Chapter 541: A Big Gamble

  Chapter 529 – A Big Gamble

In the royal palace of Milan, the Wittelsbach family is having a final discussion on whether or not to give up the Greek throne.

This problem is actually very good to solve, unlike the original time and space Otto I was ousted from power, this time Otto I died of natural causes, there are still a lot of the top of the Greek government that Otto I brought over from Bavaria.

With the support of Austria, these people still held the power. The roots of the Wittelsbach family in Greece remained intact, and the successor sent could stabilize the situation in the shortest possible time.

This was also the reason why Franz tended to support the Wittelsbachs. It would have been difficult for a foreign king to take control of Greece.

Otto I was not a successful king, but he was not a waste either. While Greece lost the Near East War, the king was the victor.

With the sword of the British and French Ottomans, Otto I succeeded in removing dissenters. Until now, the radical groups in Greece have not recovered.

The few aristocrats and capitalists, who were intelligent enough to shout slogans, were fools if they believed that they could “rebuild Rome”.

In the original time and space, also after a series of social poisonous beatings, the strategic goal of Greece became smaller and smaller, from the initial “rebuild Rome” degraded to “Greater Greece”.

Even “Magna Graecia” was actually not small at all, and its territory was about seven or eight times larger than it is now, perhaps even larger.

George I’s proposal to “establish a Magna Graecia with Constantinople as its capital and Athens as its economic center” was attacked by Greek patriots.

On the map, the plan was to cover about a third of the Balkans and a quarter of Turkey, including the many islands of the Aegean Sea, as well as the island of Cyprus.

The plan was not excessive, and in the original time Greece came close to achieving its goal. Unfortunately it was that close, so it still failed.

Now it’s a tragedy, the road to expansion is blocked by Austria, lowering or not lowering the goal is the same, there is no hope of success.

Greek radical groups against Austria, is not willing to shatter the dream of great powers. Only in front of the cruel reality, their supporters are too few.

Against this background, with Austria’s support, as long as the domestic ability to pass, it is still not difficult to sit on the throne of Greece.

……

Warsaw, after receiving Austria’s diplomatic reply, the Polish government didn’t even celebrate Christmas.

There is no way, originally they sent a note to Austria, the main purpose is to provoke a wave of war of words, using the patriotic fervor of the people, to divert everyone’s attention.

The main reason why Austria was picked was that there was no choice. It was certainly easier to curse the Russians, but after cursing for a long time, the populace was numb.

Aside from a few radicals who wanted to expand their territory to Moscow, most Poles were no longer interested in the lands of the Russian Empire, and now they wanted to reclaim their homeland.

This part of the territory were in Prussia and Austria, the Kingdom of Prussia was Poland’s ally, the pro-Prussian faction in the government was too strong, and also had to unite with Prussia to deal with the Russians, they could only mess with Austria.

The Polish government did not expect the Vienna government to respond so violently. Austro-Polish territorial disputes have been many years, the Vienna government did not take radical means, which makes many Poles have the illusion that accidentally diplomatic words are too radical to get into trouble.

Well, they do not know, this excessive diplomatic word order, behind the Prussians in the ghost. Otherwise, the Polish Foreign Ministry officials would not have been so “careless”.

Immediately after receiving the Austrian threat, Dombrowski, the interim prime minister of the Polish government, summoned the foreign ministry officials for a scolding.

Looking for death do not bring so obvious, diplomatic note will threaten Austria, the Vienna government if the reaction is not fierce will be strange.

As an international revolutionary fighter, Dombrowski is not an ordinary person, in addition to leading the Polish uprising, the original time and space he was one of the leaders of the Paris Commune movement.

In the face of reality, there was still a need to compromise. In order to stay in power, Dombrovsky became a “royalist”.

In addition to the intervention of international powers, the fact that the “royalists” led by Dombrowski did not want a king to be born was also an important factor in the vacancy of the Polish throne.

For them, the older the delay, the better. When the Polish people became accustomed to the absence of a king, then Poland did not need one.

The prerequisite was not to cause trouble, or the situation would change if the Great Powers intervened. In an era when the monarchy is still strong, to risk a challenge would be the way to death.

Foreign Minister Wa Vulubrevskiy grimaced, “Your Excellency the Prime Minister, the matter has been cleared up, the person who tampered with the document was a patriotic young man working at the Foreign Ministry, who has committed suicide after the incident.

A suicide note was also left, explaining the situation. Mainly, he was dissatisfied with the government’s weakness on the Austrian issue, and then privately switched the documents when submitting the note to Austria.”

It doesn’t matter whether the matter is true or false; all one has to do is think with one’s head to realize that there is something wrong here. It is possible for a patriotic youth to switch documents privately, but suicide is pretty much bullshit.

Knowing that something was wrong, V. Vulubrevsky could not go on investigating. It was the instinct of politicians to play dumb, and if they went deeper, the Polish government would not be able to afford the final result.

