Chapter 998: Replacing an Obedient One on Stage
Chapter 978: Changing an obedient one to power
The international storm clouds, Franz can no longer care. The Holy Roman Empire had just been restored, and there were a whole lot of problems waiting for him to deal with.
German states are good to solve, anyway, are highly autonomous, do not need the central government to interfere in local government affairs, after agreeing on the rights and obligations of both sides, things are almost done.
The Rhineland was laid in ruins, and there was nothing left but a bunch of refugees. Post-war reconstruction became the main work of the Vienna government in 1892.
The Duchy of Lorraine, the Province of Alsace, and the Kingdom of Burgundy, which had just been acquired, were in even worse shape. Although historically these regions were territories of the Holy Roman Empire, the French had ruled there for hundreds of years and had long been entrenched.
It wasn’t true that there were those who welcomed the Holy Roman Empire, but that had become a tiny minority, with the majority of the populace siding with the French.
Needless to say, the Vienna government would not take over such a trouble. From the beginning of the Austrian occupation of the said area, there was a constant repatriation of the French population.
It was obvious that things would not go so well. While the French could be repatriated, the population of the Holy Roman Empire could not be expelled.
It’s a bad debt, history goes back a lot of people’s ancestors were part of the Holy Roman Empire. There’s no way to tell if you know a few words of Austrian and you’re a remnant of the Holy Roman Empire.
In order not to be repatriated, all those who were able to blend in did so. This also included some anti-Austrian elements who took the opportunity to lurk.
Fortunately, the territory gained this time was not large, and there were not many deep mountains and old forests, which were not suitable for the survival of the guerrillas. Otherwise, with the cooperation of the locals, it would not have been easy for the Austrian army to eliminate the guerrillas.
The absence of guerrillas does not mean that the locals are stabilized. Perhaps inheriting the tradition of France, Vienna just released the appointment of local government officials, the local demonstration movement broke out.
“How many people participated in the march?”
Franz asked indifferently.
It was obvious that he was really pissed off. I’ve seen those who don’t give face, but not those who are so faceless.
If the officials appointed by the central government didn’t do a good job and the locals wanted to boycott, Franz could still accept it. This had only just been announced as a personnel appointment, and jumping out to cause trouble was already far beyond his bottom line.
Compromising and giving in was out of the question; if he backed down, the central government’s authority would be finished. There is no telling how many places will follow suit.
Prime Minister Carr: “About 200,000 people have marched, especially in Burgundy, and mobs have stormed government buildings.
According to the intelligence gathered, the planners of this action are a few small parties in the area. They want to blackmail the central government into repealing the Press Act and opening up the voting rights to realize regional autonomy through demonstrations.
After the escalation of the incident, the garrison took over the locality at the first opportunity. A number of members of the political parties are currently being arrested, but unfortunately their leading figures left the country before the crime.”
“Autonomy” is not a new term; the Holy Roman Empire had a bunch of states, so naturally there was no shortage of autonomous regions.
However, these regions were either left over from history or had special circumstances that made them unsuitable for direct rule by the central government.
Obviously, the three border provinces of Lorraine, Alsace, and Burgundy are not suitable for autonomy. Although the locals now present themselves as citizens of the Holy Roman Empire, that was based on the premise of expelling the French, and many accepted it only because they were unwilling to run away.
Age is a killing knife. It’s been hundreds of years, and no one can guarantee how much the locals feel a sense of belonging to the Holy Roman Empire.
If we really let them self-govern, there’s no guarantee that these guys will hook up with the French again someday.
Franz rubbed his forehead and slowly said: ”Issue the most wanted notice to arrest these fugitive felons, dead or alive.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs get ready to propose a treaty against transnational crime at the next meeting of the European Union. We can’t let overseas become a place outside the law.
As for the people attending the march ……”
Well, Franz still hesitated. The number of people involved was so large that it would be a headache for anyone else to deal with it.
“Re-examine the identity of the local population, uncover any French spies lurking in, execute those in serious cases on the spot, and deport all the rest!
The assessment criteria is not limited to language, having had any anti-government and anti-social speech or behavior, having engaged in any criminal record, not reporting with knowledge, deliberately concealing and harboring enemy agents, all should be examined in a focused manner.”
“Censorship,” naturally, is impossible. There are millions of people left behind, and checking them one by one is estimated to be impossible even in this century.
Against this background, it is natural to resort to extraordinary means. In short, in a word, all the people of the Holy Roman Empire, that are supportive of the Empire, supportive of the Emperor, determined to fight against the enemy, with all kinds of fine traditional virtues.
This kind of attempt to split the country and jeopardize the country’s behavior is definitely not something that the people of the Empire would do, and the participants must be the spies of the French.
There is no such thing as straitjacket, in this age of pedigree, if one is a Frenchman, naturally the whole family is French, including all immediate and collateral relatives, and those who do not take the initiative to expose them, are all French spies.
To engage in expansion is not Franz’s intention, but there is no way. If we do not deport these people now, it will be difficult to clean up these hidden dangers in the future.
With the banner of the Holy Roman Empire alone, it was possible to get millions of French people to defect, which was clearly the treatment of the Son of God. If there was such a strong appeal, the Habsburg dynasty would not have been knocked down by Napoleon.
