Holy Roman Empire

Napoleon III glared at him fiercely, isn't this the pot that doesn't open and which pot to lift?He deserves it, but he can't marry it!

In this context, Eugenie de Montijo, a Spanish noblewoman of Scottish descent, appeared in the French court.

Napoleon III didn't want to continue to toss about. If he couldn't marry someone of equal status, then marry someone he liked.

On December 1853, 12, Napoleon III announced his impending marriage to all senior officials.At the same time, he pointed out that he wanted this marriage to be neither bound by the French nor by foreign dynasties:

"I prefer a woman whom I love and respect more than a strange woman whose marriage would be both pros and cons."

The pioneer of free love appeared. It can be said that Napoleon III made a good start, and many follow his example.

This joke in the eyes of the nobles was quickly passed on to Vienna, which aroused the attention of the Vienna court. The immediate consequence was that Franz's single life was coming to an end.

……

Metternich reminded: "Your Majesty, do you really not need to prepare for the grand ceremony? This will make people laugh!"

A new empire is about to be established, and a crown will be added to Franz's head, so a grand ceremony is naturally indispensable.

Now Franz actually ordered that there is no need to make preparations in advance, and a simple ceremony will be enough. In the eyes of many people, it is child's play.

Franz smiled wryly and said: "There is no way, even though several months have passed, the people are still worried about the division of the German region.

At this time, we are doing too grandly, which is likely to cause dissatisfaction among everyone. It is better to keep it simple to show our protest to the results of the Paris Conference. "

The character design cannot be broken, and now he is a passionate and benevolent emperor in the eyes of the outside world, so dissatisfaction with the Paris Conference is what he should do.

Whether it is publishing remarks criticizing the meeting, or directly writing articles to pretend to be coercive, they all revolve around this persona.

There was nothing wrong with the young and energetic emperor making this decision in a fit of anger, it just happened to be able to gain the approval of the people, so as to avoid unreasonable disasters.

Cumberland I, who had just been promoted from King of Hanover to Emperor of the German Federal Empire, was such an unlucky guy. He did nothing from the beginning to the end, and was scolded bloody by the literati in the German region.

All countries are comedy empires, and the emperor is naturally a comedy emperor.It is estimated that this nickname will accompany him throughout his life and will continue to be passed down.

Of course, his succession to the throne was a comedy. Before 1837, Hanover and the United Kingdom were co-lords. In this year, William IV died and Queen Victoria succeeded to the throne. The situation changed because of the wrongly extended Salik inheritance law Content, the throne fell to his head.

The reason why we talk about comedy is that everyone ignored it at the time. Before that, the "National Edict" of Emperor Karl VI of Shinra could be used as the legal basis for women to inherit the throne. This is how the legal order of Queen Maria Theresa came from. .

When it was found out, the throne had already been confirmed.People who are dissatisfied with Cumberland I often take this issue as a matter of fact, and now it has been further upgraded to the comedy emperor.

However, his emperor has limited powers, and he can't control the public opinion of various local states. When the people are in a bad mood, they catch him as the emperor and scold him.

In fact, Cumberland I was very peaceful, and he hardly did anything, including the fact that the crown fell on his head, which was the result of games between all parties.

Austria naturally advocated that Franz concurrently serve as the emperor of the Federal Empire of Germany, on the grounds that the support rate among the people was the highest.

Obviously, this is unacceptable to all parties. If Franz becomes emperor, it is estimated that the German region will be unified in a few decades.

The Habsburg family has rich experience in this area. Now the Austrian Empire is integrated in this way. What is the difference between letting Franz concurrently be the emperor and the rebirth of Shinra?

The British launched the royal family of Hanover, and the newly established federal empire is based on Hanover. They are competitive, but the disadvantage is that the King of Hanover does not have enough prestige in the German region.

If Franz launches a younger brother to compete for the throne, with the prestige of the Habsburg family and the fact that the state government does not want Hanover to become bigger, the possibility of being elected is almost 100%.

Obviously, this is impossible. Austria still wants to unify the German region. If a younger brother becomes the emperor of the German Federal Empire, wouldn't he be causing trouble for himself?

The Habsburg family was out, and only the royal families of these states were left to fight. The Hanoverian royal family with the support of the British naturally defeated many competitors and reaped the fruits of victory.

……

At Franz's insistence, on December 1853, 12, he was crowned "New Holy Roman Emperor" at the Palace of Vienna.

This coronation ceremony can be regarded as a child's play. No guests were invited to participate. They were all members of the "New Holy Roman Empire". After accepting the oath of allegiance from several states, it was considered over.

From the beginning to the end, everyone looked solemn and could not see any joy.

After the ceremony, Franz delivered a self-deprecating speech in the National Assembly:

"Today I have another crown on my head and the pressure on my shoulders is a little bit heavier.

To be honest, I am not very happy. It is more appropriate to say that the Southern Holy Roman Empire is not so much the New Holy Roman Empire.

In any case, the Holy Roman Empire has finally been re-established. Even if it is laughed at and becomes the laughing stock of the world, it is better than nothing.

There is still a long way to go, and we need to go on.Today we have gone one step further than yesterday, so can we go further tomorrow than today?

