Chapter 219 Interference
On July 1, 1853, Prime Minister Felix revisited the Grand Duchy of Baden and had a historic meeting with the regent, Prince Friedrich.
Prime Minister Felix continued to flicker: "Your Highness, German unification is the common wish of all German people, and the Bavarian government, which is standing in the way, has been abandoned by the people.
History has given us the mission to achieve national unity at this time. As nobles of the German region, we have a duty to fulfill this obligation. "
In the face of Prime Minister Felix who has been fooling around, Prince Friedrich has a great headache. Now, "unification" is politically correct in the Principality of Baden. With the lessons of the Bavarian government, he dare not make mistakes on this issue.
Felix was flickering, but also accompanied by the threat of Austrian force.
The Kingdom of Bavaria has been settled, and the Austrian army involuntarily moved to the border of the Grand Duchy of Baden, and it was not too many, only a few hundred thousand people.
This number has already made Prince Friedrich sleep well. In his opinion, 100,000 Austrian troops are not needed, and even 10,000 Austrian troops are a serious threat.
Fortunately, the Austrians know that the soldiers are first and then there is room for manoeuvre. Even if it is to be merged, it must be sold for a good price, right?
Prince Friedrich raised the question in his heart: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, as a nobleman in the German region, I am also willing to contribute to the unification of the German region. The problem now is that the European countries do not want to see the unification of Germany.
Britain, France and Russia have all expressed their attitude that once the German region is unified, they will send troops to intervene, and the Prussians will collude with them.
If we can't handle this problem, we rashly start a reunification process, which is likely to turn into a huge war. "
Nobility is not just a privilege, it also represents a responsibility, which is why the European aristocracy is respected.
Prince Friedrich could not directly reject German unification. He simply put the problem of unification in front of him, and by the way, he also hacked a wave of Prussians.
If Austria cannot solve this problem, then reunification will be impossible, and the big deal is that Austria will eat Bavaria, and it will be over.
A dead friend is not a poor man. Prince Friedrich has no intention of holding grievances for the Bavarian government. The Austrians have paid attention to their relationship and publicly promised that the two royal families will exchange their territories.
Although the exact location was not disclosed, it was already the best option for the Bavarian royal family. As a royal family abandoned by the people, it is not possible to stay on the throne if they continue to stay in Bavaria. It is better to keep their foundation in another place.
Prime Minister Felix said confidently: "His Royal Highness can rest assured on this issue. If the diplomatic issue cannot be resolved, we would not dare to mention reunification at this time.
The current world situation must be very clear to His Highness. Britain, France and Russia are fighting fiercely in the Near East. Even if they want to intervene, they are more than enough.
As long as everyone has reached an agreement, the unification of the German region is not a problem. The trouble now is the Kingdom of Prussia, which has always been ambitious and wanted to annex the whole of Germany.
We will try our best to strive for it. If the Prussian government opposes it and colludes with the foreign powers, then this time we will first unify the southern German region.
This is Austria's bottom line. Anyone who dares to stand in the way, then see you in the war! "
Prince Friedrich understood that the previous ones were all routines, and the last sentence was the real purpose of Austria.
After careful calculation, he found that it seemed that Austria's plan had a very high success rate, the Kingdom of Bavaria was over, and the southern German region could no longer resist their forces.
If it is the reunification of Germany, the three countries of Britain, France and Russia will definitely not tolerate it. If it was replaced by the partition of North and South Germany, the result would be different.
Austria has grown bigger, but this kind of enlargement has just stepped on everyone's bottom line and will not threaten everyone's survival.
For the British, there is no need to worry about losing control of the balance of the European continent. Austria, which has grown in strength, will keep pace with the French, and at most will be stronger than the Russians.
Anyway, Austria is surrounded by the three countries of Russia, Prussia and France. At this stage, it will no longer be able to expand, even if it is a little stronger, it is still within the tolerance range.
Not to mention the Russians. The Russian-Austrian alliance is a well-known thing. As long as the entire German region is not unified and the Russians feel threatened, they can accept the rest.
Prince Friedrich guessed that Russia and Austria had already reached an agreement, otherwise the Austrians would not dare to take action at this time.
A single France does not seem to be able to scare Austria. As long as it is not Napoleon's rebirth, Austria, which unites the southern German region, is not at all cowardly.
Prince Friedrich involuntarily acquiesced in his heart that the people supported unity. In this view, when calculating the military strength of Austria, the strength of several states in the southern German region was also added.
This calculation is not wrong. When the French call, they can't do it without fighting. When a foreign enemy invades, does anyone dare to call it neutral?
Prince Friedrich thought for a while and said, "Your Excellency Prime Minister, in principle, I agree with the unification of the German region. The Principality of Baden will not hinder the unification of the country, but we still need to discuss the specific details."
The struggle for interests cannot be retreated, and now Prince Friedrich naturally wants to fight for the interests of the Principality of Baden, or to fight for his own interests.
Felix showed a happy expression and got a positive answer. He knew that the Principality of Baden was done, and the specific conditions were still there.
Are you afraid to talk?
You must know that there is a law in the world called the "Constitution", and the central government can completely restrict the rights of local governments through laws.
In the new government, Austria occupies an absolute dominant position. How can these small states compete?
