Chapter 528 The Unpleasant Throne

Seeing the face of Christmas approaching, the Vienna government was not in a hurry to seek the unlucky of the Polish government, and even the news of Poland's diplomatic note was suppressed, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs only conveyed Franz's threat.

European countries do not have the tradition of doing things at Christmas. Vienna is still so lively this Christmas. Franz held a court banquet as usual.

Good times are always short, and just after Christmas, Franz received bad news - Otto I of Greece died.

Compared with the original time and space, which was ousted from power in 1862, Otto I was lucky in this plane. With the strong rise of Austria, he, a pro-Austrian faction, will naturally not be ousted from power for taking the wrong side in diplomacy.

What is troublesome is that Otto I, who was born in the Wittelsbach dynasty, has no children, and his younger brothers are unwilling to convert to the Orthodox Church, and the crown prince of Greece has always been vacant.

Now the question arises, who should inherit the Greek throne? Franz had already sent a telegram to the Wittelsbach dynasty, now the Lombard royal family, in the hope that they could send a prince to take on the task.

The result is very embarrassing, and no one wants to take this mess. Come to think of it, the situation in Greece is very bad right now. The external debt is high, and the internal turbulence is also surging.

This is the aftermath of the war in the Near East. As one of the warring countries, although Greece stood on the side of the victors, it retreated due to the military pressure of Britain and France in the middle.

This time, not only the spoils of war were gone, but they were also cleaned up by Britain and France, and a huge amount of debt was on their backs after the war.

In any case, Greece also shed blood in the Near East War, and paid tens of thousands of sacrifices to hold back some of the troops of the Anglo-French Ottoman Alliance.

After the war, Russia and Austria still took Otto I and helped him keep the throne. After the war, the anti-British and French sentiments of the Greek people were strong, and Otto I naturally moved closer to Russia and Austria.

With the changes in the international situation, Austria has successively reached deals with Britain and France, Austria has taken over the French Balkan Peninsula, and the British have obtained Kofu Island.

In the Mediterranean dispute, France and Austria together excluded the British. In this context, Greece won the support of the Vienna government, Otto I took the opportunity to expel the British.

This "expulsion" is almost the same as the British voluntarily giving up. After all, the interests of Greece are still too small. Although the strategic position is important, the British have no skills, and they really can't take care of this leftover.

Finally, with the mediation of Austria, the Greek government paid a ransom in exchange for the British "withdrawal" from Greece.

This is an inevitable result, there is no room for others on the side of the couch. Since the French abandoned the Balkans, Greece's geographical position has been determined, and the British cannot hold on for long.

In the face of the constant resistance of the Greeks, the London government did not have the energy to suppress it. The cunning John Bull decided to sell at a good price. In the end, the Greek government owed a large amount of debt to the British.

Nationalism is a double-edged sword, and since the expulsion of the British, Greek radical groups have turned their attention to Austria to restore the Roman Empire.

This radical idea was naturally suppressed by the government of Otto I. Normal people know that this is an impossible plan, but idealists are the exception.

Unwilling to fail, the idealist wants to overthrow the rule of Otto I. There is no doubt that this rabble has not become a climate.

With the outbreak of the agricultural crisis, Greece's domestic economy also experienced problems. Many farmers went bankrupt in the first wave of the crisis, and social conflicts intensified.

Although a lot of immigrants were pulled away by Austria, there are still many left behind, and the social order in Greece is constantly deteriorating.

This created favorable conditions for the radical groups to rebel. If Otto I was still alive, it would not be a big problem to suppress the rabble. The problem is that the throne is now vacant and the government is in chaos.

The Wittelsbach family has invested a lot of resources for the Greek throne, but they have not been rewarded for a long time. Now they do not want to continue investing.

This is not what Franz wants to see. If the Greek throne is not settled soon, it will not be long before Britain, France and Russia will join in.

With all countries involved, it will be difficult for Austria to dominate. If there is an anti-Austrian government in Greece, Franz's early investment will be completely lost.

"Prime Minister, who is currently the most suitable to inherit the Greek throne?"

Prime Minister Felix frowned: "The best candidates are of course Otto I's younger brothers Prince Luterpod and Prince Adalbert, but both of them have clearly given up their inheritance rights.

