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Notes -
Can you explain the last references?
Reference one: When Russia lost its war and the better part of its navy against Japan, everyone expected it to pay a heavy price. Russian statesman Sergei Witte managed to minimize territorial concessions and avoid the question of reparations altogether.
Reference two: after a certain Napoleon was finally sent to his retirement home on Elba, the victors assembled in Vienna to redraw the map of Europe. Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord managed to maneuver himself into the negotiations and ensured France lost only its new acquisitions and not, say, Alsace or Nice. Austria, on the other hand, ended up in a worse position than it was in 1790.
Extreme pedantry, I know, but Nice wasn't part of France immediately before or after Napoleon:
It only became part of France for good in 1860:
Thank you. I should've trusted my nagging doubt about Nice and just written "Provence".
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