Chapter 540: The Unpleasant Throne
Chapter 528: The Unpleasant Throne
For the sake of Christmas approaching, the Vienna government did not rush to seek the Polish government’s bad luck, even the news of Poland’s diplomatic note was suppressed, the Foreign Ministry only relayed Franz’s threat.
No European country had the tradition of making things happen at Christmas, and this Christmas Vienna was as lively as ever, with Franz holding his usual court banquet.
The good times were short-lived, and just after Christmas, Franz received bad news – Otto I of Greece was dead.
Compared to the original time and space in 1862 was ousted from power, this dimension Otto I is considered lucky. With the strong rise of Austria, he, a pro-Austrian, naturally would not be ousted for being on the wrong side of diplomacy.
The problem was that Otto I, who came from the Wittelsbach dynasty, was childless, and several of his younger brothers were unwilling to convert to Orthodoxy, so the Greek crown prince’s position was always vacant.
Now the question arose, who should inherit the Greek throne? Franz had already sent a telegram to the Wittelsbach dynasty, now the royal house of Lombardy, in the hope that they could send a prince to take up this important task.
The result was very embarrassing, no one wanted to take over this mess. Come to think of it, Greece was in a very bad way. Externally it is in debt and internally it is in turmoil.
This is the aftermath of the Near East War. As one of the participating countries, although Greece stood on the side of the victor, it actually retreated in the middle of the war due to the military pressure from Britain and France.
Now not only was the spoils of war gone, but it was also severely cleaned up by Britain and France, and was left with a huge debt after the war.
In any case, Greece also in the Near East war or shed blood, paid the sacrifice of tens of thousands of people, dragged the British and French Ottoman Union part of the army.
After the war, Russia and Austria still pulled a few strings to help Otto I retain his throne. After the war, there was a strong anti-British and French sentiment in Greece, and Otto I naturally moved closer to the Russians and Austrians.
As the international situation changed, Austria reached a deal with Britain and France, Austria took over the French Balkan Peninsula, and got the Kofu Island with the British.
In the Mediterranean strife, France and Austria sidelined the British together. Against this background, Greece gained the support of the Vienna government and Otto I took the opportunity to expel the British.
This “expulsion” was more or less the same as a voluntary renunciation by the British. After all, the interest of Greece was still too small, and despite its strategic importance, the British were too busy to care about this corner of the world.
In the end, under Austrian mediation, the Greek government paid a ransom in exchange for the British “withdrawal” from Greece.
This was the inevitable result, and it was not to be tolerated. Ever since the French abandoned the Balkans, Greece’s geographical position made it impossible for the British to stay there for long.
In the face of the Greeks’ constant resistance, the London government did not have the energy to suppress it, and the cunning John Bull decided to sell it at a good price, and in the end, it was the Greek government that owed a large debt to the British.
Nationalism is a double-edged sword, and since ousting the British, Greek radical groups had set their sights on Austria again, wanting to restore the Roman Empire.
This radical idea was, naturally, suppressed by the government of Otto I. Normal people knew that this was an impossible plan, but the idealists were the exception.
Unwilling to accept defeat, the idealists wanted to overthrow Otto I’s rule. There is no doubt that this rabble did not make it.
With the outbreak of the agrarian crisis, the Greek domestic economy also had problems, many farmers went bankrupt in the first wave of the crisis, and social conflicts intensified.
Despite the fact that a lot of immigrants were pulled away by Austria, there were still a lot left behind, and the social security of Greece was deteriorating.
This created favorable conditions for radical groups to revolt. If Otto I was still around, there would naturally be little problem in suppressing this rabble, but the problem was that the throne was now vacant and the government was in internal chaos.
The Wittelsbach family had already invested a lot of resources for the Greek throne and were slow to get a return, now they didn’t want to keep investing.
This was not what Franz wanted to see, if the Greek throne didn’t settle soon, it wouldn’t be long before England, France and Russia would all be involved.
With all the countries involved, it would be difficult for Austria to dominate, and if there was an anti-Austrian government in Greece, all of Franz’s initial investment would be in vain.
“Prime Minister, who is the most suitable person to inherit the Greek throne at the moment?”
Prime Minister Felix frowned, “The best candidates are naturally Otto I’s younger brothers, Prince Lyutpold and Prince Adalbert, but both of them have explicitly renounced their right to succession.
There are many heirs further down the line, but because of age, we cannot be sure that Otto I’s nephew will be able to sit on the Greek throne.”
