said.
"But what? Make it clear!"
"Your Majesty, although the Continental Congress was suppressed, the Prussians took the opportunity to seize many of our colonies in North America!"
The news that the Continental Congress had been suppressed certainly made George III feel relieved, but after learning that Prussia had actually invaded its own colonies, George III still frowned and asked:
"How many? In addition, how many troops have we deployed in North America? How can those generals watch our territory being robbed!"
Fox's heart was filled with confusion. He knew that this matter could not be hidden no matter what, not to mention that now that George III had woken up, future government affairs would definitely have to be handed over to George III. Therefore, Fox said:
"Our troops deployed in North America have been almost completely wiped out by the Prussians. Nearly half of our colonies have been robbed. Now the government is deploying troops to North America on a large scale!"
Hearing what Fox said, George III's hands clenched involuntarily, and at the same time, veins were pulsing on the back of his hands.
"Didn't the government protest to Brandenburg? How dare the Prussians do this! I don't want to hear anything else. I just want to know where our country and Prussia have come!"
George III was a very wise ruler. Although mental illness always troubled him during his reign, it must be said that during George III's sober period, compared to his sons, what he did was completely different.
An example of an excellent monarch.
"Prussia has already begun war mobilization. In addition, they have hired the Russian and Swedish navies. Now they officially have the capital to compete with our navy in the North Sea.
On land, the Prussian army has begun to assemble, and according to intelligence, the King of Prussia, William, who had just been crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, officially ordered many princes in the Holy Roman Empire to form a force in the name of his own emperor.
A powerful coalition!"
"Damn it, I just ignored government affairs for a few months, and the situation has actually deteriorated to this point. What on earth does your government do?
Find me Peter immediately, and from now on. Fox, you are no longer the prime minister of the government, including the cabinet officials, please find me the cabinet ministers I appointed before! Bring them directly to Buckingham Palace!"
George III lost his temper, and then ordered Augustus to immediately summon the members of the previous government cabinet.
Hearing George III's words, Fox almost bit his teeth to pieces, but he could only hold back the anger in his heart, otherwise, he would not be able to bear the consequences of acting wild in front of George III.
of.
The news that George III had awakened and was taking charge of the country spread throughout London immediately, and less than an hour after the news came out, Pitt's residence in London was already filled with guests.
During the reign of George III, the Pitt family's position in the top British hierarchy was almost unshakable. First, Pitt's father led Britain to win the Seven Years' War, and then Pitt became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the age of 24. In British history,
Peter Jr. is the youngest Prime Minister and the Prime Minister who has been in charge of the British government for the longest time. He has served as Prime Minister for a total of 20 years. Of course, he is also recognized by later generations as the "first wise man" among all British Prime Ministers.
Obviously, these guests came as soon as possible after learning the news that George III had awakened.
Everyone knows that George III valued little Pitt. Otherwise, George III would not have used part of his power to make the 24-year-old Pitt the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
However, unlike the expressions on the faces of these congratulatory guests, there was no trace of joy on Little Pete's face, and the same expressions as Little Pete's were the members of the cabinet of the previous government.
Everyone knows about the current situation that a war is imminent, and obviously once a war breaks out between Britain and Prussia, it will be another "Seven Years' War", and in the new war, Britain will not have the same advantage as in the last war.
After a while, a royal attendant hurried to Little Pitt's home and conveyed George III's order to see him.
William held a grand banquet in the emperor's palace, which was attended by all the princes of the Holy Roman Empire and high-level Prussians who rushed to Frankfurt.
William did not see Sunigo's name in the attendance list of the princes, which made William feel a little unhappy.
"Isn't Zunigo here yet?"
"Yes. Your Majesty, according to our information, His Excellency Zunigo has just led the army to Bensheim!"
"Damn it, order Ferdinand to lead two divisions to greet the Duke of Hesse immediately. At the same time, tell Ferdinand to disarm all Zunigo's guards! Let the Imperial Council immediately punish him for violating the emperor's order.
Order the arrest of Zunigo on charges!”
Although the current roads and transportation are not as developed as those of later generations, it obviously does not take ten days to get from Hesse to Frankfurt. Even the Archduke Ferdinand of Hungary, who is twice as far away from Hesse, has already arrived. William does not believe it.