There are many heirs further down, but because of age, we are not sure whether Otto I's nephew will be able to sit firmly on the Greek throne. "

Otto I died suddenly, leaving behind a mess. The current Greek king is not easy to do, and he has no certain ability to control the situation at all.

Otherwise, Franz would just fool a Wittelsbach family child and force him to take the top position.

Europe is a world where one can see one's identity. The succession to the throne is naturally the closer the bloodline is, the better. Closer means orthodoxy. If the heir ranked in the top ten, even if he is in the top position, it will be difficult to gain the support 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 don't need to convert to the Orthodox Church. We are responsible for solving all problems."

Franz decided to give, even though it might be up for grabs, wanting to take advantage of Austria. Who made the Greek throne unpopular?

Wittelsbach family worried

If the income is too large, the cost cannot be recovered, and it is understandable to find someone to share the cost.

There is no free lunch in the world. If you take advantage of Austria, you must do things for Austria. The more you get, the more you need to pay.

Although Greece is small, Franz still dare not despise it, and it is better to keep it in his own hands. Otto I did a great job, and it didn't hurt that Greece was a little messed up.

Franz's requirements are not high, as long as he continues to implement Otto I's policy of restricting the population. In this era, the populations of European countries are rising rapidly, and it is also a clear stream that Greece can stay put.

As long as it is maintained, Greece, which has a population of less than one million, will not be able to make a few waves no matter how much it is tossed.

This is all to learn from the advanced experience of France. If it were not for the rapid economic development of France after Napoleon III succeeded to the throne, perhaps their population growth rate would have been even lower.

It's just that the unreasonable parts were revised, and then sold to the Greek government, and then combined with Malthus's population theory, it is very convincing.

With the current land in Greece, it is indeed impossible to support more people. In a short period of time, the effect is very obvious.

Since the increase of the tax, the enthusiasm of the Greek people to have children has greatly decreased, and there are fewer children to support, and the people's living standards have risen instead of falling.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg shook his head: "Your Majesty, it is not good for us to intervene too much. At present, the anti-Austrian sentiment among the Greeks is growing, and if we intervene, I am afraid it will make things more troublesome.

Moreover, the positions of Britain, France and Russia also have to be considered. They don't want to see us controlling Greece. If we mess with it, the Greek throne will probably be delayed indefinitely.

Instead, let's wait and see the situation. Whoever is willing to cooperate with us will support whoever ascends. It is much easier to subvert the rule of a country if someone is ignorant of current affairs, than to build a country. "

Franz had already heard the subtext. It is nothing more than worry that after this precedent is set, it will affect the political structure of the empire.

There are many kingdoms in the Shinra Empire. If the Wittelsbach family used too much power from the empire when they competed for the Greek throne, does that mean that other royal families can also use the power of the empire to expand?

This is not a false alarm, but it will actually happen. The relationship between the European royal families is a mess, and it is common to have the right to inherit the throne of other countries.

Are the thrones of Poland and Spain still vacant? There are many great nobles who are interested in the country, but they lack the support of the foreign powers, and there is no way to gain an advantage in the competition.

The Vienna government did not support any of the big nobles in the country, and now fully supports the Wittelsbach family to secure the Greek throne.

According to the rules of the game, the Wittelsbach family can get the support of the empire, but they must come up with resources in exchange.

This set of rules was designed by Franz himself. Including operations in Mexico, the royal family has borne a considerable part of military expenses.

Franz frowned: "This is indeed a problem, but it is not difficult to solve, how much the empire has paid, how much will be rewarded in the future.

It's okay to make the problem clear in advance, if the Wittelsbach family still doesn't want to. Presumably pulling Greece back into the arms of Catholicism, no one would object. "

Austria is suppressing religion, but it does not mean that religion cannot be used to achieve its goals. There is no law that says the king of Greece cannot be Catholic.

Even if there is, such a code that is outdated by the times must be abolished. Now is the era of religious freedom, how can we engage in religious discrimination?

When it comes to return on investment, Franz is not worried at all. The big deal is to promote cotton cultivation in Greece. Greece will be a major cotton exporter in later generations, and it must be possible now.

Both a raw material production area and a grain dumping area have been added, which is enough to satisfy domestic interest groups.

Thinking of this, Franz suddenly opened up a new idea, and this agricultural crisis may be resolved in advance.

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