Chapter 101:
Chapter 101 boutique
In recent decades, Prussia’s continuous development and growth, has long made Austria envious and jealous, this time it is their turn to be unlucky, everyone is naturally happy to see the joke.
“Speaking of Prussia, not long ago they also used the name of saving the German state to seek diplomatic support from us, after being rejected, they spread unfavorable remarks against us everywhere in the German region.
At this point in time, in folklore the Kingdom of Prussia is on the verge of becoming a national hero in Germany, while the great Austria is relegated to the background!” Metternich said with a frown
Hearing this news, the faces of the people were ugly, Austria was the leader of the German states, from the perspective of nationalism, the one who stood up for the two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein at this time should be Austria.
However, geographically Austria and the two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were separated from each other by Prussia, and it was natural that they could not do anything without benefit.
Now that the Kingdom of Prussia boasted of being the savior of Germany, it was just another slap in the face of Austria.
Historically, Austria was limited to civil strife and did not have the energy to participate, but now that the internal conflicts were about to be quelled, international affairs were less likely to be involved.
Prime Minister Felix said in a cold voice: “Humph! The Prussians are really too unbridled, we must give them a little color!”
Metternich shook his head and said, “I’m afraid that won’t be easy, we can’t stop the Prussians when it comes to Schleswig and Holstein or we’ll make the nationalists in the German region think that we’re traitors to our country.”
With the rise of nationalism, people could no longer ignore the influence of public opinion, and Austria, as the boss of the German states, had to stand behind Prussia at this time, it was a kidnapping of public opinion.
Since it was kidnapped, naturally, Austria should not be expected to contribute much, and the diplomatic pressure should still be resisted by the Prussians themselves.
Franz suddenly changed his face, historically Austria was forced on board by Prussia, and it took the joint efforts of Prussia and Austria to resist the international pressure and recover the two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.
However, after the end of the action, Prussia and Austria did not take long to turn their backs on each other, and Austria worked for Prussia once for nothing, not to mention that it was also beaten up and half paralyzed.
Although this was something that happened more than ten years later, the seeds of the war were planted in the present.
Although Prussia did not occupy the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein in this Prussian-Danish War, they harvested the public opinion of the German region and laid a popular foundation for the unification of Germany by Prussia.
Franz frowned and said: “The Prussians are playing a big game of chess, they are certain of us! In that case, let’s see who is more skillful!”
“Your Highness, it’s not good for us to stand up against Prussia at this time, the public opinion in the German region is now in favor of them!” Finance Minister Karl admonished
Franz sneered, “No, not only should we not oppose the actions of the Prussians, instead we should support them with great fanfare, the Foreign Ministry openly supports the return of the two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein to the German Confederation.
From now on, mobilize our influence to build up the momentum for this event and let all the people of the German region know about our efforts for the territorial integrity of the German region.
At the same time, we must also advocate the contribution of the Kingdom of Prussia, and issue a diplomatic note to the Kingdom of Prussia, telling them not to be cowards, and that we’ll go and give them a hand once we’ve solved our internal problems!”
There’s another way to kill people in the world – to praise them, and the Kingdom of Prussia is now boasting of being the savior of Germany, so just let them stand a little taller.
When the stage is set, it is always necessary to sing. If there was support from Austria and the regional German states, could Prussia back down so easily?
But what could they do if they didn’t back down? Most of the European powers stood on the side of Denmark, and Austria, who supported them, was only prepared to act as a king of the mouth this time, giving them unlimited practical help of zero.
The Swedish government has already mobilized its army to defend Denmark, and the Russians have troops on the Russian-Prussian border, so in case of gunfire, Russia and Prussia will be on opposite sides of the border.
“Your Highness, if we support Prussia, diplomatically there is no way to give an explanation to Britain, France and Russia, which will be unfavorable to our next action!” Metternich said with a headache
Franz said indifferently, “Mr. Metternich, this problem will depend on your foreign ministry to find a way to coordinate.
Explain to the countries our difficulties, Austria’s domestic rebellion is ongoing, we can not disregard the feelings of the German nation, to assure them of our support for Prussia, limited to words.”
Austria was also a member of the Great Powers, so little diplomatic pressure could be peddled, and as long as no actual action was taken, the Russian-Austrian alliance would not be affected.
Austria and France had just signed a treaty of friendship, and they were all united in their interests, and would not turn their backs on the Danes.
Not to mention the British, the two countries were having a falling out because of the Kingdom of Sardinia. It was impossible for the London government to continue to let the Anglo-Austrian relationship deteriorate at this time, or else the Russian-Austrian alliance would be embraced tighter and tighter.
The rest of the small European countries, at most, condemned twice, it is impossible to sanction Austria just for a few slogans, right? Even if they have the will, they don’t have the guts, right?
Prime Minister Felix objected, “Your Highness, if it’s just verbal support, naturally it’s not a big problem. But if the Prussians delay the issue until we have suppressed the domestic rebellion, will we help or not help then?
If we help them, the strength of the Kingdom of Prussia will grow further, if we don’t, then our reputation in the German region will be greatly damaged again!”
This is a very realistic problem, the Prussians may not be able to do the Russians, but this period of time the tsarist government does not want to declare war on Prussia, put off the problem for a year and a half they can still do.
Franz sneered and said, “It doesn’t matter, the Prussians can stall for time, we can stall for time, even if the domestic rebellion is suppressed, we can still excuse the local situation as unstable and incapable of sending troops.
The big deal is to apportion a sum of military expenses to them, and if they can succeed in bringing the two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein back into the Union, we’ll pay out; if we can’t collect, we’ll just renege on the debt!”
If he could spend a sum of money to completely break the Russian-Prussian relationship, Franz would not begrudge it.
But the Prussians are certainly not willing to take this sum of money, they tossed such a big movement, but not just to make Schleswig, Holstein two duchies back to the German Federation.
If they couldn’t annex the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, wouldn’t they have fought this war for nothing?
Even because of the addition of two new members to the Parliament of the German Confederation, the power of the states was further strengthened, and the road to the unification of Germany became even more elusive.
Friday on the shelf, asking for the last wave of votes, smash over!
(End of chapter)