Chapter 484: Crisis of Faith

Britain and Austria pk in South Africa, European countries are happy to see jokes. In order for the war to last longer, the French also supported the "Boer Republic" with practical actions.

In this Anglo-Boers War, nearly one-fifth of the strategic materials were contributed by the French. The French also opened the door for the supplies transported from Austria to the South African front through Egypt.

The Anglo-Boers War was not so much an Anglo-Austrian game as it was France and Austria working together to block the British. Although it was Austria that eventually occupied South Africa, the French did not lose out on their investment.

It is better to contain the British energy in South Africa than to let the British devote this part of their energy to the European continent.

The anti-French alliance remained on paper and did not become a reality. This "Anglo-Boers War" also played an important role.

It stands to reason that the situation between Britain and Austria is now very favorable for the French. The establishment of the Great French Empire is unstoppable, and Napoleon III should be happy.

However, the external threat is gone, and the internal trouble has appeared.

The first one that jumped out was the Pope. The Italian states, who were unwilling to fail, tried to fight him by supporting the Pope.

As a Catholic country, the influence of the Holy See is still very large. Now that the emperor and the pope co-exist in one country, it is a troubling question as to who is bigger and who is smaller.

Now Napoleon III has some regrets. If he had known this trouble, he would have kicked out the Papal State.

It is no fun that the Pope has become a political enemy. It's not that people have no roots, and churches all over the country are supporters of the Pope, at least in name.

In a recent parliament, the Pope directly occupied the throne, so angry that Napoleon III was directly absent.

Theocracy and imperial power collided again, and the whole of France was caught in a vortex of storms. If one is not handled well, the new empire will collapse again.

Neither Napoleon III nor Pope Pius IX can back down now. They represent not only their own interests, but also the interest groups behind them.

The bourgeoisie, which was originally dissatisfied with Napoleon III in the country, is now supporting the Pope almost as a flag. Politically, Napoleon III has no overwhelming advantage.

These people support Pius IX, not because of how devout their beliefs are, nor because they really want the church to become bigger again. The main purpose is just to provoke disputes and create opportunities for seizing power.

The endless struggle between the emperor and the pope for power will definitely lead to dissatisfaction among the people. When the anger of the people reaches its peak, it is when the parliament takes over the power of the country.

It can be said that the establishment of Greater France ignited the internal contradictions in France. Everyone wants to take advantage of this opportunity to reshuffle the cards to further gain more benefits.

In the Palace of Versailles, Napoleon III's trusted minister of police, Ansoch, suggested: "Your Majesty, since Pius IX is ignorant of current affairs, just give him..."

Having said that, it stopped abruptly, and An Suoqi made a gesture of wiping his neck, as if to say that it was time to kill Pius IX.

Napoleon III glared at him fiercely, and said solemnly: "No, this kind of thing can never happen.

Once Pius IX had an accident, we would be the most suspect, and the situation would be out of control by then.

Now we not only can't touch him, but also must protect his safety, and we can't let others kill him!

Moreover, even if the pope is changed, the situation has not changed. Whoever became the Pope stood against us.

Those people will not give up, without them making trouble behind the scenes, Pius IX would not have jumped out to fight us. "

Political struggle is the most taboo of assassination, and now that Napoleon III has been washed ashore, this method cannot be used at all.

If the news leaks, there will be a civil war in France, at least the revolutionary party will take the opportunity to launch a rebellion, or there will be a coup d'etat within the government.

The Italian region is unstable. Now it is only suppressed by force. A spark can detonate conflicts, let alone assassinate the Pope?

At this time, Napoleon III's mind was still very clear. He knew that his enemy was not the pope, but an interest group that supported the pope.

The mastermind Perlisi suggested: "Your Majesty, why don't you continue to promote religious reform. Find an excuse to abolish the Papal State and set up provinces under the direct control of the central government. Let religion return to religion and the secular to secular."

This is the bottom line, pushing the religious reform to abolish the Papal State is equivalent to cutting off the foundation of the Pope's involvement in politics. Since then the Pope has been divorced from politics and only exists as a religious leader.

Napoleon III's eyes lit up, and he was able to kick the Pope out, and things would be easier to handle later. Without this banner figure, the opposition has become divided.

"It's a good idea, it's best to restrict the Pope's power by the way, so as not to cause us trouble later.

I'll leave the matter of Pelisi to you. Find a way to spoil the Holy See and don't give them a chance to turn over. "

When he said this, Napoleon III still had some resentment in his eyes. The grievances between the Bonaparte family and the Holy See have not been a day or two, and the relationship between the two sides has not been good.

Napoleon I was not recognized by the Holy See at first. Later, he attacked Italy by force. When he was crowned emperor, he snatched the crown directly from the Pope.

