Chapter 495: Crisis of Faith
Chapter 484 – Crisis of Faith
Britain and Austria in South Africa PK, European countries are happy to watch the joke. In order for the war to last longer, the French also supported the “Boer Republic” with practical actions.
In the Anglo-Boer War, nearly one-fifth of the strategic materials were contributed by the French. The French also facilitated the transportation of supplies from Austria through Egypt to the South African front.
The Anglo-Boer War was not so much an Anglo-Austrian game as it was France and Austria working together to give the British a hard time. Although in the end it was Austria who occupied South Africa, the French did not lose out on their investment.
It was better to hold back the British energy in South Africa than to let the British invest that energy in the European continent.
The “Anglo-Boer War” also played an important role in the fact that the anti-French alliance remained on paper but did not become a reality.
In theory, the situation was very favorable to the French when Britain and Austria were confronting each other, and Napoleon III should be happy with the establishment of the Great French Empire, which was unstoppable.
However, the external threat was gone, but the internal trouble appeared.
The first one to jump out was the Pope, and the Italian states, who were not willing to be defeated, attempted to fight him by supporting the Pope.
As a Catholic country, the influence of the Holy See was still very great. Now that the Emperor and the Pope were coexisting in one country, who was bigger and who was smaller this was a headache.
Now Napoleon III had some regrets, if he had known it would be so troublesome, he would have kicked out the Papal States.
It was no fun for the Pope to become a political enemy. It’s not like people didn’t have roots, the churches all over the country were supporters of the Pope, at least nominally.
At a council not too long ago, the Pope took the main seat outright, infuriating Napoleon III into outright absence.
Once again, divine and royal power collided, and the whole of France was caught in a stormy vortex. A poorly handled, this newborn big empire is going to collapse again.
Neither Napoleon III nor Pope Pius IX could back down now. They represented not only their own interests, but also the interest groups behind them.
The bourgeoisie, originally dissatisfied with Napoleon III in the country, was now almost flagrantly in favor of the Pope. Politically, Napoleon III no longer had an overwhelming advantage.
These people supported Pius IX, not because of how devout their faith was, nor did they really want the Church to become big again, but their main purpose was just to stir up strife and create an opportunity to seize power.
The Emperor and the Pope fighting over power would definitely trigger the discontent of the people, and when the anger of the people reached its peak, it was the time for the Parliament to take over the power of the country.
It could be said that the establishment of Great France ignited the internal conflicts in France. Everyone wanted to take advantage of this reshuffling of power to go further and gain more benefits.
Versailles Palace, Napoleon III’s close police minister Ansorge proposed, “Your Majesty, since Pius IX doesn’t know what’s right, why don’t we just give him ……”
Said here came to an abrupt end, Ansorge made a neck wiping gesture, as if to say that kill Pius IX a hundred and one.
Napoleon III glared fiercely at him and said seriously, “No, this kind of thing can never happen.
Once something happens to Pius IX, we will be the most suspected, and then the situation will be out of control.
Right now, not only can we not move him, we must also protect his safety and not allow others to finish him off!
Besides, even if there is a change of Pope, the situation still hasn’t changed. Whoever becomes Pope stands against us.
Those people won’t rest, and without them messing around behind the scenes, Pius IX wouldn’t have jumped out to make an enemy of us.”
Political struggle is the most taboo of assassinations, and now that Napoleon III has washed his hands of the land, such tactics simply cannot be used.
In case the news leaks out, it is not likely that civil war will still break out in France, at least the Revolutionary Party will definitely take advantage of the opportunity to start a rebellion, and it is not likely that there will be a coup d’état within the government.
The Italian region is not stable, and now it is only suppressed by force, a spark can ignite conflicts, let alone assassinate the Pope.
At this time, Napoleon III’s mind was still very clear. He was clear about his enemy, not the explicit pope, but the interest group that supported the pope.
The scheming master Pelissi proposed, “Your Majesty, why don’t you continue to push for the Reformation. Find an excuse to abolish the Papal States and set up provinces under the jurisdiction of the central government. Let religion be religion and secular be secular.”
This is the bottom of the kettle, pushing for religious reform to abolish the papal state is equivalent to cutting off the foundation of the pope’s meddling in politics. From then on, the pope was removed from politics and existed only as a religious leader.
Napoleon III had a bright spot in his eyes, being able to kick the Pope out, the later things would be better. Without this flag-bearer, the opposition became divided.
“This is a good idea, it is better to be able to limit the pope’s power in the meantime, so as not to cause us trouble again later.
Pelisi this matter will be left to you, find a way to stink up the Holy See, don’t leave them a chance to turn over.”
When he said this, Napoleon III still had a few moments of indignation in his eyes. The feud between the Bonaparte family and the Holy See was not a day or two old, and the relationship between the two sides had never been good.
Napoleon I did not initially gain recognition from the Holy See, and later fought his way to Italy by force, and directly snatched the crown from the Pope when he was crowned Emperor.
