Holy Roman Empire

It's no fun having the Pope turned into a political enemy.It's not that they have no roots. Churches all over the country are supporters of the Pope, at least in name.

At a recent parliamentary meeting, the Pope directly occupied the throne, and Napoleon III was so angry that he was absent directly.

Theocracy and imperial power collided again, and the whole of France was caught in a vortex of storm.If one is not handled well, this newborn empire will collapse again.

Neither Napoleon III nor Pope Pius IX can back down now.They represent not only their own interests, but also the interest groups behind them.

The bourgeoisie who were dissatisfied with Napoleon III in the country are now almost declaring their support for the Pope.Politically, Napoleon III no longer has an overwhelming advantage.

These people supported Pius IX not because of their pious beliefs, nor did they really want the church to grow bigger again. The main purpose was to stir up disputes and create opportunities for seizing power.

The endless struggle between the emperor and the pope for power will definitely arouse the dissatisfaction of the people. When the anger of the people reaches its peak, it is time for the parliament to take over the power of the state.

It can be said that the establishment of Greater France ignited the internal conflicts in France.Everyone wants to take advantage of this opportunity of power reshuffling to further obtain more benefits.

In the Palace of Versailles, Napoleon III's confidant Minister of Police Ansoch suggested: "Your Majesty, since Pius IX is ignorant of current affairs, why not give him to..."

When it came to an abrupt end, Ansoch made a gesture of wiping his neck, as if to say that killing Pius IX would be the end of it all.

Napoleon III glared at him fiercely, and said seriously: "No, this kind of thing must never happen.

Once an accident happens to Pius IX, we will be the most suspicious, and the situation will be out of control at that time.

Not only can we not move him now, we must also protect his safety and not allow others to kill him!

Moreover, even if the pope is changed, the situation has not changed.Whoever becomes Pope stands against us.

Those people will not rest, and Pius IX will not jump out to fight us without them making trouble behind our backs. "

Assassination is the most taboo in political struggles. Now that Napoleon III has been washed and landed, this method cannot be used at all.

If the news leaks out, civil war may break out in France, at least the Revolutionary Party will definitely take the opportunity to launch a rebellion, and there may be a coup d'état within the government.

The Italian region is unstable, and now it is only suppressed by force. A spark can detonate conflicts, let alone assassinate the Pope?

At this time, Napoleon III's mind was still very clear.He knows that his enemy is not the pope on the surface, but the interest group that supports the pope.

The mastermind Pelisi suggested: "Your Majesty, why don't you continue to promote religious reforms. Find an excuse to abolish the Papal States, set up provinces, and be directly under the central government. Let religion be religion, and secularism be secular."

This is the bottom line. Promoting the religious reform to abolish the Papal State is equivalent to cutting off the foundation of the Pope's involvement in politics.Since then, the Pope has been separated from politics and only exists as a religious leader.

Napoleon III's eyes lit up, and if he could kick the Pope out, the rest of the matter would be easier.Without this banner figure, the opposition would be torn apart.

"That's a good idea, it's best to limit the pope's power by the way, so as not to cause trouble for us later.

I will leave the matter of Pelisi to you, find a way to stink the Holy See, and don't give them a chance to stand up. "

When he said this, Napoleon III still had a bit of resentment in his eyes.The grievances between the Bonaparte family and the Holy See have not lasted for a day or two, and the relationship between the two parties has never been good.

Napoleon I was not recognized by the Holy See at first, and later he reached Italy by force, and when he was crowned emperor, he directly snatched the crown from the Pope.

Things were not much better when it came to Napoleon III's turn.Catholicism has always supported orthodoxy, and Napoleon III has nothing to do with orthodoxy.

After launching a coup to seize power, Napoleon III wanted to be crowned emperor, and the Holy See was very embarrassed.When Pius IX was invited to come and be crowned, he would not buy it at all.

There are only two choices left for Napoleon III, either to go to Rome to be crowned, or to become emperor first, and to find a way to be crowned in the future.

