Chapter 470: Redefining ‘Italian Region’
Chapter 459 Redefining ‘Italian Regions’
In order to test the British, Franz decided to speed up the process of annexation of Italy by the French, and now Naples, the Papal States, Tuscany and other states were bargaining with the French.
The absolute disparity in power deprived them of the intention of confronting them by force. Austria was expected to intervene, but unfortunately the government of Vienna chose to watch the show.
The excuses were all ready-made, old scores left from 1848. At that time, forced by public opinion, the Italian states were on the opposite side of Austria.
Though the nobles and the king were still good friends of Austria, and dragged their feet decisively without doing Austria any substantial harm.
His generous Majesty Franz did not countenance it, but the Italians still needed to pay for their capriciousness, and now Austria decided to look on with a cold shoulder.
This was all on the surface, secretly the connection between the Habsburgs and the Italian nobility had never been broken.
Even now, Austria is behind the scenes supporting them in their fight for rights and interests, otherwise these state governments would not have the backbone to bargain with the French.
Vienna normal commitment to allow France to annex these several Italian states, but how to annex depends on the actual situation.
As a member of the aristocratic class, there was now no question of protecting class interests. Napoleon III is also a vested interest, it is impossible to break this European unspoken rule, otherwise the continent would not be able to mix.
The Austrian precedent of re-establishing the Shenroe set an example for Napoleon III, who now also wanted to double as Emperor of Italy.
As for the problem of Italy’s lack of an emperor, decisively ignored by him, how the French emperor came to be, the Italian emperor can also be copied, I believe the Pope will make the right choice.
Soldiers to Rome to force the Pope to be crowned, this kind of thing has been done by many predecessors, Napoleon III does not mind to follow the example of one or two.
It was naturally impossible to annex the Italian regions completely and peacefully. Austria rebuilt Shenroe, that was the Germans themselves wanting to unify and build a strong nation.
The Italians also wanted unification, but not by the French. There was no basis for public opinion, and Napoleon III had to bully his way through.
The great armies of France were now present in the various Italian states. There was no forceful action, that is, the governments of the states were barely cooperative.
At most, they talked about conditions, and no government openly objected, so that the French could not find the opportunity to strike. Now these slippery fellows, one by one, have offered a sky-high price.
This was something Franz was happy to see, and it would be even more interesting if Napoleon III couldn’t resist taking them out.
Without these groundlings to cooperate, the Italian region will immediately become chaotic, and then not only can’t strengthen Franz’s national strength, but also consume their strength.
Even if these groundhogs were recovered, it didn’t mean that everything would be fine. If the French stayed out of the way completely and relied on these state governments to rule, it was estimated that they could still barely hold on.
Once they got involved, anti-France would become the mainstream of Italy in the future. Even if it is to divert social conflicts, these people will direct their hatred towards the French.
Besides, there’s still a conflict of interest at stake. Don’t look at the capitalists who seem to be cooperating now, but when there is a conflict between the French and Italian capitals in the future, you will know how serious the consequences will be.
It is almost impossible to level this bowl of water, once the Italian capitalists think that the government is favoring the French capital, it will be strange if they don’t support the revolutionaries.
This perceived personal subjective tendency is so strong that it is almost certain to happen. It happens in Austria all the time, and often people run to the Supreme Court to fight the case.
Very often there will also be an embarrassing situation in which both sides are justified, so that the judges don’t know what to do, and in the end, they have to negotiate a solution privately.
Of course, this kind of thing once encountered, the legislature will be targeted patches, the improvement of the legal system, is so step by step.
If you go to France, I’m afraid that not waiting for the lawsuit to finish, the crowd outside the demonstration, are able to toss the Paris government half dead.
These problems, I guess the French are also prepared, just can not predict how serious the consequences, or now will not be so positive.
After all, the problems that occurred in Austria, in the end, or properly resolved, and did not make a mess.
Others are able to do things, why can not we do? This bit of arrogance, the French are not lacking.
Napoleon III has begun to pave the way for his son, and if he cannot fulfill the French desire for great power, I am afraid that the future Napoleon IV will have a headache.
Napoleon III, who was already good at playing with people’s hearts, could not possibly not know the horror of this kind of thinking. Now follow the example of Austria to form Shen Luo to establish a joint French-Italian empire, but also was forced out.
On the combat power of the French army, Napoleon III is still full of confidence, the joint empire once established is the hegemony of Europe.
This can already satisfy the pursuit of most of the French people, the empire foundation is also stable. Of course being able to ascend to the Italian throne was also a temptation for him personally.
The rich and powerful always need to return home, for the Bonaparte family, the Italian throne is also very meaningful, despite the Napoleonic era established the King of Italy.
There are still a lot of Napoleonic fans in Italy, and these people are the backbone of Napoleon III’s daring to be Emperor of Italy. With force, supporters, and opportunity, why should we not get on?
