War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Franz looked at the pile of newspapers and tapped his fingers on the table.

Adjani only felt funny when she saw the situation in front of her. She didn't expect that just after Viscount Barron died, so many strange people would appear in the German Confederation.

Yes, in less than a year, 24 newspapers advocating for the unification of Germany appeared among the 36 member states of the German Confederation.

"Cologne Zeitung", "Rheinische Zeitung", "Aachen Zeitung", "Hanover Stadtzeitung", "Saxony Nation", "Berlin Post"..., there are many well-known newspapers among them.

However, Franz was not against the idea of ​​Greater Germany, he was just opposed to the theory of racial superiority and inferiority, and he was even one of the advocates of Greater Germany.

But Franz found that the direction of the wind seemed a bit strange. Thanks to the development of industrialization and the blessing of the German Customs Union, the capitalists in the Rhineland became the richest people in Prussia, but they did not have much political influence. .

Then they put forward the slogan "Whoever is rich will be unified", but in the eyes of the officials in Berlin, this was simply treason.

(The Rhineland was part of Prussia.)

why? Because at this time the richest among the German states was obviously not Prussia, but Austria. Even the economic aggregate of the Netalegna region is not comparable to that of Prussia at this time.

If someone is rich and unified, then it will be equivalent to handing over the leadership of Germany to Austria, because at this time Prussia's fiscal revenue is only about one-third of Austria's and less than one-fifth of France's.

As a result, these capitalists who originally planned to fight for their own political interests were directly beaten into political prisoners. Of course, they blame themselves and others.

In order to counter the statement that "whoever is rich will unify", a young man named Otto von Bismarck published an article saying, "If anyone with money can unify Germany, it would be better to hand over Germany directly to Rothschild." The De family."

Of course, Rothschild was alluding to the Jews. This move was extremely vicious, and it directly knocked down those liberal capitalists who claimed that "whoever is rich will be united."

After all, in this era, if you are looking for a scapegoat, you are right to choose Gypsies and Jews! One is a liar, one is a thief, one is a werewolf, and the other is a vampire, none of them are good things anyway.

Franz didn't mind Bismarck's comparison of Austria to the Jews. On the contrary, he had respect. After all, the iron-blooded prime minister was as cunning as ever in history.

"Miss Adjani, what's so funny?" Franz looked at Adjani who was holding a stack of documents.

"I am happy that the Austrian Empire has so many supporters in the German Confederation." Adjani said and pretended to wipe away tears that she didn't have at all.

"Miss Adjani, I want to remind you of something." Franz said politely but not maliciously.

"What's going on?" Adjani asked.

"If you rub your eyes like this, your makeup will smear."

As soon as Franz finished speaking, she opened the makeup box and examined it carefully in the mirror.

In fact, there were five countries with the highest calls for the unification of Germany at this time, namely Austria, Prussia, Hanover, Bavaria, and Saxony, and Austria's support rate was higher than the last four combined.

The reasons for this are, first, tradition. The Habsburg family was once the master of the Holy Roman Empire. Although it has been disbanded, its influence is still there, and there are always people in the aristocratic circles who are calling for its souls.

2. The Austrian Empire has a strong military strength. On the surface, it has a standing army of 420,000 people. This number is almost equal to the total military strength of other German countries.

3. Austria’s economic strength at this time was far greater than that of the same period in history. The most striking contrast is the fiscal revenue of 350 million florins (145 million in the same period of history).

And it has penetrated into all parts of the German Confederation, affecting the interests of many people. It can even be said that once trade with the Austrian Empire stops, the German Confederation will fall into chaos.

That's right, the German Confederation now enjoys Austria's cheap industrial products on the one hand, and on the other hand it has unknowingly become Austria's economic colony.

Of course, it’s nothing to ordinary people. On the contrary, they feel that the cost of living is lower and their lives are better than before. It’s those officials who are always raising taxes crazily and don’t want them to live a good life. They all turn the blame on their own government. .

Although there will occasionally be popular uprisings, in the absence of war, the chance of success of such uprisings is almost 0. After all, even if a family of princes cannot do it, the "Five Mountains Sword Sect" is in the same spirit, and it is difficult for one side to support it from all sides.

Especially with the presence of the two confederate police forces, Austria and Prussia, it is really difficult for the people of the small country to change the status quo.

So some people chose to live it up. Anyway, the wages and benefits in the Austrian Empire were high. If not, they could go to Hungary to work as farmers for the royal family, or go to Austria's overseas colonies to work hard. Naturally, they had no need to continue guarding their own land. Three acres of land.

Between 1838 and 1842, the number of workers and immigrants in Austria doubled every year. In 1842 alone, nearly 200,000 people immigrated to Austria, and the number of workers reached millions.

4. International influence. Except for Prussia, the remaining four countries are not even considered great powers, and even Prussia is the last of the great powers.

Austria is different. Although no major events have occurred, almost all major events related to the fate of the continent are decided in Vienna.

The Waterloo of the London Conference and the final word of the Vienna Conference gave the Germans this illusion. They felt that Russia and Britain were allies of the Austrians, and that if they wanted to unify Germany, they must have a stable external environment, which other princes simply could not achieve.

But in fact, most state governments, including the Austrian Empire, opposed the unification of Germany. Starting from 1817, when students from 15 German universities gathered at Wartburg and put forward the slogan "One country, one emperor", the Austrian secret police and the Prussian secret service never stopped persecuting them.

In 1830, when the cannons of the French July Revolution echoed across Germany, the Unionists were greatly encouraged. For a time, a large number of extreme incidents occurred throughout Germany, including assassinations and arson.

After that came the familiar repression phase, with Metternich unfortunately becoming the protagonist once again. Although other countries also sent troops, everyone believed that this was Metternich's conspiracy, coupled with the strict policies he formulated in Austria. The censorship system bound it to the words reactionary and suppressor.

"Archduke Franz, you know how annoying this is?" Adjani said angrily after confirming that her makeup was indeed smooth.

"Really? But Baron Vantebier, who teaches etiquette, said that this can help enhance male charm." Franz said.

"He taught you this?"

"Theoretically, it would be easier for men to maintain appropriate aggressiveness." In fact, Franz also thinks so. After all, his level in this area was limited in his previous life.

"Then next time, ask him what the difference is between falling in love at first sight and falling in love with him." Adjani asked a question.

Franz was speechless for a while.