These are the two options for European emperors after they could not be recognized by the Holy See.Of course, it would definitely not be so harmonious to go to Rome for the coronation. Usually, troops are sent to force the Pope to be crowned.

Napoleon III, whose foundation was unstable, endured it. In order to talk about the Pope, he also did a lot of thankless things, and he could be called a "dilial son of the Catholic Church".

He is a true "Catholic filial son", unlike the previous French monarchs, who did some shitty things that harmed the interests of the Holy See.

After doing so many things, but not getting what I wanted, I naturally have resentment in my heart.If it hadn't been for the annexation of Italy, he still doesn't know if he can be crowned by the Pope and become a legal emperor in his lifetime.

Now that interests are once again standing on the opposite side, Napoleon III also wants to follow the example of his predecessors and continue the story of the "Catholic filial son".

The Catholic filial son is not a good term, and the things the French do have nothing to do with "filial sons", such as: the prisoner of Avignon, the League of Blasphemy, joining the Protestant League during the Thirty Years War, and killing the Knights Templar... …

In short, the French made an outstanding contribution to the decline of Catholicism, more than the contribution of Protestantism.

Of course, Napoleon III was less extreme.With the great achievements of his predecessors, he is not ready to surpass them.However, it is still indispensable to give the declining Holy See a final blow.

The dispute between imperial power and theocracy cannot be compromised. Even if both sides are declining, there must be a winner.

On this issue, Napoleon III did not have to worry about having no supporters, and the monarchs of all European countries were his potential supporters.

……

With the order of Napoleon III, the dark history of the Holy See suddenly increased.Not only the old accounts of the past have been turned over, but the current clergy are often pulled out by the newspapers and flogged.

They are all real people and real stories, without any moisture, real cases that happened around everyone, it is difficult to become white.As if overnight, the reputation of the Holy See became infamous.

The telegraph speeded up the spread of news, and the scandals of the Holy See in France and Italy spread to the European continent in the shortest time.

In this era, the Holy See no longer has the power to coerce Europe.The endless black history of the Holy See in the newspapers is enough to explain many problems.

In this era of ideological explosion, the people have doubts about the existence of God, and their beliefs are no longer so pious.

After being impacted, anti-Holy See movements appeared in many places, and some areas even developed to the point where people attacked churches.

At this time, Napoleon III realized that he had gone too far, but the situation was no longer under his control.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, he successfully killed his political opponents, but triggered a crisis of faith in Europe and plunged the country into ideological chaos.

It is not only France that has been impacted, but Austria has not been able to stand alone.After the outbreak of the religious crisis, the Austrian clergy did not escape.

Many clergymen whose private life is indiscreet and whose moral cultivation is not up to standard have been exposed by the newspapers.

True facts, conclusive evidence.The ideological impact of this kind of news on the people can be imagined. Even the stronghold of conservatives, a crisis of faith broke out in Austria.

Intense discussions also erupted among the people, and the idea of ​​atheism began to spread rapidly.All kinds of experts and scholars appeared on the stage, using newspapers as the battlefield, began to fight among dragons and tigers, and fell into a group of demons dancing wildly for a while.

Watching the intensifying ideological melee, Franz couldn't sit still.If this continues, who knows how many wonderful ideas will be born in the end?

"Prime Minister, how does the cabinet plan to calm this turmoil?"

As a successful leader, Franz has always fully believed in the abilities of his subordinates.When something happens, it is right to ask the cabinet first.

After contemplating for a moment, Prime Minister Felix replied: "Your Majesty, I am afraid that you will need to personally appease the people in this matter.

The consequences of the collapse of faith are very serious. If you can't deal with it in time and let some messy thoughts spread, the consequences will be serious. "

Well, this is to stand up for the Catholic Church.This crisis of faith was aimed at the Holy See from the very beginning, and the Catholic Church was naturally the hardest hit.

After hesitating for a moment, Franz said: "Well, the depravity of the clergy is that their beliefs are not pious enough, and the supervision of the Holy See is not in place.

