Installed King Louis XVIII Throws in with English, Austrian Patrons
Calls for 300,000 Frenchmen in new Invasion of Russia
With the departure of Tsar Alexander I and the child-King Friedrich Wilhelm IV the "peace conference" of Vienna has been declared dead. The ostensible reason for this total breakdown in diplomacy is the fate of Poland and Saxony, with the Russians and Prussians moving to annex their neighbors and Austria and Britain forming a coalition to oppose them. It is a regrettable state of affairs that after only a few short months of peace, Europe is coming to war again.
Reports from Vienna detail several heated exchanges of insults at the highest level, begging the question of how much of the upcoming war is driven by personal vendetta. The preferences of the people of Poland and Saxony, meanwhile, have not been consulted.
"In long weeks of discussion the Tsar of Russia has shown no interest in peace", chief diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord has reported, "and in hindsight the conflict we now face may have been a foregone conclusion." He has advised the King to begin preparations for a new and expansive war - perhaps wars? - on behalf of France's former occupiers, the English and Hapsburg Empires.
Louis XVIII Bourbon, handpicked by the allies to restore the French monarchy, has called for a muster of 300,000 men to support the coalition of France's former enemies. It is still uncertain where the inexperienced new King pulled this number from, as this would be near the number of Frenchmen who fought alongside Napoleon at the height of the Empire. Nor is it clear where in the wider war effort these soldiers will be stationed, or what exactly France stands to gain from a long march to Warsaw and beyond.
A number of veterans of the 1812 Russian campaign agreed to speak with us. Of the 400,000 Frenchmen who served in Napoleon's fateful campaign, it's estimated that less than 20,000 still live. To a man, none we spoke with believed that their brethren would lay down their lives so for the Bourbon King.
Former Armée Capitaine Jean-Luc, who asked his full name be excluded for concerns of reprisal, held his head in his hands in visible exasperation as he was read excerpts from King Louis' address. "The King is a fool and so is anyone advising him. If this truly comes to pass, all that will be left to defend France will be old men and boys."
A new slate of war taxes is expected to be announced within days, though rumors of British financial assistance may mitigate that. Prices of food and clothing have already risen, as speculators and price-gaugers anticipate the shortages to come. As our brave men march to fates uncertain, those they leave behind do not expect much better.