When it was Napoleon III's turn, things weren't much better. Catholicism has always supported orthodoxy, and Napoleon III had nothing to do with orthodoxy.

After a coup to seize power, Napoleon III

Proclaimed emperor, the Holy See is very disrespectful. Inviting Pius IX to come over to be crowned, people simply won't buy it.

There are only two choices left for Napoleon III, either to go to Rome to be crowned, or to become emperor first, and to find a way to be crowned in the future.

These were two options after European emperors could not gain papal recognition. Of course, going to Rome for coronation will definitely not be so harmonious. Usually, troops are sent to fight over to force the pope to be crowned.

Napoleon III, who had an unstable foundation, endured it. In order to negotiate with the Pope, he also did a lot of thankless things. He can be called a "Catholic Dutiful Son".

He is a true "Catholic dutiful son", different from the previous French monarchs, who cleans up some bad things that damage the interests of the Holy See.

After doing so many things and not getting what I wanted, I naturally felt resentment in my heart. Had it not been for the annexation of Italy, he still did not know whether he would be crowned by the Pope and become a legitimate emperor in his lifetime.

Now that the interests are on the opposite side again, Napoleon III also wants to follow the example of his predecessors and continue the story of the "Catholic Dutiful Son".

The Catholic dutiful son is not a good word, and the things the French do have nothing to do with the "filial son", for example: the prisoner of Avignon, the blasphemous alliance, the Protestant alliance during the Thirty Years' War, and the killing of the Knights Templar ...

In short, the French made an outstanding contribution to the decline of Catholicism, more than the contribution of Protestantism.

Of course, Napoleon III was less extreme. With the great achievements of his ancestors, he is not ready to surpass. However, the final blow to the declining Holy See is still indispensable.

The struggle between imperial power and theocratic power cannot be compromised. Even if both sides are heading for decline, a winner must be decided.

On this issue, Napoleon III did not worry about having no supporters, and the monarchs of European countries are all his potential supporters.

...

With the order of Napoleon III, the black history of the Holy See suddenly increased. Not only the old accounts of the past have been turned over, but now the clergy are often pulled out by the newspapers and flogged.

It's all real people, real cases that happened around everyone without the slightest bit of moisture, and it's hard to turn white. As if overnight, the Holy See's reputation had become stinky.

The telegraph accelerated the speed of news dissemination, and the Holy See scandals in France and Italy spread to the European continent in the shortest time.

In this era, the Holy See no longer has the power to coerce Europe. The endless black history of the Holy See in the newspapers is enough to explain a lot of problems.

In this era of ideological explosion, people have doubts about the existence of God, and their beliefs are no longer so pious.

After the shock, anti-Holy See movements emerged in many places, and in some areas, people even attacked churches.

At this time, Napoleon III realized that he had gone too far, but the situation was no longer under his control.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, he successfully killed his political opponents, but triggered a crisis of faith in Europe and plunged the country into ideological chaos.

It wasn't just France that was hit, but Austria was not immune to it. After the religious crisis broke out, the Austrian clergy was not spared either.

Many clergymen with unruly personal lives and poor moral cultivation were exposed by the newspapers.

Real facts, solid evidence. The ideological impact this kind of news has brought to the people can be imagined. Even in the stronghold of conservatives, a crisis of belief broke out in Austria.

There was also a heated discussion among the people, and the idea of ​​atheism began to spread rapidly. Various experts and scholars made their debut, using newspapers as the battlefield, and began to fight against each other, and fell into a dance of demons for a while.

Looking at the intensifying ideological melee, Franz couldn't sit still. If it goes on like this, who knows how many wonderful ideas will be born in the end?

"Prime Minister, how is the Cabinet going to quell this turmoil?"

As a successful leader, Franz has always fully believed in the ability of his people. If something happens, ask the cabinet first.

After pondering for a while, Prime Minister Felix replied: "Your Majesty, I am afraid that you will have to go out to appease the people in this matter.

The consequences of the collapse of beliefs are very serious. If they cannot be dealt with in time, and some messy thoughts are passed on, the consequences will be serious. "

Well, this is going to stand for the Catholic Church. This crisis of faith was aimed at the Holy See from the very beginning, and Catholicism was naturally the hardest hit.

After hesitating for a while, Franz said, "Well, the degeneration of the clergy is because their beliefs are not pious enough, and the supervision of the Holy See is not in place.

We can help in this regard. The government can legislate to regulate the behavior of the clergy and punish these sinners for God. "

There is no problem in appeasing the people, but the suppression of the church must also be done. Since the French rushed ahead, Franz naturally didn't mind falling into the trap.

The church cannot supervise the clergy, so the government does it for them. Institutions like the Inquisition should not exist.