Chapter 150: What if the spoils are not shared equally?
Chapter 148: What to do if the spoils are not evenly divided
Vienna in January sank into a cold wind, snow lightly drifted down from the sky and fell like rain. A gust of wind blew, like fine salt sprinkled into the sky, flying all over the sky, decorating the entire Vienna Palace into a fairy tale-like world of ice and snow.
Franz has changed the good habit of winter swimming, in this world of snow and ice, he can not go into the water, in case of illness, he is not assured of this era of medical technology.
The artificial lake has already formed a thick layer of ice, a few younger brothers are still playing on it.
Fell down? No matter, just as a bath of ice water, get up and change clothes to continue.
Pampered is non-existent, they are several brothers but received militarized training since childhood, the ability of paper is absolutely not low, otherwise the history of Franz will not be confident to run to command the army.
Snowflakes fluttering, Franz stood in the pavilion looking into the distance, next to the teapot in the water has begun to boil.
Boiling tea, I don’t know from when, Franz developed the habit. That’s right, just boiling, he liked the aroma emitted from the tea.
How many tea leaves were wasted every day for this purpose was not Franz’s concern. Anyway, there were so many people who kissed his ass, if he didn’t consume a little more, where would people get the chance?
Vienna court’s main drink or coffee, tea is only an occasional spice, and still black tea mostly, add sugar and milk, it became the so-called – milk tea.
“Your Majesty, the Archbishop of Kentenia requests an audience.” The maid’s crisp voice rang in her ears
The people from the church approached, Franz frowned. It was important to realize that ever since the Austrian government had taken on the domestic church, there had been a rift in the relationship between the church and the Vienna court.
Even the Archbishop of Kentenia, who had always had a good relationship with the royal family, had reduced his dealings with the royal family, and when they came to the door at this time, it most likely wouldn’t be a good thing.
“Bring him here!” Franz said indifferently
The person had already come to the door, and for the sake of past friendship, Franz couldn’t possibly avoid turning a blind eye.
…… (Crisis breaks out in the Holy Land, omit 10,000 words, dare not touch religion)
“Your Majesty, you see?” Archbishop Kentenia asked anxiously
He is a devout Catholic, and Franz this kind of pseudo believer is not a concept at all, and he is very angry about what happened ****.
“I know, this matter involves a lot of issues, I have to find the cabinet to discuss it before making a decision.” Franz replied with a frown
The heart has already begun to beat the drum of retreat, if it is expected well, the trigger of the Crimean War in history is this crisis, Franz does not want to get caught up in it.
The Archbishop of Kentenia couldn’t do anything about it if he didn’t get the result he wanted. It was no longer the Middle Ages, and in Austria the imperial power had overridden the ecclesiastical power.
……
“Your Majesty, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is ambitious and wants to remake France’s status as a great power in Europe, so why don’t we let them have this chance to perform!” Metternich suggested
If Austria didn’t want to show up, they would have to find someone to take the fall. There were many Catholic countries in Europe, and there were only three major powers Austria, France, and Spain.
Spain’s current situation is also not optimistic, there are a lot of internal problems, there is no energy to interfere in this issue.
The most suitable is the French, now their international status and strength is seriously inconsistent.
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte’s desire to secure a position for France was only one aspect, but more importantly he had to gain the support of the populace if he wanted a restoration.
If you do something else, the parliament will certainly oppose, give him pull back, and interference **** is the best choice, in this issue even his political enemies, but also dare not stand up to oppose.
“Then give the opportunity to the French, the government should appease the domestic public mood, the press inspectorate should pay attention to public opinion, can not be brought to the rhythm.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate the relationship with the allies, the government to allocate two million guilders special funds for the propaganda of the South German region, we have to find a way to slowly manipulate the public opinion of these regions.
It is best to secretly acquire some newspapers and publishing houses in the region, and vigorously support the pro-Austrian and Greater German Unity factions.
If the government is not in a position to intervene in these matters, we can let the intelligence organizations or the civil exchange organizations do so.
The German state is a whole, we can also set up some comprehensive civic organizations, such as: the German Writers’ Association, the German Arts and Music Association, and so on.” Franz thought about it and said
Don’t want to not know, once thought Franz realized that in terms of art and culture this era of Austria actually has an advantage.
Of course, this advantage can not be compared with France, they are the leader of Romanticism; also can not be compared with Italy, as the birthplace of the Renaissance, Rome is the cultural center of Europe.
But not in the German region, those small states aside, their own influence is too small.
Prussia, as an army-dominated country, isn’t it a bit too much of a stretch for you to talk to them about art? The system dictates that they are inherently culturally deficient.
Bavaria, everything else is good is a little bit poor, this is an embarrassing problem, art is also need material foundation.
In this context, Austria has come to the fore. Vienna is also a historical city, cultural heritage than any German state.
In modern times, as the saying goes, “the country is unfortunate, the poet is fortunate”, as a multi-ethnic country, a variety of cultural ideas collide with each other, naturally, also rubbed out the sparks, in this era, Austria in the culture of the pinnacle.
