Chapter 201: Chapter 88, “The Shinra Faction in Action

Translator: 549690339

On December 4, 1852, the opening of the Vienna to Salzburg railway was reported in the newspapers, but it did not cause a sensation.

In recent times, there had been a fair number of railways coming into operation in Austria, and apart from the initial surprise, the Austrian population had already become used to it.

The railway companies were the most affected; they had invested so much money, and now they were finally seeing returns, directly reflected in the stock market. The bustling railway operations stimulated a further rise in stock prices.

As for the strategic value of this railway, not many people were paying attention. Even if railway transportation were convenient, could it compare with the transportation capacity of the Danube River?

Franz, of course, was pleased with the situation. The idea of German unification was already heating up, and it was time to initiate the next phase of the plan.

Franz joked, “Prime Minister, your visit to each German Nation this time is of great significance. If you can persuade everyone to rebuild the Holy Roman Empire, then we will have made a great profit.”

Persuading everyone to agree to rebuild the Holy Roman Empire would be possible only if Austria put bayonets to their necks. Why would anyone want to complicate their lives by submitting to a higher authority when they are living comfortably?

Times had changed. Nationalism in the Germany Region had awakened. Even if the governments of the sub-states retained a high degree of freedom, the emergence of a central government would still harm their interests.

In this era, even the loosest of empires could not do without a constitution, and a significant weakening of the autonomy of the national governments was inevitable.

Forget about independent foreign policy rights; currency unification was unavoidable, and tariffs were bound to be abolished. Just these three points meant that the central government would no longer be an empty shell.

With these developments, Franz could responsibly say that he could control most of the small states using political means.

If he were to be even more unscrupulous, he could incite a foreign war, using the pretext of war to gain command over the military of the German states.

The United States had done exactly this, gaining command of the military of various states during wartime, thereby increasing the authority of the central government and ultimately transforming a loose federation into a unified nation.

Prime Minister Felix smiled and said, “Your Majesty, that joke is not at all amusing. If I could persuade them, why would we need an army?”

Franz’s butterfly effect was at work again. Felix Schwarzenberg, who had died in an accident on April 5 of that year, was still very much alive.

The idea of changing the Prime Minister certainly did not exist. Felix’s political skills were quite impressive, and he handled the work of the Cabinet with ease. Franz was not like Emperor Chongzhen, who enjoyed creating unnecessary trouble.

Felix understood very well what this visit was about. Persuading the German states to rebuild the Holy Roman Empire was just a smokescreen. The real purpose was to create a pretext for war.

Only after efforts for peaceful unification had failed would the Austrian Government be able to garner public support for a war of unification.

No, it should be to forcefully unify the South German Region, and at the most include the Middle German Region. Any more would be overburdening; the Kingdom of Prussia would not be so easy to deal with.

Of course, the slogan would naturally be the unification of the Germany Region. Otherwise, the nationalists wouldn’t be on board, and without their support, the war would be difficult to wage.

Franz said seriously, “It doesn’t matter. There are so many German states; to cheat one is to count one. I refuse to believe that, with so many small states, not a single one is foolish.”

This was not some baseless talk from Franz. Historically, Prussians had successfully fooled several small states into cheering for them. After the matter concluded, they simply swallowed these states whole.

On the contrary, the South German states that resisted fiercely retained significant rights. Out of fear of intervention by the major powers, the Prussians dared not continue the internal conflict after the Franco-Prussian War and had to compromise with the German states of the South German Region.

“Your Majesty, I plan to start with Prussia, the most difficult part. After all, in the German Confederation, except for us, the Kingdom of Prussia has the greatest influence. As long as they oppose, the momentum will be created,” Prime Minister Felix said.

Metternich replied, “Prime Minister, diplomatic issues are easy to resolve. If we use negotiation to address the unification of Germany, many people will take it as a joke. What we need to do now is to make this plan appear even more like a joke.

As long as they see that each German nation opposes our proposal, the pressure we actually face will not be that great.”

Everyone laughed. It was true that the countries of Europe didn’t want to see Germany unified. But if Austria only shouted slogans without taking any actual action, they would not be inclined to interfere.

