Chapter 204 ''Shinra Faction'' In Action
The opening of the Vienna-Salzburg railway on December 4, 1852, did not cause a stir except for the news that was published in the newspapers.
Recently, there have been a lot of railways opened to traffic in Austria. Except for the surprise at the beginning, the Austrian people have become accustomed to it by now.
The most affected are the railway companies. After investing so much money, they can finally see the money back, which is directly reflected in the stock market. The railway operation is booming, which stimulates the stock to rise again.
As for the strategic value of this railway, not many people really pay attention to it. Even if the railway transportation is more convenient, can it be compared with the Danube?
Franz is naturally so happy, the German unification idea has been heated up, and it is time to start the next step.
Franz joked: "Prime Minister, your visit to the German states this time is a big task. If you can persuade everyone to rebuild the Holy Roman Empire, then we will make a lot of money."
Convince everyone to agree to rebuild the Holy Roman Empire, unless Austria puts a bayonet on their necks, otherwise everyone has a good life, why should they find a boss for themselves?
Today is different from the past. Nationalism in the German region has awakened. Even if the state government has a high degree of freedom, the emergence of the central government will harm their interests.
No matter how loose an empire was during this period, the constitution was also indispensable, and it was inevitable that the autonomy of the governments of various countries would be greatly weakened.
Don't think about independent diplomatic power, currency reunification is inevitable, and tariffs will definitely be abolished. These three items alone mean that the central government is no longer an empty shell.
With these things, Franz can responsibly say that he can control most of the small states by political means.
If you are a little more shameless and start a foreign war, you can use the pretext of war to get the command of the armies of various countries.
That's what the Americans did, relying on the military command of the states during the war, increasing the authority of the central government, and finally turning the loose federation into a unified country.
Prime Minister Felix laughed: "Your Majesty, this joke is not funny at all. If I can convince them, what will the army do?"
Franz's butterfly effect is at work again, and Felix Schwarzenberg, who died in an accident on April 5 this year, is still alive and well.
Changing the prime minister naturally does not exist. Felix's political ability is still very good, and he is able to preside over the work of the cabinet with ease. Franz is not Emperor Chongzhen, and he doesn't like to mess around.
Felix knew very well what the purpose of this visit was. Convincing the states to rebuild the Holy Roman Empire was just a pretense, and the real purpose was to create a casus belli.
Only after the failure of peaceful reunification efforts, the Austrian government launched a war of unification could gain the support of the people.
No, it should be the unification of the southern German region by force, plus the central German region at most. If there is more, it will choke to death. The Kingdom of Prussia is not so easy to handle.
Of course, the slogan is to unify the German region, otherwise the nationalists will not buy it. Without their support, this war would not be easy to fight.
Franz said solemnly: "It doesn't matter, there are so many German states, and one is counted as one. I don't believe that there are so many small states, and there is no one stupid."
This is not what Franz said nonsense. Historically, the Prussians have successfully fooled a few small states to help them wave their flags, and then swallowed these states in one go.
On the contrary, the South German state, which resisted fiercely, retained a lot of rights. Because of fear of the intervention of the foreign powers, the Prussians did not dare to continue the civil war after the Franco-Prussian War, and had to compromise with the South German state.
"Your Majesty, I'm going to start with Prussia, which is the most difficult. Anyway, apart from us, the Kingdom of Prussia is the most powerful country in Germany. As long as they oppose it, they will create it.
It's just this way, the diplomatic pressure may increase greatly, and European countries do not want to see the reunification of Germany. ' said Prime Minister Felix.
Metternich said: "Prime Minister, the diplomatic problem is easy to solve, we use negotiation to solve the German unification problem, it is estimated that many people will regard it as a joke, and now what we have to do is to make this plan more like a joke.
As long as they see that the German states are opposed to our proposal, the pressure we will face will not actually be much greater. "
Everyone laughed, it is true that all countries oppose the reunification of Germany. But if Austria just shouted slogans without taking actual action, they would not be interested in interfering.