The sudden death of Otto I left a mess. It’s not a good time to be king of Greece, and without a certain amount of ability, you simply can’t manage the situation.
Otherwise, Franz would have just snubbed a random Wittelsbach family scion and forced his way to the throne.
Europe is a world of origin, the succession to the throne is naturally the closer the bloodline, the better, close means orthodoxy. If that kind of ranking dozen of heirs, even if it is on the throne, it is difficult to get the popularity of the people.
After wandering for a few steps, Franz made a decision, “Continue to send people to contact them, as long as they are willing to inherit the Greek throne, they can be exempted from converting to Orthodox Christianity, and we will be responsible for solving all the problems.”
Even though this may have been a bidding war to get a favor from Austria, Franz decided to give it. Who made the Greek throne unpopular?
It was understandable that the Wittelsbachs were worried about investing too much to recoup the costs and wanted someone to share the costs.
There is no free lunch in the world, if you take Austria’s benefits, then you have to do things for Austria. The more you get, the more you need to pay.
Although Greece is small, Franz still does not dare to take it lightly, it is better to be in their own hands. Otto I did an excellent job, although Greece is a little bit of chaos, it does not hurt.
Franz did not ask for much, as long as he continued to implement Otto I’s policy of limiting the population. In this era, the population of all European countries was rising rapidly, and it would be a breath of fresh air for Greece to stay put.
As long as it stays put, Greece, with a population of less than a million, will not be able to make a few waves, no matter how it tries.
This is to learn from the advanced experience of France, if not for the rapid development of the French economy after the succession of Napoleon III, perhaps their population growth rate would be even lower.
Just modifying the parts of it that didn’t make sense and selling it to the Greek government, combined with Malthus’s demographic theories, makes it very convincing.
It’s true that Greece can no longer afford to support a larger population with the land it currently has. In a short period of time, the effect has been very noticeable, the
Since the increase in the dinkum tax, the Greek population has become much less motivated to have children, there are fewer children to support, and the population’s standard of living has risen rather than fallen.
Foreign Minister Weissenberg shook his head: ”Your Majesty, I’m afraid it’s not good for us to get too involved. The anti-Olympic sentiment in Greece is growing, if we intervene, I’m afraid it will make things even more troublesome.
Moreover, the position of Britain, France and Russia must also be considered, they don’t want to see us controlling Greece, and if we stir up trouble, the Greek throne will be delayed indefinitely.
Instead of that, we should wait and see what happens. Whoever is willing to cooperate with us, we will support them to take the throne. If someone doesn’t know better, it’s much easier to subvert a country’s rule than to establish one.”
The subtext, Franz had heard it. It was simply the fear that after setting this precedent, it would affect the political structure of the empire.
There were quite a few states in the Shinra Empire, so if the Wittelsbach family had utilized the Empire’s power in their bid for the Greek throne, did that mean that several other royal families could also use the Empire’s power to expand?
This is not a worrying scenario, but it could actually happen. The relationship between the royal families of Europe is a mess, and having the right to inherit the throne of another country is commonplace.
The thrones of both Poland and Spain are currently vacant? There are quite a few interested great nobles in the country, but they just lack the support of the Great Powers to take advantage of the competition.
The government of Vienna did not support any of the great nobles in the country, and now fully supports the Wittelsbach family to sit on the throne of Greece, if they get a good return, it will be just, if they do not get a return will certainly cause a political turmoil.
According to the rules of the game, the Wittelsbachs could get the support of the Empire, but they had to show their resources in exchange.
This set of rules system or Franz personally designed, including the action in Mexico, the royal family have borne a large part of the military expenses.
Franz frowned: ”This is indeed a problem, but it is not difficult to solve, how much the empire pays, how much it will be rewarded in the future.
The problem can be made clear beforehand, and if the Wittelsbachs are still reluctant forget it. I’m sure no one would object to pulling Greece back into the Catholic embrace.”
Austria was suppressing religion, but that didn’t mean that it couldn’t be used for purposes anymore. There is no law that says that a Greek king cannot be Catholic.
Even if there were, such a code, which was behind the times, would have to be abolished. This is the age of freedom of religion, how can there be religious discrimination?
The question of return on investment did not worry Franz at all. The big deal is to promote cotton cultivation in Greece, Greece is a big cotton exporter in later times, now I think it will also be possible.
It is enough to satisfy the domestic interest groups by adding a raw material source and an additional dumping ground for food.
Thinking of this, Franz suddenly opened a new thought, this agricultural crisis may be able to solve in advance.
……
Push Book: The Rise of the Second Reich
(End of chapter)