Chapter 400 The Civil War Ends

In fact, Switzerland is a magical country. There are not only pro-French, pro-Austrian and papal factions, but also pro-Spanish, pro-Sardinian, pro-Dutch and even pro-Venetian factions.

After looking at the factional relations within Switzerland, Franz's head hurt even more. Some people say that the Swiss are French who don't want to be French, Germans who don't want to be Germans, and a group of Italians who don't want to be Italians.

But at this time, it seems like a group of poor people who want to be foreigners but can't.

But the Swiss are really determined when exercising their right of asylum. They have taken in a large number of Germans, French, Italians, British, Hungarians, Spanish, Russians, Swedes, and even Ottomans to take refuge in this country.

In addition, the Polish Restoration Army also intervened, and even almost joined forces with Mazzini to declare war on all the monarchical countries in Europe.

Although it is impossible to be impartial and absolutely neutral to anyone, it can be regarded as a moral model of this era.

They even refused the request to hand over Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon).

Of course, it also depends on which state it is. For example, Lucerne has long used one-fifth of its income to support the lives of exiles.

Some states also stipulate that these exiles must pay refugee taxes, and those who violate the regulations will be expelled from their place of residence.

In theory, Switzerland is not allowed to accept foreign troops, but they have a very flexible bottom line. For example, the rebels in northern Italy, and the Redwood Army led by Garibaldi after the failure of the uprising in history, all fled to Switzerland.

The reason is that the number of people is too small, so it is not an army.

Although Switzerland enacted a law in 1512 to stop sending mercenaries to France, in fact, Louis Philippe had a Swiss guard around him at this time.

There is also a large-scale Swiss mercenary army in the Netherlands. Even after Switzerland banned mercenaries in 1874, the Swiss mercenaries have never disappeared.

In addition, Franz felt that it was really stupid to give leadership to clergy. Obviously, at this time, Switzerland's "Independence League" or "Catholic League" needed capable people, not a priest.

Pastor Belit failed to seek help in France, so he could only turn to another powerful neighbor in the east for help. This neighbor is naturally Austria.

However, the Austrian Empire’s top leaders hated Switzerland very much. Metternich thought they were harboring criminals, Count Korolaf thought they were middlemen, hateful second-hand dealers, and Count Latour thought Switzerland was a rebel camp.

And everyone was dissatisfied with Belit’s practice of going to France first and then to Austria.

Belit’s explanation was that he lived in western Switzerland, closer to France, which obviously did not satisfy everyone, and no one wanted to hear his explanation.

Of course, no one wanted a civil war to really break out in Switzerland. After all, in the eyes of the Austrian side, this was a destruction of the Vienna system.

However, if Switzerland was allowed to carry out "religious persecution", Austria, the guardian of faith, would also lose face.

The result was that Austria directly issued an ultimatum for the possible Swiss civil war.

"The inviolability of the neutrality of the Swiss Confederation will only be respected if the Treaty of 1815 is not violated."

(The Treaty of 1815 refers to the Treaty of Vienna.)

"If the Swiss Confederation cannot strictly abide by the treaty, Austria will have the right to withdraw its previous commitments."

In fact, what Metternich did was simply to exert pressure. He did not want the Swiss to revolt, which would set a bad example for the Austrians.

And Metternich also hoped to expel those exiles, after all, those people have always been a threat to the security of Europe.

Of course, Metternich is not a fool, he knows how to force people to submit. Metternich deliberately delayed the Austrian letter, but sent a note to Prussia and Russia. The letters from the three countries arrived at the same time, which represented the attitude of the Holy Alliance.

In this way, even if the Swiss really want to fight a civil war, they have to consider the consequences of being intervened by the great powers.

In fact, the supporters behind the Protestant Alliance in Switzerland are the British. Of course, if there is no such a troublemaker, no one can unite so many factions in Switzerland.

But unfortunately, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. The British overseas cannot help Switzerland, the inland center.

However, the French were the ones who reacted most quickly to Austria's letter. They immediately issued a letter, asking Switzerland to stop the civil war and possible public disorder.

Faced with the pressure from the two powerful groups on the left and right, the flames of the Swiss civil war were temporarily suppressed, but Franz knew that this was only temporary.

As the situation changes, the interests of all parties are also constantly changing.

Too many colonies and alliances in this life have distracted France's energy, but if it is unified and integrated, it will definitely be more terrifying than in history.

By that time, France will not be so restrained, and may even actively seek to break the Vienna system. Of course, Franz will not let that happen.

As for the Swiss civil war, it is good news for Austria, or anything that can increase the population is good news.

If everything is to develop according to Franz's plan, the leadership of the Independence League must be changed. What can a group of charlatans do? Except for cheating for food and drink, it is cheating for money.

And the name must also be changed. The name of the Independence League is very passive. Franz planned to change it into an Orthodox Alliance. Yes, the legal source was Switzerland's original perpetual alliance.

The Perpetual Alliance Treaty is the foundation of the Swiss Confederation. If the other party wants to continue the civil war, this treaty must be overturned.

However, once this treaty is overturned, the foundation of the Swiss Confederation will disappear. At the same time, because the civil war destroyed the Vienna system, Austria can also intervene to sanction "saboteurs".

Of course, if possible, Franz does not want Austria to directly participate in the Swiss civil war. Because if that time comes, many powers will choose sides, and a war is inevitable.

Unless Franz can solve the problem directly at the negotiation table like the Luxembourg crisis, so that all parties are satisfied, but that is almost impossible.

However, there are some difficult problems in the Swiss civil war, that is, the distribution of the seven states of the Orthodox Alliance is a bit outrageous.

Especially the state of Fribourg, which is directly surrounded by the enemy's free states. Although the other states are gathered together, they are also surrounded by free states.

The difference between the two is just the size of the encirclement. What's more terrible is that these orthodox states do not border the surrounding countries.

If the war starts, even if Franz wants to send supplies and weapons, he can't find a way to start.

In addition, Archbishop Rauscher was no longer sleepy when it came to religious wars, and even the situation was opened up.

He assured Franz that he could still persuade one or two states to join the Orthodox Alliance. At this time, the power ratio between the Free States and the Orthodox States was 13 to 7, and three states remained neutral.

If it was true as Archbishop Rauscher said, as long as he could persuade one or two states to join the Orthodox Alliance, the gap between the two sides would be further narrowed.

In this way, Franz had more room for maneuver.