We must not shut up the Austrians. Everyone is a political gamer, and they all know the slogans of the politicians. Just listen to them.
Even in order to make this scene more realistic, the Austrian cabinet started role-playing a few years ago, and the political positions of these cabinet ministers are known throughout Europe.
Prime Minister Felix plays the Peaceful Unification faction, or the Reconstruction Shinra faction. The supporter in the cabinet is the Chancellor of the Exchequer Karl, and the two of them constitute the leaders of the Austrian "Hinra faction".
At the same time, they are also the leaders of the "Hinra faction" in Germany, and at least 35% of Germans currently support or agree with their political ideas.
Metternich is playing the opposition, a political stance he has always known throughout Europe.
Otherwise, when the Vienna System was established, Austria should have chosen the Kingdom of Bavaria, not the economically wealthy Lombardy region.
In the cabinet, Grand Duke Louis was a supporter of Metternich.
Their banner declared: the German region is impossible to unify, on the grounds that the states have been independent for a long time, and European countries will not tolerate German unification.
For this reason, the two are often scolded by German nationalists.
Because of the support of public opinion, the current "Hinra faction" led by Prime Minister Felix has an advantage in the Austrian government.
At this time, Felix stood up and advocated "rebuilding the Holy Roman Empire", and there was nothing wrong with it.
After Christmas, Felix embarked on a journey with the people's farewell.
For German nationalists, this was a crucial step towards unification.
As the boss of the German Confederation, the Austrian government has begun to work for unification, which is a turning point in history.
Regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, Felix walked all the way and was greeted by crowds everywhere.
It's not that the brand "Shinra" is popular. In fact, many people don't feel the disbanded Shinra Empire.
But they want the unification of the German region, and they don't want war to break out, then "rebuilding the Holy Roman Empire" is the best choice, no one.
The "Hinra faction" can become the mainstream ideology in German nationalism, just because the people hope that the German region can be peacefully reunified, and it is called the "peaceful reunification faction".
It is a pity that these people cannot dominate the German region. The masters of the states must first consider their own interests.
...
Berlin
Although Frederick William IV supported the unification movement, it was only a political need, and it did not mean that he was willing to sacrifice his own interests for the unification of Germany.
The unification of Germany, which the Kingdom of Prussia has been pursuing, excludes Austria and cannot achieve this goal. This unification is worthless to them.
Historically, Frederick William IV took the "Three Kings Alliance" as the core and attempted to use the Erfurt Union Parliament to exclude Austria.
This is also the political proposition of Little German Thought, and the reason for excluding Austria is very simple: the German Empire that unites Austria is too large to be tolerated by all European countries.
Of course, this is just one of the reasons, there are many other reasons, for example: there are too many other nationalities in Austria, which will destroy the purity of the German nation...
Prime Minister Josef von Radowitz said solemnly: "The ambitions of the Austrians have been exposed, and combined with the current international situation, they are likely to have the support of the Russians.
The Russian-Austrian secret treaty we have been speculating about is probably that Austria supported the Russians in annexing the Ottoman Empire in exchange for the Russians supporting them in rebuilding the Holy Roman Empire.
I have to say that the Austrians are ruthless enough to dare to do things with tigers. Now they have picked a good time, the British, French and Russians have declared war and are held back a lot.
If you want to interfere in the German region, you must let the Russians annex the Ottoman Empire. Napoleon III may give priority to intervening in Central Europe, but the London government will definitely hesitate.
If the Austrian government can unify the German region through diplomatic means, even if it is only in name, the French will not dare to act rashly. "
The Russians annexed the Ottoman Empire, and the French lost only their interests in the Near East and Egypt, and the French navy in the Mediterranean could still suppress the Russians.
