Vienna Shen Qin in January was in the cold wind, the snow fell lightly from the sky and fell like rain. A gust of wind blew, like fine salt sprinkled into the sky, flying all over the sky, decorating the entire Vienna Palace into a fairy-tale world of ice and snow.
Franz has changed his good habit of swimming in winter. In this world of ice and snow, he can't go into the water. If he falls ill, he is not at ease with the medical skills of this era.
A thick layer of ice has formed on the artificial lake, and several younger brothers are still playing on it.
fell? It doesn't matter, just take an ice bath, get up and change clothes and continue.
Pampering does not exist. Their brothers have received militarized training since childhood, and their ability to talk about soldiers is definitely not low. Otherwise, Franz would not have run to command the army confidently in history.
Snowflakes fluttered, Franz stood in the pavilion and looked into the distance, and the water in the teapot next to him had begun to boil.
Making tea, I don't know when it started, Franz's habit. That's right, just boil it, he likes the aroma of the tea.
Franz didn't care how much tea was wasted every day for this. Anyway, there are so many people who are flattering, he doesn't consume a little bit, where will the opportunity come from
The main drink of the Vienna court is coffee, tea is only an occasional condiment, and most of it is black tea. With sugar and milk, it becomes the so-called milk tea.
"Your Majesty, the Archbishop of Kentonia asks to see you." The maid's clear voice rang in her ears
The people from the church came, and Franz frowned. You must know that since the Austrian government started to attack the domestic church, there have been cracks in the relationship between the church and the Vienna court.
Even the Archbishop of Kentonia, who has always had a good relationship with the royal family, has also reduced his contacts with the royal family. At this time, he came to the door, and most of them will not do anything good.
"Bring him here!" Franz said lightly
Everyone has already come to the door, and it is impossible for Franz to avoid seeing his past friendship.
… (The Holy Land crisis broke out, omitting 10,000 words, dare not touch religion)
"Your Majesty, do you see?" The Archbishop of Kentonia asked anxiously
He is a devout Catholic, and he is completely different from a pseudo-believer like Franz, and is very angry about what happened in the ****.
"Understood, there are many issues involved in this matter. I have to discuss with the cabinet before making a decision." Franz replied with a frown.
I have already started to retreat in my heart. If it is expected, the fuse of the Crimean War in history is this crisis, and Franz does not want to fall into it.
If the desired result is not obtained, the Archbishop of Kentonia is powerless. It is not the Middle Ages anymore, in Austria the imperial power has overwhelmed the religious power.
…
"Your Majesty, Louis-Napoleon-Bonaparte is ambitious and wants to restore France's status as a great power in Europe. It is better to give them this opportunity to perform!" Metternich suggested.
Austria doesn't want to stand out, so it has to find someone to top the tank. There are many Catholic countries in Europe, but there are only three big countries: Austria, France, and Spain.
Spain's current situation is not optimistic, there are a lot of internal problems, and there is no energy to interfere in this issue at all.
The most suitable is the French, and now their international status and strength are seriously inconsistent.
Louis - Napoleon - Bonaparte wants to fight for the status of France is only one aspect, more importantly, if he wants to restore, he must win the support of the people.
If he does anything else, the parliament will definitely oppose it and hold him back, and interfering with the **** is the best choice. Even his political opponents on this issue would not dare to stand up against him.
"Then give the opportunity to the French. The government must appease the emotions of the domestic people, and the Press Supervisory Administration must pay attention to the guidance of public opinion, and cannot be led by others.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has coordinated its relations with its allies, and the government has allocated a special fund of 2 million dong for propaganda in the South German region. We must find a way to slowly control public opinion in these regions.
It is best to secretly acquire some local newspapers and publishing houses, and vigorously support the pro-Austrian faction and the German Unification faction.
It is inconvenient for the government to come forward in these matters, so intelligence organizations or civil exchange organizations can come forward.
The German state is a whole, and we can also set up some comprehensive non-governmental organizations, such as the German Writers Association, the German Art Association and so on. ' Franz said after thinking about it.
I don't want to know, only when I think about Franz did I realize that Austria in this era actually has advantages in terms of art and culture.
Of course, this advantage cannot be compared with France, they are the leaders of romanticism; nor can it be compared with Italy, as the birthplace of the Renaissance, Rome is the cultural center of Europe.
However, it is different in the German region. Those small states are not to mention, their own influence is too small.
Prussia, as a country dominated by the military, are you talking too much about art with them? The system determines their innate deficiencies in culture.
Bavaria, everything else is good but a little poor, this is an embarrassing problem, art also needs a material basis.
In this context, Austria stands out. Vienna is also a famous historical city, and its cultural heritage is better than that of any German state.
In modern times, as the so-called "unfortunate country and poets are lucky", as a multi-ethnic country, various cultural ideas collide with each other, and sparks naturally sparked. In this era, Austria has reached its peak culturally.
