Chapter 843: Procrastination
"Are you talking about the Holy Alliance?"
"Yes."
Metternich sighed. He never dreamed that one day this alliance used to protect Austria would turn around and pit Austria.
Metternich continued.
"The purpose of the Holy Alliance is to maintain the normal order of the world, oppose those radical democrats, and unite the monarchs of Europe to suppress possible uprisings.
In fact, we are trying to prevent France from making a comeback, but now what is happening in Sicily, if Ferdinando II asks us for help, the Austrian Empire will be involved in an unnecessary war.
This reminds me of the past. The terrain of the Kingdom of Sicily, France and Spain, is very complicated. This will be a protracted war.
Once we retreat, the so-called Holy Alliance will exist in name only."
In fact, the so-called Holy Alliance has long existed in name only, but it is really unsolvable that Naples asked Austria for help.
Because in addition to the Holy Alliance, there is also the Apennine Commercial Alliance, which is directly related to Austria's grand strategy in the Apennine region.
If we refuse to send troops at this moment, all our efforts over the years will be in vain. But sending troops to southern Italy is definitely a bottomless pit, and it will also make Austria be labeled as an executioner.
However, it is not completely unsolvable, Franz thought about it and said.
"Your Excellency, we can first delay or bribe the ministers of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to prevent them from letting the king write a letter for help."
Metternich was a little confused. This was not Archduke Franz's style at all, but this was indeed a last resort, better than being trapped in a dilemma and waiting to die.
Moreover, Prince Metternich knew very well that the politics of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was very corrupt, and those trusted ministers had a great influence on Ferdinand II. Archduke Franz's suggestion was absolutely feasible.
This is also the case. Compared with diving into the quagmire, this approach is much more practical.
"Archduke Franz, you are right. As long as no one asks us for help, we can turn a blind eye. But what if this fire burns more and more fiercely?"
"When the enemy comes, the general will stop it, and when the water comes, the earth will cover it."
January 18, 1848.
Ferdinando II, who had just arrived at the Royal Palace of Naples, had not had time to catch his breath when the news from Sicily reached Naples.
Just like what happened a week ago, people took to the streets again, and the 15,000-man royal guards blocked the streets, and the people also built barricades.
At the same time, uprisings broke out in many places in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and important cities such as Messina, Tarcania, and Trabania fell one after another.
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies claimed to have an army of 100,000, but it was already stretched to the limit at this time, and was asking for help everywhere. The news of defeat piled up on Ferdinando II's desk like snowflakes.
"Damn untouchables! I taught them to read! I let them live a good life! Now they are actually going to stand up against me! This group of conscienceless bastards!"
Ferdinando II became more and more angry as he thought about it. He couldn't understand why the people wanted to resist him, and he couldn't understand why his army was so lame.
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was just a small country, and it was not easy to support an army of 100,000. The annual military expenditure had to account for about half of the fiscal expenditure to maintain this large army.
What Ferdinando II did not know was that the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies had never had an army of 100,000. Every time he went to review, it was just some extras.
The entire Kingdom of the Two Sicilies had only more than 30,000 troops, and it was naturally stretched to the limit in the face of hundreds of thousands of rebels.
Ferdinando II hated Austria very much, but at this time, the most rational thing for him to do was to ask for help from it and use the hands of the Austrians to quell the rebellion in the country.
The cleverness of this move was that he did not have to spend a single soldier himself, nor did he have to bear the infamy of an executioner.
But his close minister Dozanka Xialuo obviously had a different opinion. The latter hated this approach very much and felt that it was not gentlemanly and decent, and what if Austria stayed in the Two Sicilies?
Ferdinand II nodded his approval to the loyal minister, and then said.
"I don't want to go to the Austrians either, but the situation forces us to survive. Otherwise, like Louis XVI, I will be the great sinner of the Bourbon family.
As for the Austrians, they dare not stay in our territory, because the powers will force them to leave, and the cost of supplies is also unaffordable for them.
When the time comes, we don't need to drive them away at all, they will leave in disgrace."
"Your Majesty, let me lead the troops to charge again! Within three days, I will definitely clear out the unruly people in the city!"
Dozanka Xia Luo said sincerely, and Ferdinand II was deeply moved, but he still said in a persuasive way.
"Can you eliminate the rebellion in Naples, can you eliminate the rebellion in the whole country? And there are not many loyal people around me, I want you to keep your life well"
There was an emotional drama between the monarch and the minister, but in the end Ferdinand II decided to write a letter to the Holy Alliance for help.
However, the messenger was stopped by Dozanka Charlotte just as he walked out of the palace gate.
"Sir, you called me?"
The messenger asked with some doubt. Dozanka Charlotte knew that this person was Ferdinand II's confidant and did not say much. He shot the other person's head directly.
The guards on the side quickly handed over a towel, and Dozanka Charlotte wiped his hands.
"The messenger has been killed by the rioters. You found the body on the outskirts of the city a month later. Do you understand?"
"I understand, I understand."
Dozanka Charlotte nodded. In fact, he didn't want to do this, but the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was so big that it was not so easy to perish. The rebels just wanted a constitution.
Dozanka Charlotte didn't want to care so much. He only knew that one million florins fell into his pocket.
And even if the constitution was really promulgated, with his financial resources and influence, he was also one of the top people in the country, so Dozanka Charlotte was not panicked at all.
On January 2, Tocqueville spoke in the French House of Representatives:
"I believe that at this moment, we are sleeping in the mouth of a volcano... Don't you instinctively feel that the European continent is shaking again? Don't you smell the breath of revolution in the air?"
Although there have been constant uprisings in France in the past year, no one thinks that this behemoth will collapse.
In fact, this is an illusion, because Paris was the quietest place in France at that time, and there were so many uprisings and strikes in the provinces that local officials were too lazy to report them.
However, Tocqueville's warning was just a new trick to attract attention in the ears of the top bureaucrats in France, who wanted to use alarmist words to enhance their status.
In the end, Tocqueville's words were only ridiculed and mocked, and only the liberals regarded it as a means of attacking the government.
At that time, even the orthodox and liberals who were determined to overthrow the Orleans Dynasty did not think that an uprising in Sicily would have any impact on France.