Parte Undici
March 2nd, 1869: The Paris Commune is finally put down. Silvio Barletto and Otto Von Bismarck quickly organize for a peace treaty to be drafted and signed at Frankfurt within the month.
March 17th, Antonio Romano, begins preaching across the region of Campania. The Roman Catholic priest has been preaching for 2 months in Rome and Lazio to moderate success. He began his public speech campaign against the Old Catholics after he was thrown out of his Parish by them for leading a Roman Catholic Christmas mass. His message is to bring Italy back into God's kingdom with the acceptance of the true Catholic faith. Some of his supporters say he is on a heroic quest to meet the wounded Prime Minister in Calabria and break his hardened heart into accepting Roman Catholicism again. However, his speeches also meets increasing opposition by Old Catholic and liberal-nationalist dissenters that condemn him as a dupe of the enemies of Italy.
March 25th, in Frankfurt, delegates from France, Italy, and Germany meet to discuss a peace treaty. The French delegation is quickly informed that they shall not be allowed to discuss the terms of the treaty, but they are just there to sign the document. France's army and navy have been completely destroyed in the war against the Italo-German alliance and large areas of France are under military occupation by alliance forces.
The Treaty states that Italy is to gain Nice, Savoy, Corsica, and the French Riviera up to Hyeres. Eastern Algeria from the border with Tunisia up to occupied Oran, and the recognition of France that Tunisia is within the Italian sphere of influence. Germany is to gain all the territory of the current French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine up to the Meuse, as well as Luxembourg. France recognizes the existence and territorial integrity of the Italian and German Empires.
-French citizens of areas annexed by Italy and Germany shall be given an year and half to decide between keeping their French nationality and emigrating, or to remain in the region and become Italian/German citizens.
-The French shares of the Suez Canal Company shall be seized and divided between Italy and Germany in equal parts.
-France shall pay a war indemnity of six billion Francs (3 to Italy and 3 to Germany), submitting to occupation by Italo-German troops until the amount is rendered in full. A billion francs are to be paid to the King of the Netherlands as indemnity for the German annexation of Luxembourg.
-France shall cede its holdings in Indochina (Cambodia and Cochin china) to be turned into a joint Italo-German protectorate.
The French delegation was appalled at the terms of the Treaty. It was clear, however, that just as Austria years ago, with the current condition of their country, France had no choice but to accept it. A last ditch effort was made by the French delegation to at least get an amendment. The French provisional government appealed to Barletto that Indochina remain in the hands of the French. Barletto agreed immediately, later telling Italian delegates that he is only concerned with Italian interests within Europe. Bismarck is not bothered overmuch with Barletto's allowance of France to keep Indochina, since at this time he has limited interest in Germany’s colonial expansion and wishes to avoid a clash with the imperial interests of Britain. The French agree to the amended treaty and sign it on the 27th.
April 1st, Barletto returns to cheering crowds in Rome. The nation of Italy is overjoyed at their gains and revels at its new empire. The crowd is overjoyed also that their beloved fearless leader Francesco di Castagna is making a great recovery. He gives a statement to a national paper from his estate in Calabria saying "Italy, after centuries at the feet of France and Austria, has finally risen up and beaten its great oppressors. This is the Italian age. This is the power of the Italian people".
Silvio Barletto celebrates victory in a different way... Barletto pronounces that this day is to be forever remembered in Italy as the day that the Italian underdog beats the tyrannical French. He goes on saying that with France and Austria "out of the way", Italy will focus on its eastward destiny. Barletto then lays claims to Albania and the Ionian Islands, to the evident surprise of every government official in sight. He continues his rant for another 40 minutes to a rather smaller crowd than when he began his speech.
April 2nd, As news of the previous day's speech surfaces in Britain and the Ottoman Empire, confidence in Silvio Barletto begins to wither away. PM Gladstone of the United Kingdom, Constantine, King of Greece, and Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, all express great distaste for the recent blabber of the Italian PM. To their statements, Barletto responds that "Italian destiny is inevitable. It is a fact that the world will soon have to live with". Many Italian officials, including di Castagna, cringe upon hearing this. They fear that these reckless words will forever stain any Italian attempts at expansion.
April 3rd, Barletto's newest batch of comments have sparked high tension in Europe. in Britain, Prime Minister Gladstone gives a conference. In it, he states that recent talk of Italian territorial ambitions in the Balkans, combined with the culmination of recent years’ events, appears to be an intolerable disruption of the tranquility of Europe. He then continues that British economic and diplomatic relations with Barletto's Italy are on hold.
Simultaneously in Constantinople, Abdul Hamid II declares the Ottoman Empire is in full support of the British and suspends its economic and diplomatic relations with Barletto's Italy. He finishes by wishing di Castagna well and hoping he recovers quickly.
April 4th, Bismarck, alarmed by what has transpired within the past 48 hours and not wanting to find himself in a fight with Britain for the sake of Italian breakneck expansionism, exercises pressure on Italian elites to rein in Italy until the "true" Prime Minister’s health has recovered.
In Italy, high moods related to victory switch to panic as people and investors fear that foreign investment from Britain, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire shall soon flee the country. With di Castagna's Italy investing in massive building projects from the past near decade, many have not been paid off yet, not to mention military expenses from the recent war, and debts run rampant. With investor confidence seemingly crumbling, markets across the country crash. There is also the fear that with most of the army either exhausted from the recently finished war with France or still mired with occupation duties, Italy shall not be able to defend itself from threat of invasion.
