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The Fox of France - Chapter 502
🕑 Added 2024-04-27 04:10:45 +0000 UTCChapter 502: Soft Power
Propaganda for the Anglo-American War must not only be conducted in the Americas but also in Europe. Especially now, the completion of the communications tower on Flores Island, which the French acquired from the Portuguese, has finally been realized. With this tower and the relay through several other towers, direct radio communication between Louisiana and Europe has finally been established.
This is a significant event. Before this, Europe and the Americas were separated by vast oceans, and the speed of message transmission was entirely limited to the speed of ship travel. An event occurring in the Americas would take several months to be reported back to Europe, and for Europe to respond and send decisions back, another few months would pass. By then, the situation might have already changed dramatically, making the original decisions inappropriate.
In fact, not only did the European mother countries and their colonies face this issue, but any sprawling empire encountered similar problems. Due to the limitations in the speed of information transmission, these nations always struggled with controlling their peripheral regions. If they insisted on centralized control, the empire would become like a Thunder Dragon. Considering the speed of nerve conduction, if someone were to chop its tail, it would take half a day before it even knew. And the response speed of a large empire would be even slower. Of course, this is still better than only finding out decades later that the Red Rabbit Country believes in Marxism.
Thus, just like those vast ancient empires, European nations could only entrust the governance of their colonies in the Americas and other regions to viceroys. These viceroys, who could not inherit their positions, had almost feudal powers. However, this made the European mother countries constantly worry about whether the viceroys would split off or declare independence, perhaps even establishing their own kingdoms. To firmly control these colonies, European nations had to ensure that they had an overwhelming advantage over the colonies, capable of reconquering the entire colony with just a minor force, even if it meant stifling the colonies' development, especially their industrial development.
For instance, the counterproductive policies implemented by Spain in its American colonies were not without reason; they aimed to suppress the development of these colonies to ensure the mother country's rule.
However, after the independence of North America, the situation changed. In the original history, after the independence of the United States, its neighbors were weakened colonies, allowing the U.S. to expand rapidly. Aside from Canada, which received support from Britain and managed to survive, no colonial nation could withstand the U.S. Even before the French returned to the Americas, the Spanish were constantly bullied by the Americans.
Thus, European nations found themselves in a dilemma. If they continued to suppress the development of their colonies to the extent that they couldn’t even produce a single bullet, it would be easy to maintain control, but they would continuously be bullied by the U.S. Today, losing five cities; tomorrow, ten more. On the other hand, allowing the colonies to develop even a slightly weaker industrial capacity than the U.S. would indeed make them stronger against the U.S., but it also led to another problem: the colonies might simply declare independence like the Americans did.
Considering the Americans might attack, selling off the colonies for money could be an option; if the colonies declared independence, then everything would be lost. Therefore, in the original history, the choice was almost always to continue suppressing the development of the colonies. However, when Napoleon reclaimed Louisiana and began its extensive development, many Europeans waited to see the French make a fool of themselves. They believed it wouldn’t be long before the developed Louisiana colony would likely experience an independence movement, potentially leading to another North American war of independence.
Of course, some speculated whether Napoleon might consider sending his son or a brother to rule as king there. For instance, neighbor Franz repeatedly hinted that if Napoleon transformed the Louisiana overseas province into the Kingdom of Louisiana, they could provide a princess who could serve as the queen.
However, the advent of wireless communication technology made efficient centralized control over vast empires possible. After the communication line was established, the Louisiana overseas province truly became just a larger, more distant province.
One of the most direct impacts of this new communication line was reflected in the news.
With the opening of this communication line, news from the Americas could appear in European newspapers within a few hours, and vice versa.
This advantage in information dissemination made the already dominant French media system even more pronounced. For instance, in Europe, coverage of American news was practically monopolized by the French. Other countries' media could only reprint news. In the Americas, the coverage of European affairs became the exclusive domain of the French media, as they were the only ones with fresh news.
Today, the focus of the French newspapers is of course on the war. However, the current wars in Europe are not intense. The Eight-Nation Alliance has still not landed in Britain, and in Spain, the blockade of the Gibraltar fortress continues. However, the British had prepared well and had stockpiled plenty of supplies
, so for now, there are no issues with a lack of provisions. As for a direct assault, looking at the Gibraltar fortress, everyone has lost interest.
So, the current European wars are almost like sitting wars, which are truly uninspiring. While the level of these wars is still high, the intensity is not severe enough to cause much pain to the people on the European continent. Instead, the wars have somewhat boosted the economy. So, Europeans not only are not afraid of the war, but many also feel it's like watching a drama. The wars in North America, however, immediately piqued everyone's interest as soon as the reports arrived.
Previously, French newspapers had reported on the British army's pillaging along the North American coasts, but those were old news from several months ago. Moreover, due to the unreliable communication channels, the reports were relatively brief. After the new communication channel opened, The Scientific Truth Gazette and The Businessman Gazette provided detailed descriptions of the situation in North America.
