Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 51: Chapter 51, Which is More Important: Politics or Military?

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio     Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Shall we also convene a meeting of the German Federal Assembly and invite the governments of various states to discuss the issue of the Germany Region’s unification?” Archduke Louis suggested.

“But it’s impossible to get results from such an assembly; the interests of each state are different, and reaching a consensus is nearly impossible!” Prime Minister Felix said, frowning.

There was another method that everyone tacitly agreed not to mention, which was to exert diplomatic pressure to forcibly dissolve the assembly of capitalists.

The chances of success were too low. Right now, many Sub-States within the Germany Region were in the throes of revolution, and the Frankfurt area was practically controlled by the capitalists, unless military forces were dispatched.

Obviously, that was not feasible. If there were the energy for such an action, Franz would rather have suppressed the domestic rebellion earlier and restored national strength.

“We could contact the various Sub-States of the Germany Region and directly declare the Frankfurt meeting illegal, refusing to recognize any agreements they reach, ” Metternich pondered and said.

In history, Austria did just that; however, that was after the 1849 Frankfurt Assembly had drawn up a constitution, which caused all the monarchies to shun it. Ultimately, Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, and other states denied its legitimacy together.

Still, there were 29 German Sub-States pressured by domestic public opinion to accept that constitution, which later became the legal basis for Prussia to unify Germany.

This wasn’t contradictory, even though the Prussians were behind this meeting, it didn’t represent the stance of the royal family. Prussia wasn’t a monolith; there were various forces crisscrossing internally.

“Let’s do this. Send a bunch of capitalists to cause trouble and raise a myriad of complex issues to delay the proceedings as much as possible, preventing them from reaching any agreement. Once we resolve the domestic disputes, we’ll deal with their bad temper!”

Franz finally concocted a malicious plan. The Frankfurt meeting was already fraught with internal conflicts and daily quarrels.

If Austria’s representatives went there with the purpose of delaying, it would be even harder to reach an agreement. Historically, it wasn’t until March 1849 that a draft constitution was presented.

Delays would buy enough time to handle the internal conflicts. The current strength in the hands of the Austrian Government was much stronger than that at the same period in history.

“Your Highness, we could also fight a propaganda battle against them. The bourgeoisie organized this meeting and cannot represent the German People.

They are merely using their resources to boost their cause; even the so-called representatives were mostly not directly elected by the people.

We could expose the atrocities committed by the capitalists and announce to the public that this is a conspiracy by the capitalists to turn everyone into slave laborers,” Metternich added.

Franz smiled slightly, thinking, “Truly a strongman who has dominated European politics for more than thirty years. Choosing Metternich as Foreign

Minister was indeed the right decision!”

What are capitalists, if not well known for their sordid histories? It was all too easy to gather a mountain of incriminating evidence against them.

Exposing the dark past of the meeting’s participants would surely tarnish their reputations severely.

Then, by picking apart the decisions made at the Frankfurt Assembly and revealing the sinister motives of the capitalists, everything would change.

Anyone daring to suggest excluding Austria from Germany would be accused of attempting to split the Teuton people. Regardless of how others saw it, those advocating for Greater Germany would certainly see it that way.

The collision of ideas between Greater and Lesser Germany would create strife within the capitalists themselves, and even if they were reluctant to fight, Austria’s representatives could easily stir up trouble, couldn’t they?

Scandals could be fabricated where none existed, such as proposing laws favoring the capitalists. It didn’t matter if the assembly passed them or not; turning the Frankfurt Assembly into a joke was enough.

The very convocation of this meeting itself came against the backdrop of some Sub-State governments being unable to suppress domestic revolutionary movements, allowing the meeting’s occurrence primarily as a distraction.

While the revolution was ablaze, a bunch of capitalists not causing trouble domestically but running off to convene a meeting in Frankfurt certainly raised suspicions.

Despite the surface appearance that their representatives were democratically elected, in reality, it was all nonsense.

To hold a nationwide election in this year was no simple matter. Any government with sense would try to prevent it; most election activities were unlikely to proceed smoothly.

Thus, from the start, this meeting had nothing to do with the general populace; it only represented the interests of the capitalists.

As everyone was discussing how to disrupt the Frankfurt Assembly, a middle-aged military officer rushed in, exclaiming from outside:

“Your Highness, urgent military news!”

Franz frowned and said, “Bring the dispatch in!”

Cabinet meetings were not to be interrupted without cause, but urgent military situations were exceptions, still requiring Franz’s approval.

Taking the dispatch, Franz read it intently. Milan had fallen, the Lombardy Region was almost entirely conquered, and now the flames of war had spread to the Venice Area.

After reading the dispatch, Franz handed it directly to the Prime Minister for the Cabinet members to circulate.

The content of the dispatch was very vague, leaving many details unclear.

Apart from mentioning that the Austrian army suffered heavy losses and territorial setbacks under the pincer movement of the Italians, the specifics of the losses and reasons for defeat were not explained well.

Franz knew this was not Marshal Radetzky’s style. Even if the front lines were suffering, he wouldn’t write such a muddled dispatch.

Normally, after a loss, there would be calls for reinforcements. Marshal Radetzky’s dispatch did call for help, but without demanding immediate aid, implying that the homeland should decide what to do.

There was only one explanation: he was plotting something. For secrecy, he had left out many critical details.

“Your Highness, the timing of this defeat couldn’t be worse!” Foreign Minister Metternich said, his brow furrowed.

Indeed, it was the wrong time. They were planning to disrupt the Frankfurt Assembly. This defeat further diminished Austria’s prestige.

It would even affect Austria’s position in upcoming diplomatic negotiations.

Looking at the map and recalling historical events, Franz seemed to understand Marshal Radetzky’s plan.

All politicians in Europe knew that the current domestic and international situation did not permit the Austrian army to fail on the Italian battlefield.

In such circumstances, Marshal Radetzky chose to do the opposite and lure the enemy deeper, which was highly feasible from a military standpoint..

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