Chapter 854 Stubborn France

The Austrian Empire's declaration of war was too sudden. Under normal circumstances, such an important decision would not have been made within a few days.

First of all, the royal family passed this crazy resolution. Archduke Louis and Archduke Franz Karl were both people with no strong opinions. Under the strong pressure of Madame Sophie, they easily accepted the proposal to declare war on the Papal States.

Secondly, the Austrian Imperial Government was also tossed around a lot during this period. Count Raikkonen and Baron Kiel were originally marginal figures, and they did not understand the core mechanism of the top level.

These two people were previously the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Education. Both of them were typical technical bureaucrats. They had long been accustomed to the "yes, yes, yes" chat mode.

Moreover, compared with foreign countries, they paid more attention to the domestic situation, so they did not particularly understand the consequences of declaring war on the Papal States.

In fact, declaring war on the Papal States has huge risks, because those countries that previously claimed to support Pius IX are very likely to intervene in this war.

If the six countries of France, Britain, Prussia, Spain, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire, which had issued a joint statement before, went to war with Austria, it would undoubtedly be a war that would affect the whole of Europe.

If this trend really continues, it is possible that the Austrian Empire will be divided.

However, the reality is that France has just collapsed, Spain is deeply involved in civil war, the Prussian government has been beaten to a pulp by nationalists, and the Kingdom of Sardinia has begun to fear the power of the Papal States.

As for the British, they are somewhat out of reach, and the Ottoman Empire has long been on the decline.

Franz thinks that the French provisional government will immediately announce that it will not participate in any war and cancel the war threat of the Orleans Dynasty.

For the French provisional government at this time, stabilizing the domestic situation is the top priority, not participating in the European hegemony.

Although the royal party was excluded from the provisional government, the Duchess of Orleans and the Duchess of Berry also quietly left Paris, but the power of the orthodox in the south is still strong, and the remnants of the Orleans faction are still active.

France's rash military action in Austria will cause great turmoil, and behind Austria are the German Confederation and the Holy Alliance.

Then, at the root, the Papal States was actually the aggressor, and Austria was only forced to declare war, which was completely applicable to the joint defense clause of the two alliances.

Judging from the previous record of confrontation, the German Confederation had an advantage against France, and the French Provisional Government at this time was a mess.

Not to mention launching a large-scale war, they couldn't even manage the food rations of the citizens in Paris, and they wanted to learn from the Orleans Dynasty to suck blood from the colonies.

As a result, the news of the collapse of the dynasty spread to the colonies, not to mention fully supporting the homeland, and basically all the governors had the idea of ​​self-reliance.

The two jackals of Britain and the United States came over just by smelling the blood, but the two beasts still had some face, and they were willing to pay to buy from the French Provisional Government.

The US government was ready to bid $3.5 million to buy Texas, and the Americans were very considerate to leave two states for the French.

The problem is that Arizona and New Mexico are both inland and not connected to the ocean. If Texas is lost, these two states will be given away for nothing.

Moreover, there were hundreds of thousands of French people in Texas at that time, and the taxes paid each year amounted to tens of millions of francs, and the French investment in the local area was even more calculated in hundreds of millions.

The British planned to take over all the French colonies directly, just like during the Napoleonic Wars, and the price offered was much higher than that of the Americans.

One hundred million pounds, it can be seen that this is a very sincere figure, but the British are certainly not so kind, they asked for thirty years to pay it off.

This is a bit outrageous, because the French provisional government at this time did not know whether they could exist for thirty years.

Although the Orleans Dynasty was overthrown, the internal and external crises did not disappear, but tended to worsen. After all, when Louis Philippe was still there, at least the external crisis was not so serious.

So Franz felt that the French provisional government should declare neutrality in the war between Austria and the Papal States at the first time.

However, the reality is that the French provisional government is stubborn and keeps asking Austria to return the land of the Papal States, but it does not declare war or send troops.

If the French Provisional Government really launched an attack on Austria, then Franz would not mind reversing for France again.

After all, the French Provisional Government was in internal discord, and there were a lot of potential enemies, and Franz had at least three trump cards.

There was really no need to be too polite to such an enemy who liked to die, and Franz had no time to play Tai Chi with anyone at this time.

If France did not retreat, the Spanish would not retreat either. Although Spain was in chaos at this time, the regent Queen Christiana and her daughter Isabella II both had a fluke mentality.

That is, they could use this opportunity to divert domestic conflicts. They felt that Spain and Austria were not bordering each other anyway.

As for the so-called war, Spain had no money or soldiers, but if the Papal States won, they must have a share of the credit.

In fact, there was another reason, that is, the Spanish church was very influential, especially Isabella II was extremely superstitious about religion.

Sister Petrini and Father Clarit were the most valued mentors and advisors of Isabella II, and they were also members of the Jesuit Order, nominally under the leadership of the Pope.

Sister Petschini and Father Clarit naturally received orders from the Vatican. Although they hated the new pope, going to war with Austria did not seem to affect their interests.

As mentioned above, William IV of Prussia was in trouble at this time and did not want to get involved in the dispute between Austria and the Papal States.

In the Rhine region, William IV had lost control of the region due to the cooperation of the Archbishop of Cologne and the German nationalists.

The high literacy rate in Prussia also became a problem for them, because as long as someone wrote a few words on the city wall at night, a riot could be triggered the next day.

Newspapers, books, and pamphlets had a much greater influence in Prussia than in Austria. Various ideas and doctrines continued to dye people into various colors, and the Prussian government was completely helpless.

Similarly, industrialization also created a group of people - the working class, whose organization and discipline were incomparable to farmers.

Due to the high grain prices in the German Confederation over the years, land annexation in Prussia became more serious.

A large number of landless peasants entered the factories, but now the economy is bad and a large number of workers are unemployed, so they became the most terrible enemy of the Prussian government.

The mainstream thought at that time believed that the poor were the result of laziness, stupidity, and bad habits, and that their poverty was God's punishment for them, which was God's will.

As the incarnation of God's will, the king, who was granted by God, naturally could not help these poor people, so under the guidance of this thought, they were born to be opposed.

At this time, two people wrote some pamphlets and circulated them in Berlin. William IV was so overwhelmed that he naturally could not go to fight Austria at all costs.