Whatever the reason, the government in Vienna would not stop easily. After an official diplomatic note, then the consequences must be borne.

Dąbrowski grimaced, ”There is no need to give me an explanation, the question now is what to do to get the Austrians to stop.

It’s not a day or two since the Vienna government wanted to interfere in Poland’s internal affairs, and now you’re actually bringing excuses to my door, tell me how to make good on this?”

The Polish government was still tragically politically influenced by the European powers, especially Prussia, and had very limited autonomy of its own.

Including social reforms, the Polish government was not able to promote them according to its own will. The proletarian revolution need not be thought of, they were not even able to carry through the bourgeois revolution.

Dąbrowski always wanted to get rid of the influence of the countries on Poland, but could not even take the first step. Now that the Polish army was heavily influenced by Prussia, the military wanted more power and collided violently with the government.

The Polish military had always wanted to install Wilhelm I on the throne and then gain the same status that the Junker nobility had in Prussia.

Since there was no king, the officers, who had been instrumental in the war, were not able to become part of the nobility.

These men had become vested interests and wanted to consolidate their position and were very resistant to the policies of the Dombrowski government.

If it had not gained the support of Britain and France, the Dombrovsky government might have been toppled. Prussia, not daring to offend Britain and France, was now borrowing Austria’s knife.

From the perspective of interests, it is easy to analyze the causes and consequences. Knowing what I know, Dombrovsky had no more choice.

Either quell the anger of Austria as soon as possible, or concentrate on strength and Austria to fight a war, there is no third way to go.

Foreign Minister V. Vulubrevsky: “We have already contacted Britain, France, and Prussia, and they have indicated that they will pay close attention.

Britain and France suggested that we accept the Austrians’ demand to suppress the anti-Austrian movement in the country and make reparations to calm the storm.

The Prussian government has said that it will not sit idly by and watch Austria invade Poland, and they have not given a definite answer as to what exactly to do.”

In theory, accepting Austria’s terms was not difficult at all. It’s just a matter of losing some face without jeopardizing the national interest, and the vast majority of people in power know what to choose.

However, this is only in theory. If the anti-Austrian movement was suppressed, the Polish government would lose its popular base and would be on the verge of collapse.

The Prussian position was even more of a mystery; with Russia as a common enemy, Prussia and Poland were allies. But it was no secret that the Berlin government wanted to annex Poland.

The Prussians will not sit idly by and watch Austria invade Poland, does not mean that Prussia is going to send troops to protect Poland, may also be with Austria to divide Poland.

It’s best not to test a country’s modesty in the face of profit, or the results will be very touching.

Finance Minister Baderewski stood up: “Things are not so simple, do not forget that there are Russians. The Russian-Austrian alliance broke down, but it did not disintegrate after all.

If the Russians take the opportunity to get involved, and Russia and Austria join forces, even if Britain, France and Prussia come together to support us, I’m afraid that the end result will not be ideal.”

Baderevsky was in favor of compromise, and face was lost. The popular base can be said to be the most important or the least important of a government, depending on the circumstances.

Losing the popular base now was certainly serious, then there was still a chance to salvage it, and it was better than having the Austrians beating down the door.

Didn’t see that the military, which has always liked to meddle in politics, was silent this time, as if it had become a small transparency, leaving everything to the government to deal with.

“Will the Austrians strike? I don’t think so.”

Dombrovsky coldly smiled, “It’s easy to defeat us, but is it in Austria’s interest?

You should know that after we are overthrown, the next government is bound to be pro-Prussian. The influence of Britain and France in Poland is greatly reduced, and the possibility of Wilhelm I ascending the Polish throne is greatly increased, which is not what the Vienna government wants to see.

The Polish government was so poor that the Austrians could not even collect their military expenses. The Russo-Austrian alliance hadn’t been dissolved yet, and even if they had been able to grab a piece of land from Poland, shouldn’t they have returned it to Russia according to morality?

It’s a lot of work, all for someone else, and I don’t think the Vienna government can’t see that.

In the end, we have not substantially harmed Austria’s interests, and what is involved is only a face. From the point of view of interests, the Austrians are more likely to bluff.

We are the people’s government, and we cannot do anything to suppress the patriotic movement. Still, the government can apologize to the Austrians and give them a step down.

I’m sure the Vienna government won’t make a big deal out of it, but the big deal is that we’re lowering the industrial and commercial tariffs of the two countries and giving up some of the benefits.”

This is a big gamble, take Poland’s national fortune in betting on whether Austria will make a move or not. Baderewski wanted to say something, everyone wants a reputation, the reputational damage caused by suppressing the patriotic movement is too great.

The Polish government’s control over the army was too weak, and the support of the people was very important, in addition to the support of Britain and France. If they lost the hearts and minds of the people, their chances of retaining power were very low.

(End of chapter)