Since the mission of history has fallen on us, we must complete it.

Someone once asked me, when will the German region be unified, and the answer I gave is: When will it become the world's most powerful country, let's think about this question again!

We are very close to this goal, because there are only two countries in front of us that need us to surpass; we are also far away from this goal, because the gap in national strength is really huge.

The road ahead, are you afraid?

......"

Fortunately, Franz has self-control and knows that some words cannot be said indiscriminately, otherwise "neither holy, nor Roman, nor empire" almost popped out.

The current new Holy Roman Empire, although there is no Holy Roman Empire, is barely an empire anyway!As for the first two, unfortunately this can never be done.

Franz is not God, where does the word "holy" come from?

What is the use of "Rome" besides being famous?

It seems that Franz's self-mockery resonated with everyone, or the Austrian government paid attention to guiding public opinion, so the new Holy Roman Empire finally did not arouse the crowd's ridicule.

Chapter 115 Preparing for a rainy day

The Holy Roman Empire was re-established, and there were a lot of messy things, the reorganization of government administrative agencies, and the division of rights and obligations between the state government and the central government, all of which required Franz's personal participation.

The reorganization of government administrative agencies actually turned the central government of Austria into the central government of the new Holy Roman Empire, which directly governed the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Bavaria.

Considering the issue of domestic stability, Franz is still very restrained in the distribution of power. Except for the command of the army and the power of diplomacy, he has not moved other rights.

Of course, this does not mean that the central government cannot interfere with the local government, but under normal circumstances, the central government will not interfere in the internal affairs of the state.

If there is a problem in the state, for example: a local rebellion, or a major change such as a coup, the central government can naturally intervene.

In addition to these problems, the most troublesome thing is the distribution of fiscal revenue.Local governments must turn over part of their fiscal revenue to the central government, and this specific ratio has become the focus of contention.

The state government naturally hopes that it is enough to hand over a few points to the central government's financial expenses, and the remaining funds are completely free to distribute; while the central government hopes to get a larger proportion, and then allocate it to local governments according to actual needs.

Behind the financial scramble, there are more rights scrambles, making the problem more complicated, and it is difficult to clear it up in a short time.

The specific situation can only be finally clarified after the constitution is formulated.Franz advocated the rule of law, and he would not act rashly without a legal basis.

Even if the central government and state governments seize power, it must be legal.Franz absolutely does not allow things that break the rules to happen.

Schönbrunn Palace

Prime Minister Felix reported: "Your Majesty, the reserve forces have been fully demobilized, the wartime economic system has been dismantled, and the domestic economy is returning to normal operations.

Generally speaking, this westward expansion strategy has come to a successful conclusion.However, there are not a few problems that have been exposed. Fortunately, there has been no major war, otherwise we will be in big trouble.

It is mainly reflected in the lack of organizational experience and the weak coordination ability of various departments.

By the end of the Paris Conference, we had mobilized a total of 124.7 million reserve troops, plus 54.2 active troops, for a total of 178.9 million.

For a mobilization of this scale, the difficulty of logistical supplies far exceeded the estimates of various departments. Fortunately, the war did not break out in the end. Otherwise, with so many troops fighting, our preparations would last for three or four months at most.

This is the final statistical report, please read it. "

After finishing speaking, Prime Minister Felix still had some lingering fears.Obviously, the sudden outbreak of the Austrian Empire this time, showing its strength to all countries, is not as glamorous as it seems on the surface.

With so many troops, based on the calculation of 119 rounds of ammunition per ton, if each person fires one bullet, [-] tons of ammunition are gone.

Not to mention the war, the daily training in the past few months alone consumes thousands of tons of ammunition every month on average, and this does not count artillery.

In fact, after Austria mobilized so many troops, there was a serious shortage of artillery, and it was easy to establish infantry reserves. Artillery, a technical arm, was not so easy to reserve.

It's not that if you can fire a cannon, you can be regarded as an artilleryman. If you can't hit the target, it's useless.Qualified artillery, in addition to possessing certain knowledge, must also be fed by ammunition.

Franz nodded, and said in his heart: The current consumption is still small. If the consumption of weapons and ammunition doubles several times after the weapons are updated in a few years, it will be a big problem.

After receiving the report and reading it briefly, Franz understood the reason why Prime Minister Felix was so emotional. The cost was too great.

After an armed parade + demonstration, the military expenditure was as high as 1.37 million dong. If the domestic reserve mobilization and various material consumption were included, the total expenditure was as high as 2.11 million dong.

Seeing this data, Franz suddenly understood why all European countries tried to avoid war after the Crimean War.

There is still no fight, and if there is a fight, the final military expenditure will go to nowhere.

Of course, not all of the 2.11 million dong on the explosion table was expressed in cash expenditures, and most of them were expenditures in materials, but they were directly discounted for the convenience of calculation.

Franz asked with concern: "The cabinet is planning to entrust a group of heroes to the Balkans. Have you considered the actual situation?"

Not fighting does not mean that there are no heroes.How could someone make meritorious contributions to such a large-scale military mobilization, but there were not as many meritorious officials as those produced by the direct outbreak of war.