Since there are advantages, naturally, we must take advantage of it. There is no harm without comparison, the idea of great unity has begun to spread in the German region, and compared with the rigid Kingdom of Prussia, the cultural sector will support who, this choice is very good to do.
Don’t look at these pencil pushers, they don’t seem to have much of a role to play. Once Austria annexed the South German regional states, with them standing and waving the flag, Austria would be able to digest the place in the shortest possible time.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Prime Minister Felix replied
As a staunch Germanist, he supported any decision in favor of German unification, and historically, if he hadn’t died too early, it wouldn’t have been so easy for the Kingdom of Prussia to unify Germany.
Metternich said, “Your Majesty, the Prussian-Russian conflict is coming to an end, and at this time when the Holy Land Crisis erupts, the Russians will surely intervene, and it’s not likely that they’ll use this as an excuse to make a move on the Ottoman Empire.
From the intelligence we have received, the Russian Empire is preparing for war, and it is clear that they are not prepared to wait for us to be ready, they are going to start the war early.
If the war is brought forward, we will have to face a choice, it’s too dangerous for Austria’s national strength to support a two-front war, either take the opportunity to unify the South German region or go all out for the Balkan Peninsula.”
Franz frowned, it is too dangerous to fight on two fronts, this is a statement to put gold on one’s face.
If there was no intervention from the Great Powers, a two-front war Franz would not be a wimp. But in reality, apart from the Russians, who had already been fooled, none of the remaining Great Powers supported Austria.
Other than that, as long as the British were willing to throw money at it, the Kingdom of Prussia would stab Austria in the back, and the likelihood of the French sending troops to intervene was as high as nine point nine.
If the war was fought in just one direction, then Austria, with its concentrated strength, would still have some deterrent effect, and splitting the army in two directions would scare no one.
Minister of War Prince Wendischgretz proposed: “Your Majesty, I suggest prioritizing the expansion to the Balkans, in this issue we can also enlist the support of the German states, and agreed with the Russians, the resistance is only Britain and France.
The Russians want to annex the Ottoman Empire, and the first target of the British and French strikes will inevitably be the Russians. As long as we take what we can get, they will most likely acquiesce to our expansion.
If at this time, we send troops to unify the South German region, all the states in the entire German region stand against us.
Because of the geographical location, it will also be much easier for the French to intervene with their troops, and we may face a joint strike from France, Prussia, and Bavaria.
Once the strategy failed, Austria would have to leave the German Confederation. The Holy Roman Confederation, which is now established, will also fall apart.”
Franz, who knew history, was clear that if he expanded into the Balkans at this time, it would be almost a lying win if he held his ground.
Even the history of Austria stood on the wrong side, have the opportunity to annex the two duchies of Wallachia and Moldavia, only the Vienna government can not afford to give up the Italian region as a price.
(Note: The Principality of Wallachia is now the southern part of Romania; the Principality of Moldavia is now the northeastern part of Romania, Moldova, and parts of Ukraine)
Prime Minister Felix hastily objected, “No, what Austria lacks is not territory, but an insufficient number of subject peoples. Even though we have begun to implement universal integration, this cannot be accomplished in the short term.
At a time like this, expanding into the Balkans is indeed easy to succeed. But the more we eat, the more difficult it will be for us to achieve integration.
We can do some math: the small half of Serbia has a population of 500,000 to 600,000 people, the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina has a population of 400,000 to 500,000 people, Wallachia has a population of nearly a million people, and Moldavia has a population of more than a million to 450,000 people.
This means that Austria grows ten percent of its population at once, and all of them are minorities, who, unlike the nationalities in the country, do not identify themselves with this country.
How much effort will it take us to try to assimilate these people? Is it twenty years, or thirty?
We can’t do anything until we’ve accomplished national integration.
It would be different if we annexed the South German states, the population is so well identified that in three or five years at the most we could establish effective rule and turn our potential into national power.
By then it would be entirely too late to turn around and expand into the Balkans.
As for the risks, they are practically manageable.
If the Prussian kingdoms have a problem with it, we can support them in annexing the North German states, and we can all divide up Germany together. If they don’t agree, threaten them with a Russo-Austrian alliance for unification.
If the French have a problem with it, we can cede all the territory west of the Rhine to them, and we can make greater concessions in the Italian region, and even support their annexation of Belgium.
The so-called conflict in this world is nothing but a matter of interest, and as long as we all get what we want, there is nothing that cannot be solved!”
It had to be said that Felix was ruthless enough. If this is really done, it will become the European powers collective collective foreign expansion of territory.
Austria, France, Russia and Prussia began to expand at the same time, this problem has a solution? Even if the remaining countries unite to boycott, there is no use, the British attitude can naturally be ignored.
But this problem, how could European politicians not think of it? Why was it not implemented?
Obviously, things are not so simple, an unequal division of the spoils is an insoluble problem. The Russians took too much, and everyone felt dissatisfied.
Plus the Woolly Bears were too big and caused fear that they would continue to expand and no one would be able to carry them.
With the British messing around, the practicality of such a joint foreign expansion program was greatly reduced.
(End of chapter)