The British were different, and it was not only the interests of the Mediterranean that they lost. In Palmerston's words: If we can't keep the Russians out of the Balkans, then we have to keep them out of the Indus Valley.
Once the Russians annex the Ottoman Empire, Persia cannot stop the Russians, which means India is in danger.
In this era, Britain only controlled India, and it didn't have time to swallow it. If the Russians ran out to disrupt the situation, their most important colony might fly away.
When faced with a dilemma, hesitation is inevitable.
After all, the rebuilding of the Holy Roman Empire is still just a loose empire. It cannot expand externally until the internal integration is completed. With the French standing in the way, the British will not be threatened in the short term.
Frederick William IV sneered and said: "The Austrians think too well, Franz, that little brat, is probably fooled by others!
As long as we do not agree, the German region cannot be unified. Could it be that he really thought that the German states were willing to be unified by the Austrians?
If the Holy Roman Empire cannot be rebuilt by political means, what will the Austrians do? Is it possible to use military strength to unify the German region by force? "
Josef von Radowitz shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, this is impossible. Although Austria's military strength is strong, it is impossible to unify the German region with the intervention of foreign powers.
Once Austria used force, we formed alliances with the German states to resist their attack.
We can even deliberately allow the Austrians to destroy the military power of these small states. As long as we do not rashly fight them and delay until the French intervene, Austria will lose.
As long as the operation is good, the strength of these small states will be greatly reduced after the war, and the opportunity for us to unify the German region will appear instead.
The old fox in Metternich could not fail to see that Felix was dedicated to promoting peaceful reunification, and because of this, it was impossible to take risks with them in the Austrian government. "
Prime Minister Josef von Radowitz's judgment was not wrong, which is one of the reasons why Franz did not dare to take the risk.
As long as the Prussian army does not come out to fight Austria, whether it is defending the city or retreating all the way, it is impossible to destroy their main force in a short time.
After a month or two, the French intervention army came over, and the Franco-Prussian alliance with Austria could no longer resist.
If it drags on for a few more days, the British, the Spaniards, and the intervention armies of a group of small European countries will all come.
In this case, Austria has no hope of victory at all. Bet all of your net worth, and if you fail, it's over.
Can it be expected that the Austrian army will explode and kill Prussia and France before the intervention forces of various countries arrive?
Big countries maintain stability, while small countries take risks.
Franz, who is familiar with history, knows that only the victor who survives to the end is the real victor. Countries that rely on reckless victories will end in tragedy in the end.
Japan and Germany are typical among them. They are all masters of explosive combat power. When the outbreak broke out, the air was full of the air, and then they were beaten by everyone to be paralyzed.
On the contrary, Italy, which has been living a long life, has become a victorious country in the two world wars, taking a lot of advantages.
Even the arrogant Frenchman, after suffering a loss, knows that he can lie down and win, so he must not make a fuss.
With so many senior cases, how could Franz dare to wave? Don't look at the Austrian army after training, the combat power seems to be very strong, the problem is that it can only break out in one wave!
Once there is no quick solution, the weakness of the Austrian multi-ethnic state will be exposed over time.
According to the current plan, it will be much safer, and it will only be done in areas with a good public foundation. The smaller the stall, the smaller the risk.
After the completion, the internal integration can be completed in the shortest time. The French dare to take the lead, that is, the invaders, and can enjoy the morale bonus of local combat.
Frederick William IV sighed and said, "Unfortunately, if we didn't have these old foxes, we could still send someone to try it.
Now, let's try to sabotage the Austrian plan, it's best not to arouse the disgust of the people, our reputation can't be tossed anymore. "
It's hard to do anything with a bad reputation. After being swindled by the German state, the reputation of the Prussian government has not been good until now.
Not only in the German region, but even in the country, the Prussian people are not very interested in the government.
No matter how they explain, the government's promises are not fulfilled, and the people always feel that the government has cheated them of their money. Especially the nationalists were very dissatisfied with the compromise between the government and the Russians.