The Rise of the Empire

Knowing this, the problem is easy to solve. This is a time race, to win the Eastern Front in the shortest time, and then consolidate the results. The troops will then go south to Austria-Hungary to complete the changes in the Austrian political situation. The rest is to wait. Waiting for the action of both parties!

If there is no accident, the time when Germany's combat power was exhausted should be two years after the start of the war. That is to say, Ruprecht had two years to deal with the issues of the Eastern Front and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A coup might happen. If by that time the Communist Party still can't handle the affairs of the Eastern Front and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then let alone reaping the benefits, it is possible to be trapped to death directly.

"So, Your Highness, what is your attitude towards Hungary?" Count Laura asked.

"They can leave if they want to. My plan has never included Hungary in the Greater Germany system. What I need is a united and consolidated country, not a country that is torn apart. Two places are needed to pass a resolution. A confederal state approved by the parliament. Hungary can be independent, but we must at least ensure that they are not our enemies." Ruprecht said very firmly.

"You are very measured. Compared with Emperor William and Emperor Fritz, your biggest advantage is that you know how to do what you can." Countess Laura complimented. After receiving the assurance from the Communist Party, the Hungarian-born nobleman also breathed a sigh of relief. In his opinion, getting together and going away is probably the best result. On key issues, **** has never lied to his subordinates. Even if there are some things that are inconvenient to tell, he will bluntly explain them. not bad.

Ruprecht did not lie, he really did not intend to annex Hungary. In this regard, his starting point is very close to Bismarck. Even with the power of the Kingdom of Prussia, Bismarck still kept Austria at a respectful distance. He was fully aware I realize that Prussia can't afford such a big country at all. No matter in terms of land area, population, religious beliefs, etc., after Prussia annexed Austria, it could only bring endless troubles to itself! The power of the country is not concentrated, but dispersed!

From the perspective of land area, Prussia has a territory of 345,000 square kilometers, while Austria's territory at that time was about 300,000 square kilometers. In terms of population, Prussia has more than 30 million people and Austria has more than 24 million people. In terms of religion, Prussia is a Protestant, while Austria, Bavaria, and Württemberg are all Catholics. If Germany is divided by religious forces, then maybe the Catholics in the south will still have an advantage... . It is impossible to directly obliterate the Habsburg dynasty. Germany's victory over Austria-Hungary is one problem, but the complete demise of a European power that has been passed down for hundreds of years is another problem.

Neither France, Russia nor Britain on the opposite side could accept this fact, so Bismarck finally chose rationally to exclude Austria from Germany, and this is not over, Prussia must also guarantee the independence and privileges of the three kingdoms of South Germany ! Otherwise, if the South German countries are really pushed, the North German Federation headed by Prussia will be really difficult to deal with! Although Bavaria was weak, it was able to hold back an army of 100,000 at that time. At that time, when the front line fights, and other powerful countries make another move, Prussia will not be able to bear the rhythm of walking around.

But now, the situation faced by the prince is very similar. Austria and Hungary each occupy half of the territory of this aging kingdom. Neither the Germans in Austria nor the Hungarians in Hungary account for less than half of their respective kingdoms! The Germans in Austria and Bavaria are of the same language,

They are all Germans, they are all Catholics, and the loyal royal family also has extremely close blood ties. Coupled with years of cooperation and exchanges, among other things, the Germans are not opposed to the merger, and if Mary can wear In the case of the Austrian crown, the nobles of the Czech Republic and other places will also support it, so there is not much pressure to merge. For those nationalists, it is enough to deal with them directly with bayonets.

Doing the math, at the time of the war, the population of Austria was probably more than 24 million, and the number of Germans was about 12 million. Coupled with the 12 million or so Germans in Bavaria, the newly established Bavarian-Austrian Federation has a population of about 36 million, of which two-thirds are Germans. This forms a main nation that can guarantee social stability.

But if you count Hungary, it will be different. Hungary also has a population of more than 20 million! Throwing 36 million Germans to a population base of 60 million is nothing! Moreover, Hungary is preparing for independence from top to bottom, not only the people, but even the army has this attitude. At that time, if the prince insisted on swallowing Hungary, he would have to fight hundreds of thousands of Hungarians and other nationalities first, right? After crossing the waist-deep blood, it is too costly and dangerous to continue to leave considerable troops to maintain local stability, and to use up precious supplies to feed the Hungarians!

Therefore, even if the Hungarian Parliament expresses its willingness to maintain unity with Austria, His Royal Highness will not accept it readily. This is a huge burden. Let alone how to feed these people and the resource consumption of maintaining stability, the Hungarian Parliament cannot represent Hungary. The whole country! After all, more than half of the population is from other ethnic groups! Back then, as strong as Horthy, trying to maintain the territorial integrity of Hungary, what was the result? As a result, Hungary lost two-thirds of its territory, ending up with only 90,000 square kilometers of land.

In Hungary's final carve-up frenzy, the Czech Republic won a share of Slovakia, Romania, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from Hungary's mutilated corpse. Why did Horthy support the Nazis during World War II? The fundamental reason is that in order to restore the territory of Hungary back then, the result was naturally another failure. The so-called Greater Hungary has also become a historical term.

This also verifies the correctness of the dual empire established by Austria and Hungary back then. The Germans, who accounted for 23.5% of the total population of the empire, could not maintain Austria alone, so Hungary, which only accounted for 19.1% of the total population, was naturally impossible to maintain Hungary. Therefore, it is good for each other that the two relatively strong kingdoms choose to hold together for warmth. And Emperor Fritz kept the country alive for many more years. And when the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, Austria naturally could not maintain its own empire, and the same was true for Hungary, which was dismantled into pieces!

These chapters are a very important turning point! The third one is here~~~! Ask for a subscription and a reward~~~!