As for the jurisprudence, big deal, another election. This time, don’t have a popular election, just let the state government choose.
As the King of the Kingdom of Sardinia is also eligible to run for the election, who else besides him, Napoleon III, would dare to grab this position? Since he was the only candidate, he naturally had to be elected.
Theoretically, Ludwig I of the Kingdom of Lombardy was also eligible to run for the election, Lombardy is also considered a member of the Italian region. Even Franz, who had the crown of Venetia on his head, was one of the candidates.
Only, neither Franz nor Ludwig I considered themselves to be a member of Italy, so naturally they would not run over to stir up trouble.
Apparently, Napoleon III didn’t think so. Holding several offices in Europe was standard for the old aristocracy, especially since no one had too many titles like Emperor.
How to kick the kingdoms of Lombardy and Venetia out of Italy became Napoleon III’s biggest headache.
Napoleon III did not think that a treaty could bind Austria in the face of interests. If there was a change of heart in the middle of the process and Franz jumped out to run for the Italian Emperor, he would be doing someone else’s bidding.
After all, in terms of family influence, the Bonaparte family is still no match for the Habsburgs, and the deepest underpinnings of the old aristocracy are the number of relatives and the adequacy of jurisprudence.
In order to speed up the pace of the French, Franz decided not to let Napoleon III embarrassed, or his own initiative to withdraw well.
……
American Spring Palace, Franz summoned Foreign Minister Weissenberg and instructed: “The Foreign Ministry to take note of the French to convene an international conference in Vienna to redistribute some of the disputed areas of Europe.
For example: the regions of Venetia and Lombardy should belong to the German region, not the Italian region, which is now the German-speaking cultural area.”
This is what Napoleon III wanted to do, but did not dare to do. Nominally dividing the Italian regions, this was actually defining the sovereignty of the soon-to-be-born Italian Empire.
No matter how ferocious the thoughts of unification in the Italian regions were, it is an indisputable fact that since the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Italian regions have never been unified.
The so-called juridical sovereignty simply did not exist. Now that Lombardy and Venetia don’t want to hang out with them, there is no legal problem either.
Regions are not states, so what’s the point of talking about sovereignty? Changing the geographical terminology in advance of the birth of the Italian Confederate Empire was the political signal Franz put out to Napoleon III.
The geographical divisions were made artificially anyway. It is not impossible to redraw the divisions now. As long as France and Austria were in agreement, what was a change in geographical scope?
This will not involve the interests of all parties, even if there are people who oppose, there will not be too big a problem. The reason for the division, Franz has thought of, just according to the cultural composition.
In this way, the definition of the German region was broader. Except for Lombardy and Venetia, most of the Balkan Peninsula became a German region.
Whether the outside world recognizes it or not, it can change on official Austrian documents anyway. These regions are indeed now the German Cultural Circle, and there is nothing wrong with dividing them according to cultural traditions.
Weissenberg thought for a moment and said, “Your Majesty, I’m afraid that doing so would be a bit troublesome. These regions are only called according to custom, if the regions are divided according to the cultural circle, I’m afraid it will cause many countries to be wary.”
Vigilance was inevitable, who made Austria’s propaganda slogan the unification of the German region? With political slogans being shouted like that, it would be strange for people not to be wary.
Of course, not shouting this slogan is not much better. In Europe randomly pull a person, ask: Austria has no ambition to unify the German region, the answer is unanimous – yes.
Anyway, can’t hide, might as well shout it out in the open. All these years, the Vienna government slogan shouted the earth-shattering, the result is still the same.
Vigilance was vigilant, but not so much as to make everyone hateful. After all, Franz is not a radical, holding up the banner of “peaceful unification”, so many states in the empire of God Luo is an example.
If he wasn’t worried about triggering the situation in Europe, Franz would have been able to break up the German Federal Empire at any time. Over the years, there are many small states that have been brought together by Austria.
Now if the scope of the German region is expanded again, it is estimated that Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands will not be able to sleep.
Franz said indifferently, “Don’t worry, while dividing the region, we can all sign an international convention to make it clear in a legal situation that ‘the regional term cannot be the legal basis for unification’, so that they can rest in peace.”
This is all nonsense, regional terms have never been the basis for unified jurisprudence. It’s hard to believe that just because we’re all Earthlings, we can legally unify the planet?
The so-called putting people at ease might as well be fooling them into letting their guard down. As for the future, Franz really hasn’t hit on them.
It was supposed to be only a projectile land with few resources, and it was still very troublesome to rule. As long as he wasn’t out of his mind, Franz would have chosen to expand in easier areas.
How good it was for everyone to play their own game now, expanding the German region was mainly for propaganda needs and in favor of exporting German culture.
It may be insignificant now, but in the future it will be the Greater German Cultural Area. Otherwise, if you make layouts in advance and let English become the world’s mainstream, wouldn’t that be a tragedy?
(End of chapter)