Since there is an advantage, it is natural to take advantage of it. There is no harm if there is no comparison. The idea of grand unification has begun to spread in the German region. Compared with the rigid Kingdom of Prussia, who will the cultural people support? This multiple-choice question is easy to do.
Don't look at these pens, they don't seem to work. Once Austria annexed the states of the South German region, if they stood on the platform and shouted, Austria would be able to digest it in the shortest possible time.
"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Prime Minister Felix.
As a staunch Germanist, he supports any decision that is conducive to the unification of Germany. In history, it would not have been so easy for the Kingdom of Prussia to unify Germany if he hadn't died too early.
Metternich said: "Your Majesty, the Prussian-Russian conflict is about to end. At this time, when the Holy Land crisis breaks out, the Russians will definitely intervene, and maybe they will use this as an excuse to attack the Ottoman Empire.
From the information we have received, the Russian Empire is preparing for war. Obviously they are not ready to start war in advance when we are ready.
If the war is brought forward, we will face a choice. It is too dangerous for Austria's national strength to support two fronts. Either take the opportunity to unify the southern German region, or strive for the Balkans. "
Franz frowned, it was too dangerous to fight on two fronts, which was a way of putting gold on his face.
If there is no intervention from the foreign powers, Franz would not hesitate to fight on two fronts. But in fact, apart from the Russians who have been fooled, none of the remaining great powers support Austria.
If nothing else, as long as the British are willing to spend money, the Kingdom of Prussia will stab Austria in the back, and the possibility of the French sending troops to intervene is as high as nine to nine.
If it is only fighting in one direction, then the concentrated strength of Austria is still a bit of a deterrent.
Prince Wendischgritz, Minister of War, proposed: "Your Majesty, I propose to give priority to expansion into the Balkans. On this issue, we can also win the support of the German state, and we have reached an agreement with the Russians, but the resistance is only Britain and France.
If the Russians want to annex the Ottoman Empire, the first target of Britain and France must be the Russians. As long as we close, they will probably acquiesce to our expansion.
If at this time, we send troops to unify the southern German region, all the states in the entire German region will stand against us.
Because of the geographical location, it is much easier for the French to send troops to intervene. We may face joint attacks from France, Prussia, Bavaria and other countries.
Once the strategy failed, Austria could only leave the German Confederation. The Holy Roman Alliance now established will also collapse. "
Franz, who knows history, knows that if he expands to the Balkans at this time, as long as he sticks to his position, he will almost win.
Even if Austria was on the wrong team in history, there was a chance to annex the two principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, but the Vienna government was reluctant to give up the Italian region as a price.
(Note: The Principality of Wallachia is now the southern part of Romania; the Principality of Moldavia is now the northeastern part of Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine)
Prime Minister Felix hurriedly objected: "No, what Austria lacks is not territory, but the lack of the number of subject peoples. Even if we have begun to promote national integration, this cannot be completed in the short term.
At this time, expansion into the Balkans is indeed easy to succeed. But the more we eat, the harder it is for us to achieve integration.
We can calculate a small half of Serbia with a population of 500,000 to 600,000, Bosnia and Herzegovina with a population of 400,000 to 500,000, Wallachia with a population of nearly one million, and Moldavia with a population of 14,500,000. .
This means that Austria's population has increased by 10% at once, and all of them are ethnic minorities. They are different from the ethnic groups in the country and have no sense of identity with this country.
How much effort do we have to spend to assimilate these people? Twenty years or thirty years
We can't do anything until national integration is complete.
It would be different if we annexed the southern German state. The people would have a strong sense of identity, and within three to five years, we would be able to establish an effective rule and turn potential into national strength.
At that time, it will be too late to turn around and expand to the Balkans.
As for the risks, they are actually manageable.
The Kingdom of Prussia has an opinion. We can support them in annexing the North German state, and we can divide Germany together. If they did not agree, they threatened their unification with the Russian-Austrian League.
The French have an opinion, we can cede all the territory west of the Rhine to them, we can also make greater concessions in the Italian region, and even support them in annexing Belgium.
The so-called contradictions in this world are nothing more than issues of interests. As long as everyone gets what they need, there is nothing that cannot be resolved! "
I have to say, Felix is tough enough. If this is really done, it will become a collective expansion of the territory of the European powers.
Pau, France and Russia began to expand at the same time. Is there a solution to this problem? Even if the remaining countries united to boycott, it would be of no use, and the attitude of the British can naturally be ignored.
But this question, how can European politicians not think of it? Why isn't it implemented
Obviously, things are not so simple, and an uneven distribution of spoils is an unsolvable problem. The Russians took too much, and everyone was dissatisfied.
In addition, the size of the hairy bear is too large, which has caused everyone's fear, worrying that if they continue to expand, no one will be able to bear it.
The British made trouble again, and the practicality of such a joint foreign expansion plan was greatly reduced.