We can help in this regard. The government can legislate to supervise the behavior of the clergy and punish these sinners for God. "

There is no problem in appeasing the people, but things must be done to suppress the church.Since the French rushed to the front, Franz naturally didn't mind adding insult to injury.

The church cannot supervise the clergy, so let the government do it for them.Institutions like the Inquisition should not exist.

Chapter 55 The Roman Revolt Breaks Out

A crisis of faith is both a problem and an opportunity.At this time, the Holy See was too busy to take care of itself, creating favorable conditions for the government to intervene in the internal affairs of the church.

The government has the right to punish the clergy, so from now on the church can only pretend to be a grandson.

Otherwise, you will be investigated for violating religious regulations. There are too many to dare to say. If seven or eight of the ten clergy are found to have violated religious regulations, there is no problem at all.

Don't be complacent about the remaining two or three, as they didn't violate religious rules, and they were only temporary, or they weren't found out.Sooner or later, if the government wants to, the problem can be found out.

Franz was far from the only one who made trouble. The crisis of faith greatly reduced the status of the church in the hearts of the people, and the governments of various countries unanimously reduced the privileges of the church.

With the end of this turmoil, the millennium-long struggle between imperial power and theocratic power in the European continent also came to an end.This time the imperial power won a complete victory, and the church lost the chance to come back.

This is all in the future. Napoleon III has not yet had time to enjoy the fruits of victory, and messy thoughts continue to refresh the three views of the people in France.

People who opposed the church and people who supported the church fought on the streets of Paris, and some people fired guns.In the end, Napoleon III ordered the garrison to save the field and quelled the war.

The latent revolutionaries thought it was time for a revolution, and jumped out one after another to make troubles, and all the demons danced in Paris for a while.

Paris is in chaos, and the Italian region is even more chaotic.The chaotic situation gave the revolutionaries an opportunity.

Mazzini, the founder of the Italian Youth Party, and Garibaldi, the leader of the Italian National Salvation Army, have secretly returned home, preparing to launch an armed uprising to overthrow the French rule.

Before the uprising started, divisions occurred within the rebel army.Thought leader Mazzini and military leader Garibaldi had a conflict of ideas.

Garibaldi said passionately: "Napoleon III's behavior has already broken with the Holy See, and the Holy See can't wait to kill him now.

Now is the best opportunity, we can unite the power of the church to launch an uprising and overthrow the French rule in one fell swoop. "

The strength of the Italian Revolutionary Party is very limited, and it is divided into more than a dozen organizations, large and small. Everyone is only temporarily united under the mediation of the British. In fact, they are still doing their own things internally.

In order to get rid of the French as soon as possible, Garibaldi advocated the United Church and used the power of the Holy See to overthrow the French rule.

Mazzini said righteously: "No, uniting with the corrupt Holy See is not a revolution at all, it is nothing more than changing a ruler for Italy.

The purpose of our revolution is to drive out the French, overthrow the feudal rule, and establish a unified and free Italy. "

In the program of the Italian Youth Party, feudal rule also includes the Holy See, and the two sides have stood on opposite sides from the beginning.

This idea has been widely disseminated in Italy and has won the approval of most revolutionaries.

The original goal was to drive away the Austrians, but now they are replaced by the French. In addition to practical needs, there are also compromises between all parties.

In order to reduce the difficulty, the revolutionaries decided to choose the number one enemy, France, as the enemy first, and then consider the Austrian issue after the French were driven away.

The differences in ideas caused the revolutionary party to split.It's not that Garibaldi and Mazzini are disregarding the overall situation, but that their personal compromise is useless.

Both views have a group of supporters within the Revolutionary Party.Everyone knows that the hardest thing in the world is to put your own thoughts into other people's brains.

After being suppressed by the French, the main force of the revolutionary party is now passionate young people and idealists, and these people have a very firm revolutionary stand.With a confirmed point of view, nine cows can't be pulled back.

Before the uprising broke out, the revolutionary party split first.No, they have never been unified. There are even more than a dozen revolutionary leaders, but Garibaldi and Mazzini are the most influential.