One couldn’t just make the Austrians shut up. Everyone involved in politics knew that politicians’ slogans were just for show.

Indeed, to make the play even more convincing, the Austrian Cabinet began role-playing several years before, making the political stances of these ministers well known throughout Europe.

Prime Minister Felix played the role of the faction advocating peaceful unification, or, in other words, the faction for rebuilding Shinra. His supporter within the Cabinet, Finance Minister Carl, together with him, formed the leadership of the “Shinra faction” in Austria.

At the same time, they were also leaders of the “Shinra faction” in the German Region, with at least thirty-five percent of Germans supporting or agreeing with their political ideology.

Metternich played the role of the opposition, which has always been his political stance, known throughout Europe.

Otherwise, when the Vienna System was established, Austria should have chosen the Kingdom of Bavaria, not the economically prosperous Lombardy Region.

In the Cabinet, Archduke Louis was a supporter of Metternich. They openly claimed that Germany could not be unified, arguing that the German regional states had been independent for a long time and that the countries of Europe would not tolerate a unified Germany.

For this reason, the two were often vilified by German nationalists.

Due to public support, the “Shinra faction” led by Prime Minister Felix currently holds the advantage in the Austrian Government.

At this point, there was nothing wrong with Felix stepping forward to promote the “reconstruction of the Holy Roman Empire.”

After Christmas, Felix set off on his journey amidst the farewell of the people.

In the eyes of German nationalists, this was a critical step towards unification.

As the leader of the German Federation, the Austrian Government had begun efforts towards unification, marking a historic turning point.

No matter the outcome of the negotiations, Felix was welcomed by crowds everywhere he went.

It wasn’t that the “Shinra” name was popular; in fact, many people had no particular sentiment towards the dissolved Shinra Empire.

However, they wanted Germany unified and without war, so “reconstructing the Holy Roman Empire” was the best choice, bar none.

The “Shinra faction” became the mainstream ideology among German nationalists simply because the people hoped for a peaceful unification of the German Region, earning them the label “peaceful unification faction.”

Unfortunately, these people could not rule over Germany; the rulers of the individual states had to consider their own interests first.

Berlin

Frederick William IV, though supportive of the unification movement, did so for political necessity rather than a willingness to sacrifice his own interests for the unification of Germany.

The unification that the Kingdom of Prussia had been pursuing always excluded Austria. Without achieving this goal, the unification would be worthless to them.

Historically, Frederick William IV had centered around the “Triangular alliance,” attempting to exclude Austria through the Erfurt Union Parliament.

This is also a political stance of the Lesser Germany idea, and the reason for excluding Austria was simple: a German Empire including Austria would be so vast that no European country could tolerate it.

Of course, this was only one of the reasons. There were many others, for instance, Austria had too many other nationalities within its borders, which would undermine the purity of the German people…

“The ambitions of the Austrians have been laid bare,” said Prime Minister Joseph von Radovich with a serious tone. “Considering the current international climate, it is very likely that they have garnered support from the Russians.

The secret Russian-Austrian pact we have always suspected probably involves Austria supporting Russians in their annexation of the Ottoman Empire, in return for Russian support in their restoration of the Holy Roman Empire.

It must be said that the Austrians are ruthless, daring to deal with the tiger for its hide. Now, they have chosen a good time as England and France have declared war on Russia, which occupies a great deal of their attention.

To intervene in the Germany Region, they would have to let the Russians annex the Ottoman Empire. Napoleon III might prioritize intervening in Central Europe, but the London Government would certainly hesitate.

If the Austrian Government could unite the Germany Region diplomatically, even if it’s only a nominal unification, the French would not dare act rashly,” he added.

The Russians annexing the Ottoman Empire would only cost the French their interests in the Near East and Egypt. In the Mediterranean, the French Navy can still suppress the Russians.

It is different for the British, who stand to lose not just interests in the Mediterranean. As Palmerston said: If we can’t stop the Russians at the Balkan Peninsula, then we would have to stop them at the Indus River Basin.