After the failed attempts at political maneuvering, Franz decisively chose to activate the alternate plan. Anyway, from the very beginning, the Vienna government was not prepared to obtain population from France.
The seeds of hatred had been planted long ago, and now it was just a matter of making the conflict between the two countries a little deeper. If you want to dissolve the hatred and ease the conflict, you don’t even have to think about it until this generation dies out.
Inwardly, Franz was also fearful of the aftermath. If it wasn’t for the fact that these people were indolent and exposed in advance, there was no chance that they would have really become a hidden danger to Austria.
Other than that, just by importing messed up thoughts into it, it would have been more terrifying than any weapon.
Of course, this was impossible. If France is still strong, their ideas on the intellectuals still seductive, now? Everyone from them to get only lessons.
In this respect, everyone is very realistic. We have to learn from the successes, but only from the failures.
Not only the outside world is reflecting, but also the French themselves. Then the French thought community became even more confused.
There were those who cursed the revolutionary government in Paris, those who denounced the monarchy, those who attacked the bourgeoisie consortium, those who shrugged off the British, those who despised the outnumbering of the anti-French allies, and even those who attributed the defeat of the war to the fact that “liberty has gone too far.”……
A variety of ideas are now blossoming in Paris, and it is impossible to determine what ideas will save France.
If it were not for the fact that the Anti-French League has only just begun to withdraw its troops, it is not likely that Paris would have to stage a full-scale war. If the Vienna government is willing, it can always provoke the French civil war.
With all the internal chaos, who would have the time to cause trouble for the Holy Roman Empire. Even if they really want to do it, it’s not enough.
Prime Minister Karl: “Your Majesty, the situation in France is very bad. If we take the alternate plan, I’m afraid the Paris government won’t be able to hold out.
According to the intelligence gathered, the unemployment rate in France has exceeded fifty percent, and the number of refugees has even exceeded five million, most of which are people repatriated from various countries.
If we repatriate the remaining millions, I’m afraid the number of refugees in France will exceed the seven million mark.
The war has drained the blood of France, and the revolutionary government in Paris is taking over a mess that they simply don’t have the ability to clean up.”
The real situation is even worse than what Karl said, the revolutionary government in Paris is now not only short of money and food, but also has minimal binding power over the local government, it is simply an empty shelf.
Including the current refugee relief, it was all presided over by local governments and nobles, and the finances of many local governments were on the verge of collapse.
Once the limit is exceeded and the local governments stop providing relief to the refugees, this untimely bomb will be detonated.
The horrific consequences of refugees turning into stragglers was something Franz knew all too well, it would be nothing short of a black hole. I don’t know how many dynasties throughout the ages have been swallowed up by this black hole.
“The population of France should have dropped to less than thirty million, right?”
Prime Minister Karl replied in the affirmative, “It’s long since arrived! After the war broke out, France lost over a million immigrants alone, millions more died in battle, and even more starved to death.
The revolutionary government in Paris lacks sufficient governance skills to take timely countermeasures and is still sitting back and watching the crisis magnify.
In order to stabilize the place, the Allied forces stationed inside France have struck several times to eliminate the rebels.”
Franz nodded and contemplated for a few moments of effort before slowly saying, “Since the revolutionary government in Paris is rotten to the core, it would be better to simply push it to rebuild.
Implement a back-up plan, when the revolutionary government in Paris is finished, then support the restoration of a royal family. Save them the trouble of pushing around and not being able to elect a king for such a long time.”
The ass determines the head, and as a vested interest in the monarchical system, Franz naturally wants to preserve it.
It just so happened that there were many royal houses in France, and with the Bonaparte dynasty finished, there were still Bourbon and Orleans to replace them.
After the formation of the European Union, the first resolution was to order the restoration of France. As a defeated country, the French naturally did not have the strength to refuse.
But when it came to concrete implementation, this resolution, which seriously jeopardized the interests of the revolutionary government in Paris, was resisted.
The explicit refusal did not work, so the Paris government introduced the Parliament top cylinder. Anyway, the efficiency of the parliament is that, three years and five years to pull out of the result is normal.
As a rule-based boss, the Vienna government naturally can not because of the French slow, forcibly interfere in the internal affairs of others. Then, things just so dragged down.
Things didn’t work out, the European Union’s humanitarian aid program for France, naturally, was also put on hold. Originally Franz was prepared to run out of steam and use food to force the revolutionary government in Paris to make concessions.
However, the Paris Revolutionary Government is not on the way, as if it did not see the crisis, dead hold on the power not to let go.
As long as they are willing to insist, in order to pay the indemnity can be paid normally, the Vienna government will be compromised to them.
Such threats, naturally, did not frighten Franz. It is true that the French have to pay a lot of reparations, but at the moment to pay but only so much more than 10 million guilders, divided into the head of the Vienna government is only a few million.
Such a small amount of money, for other countries may be a large number, but in the Holy Roman Empire, it is only a day’s revenue.
If it’s gone, it’s gone. Even if it is less than a day’s income, the government of Vienna can still live the same day, not to cause a famine.
To make himself feel better, Franz decided to kick out the disobedient and incompetent revolutionary government of Paris and replace it with an obedient one.
……
(End of chapter)