Things weren’t much better when it was Napoleon III’s turn. The Catholic Church had always been in favor of orthodoxy, and Napoleon III had nothing to do with orthodoxy anyhow.
After seizing power in a coup d’état, Napoleon III wanted to be crowned emperor, and the Holy See was very unforgiving. Pius IX was invited to be crowned, but he did not buy it at all.
Napoleon III was left with only two choices, either to go to Rome to be crowned, or to become emperor first and find a way to be crowned in the future.
These were the two choices for European emperors after they could not be recognized by the Holy See. Of course going to Rome to be crowned would certainly not be so harmonious, usually sending troops to fight and forcing the Pope to be crowned.
The unstable Napoleon III endured, in order to talk to the Pope, he also did a lot of unappealing things, can be called “Catholic filial son”.
He was a true “Catholic son”, unlike the previous French monarchs, who did some things that harmed the interests of the Holy See.
After doing so many things, but did not get the desired harvest, naturally there is resentment in his heart. If it were not for the annexation of Italy, he would not have known if he could have been crowned pope and become a legitimate emperor in his lifetime.
Now that his interests were once again on the opposite side, Napoleon III wanted to follow the example of his predecessors and continue the story of the “Catholic Filial Son”.
Catholic dutiful son” is not a good word, and the French did things that are not related to “dutiful son”, such as: the Prisoner of Avignon, the Blasphemous League, joining the Protestant League during the Thirty Years’ War, and taking out the Knights Templar. ……
In short, the French contributed more to the fall of Catholicism than Protestantism.
Of course, Napoleon III was not that extreme. With the great achievements of his forefathers, he wasn’t ready to surpass them. Still, a final blow to the fallen Papacy was rare.
The battle between imperial power and divine power cannot be compromised, and even if both sides are on the way to decline, they must be divided into a winner and a loser.
On this issue, Napoleon III was not worried about having no supporters, and the monarchs of Europe were all his potential supporters.
……
With Napoleon III’s order, the black history of the Holy See all of a sudden multiplied. Not only were the old scores of the past rehashed, but the current clergy were often dragged out to be flogged by the newspapers.
They were all real people, not half watered down, real cases that happened right next to everyone, and it was hard to turn white. As if overnight, the reputation of the Holy See had become infamous.
Telegraph accelerated the spread of news, France, Italy appeared in the Papal scandal, in the shortest possible time spread to the European continent.
In this era, the Holy See no longer had the power to overpower Europe. The endless black history of the Papacy in the newspapers was enough to illustrate many problems.
In this era of great outbursts of ideas, the people were skeptical of the existence of God, and their faith was no longer so devout.
After being shocked, anti-clerical movements appeared in many places, and in certain areas it even developed to the point where the people stormed churches.
It was at this point that Napoleon III realized that he had overplayed his hand, however the situation was out of his control.
Utilizing this opportunity, he succeeded in taking out his political opponents, but triggered a crisis of faith in Europe, plunging the country into ideological chaos.
France was not the only one to be hit, Austria was not left alone. When the religious crisis broke out, the Austrian clergy did not escape.
Many clergymen who had indiscretions in their private lives and whose moral fiber was not up to par were exposed by the newspapers.
Real people and real things were exposed, and the evidence was overwhelming. The impact of this kind of news on the minds of the people can be imagined, and even in the stronghold of the conservatives, a crisis of faith likewise broke out in Austria.
Fierce discussions also broke out among the people, and the idea of atheism began to spread rapidly. All kinds of experts and scholars appeared in the newspapers as the battlefield, and began to fight and fight, and at one time fell into the chaos of the demons.
Looking at the intensifying ideological melee, Franz could not sit still. If this continues, who knows how many strange ideas will be born in the end?
“Prime Minister, how is the cabinet going to calm this storm?”
As a successful leader, Franz had never fully trusted the abilities of his men. When things came up, it was always right to ask the cabinet first.
After a few moments of contemplation, Prime Minister Felix replied, “Your Majesty, I’m afraid this matter will require you to personally come out to appease the people.
The consequences of a collapse of faith are very serious, and if you are not able to deal with it in time and let some messed up ideas spread, the consequences will be severe.”
Come on, this is to stand up for Catholicism. This crisis of faith was directed at the Holy See from the beginning, and Catholicism was naturally the hardest hit.
After hesitating for a moment, Franz spoke, “Well, the degeneration of the clergy, that’s because they’re not pious enough in their beliefs, and there’s also the lack of supervision by the Holy See.
We can help in this regard, the government can legislate to regulate the behavior of the clergy and punish these sinners for God.”
There was no problem with pacifying the people, but the suppression of the Church had to be done as well. Since the French had rushed ahead, Franz naturally didn’t mind falling on his sword.
If the Church could not regulate the clergy, it would be better for the government to do it for them. Institutions like the Inquisition were better not to exist.
(End of chapter)