If the Russians were allowed to annex the Ottoman Empire, Persia would be unable to halt the Russian advance, meaning India would be in danger.

In this era, the United Kingdom only controlled India and had not yet fully assimilated it. If the Russians were to cause trouble, their most important colony might well be lost.

When facing a dilemma, hesitation is inevitable.

After all, a restored Holy Roman Empire would still be a loose empire, unable to expand externally without finishing internal integration, and with the French standing in front, the British would not be threatened in the short term.

Frederick William IV said with a sneer, “The Austrians are too optimistic. That little brat Franz must have been fooled! Without our consent, it’s impossible for the Germany Region to unite. Does he really think that the German regional states are willing to be united by Austria?

If they cannot rebuild the Holy Roman Empire through political means, what would the Austrians do? Is it possible that they would use military force to unify the Germany Region by force?”

Joseph von Radovich shook his head and said, “Your Majesty, that is impossible. Although the military strength of Austria is indeed formidable, it cannot unify the Germany Region with intervention from the major powers.

Once Austria resorts to force, we will form an alliance with the German States to jointly resist their invasion.

Even we could deliberately let the Austrians wipe out the military forces of the small states, as long as we do not rashly engage in a decisive battle with them. By delaying until the French send troops to intervene, Austria is guaranteed to lose.

If managed well, after the war, these small states will have significantly weakened strength, and our opportunity to unify the Germany Region will actually emerge.

Metternich, that old fox, couldn’t possibly fail to see this. Felix is pushing for peaceful unification with all his heart because of this. With them in the Austrian Government, they are unlikely to take risks.”

Prime Minister Joseph von Radovich’s judgement wasn’t wrong, and it was one of the reasons why Franz dared not take a risk.

As long as the Prussian Army doesn’t come out to fight a decisive battle against Austria, whether they hold their cities or retreat, it will not be possible to eliminate their main force in a short time.

After a month or two, the French intervention forces will arrive, and Austria won’t be able to withstand a joint assault from Prussia and France.

If it’s delayed for a few more days, British, Spaniards, and intervention forces from a bunch of small countries in Europe would all show up.

In such a scenario, Austria simply can’t see any hope of victory. Betting everything, once they fail, it’s all over.

Can one expect the Austrian Army to explode in power and, before the intervention forces from the various countries arrive, to take out Prussia and France first?

Big nations stabilize, small nations take risks.

Franz, who had studied history thoroughly, understood that only the last standing victor is the true winner. Any nation that relied on a rash offensive to achieve victory usually ended in tragedy.

Japan and Germany are classic examples, both boasting immense military power, launching furious offensives against heaven, earth, and air, only then to be collectively crippled by everyone and forced to spit out all their early gains.

On the other hand, Italy, which always muddled through life, ended up as one of the victors in both world wars and took a good share of the spoils.

Even the French, so proud and blustering, learned after one setback that if they could win by lying down, they absolutely shouldn’t act rashly.

With so many precedents, how could Franz dare to act rashly? Do not look at the Austrian Army, which after reorganization, appears very formidable; the problem is it can only surge once!

If a swift victory isn’t achieved and the conflict drags on, the weakness of Austria as a multi-ethnic nation would be exposed.

According to the current plan, it is much safer to only act against areas with a sound foundation among the public. A smaller scale means lower risk.

After everything is settled, the internal integration can be completed in the shortest possible time. Should the French dare to show up, they will be the aggressors and will have to face the morale boost of our army fighting on home soil.

Frederick William IV sighed and said, “It’s a pity. If it weren’t for these old foxes, we could still send someone to try.

Now, the better strategy is to figure out a way to ruin Austria’s plans, preferably without arousing the public’s antipathy, as our reputation cannot take any more damage.”

If your reputation stinks, everything becomes difficult. Ever since the Prussian Government was duped by the German Confederation, its reputation has not been good.

Not only in the Germany Region but even within the nation, the Prussian people have been quite indifferent to the government.

No matter how it is explained, the government’s promises have not been kept, and the people always feel like the government cheated them out of their money. This is particularly true for the nationalists, who are extremely dissatisfied with the government’s compromises with the Russians.