The Scientific Truth Gazette first devoted an entire page to a systematic review of the situation before France entered the war, including the British occupation of Washington and the subsequent British torching of American coastal cities. At that time, the U.S. seemed utterly defenseless and was being toyed with by the British.
Then it described France's entry into the war. As soon as France joined the war, the entire situation changed dramatically, with the British beginning to retreat while the French forces won consecutive victories. Although The Scientific Truth Gazette also pointed out that the French forces involved in North America were primarily militiamen and far from comparable to the regular French army in combat prowess, the British were retreating more due to logistical difficulties. But the continuous victorious reports still filled the French people with pride.
"Hehe, even our French militiamen can make the British retreat. Indeed, France is unrivaled in the world!" a young man proudly exclaimed while reading the newspaper.
"The militiamen in the Louisiana overseas province are mostly German-speaking overseas citizens. Even they can achieve such victories. Imagine if we went there; wouldn't we make the British flee in utter disarray?" another young man couldn't help but remark.
"Why haven't we landed in Britain yet?" someone else asked.
"But the newspaper also mentioned that our successive victories are mainly because our navy cut off their supplies, plus we have a clear advantage in troop numbers, and for some reason, the British prefer to surrender to us, because we are civilized."
"Where did it say that? There's such a thing?"
"Flip to the back; it says that some American soldiers refuse to accept British surrenders, even resorting to lynching the captives. Look at this report; it mentions a reporter witnessing Americans bayoneting captive British soldiers. And there's this part..." The man simply started reading aloud.
"...Near Aurora, about a company of British soldiers surrendered to Captain Bock's cavalry unit. Since Captain Bock was in a hurry to pursue the enemy, he handed over these prisoners to Captain Andrew of the nearby American 3rd Georgia Legion, instructing them to escort the prisoners to our POW camp in Fuller. Captain Andrew readily agreed, promising to deliver them to the camp.
However, after completing his mission, Captain Bock discovered that there were no records of these prisoners being received at the camp—they had vanished. To prove that Captain Bock had not falsified his military achievements, our forces contacted the 3rd Georgia Legion and located Captain Andrew who had received the prisoners. Captain Andrew confirmed that he and his infantry battalion had taken custody of ninety-two prisoners from us in the Aurora area. Regarding the prisoners' whereabouts, Captain Andrew claimed that during their transfer to Fuller, the prisoners attempted a mutiny, trying to seize the Americans' firearms. Consequently, in self-defense, the Americans killed them all."
Hm, you guys tell me, do you really believe that a group of prisoners, who had already surrendered their weapons and were defenseless, would actively attack a larger, fully armed military force? The Brits are not nice people, but they're not idiots. Undoubtedly, these people were slaughtered by those Americans."
"Those American guys are from Georgia? I remember their hometown was terribly messed up by the British, and the British conducted a 'scorched earth' policy there. It's imaginable that they would do such a thing," one person said.
"Indeed," another person added, "Although they have some reasons for their actions, it's not the behavior of civilized people. And, if the British were captured by them, I wouldn't say anything—after all, the Brits are savages too, let savages deal with savages as they wish, as savages have no honor. But in this case, the British surrendered to us! We guaranteed their rights under the 'Holy See and French Republic Joint Declaration' upon their surrender. Their actions are a trampling of our honor."
"Savages don't understand these things!" another person remarked.
"Damn, yet..."
"Yet they are still our allies. This is really... even the Turks are more civilized and enlightened than them."
Meanwhile, in North America, French newspapers would, conversely, introduce Europe's cultural achievements, focusing on the 'Holy See and French Republic Joint Declaration', promoting a spirit of tolerance and elevating it to whether a nation or people are civilized.
Of course, this included clear or implied criticism of American war atrocities. These reports resonated differently in various parts of the U.S.
In the South, Southerners didn't care about these preachings. To them, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth was the law of Moses!
But in the North, Northerners were relatively more concerned about Europeans' views of them. So, Northerners often blamed Southerners for being too extreme, affecting America's international image and dragging them down. Of course, Northerners knew better than to say this directly, as it would cause an uproar among Southern slave owners. Instead, they adopted a different approach, joining the French in praising the spirit of tolerance, celebrating the 'Holy See and French Republic Joint Declaration', and strongly advocating for America to also respect universal values and actively join the declaration to truly become a civilized nation.
With France's advancement and strength, the universal values espoused by the French always seemed particularly good and spirited. In America, especially among the Northern populace, this was particularly attractive. As a result, many in the U.S., especially in the Northern states, though they might not speak French, spiritually aligned with the French ethos.
And these people, as soon as the war paused, immediately noticed that the U.S. still had many 'uncivilized' aspects, such as American slavery.
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