What excuse could Zunigo have for delaying his trip?
William has been unhappy with Sunig for a long time. Although Sunig is William's uncle, Sunig has never recognized William's legitimacy. Even when he launched the Mainz strategy in Prussia, he
Zunigo also led the Hessian army to join the camp hostile to Prussia.
Later, when faced with Prussia's solicitation, Zunigo always showed no pretense.
Such actions made William no longer have any affection for his uncle.
"Your Majesty, is this a little too much? After all, Sunigo is the biological brother of Queen Mother Louise, and..."
After hearing William's words, Rocks, who was standing next to William, quickly spoke.
But William had no words from Rocks. William waved his hand and said:
"I have made it very clear in my order. That is, except for the city-states of northern Italy and Switzerland, the rest of the imperial princes must rush to Frankfurt before December 25th! And now except for Zunigo
Except for that, the other princes obeyed my orders very well!
There is only one Zunigo, and his territory is not far from Frankfurt, but he dares to openly disobey my orders. As the emperor of the empire, he will not be severely punished. How can I rule the empire!
Tell the Imperial Council that Zunigo is unforgivable!"
William's voice was not deliberately lowered, at least the princes of the empire around him heard it clearly.
After hearing William's merciless treatment of Sunigo, these imperial princes became a little frightened.
William's attack on Suniego was also a strategy to scare the monkeys. After all, now Suniego was openly disobeying William's orders, and everyone knew the blood relationship between Suniego and William. In this case, since this chicken has already
If he jumped out, then William would naturally not show mercy.
At least in William's view, the effect of this trick was very significant. At least after William's order was issued, the surrounding princes looked at William with more fear.
"Okay, everyone, today is Christmas Eve. You can relax as much as you want. You don't need to stay here with me!"
After speaking, William smiled and let the princes disperse.
This time William came to Frankfurt. In addition to leading the Royal Guards and the newly reorganized 25th Division, he also asked Ferdinand to lead two divisions from Stuttgart.
Regarding the possible Anglo-Prussian war, in William's vision, the nine divisions under Dessau must be the main force, followed by William's own Royal Guards and the 25th Division, plus 30,000 troops
The imperial princes allied forces, so that the army strength that could be used to fight the British reached 170,000.
This scale was only William's advance plan. If William thought about it, once the war reached a stalemate, William would need to mobilize at least 100,000 troops to participate in the battle.
Although Britain is not an army power, and its army has never exceeded 100,000 troops, this does not mean that the power of the British army can be underestimated.
As a large empire with tens of millions of people under its rule, if Britain is really ruthless, its military strength can definitely exceed 100,000 in a few months. Even if it wants to fight a war that will overwhelm the country, then the British
With the expansion of military strength, it will definitely not be less than that of Prussia.
And if the Anglo-Prussian war breaks out, there is no doubt that it will become a national war.
The reason why these princes were not asked to recruit more troops was precisely because William did not want these princes to escape his control. In addition, each prince had his own thoughts. Once these princes led too many troops, it was difficult to guarantee that they would not give birth to unsound troops.
The thoughts you should have.
Karl had been watching William silently. Before, Karl had guessed that William must have unusual thoughts in convening the princes on such a large scale. But when he arrived in Frankfurt, he felt more uneasy.
But Karl was not worried that William would catch all the princes like them in one fell swoop.
After all, Prussia and Britain are almost at the point where their subordinates will see their true destiny. If William were to deal with princes like them at this time, it would obviously be that the Holy Roman Empire would be in chaos.
In this case, it would also run counter to Prussia's interests.
December 25. At two o'clock in the afternoon, in the Imperial Parliament Hall in Frankfurt.
The princes of the empire gathered together, and at this moment, William, escorted by a group of Prussian guards, walked to the center of the parliament hall and stood there.
"As the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, I am now applying to the Imperial Parliament to change the name of the country. The name of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation is no longer suitable for the current situation.
The new imperial title should be the simplified German Empire!"
William's words caused a huge stir in the parliament hall. The members of the Imperial Parliament and many princes of the empire became dumbfounded because of William's words.