The former led an armed uprising and was responsible for the armed forces of the Revolutionary Party; the latter was the proposer of the idea of ​​Italian unification and the ideological leader of the Revolutionary Party.

Even if there is no agreement, the uprising was still launched, and John Bull's money was not easy to get.The revolutionaries were not productive, and sooner or later they would starve to death without the support of their British benefactors.

In fact, in this era, many revolutionary parties in Europe are trying to sell dog meat.He has a lofty slogan in his mouth, but behind his back, he is doing the business of male robbers and female prostitutes.

No way, people have to eat.Revolutionaries are no exception. Either they have a golden thigh, or they can only support themselves.

"Self-support" is not so easy. There are not one or two revolutionaries, and they have the stink of high-sightedness and low-handedness. It is not that simple to support this large group of people.

Counting on donations from the people is worse than asking capitalists to donate.The revolutionary party is basically a wanted criminal, and it is impossible to show up in public in the country.

Ordinary people don't have much money in their pockets, even if they are willing to donate generously, it is still a drop in the bucket and can only be made up by the amount.This increases the risk of exposure, and there will be no secrecy if more people know about it.

In the end, we can only count on the capitalists to pay. After all, they are strong, and they only need to contact a limited number of capitalists to raise a sum of money, and the risk of exposure is greatly reduced.

However, it is difficult for the capitalists to get their money, and if they risk their lives to support the revolution, there must be rewards.

It is impossible to wait for the rewards after the success of the revolution.Few capitalists are that stupid, and most people will not be optimistic about the Revolutionary Party.

Even if the revolution is successful, it does not mean that they will be able to take power.There are few capitalists who only invest in business without seeing returns.

In order to obtain funds, it is not surprising that they do an invisible business for these gold backbones.In many cases, the revolutionary party is like a white glove, specializing in doing dirty work for the capitalists.

Of course, a large part of it is also a scapegoat for others.It is also common for cases that the police cannot find out to be blamed on the revolutionaries.

Naturally, there are quite a few revolutionaries with integrity, but these people are usually relatively poor and need to go out to work to make money.

Most of the revolutionary organizations couldn't even gather the funds to launch an uprising, so these people had no choice but to contact foreign forces to obtain financial assistance.

Even if they knew they were seeking skin from a tiger, the reality forced them to compromise.

The Italian Revolutionary Party chose to compromise in the face of reality. If the French had no supporters, no one would have the confidence to win.

This is also Franz's fault. When he attacked the Kingdom of Sardinia, he was too ruthless, which hit the self-confidence of the Italians and made them feel a strong sense of fear of the great powers.

Later, when Garibaldi led the popular uprising in Naples, he was severely beaten by the French, making them understand what a "strength gap" is.

This Italian uprising was the result of the British cajoling.The London government assured the revolutionaries that as long as the uprising was successful, they would organize European countries to intervene together.

If it weren't for the endorsement of the British, the revolutionaries would not dare to give it a go.After all, not long ago, they managed to escape the pursuit of the French and fled from Italy to Britain.

Garibaldi did not believe in the promise of the British, and if he had a choice, he would not be willing to launch an uprising at this time.In order to increase the success rate, he chose to drag the church into the water.

"Dear Mr. Mazzini, the most important thing now is to get rid of the French and let Italy establish an independent state. Other issues can be postponed.

As for the problem of the church, the revolution succeeds, and we have plenty of time to deal with it; if the revolution fails, Napoleon III will deal with it for us.

At this point, the uprising is already imminent and has to be launched.In order to win, we must compromise. "

There is nothing wrong with this statement. Napoleon III is suppressing the church. If there is a ready-made excuse to send it up, he will definitely not miss it.

Mazzini reluctantly accepted this statement, and it was impossible not to accept it. The British sent them back secretly at a high price.

However, it is not an easy task to convince the subordinates.At least the reasons for now are not enough. It is not generally difficult for idealists to compromise.

……

Despite bumps and bumps, the Italians launched an armed uprising before Christmas in 1870. With the secret help of the church, the rebel army occupied Rome in one fell swoop.