Felix said with an air of flickering: "No problem, considering that each state in the German region has its own system, in principle we advocate state autonomy.
Except that everyone must abide by the common "Constitution", the central government usually does not interfere in the administration of local governments. "
All of these have a precondition, that is - temporarily.
Prince Friedrich was satisfied, but he was not satisfied. Prime Minister Felix's attitude was too firm, and his actions were threats of force, which made him unable to say what he refused.
As for leaking the Austrians' plans, Prince Friedrich wasn't so stupid, which was a thankless thing.
Even if Britain and France know, it will not change the result of the unification of the Baden Principality in the end. Now it is the best choice to sell the Baden Principality for a good price.
If you turn your face, you can refer to the treatment of the Bavarian royal family. Replacing the land sounds good, but in fact they lost a lot of money, and the business results of several generations are gone, and they have to start over.
What if the Austrian government is shameless and has made a fool in the past ten or eight years to find an excuse to take down their throne?
In the new country, they don't have a solid mass foundation, and if the royal family is abolished, they will also be abolished, and they can't even stir up troubles.
After a week of negotiations, on July 9, 1853, Prime Minister Felix signed the "Declaration of German Unification" on behalf of Austria and the Duchy of Baden represented by Prince Friedrich.
To put it simply, the Principality of Baden and Austria are considered the same country from now on, even though the new parallel import Shinra Empire has not yet been established.
Before that, the Duchy of Saxony had already signed up. The Austrian government coerced and lured a combination of punches, and the people in the country followed suit. It would be difficult for them not to compromise!
Nationalism in the German region has been detonated, the Bavarian government that hindered national unity was killed by Austria, and the Duchy of Saxony and the Duchy of Baden reached an agreement with Austria.
It seems that the day of the reunification of the German region is not far away. When Prime Minister Felix arrived in Württemberg, the people who greeted him had already filled the streets, and finally had to negotiate in a manor outside the city.
When Austria issued a declaration of war, everyone thought that war was inevitable. As a result, the Bavarians successfully turned the war into an armed parade, and the dawn of peaceful reunification appeared again.
Before the negotiations began, the Württemberg government was already under great pressure. Before this, many people have publicly stated that they will not help the government fight if the unification war breaks out.
In order not to let the past of the Bavarian government repeat itself, the Kingdom of Württemberg naturally succumbed. As long as Austria can handle the international pressure, then everyone will be a family.
On July 11, 1853, the yet-to-be-established parallel import empire had emerged: Austria, Bavaria, Baden, Saxony, and Württemberg.
The South German region has basically been unified, Felix is on his way to Hesse-Darmstadt, and the Free City of Frankfurt has announced that it has joined the Shinra Empire.
At this time, Britain, France, Russia and other countries that are ready to intervene have reached an agreement. On July 6, Britain, France and Russia jointly issued a statement announcing a one-month armistice in the Near East.
The next day, 12 European countries, including Britain, France, and Russia, issued a joint note demanding that Austria stop the German reunification.
Without any threatening language, with just this note, Austria had to stop the pace of unification. Fortunately, Franz's goal had been completed at this time.
The German region, where the dawn of reunification just appeared, immediately fell into a wailing, and many people helplessly found that reunification is still far away.
The Kingdom of Prussia also appeared in the intervening countries this time, and Franz did not feel that there was any surprise. What's the point of taking some infamy for the sake of profit?
Anyway, their reputations are now smeared and broken, and Frederick William IV doesn't mind being scolded a few more times.
If the Kingdom of Prussia does not participate in this operation, it is certain that the division of the German region will have nothing to do with them.
Support Prussia against Austria? Such a good thing, just think about it in a dream.
The United Kingdom said that Hannover is its own little brother and cannot give up, otherwise, where will the boss's face go? Isn't it enough to balance the Austrians, the French and the Russians?
The French said, "I'm not stupid. It's not enough to have Austria as a competitor. Are we adding another one now?"
The Russians said, yes, they support you spiritually, and you must fight for your own practical interests. Russia is not stupid.
The interests of Europe are so great that if the Prussians take one more share, it means that others will take one less.
Which idiot is willing to take out his own interests and cultivate an opponent?
Geographical location has been determined, once the Kingdom of Prussia rises, it is everyone's competitor. Because there is not enough meat left for the Kingdom of Prussia now, they can only snatch it.
Check and balance Austria? As soon as the German region was divided, Austrian expansion was stopped.
French to the west, Russians to the east, Prussia to the north, Balkans to the south, and the Kingdom of Sardinia to the southwest are the British
His younger brother, the other states in the Italian region were originally Austria's younger brothers, so they couldn't speak at all.
How can Austria choose? Oh, and there is a Switzerland that wants nothing, unless the Vienna government has a collective brain, otherwise it will not be interested in the European backbone.
According to the plan proposed by the Russians, Austria will either stay put or go out and snatch colonies if it wants to expand!
This British and French are really not cowardly, and Austria is really not an opponent to compete overseas. Due to its geographical location, Austria was naturally at a disadvantage in overseas colonization.
As long as you develop colonies overseas, you will be stuck in the neck by Britain and France. If you don't have a good relationship with everyone, don't expect anything to be gained.