If you have meritorious service, you will be rewarded. Franz, a great nobleman, will not confer titles, but he will not be stingy with knights at the level of small farmers. These are the goals of most people who enlist in the army.

Prime Minister Felix replied: "Your Majesty, in this westward strategy, no war was fought, so everyone's military achievements are very limited.

It is basically impossible to obtain titles and land in China.The cabinet suggested that the fief should be placed in the Balkan Peninsula, and the conditions could be relaxed.

At the same time, we are also preparing to encourage domestic nobles to replace their fiefs and go to the Balkan Peninsula in order to strengthen their control over the local area. "

Any nobles willing to change?the answer is negative!

Everyone is not a fool, who is willing to give up the developed fief and run out to start a new business?

But there is a kind of people who are willing to go, and that is the emerging quasi-military nobles whose military achievements are stuck below the threshold of nobles and who have been unable to cross this threshold for a long time.

In this era, it is very difficult to become a noble. For example, in this war, the number of officers and soldiers who can cross the threshold of nobles will not exceed double digits, and there may not be one division in so many armies.

Since the reform of the Franz military system, there are not a few people who are stuck in this way. Even if some people have stepped into the threshold of generals through military exploits, they still have not won the title of nobility.

The title means social status, and the Balkans are next to Austria.Whether it is the two principalities in the Danube Basin or Serbia, they are all fertile plains, but they lack effective development.

People with foresight and ambition will naturally not give up this opportunity.Once these people passed, the foundation of Austria's local rule was established.

For their own benefit, these people will spontaneously maintain Austrian rule and suppress the remnants of Ottoman.

As for whether Austria can obtain the sovereignty of these lands, this question can be ignored.Even if the sovereignty is not obtained, it will not affect everyone's actual status, and the Ottoman Empire has no ability to regain lost ground.

If you want to make the local area independent and support the puppet regime, do you need someone to support it?It's not that the Austrian army did nothing there, and the original ruling class was the first to be overthrown.

The nobles of the Ottoman Empire were arrested, the officials of the Ottoman Empire were arrested, the businessmen of the Ottoman Empire were arrested, and the people who supported the Ottoman Empire were still arrested...

In short, as long as there is a relationship with the Ottoman Empire, all those who threaten or may threaten Austrian rule are in prison.

In other words, the local upper class was wiped out, and the rest were either serfs or civilians. Those who could write their names were considered intellectuals.

To encourage them to fight for independence, we must first let them know what the word "independence" is. This cannot be done in a short time.

Franz can be sure that if Austria now ends its military control over the local area, the social order will immediately collapse.

As a liberator, the old system has been pushed to the ground, and a new system will naturally be established. It is much more loyal to use one's own people to establish one than to use outsiders.

Franz thought for a while and said: "Then let's do this, and establish a ruling foundation locally as soon as possible.

If Britain and France lost the Near East War, it would be fine. If they won, perhaps a tie, then our troubles would come.

They won't watch us swallow such a large profit. If the Russians can't get Constantinople, they will also be jealous of our benefits.

In the face of interests, the alliance relationship is not necessarily reliable. Maybe the tsarist government will do stupid things when the British instigate it. "

This is not Franz's villainous heart. Mao Xiong's bad reputation is not groundless, but piled up with countless facts, and it is impossible not to make people vigilant.

The British cheated their teammates, the French cheated their teammates, everyone is still a bit smug, they won't go too far, at least they can barely pass the face, when Mao Xiong cheated his teammates, it was earth-shattering.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Prime Minister Felix replied

……

Balkan Peninsula

Since the end of the Paris meeting, the British have the energy to teach the disobedient brother Greece a lesson.

Do you think that instead of flying the flag of the government, you can escape punishment by using the banner of civilian armed forces?Dream it!Don't look at who is fooling, trying to play tricks, do you know who is the ancestor in this regard?

Now that the Greeks were playing tricks, the British decided to reason with them, of course this time with their fists.

By October, the reinforcements of the British army were already in place. Three infantry divisions plus a division reorganized from the remnants of the defeated generals on the Balkan Peninsula totaled 10 British troops.

With the addition of 1.6 Sardinian troops and 1.2 Ottoman troops, the Three Kingdoms Alliance was formed, and they went to seek the Greeks' bad luck.

The result is naturally self-evident, the Greek "civilian armed forces", which could not even be defeated by the Ottoman army, naturally collapsed at the first touch.

The Kingdom of Greece was too poor, and they ran to play the navy again, so the army's weapons and equipment naturally had no money to replace. After blindly expanding the team, it was impossible to do it with a single gun.

At the beginning, the Ottomans were unprepared, and their troops were fighting on the front line. The Greeks were naturally invincible. When the Ottoman Empire reacted and mobilized some troops from the front line, their offensive was blocked.

Now that the British are taking them under the knife, in addition to teaching them a lesson, the more important thing is that this is a soft persimmon.

John Bull also wants to save face. After fighting for so long, they also know that Mao Xiong is not easy to mess with, and it is too difficult to fight a beautiful war.Let the French gnaw the tough bones. The British Army is limited in size and cannot take all of its wealth into it.