Holy Roman Empire. This name has been used for thousands of years, but at this time, as the emperor of the empire, William actually proposed to change the name of the country. This is simply more amazing than changing the emperor!
A brand new empire is bound to have a new political system, and for these imperial princes, they are more concerned about the impact of William's proposed change of the country's name!
However, in the parliament hall, there were two people whose reactions were completely different from those of the other princes. These two people were Karl and Ferdinand, two brothers.
The Holy Roman Empire has special significance to the Habsburg family. Although the current emperor is a Prussian and not a Habsburg, it must be said that William first borrowed the name of Habsburg.
Don’t forget, William’s purpose in marrying Anna was to give himself a Habsburg aura.
Because of this, the reason why William ascended to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire was mostly due to the strength of Prussia. However, the reason why he was so quickly accepted by the Holy See and the world was that Habsburg's aura also played a big role in it.
The role of.
After all, in the eyes of many people, the dispute between Prussia and Austria over the throne of the Holy Roman Empire was an internal fight between the sons-in-law and sons of the Habsburg family.
But now William is demanding to change the country's name, which is tantamount to completely denying Habsburg's status in the Holy Roman Empire.
The new country will inevitably be ruled by a new dynasty.
The German Empire that William mentioned obviously has nothing to do with the Habsburg family. In other words, no matter how this new German Empire will develop in the future, the Habsburg family will not use force as long as they do not use force.
They all lost the right to inherit this empire.
"I protest. The name of the Holy Roman Empire has lasted for nearly a thousand years and has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Changing the name at this time will undoubtedly cause unrest among the people of the empire and even lead to unrest in the empire. This is the root cause of cholera!"
Before Karl could speak, a small prince who was related to the Habsburg family stood up and said.
In Europe, blood ties are far less profound than family ties.
In other words, even a person who has no blood relationship will have the right to inherit as long as he is adopted or becomes a wife.
This can be seen from the Seven Years' War, when Theresa and Frederick fought to the death for no other reason than to allow Theresa's husband to inherit Theresa's father's empire.
"The times have changed. The new situation requires a new empire. There has never been a millennium empire in history. Even the Eastern Roman Empire has become a thing of the past. Constantinople is even more occupied by pagans, so I think
His Majesty’s proposal is absolutely correct!”
Just after the little prince finished speaking, Count Bayreuth, who was also a member of the Hohenzollern family, spoke.
However, the Habsburg princes did not give up. Previously, they could ignore the competition between William and Austria for the position of emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. But now that the interests of the entire Habsburg family are at stake, these princes
Naturally, it cannot be ignored.
"No, how can the country's name be changed so easily!"
"The Holy Roman Empire of the German nation and the German Empire are actually just simplified country names, so they are completely acceptable!"
In the end, the day's meeting ended without any problem, and William watched all this as if it had nothing to do with him after throwing out the motion.
Except for William, none of the great princes of the empire spoke.
However, this situation changed the next day, and the entire scene almost became one-sided.
Finally, the Imperial Parliament announced in the form of a decree that the name of the German nation, the Holy Roman Empire, would be abolished from now on and changed to the German Empire.
This also means that Christmas, December 25, 1794, became the founding day of the German Empire.
And William also ordered as the first emperor of the German Empire that the German Empire inherited everything from the Holy Roman Empire. The empire would no longer enfeoff the princes from the day it was established, but at the same time it also guaranteed the relationship between all Holy Roman Empire princes and the central government of the empire.
Subordination, the central government of the empire will continue to recognize the semi-independence of these princes.
The new imperial capital was Brandenburg, with Frankfurt as the imperial co-capital.
The head of the empire is the emperor, who is served by the King of Prussia. He has the power to appoint the prime minister and senior officials, convene and dissolve parliament, declare war, and make peace. He is also the supreme commander of the imperial army. The imperial prime minister is served by the Prime Minister of Prussia and is only responsible to the emperor.
The legislative power of the empire belongs to the Imperial Parliament and the Federal Parliament. The Imperial Parliament is composed of the Imperial Parliament and the Prussian Government Senate. The number is limited to less than 150 people. The Federal Parliament is composed of 58 representatives appointed by the state governments.