Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 226

Chapter 226: 113. The Birth of the Comedic Empire

Translator: 549690339

The Paris conference concluded, and Franz bid farewell to Nicholas I and left. The life of intoxicating luxury always makes it easy for people to sink, and Franz didn’t want to test his own willpower.

As the saying goes, “a single leaf can herald the coming of autumn,” from the corrupt life of the upper echelons of the Tsarist Government, Franz knew that the Russian Empire was already sick.

Many were so engrossed in the glory of bygone days that they couldn’t extricate themselves, not even the dire situation of the Near East war could awaken them.

“Skin rashes are not worth worrying about.”

Since that’s what the Tsarist Government thought, Franz naturally had no obligation to remind them. An ally obsessed with past glories was a good ally indeed.

On the return trip, Franz had transformed into a literary youth and embarked on the road of literary creation. The profoundly influential “Emperor’s Anthology” and “Emperor’s Essays” were created during this time.

In this regard, Franz was quite principled, at least he didn’t use a ghostwriter. Naturally, his output was not high. From St. Petersburg to Vienna, he managed to produce only two frivolous poems, which he was truly embarrassed to show to others.

Nations are unlucky, poets are lucky.

Under the influence of the Paris conference and the forced splitting of the Germany Region, this period saw a flowering of literary creation.

Many writers and scholars emerged during this time, such as Arthur Schopenhauer, Geibel, Paul Heise, Freiligrath, Heilweg, Virt, Fontana, F. Grier Pazhe, Franz Grier Pazhe, Adalbert Stewart…

It could be said that in the second half of 1853, in just a few short months, the Germany Region produced more literary works than in the past five years combined.

Critical realism became the mainstream in this period’s literary creation, with the newborn German Federation Empire bathed in scathing criticism—of course, the Prussian Government also couldn’t escape the writers’ ink, and even the Austrian Government was not spared.

It’s proven that posturing is effective. Compared to the first two, the Austrian Government faced less criticism—after all, it was the hope for Germany’s unification, and everyone showed some restraint in their writing.

The newborn German Federation Empire was truly tragic. No one acknowledged it as an empire, the main reason for its imperial designation being that it included kingdoms among its sub-states.

The Central Government couldn’t be on the same level as local governments, so it was artificially elevated to an empire by the Paris conference, and clearly this “necessary empire” was unwelcome.

Bremen

An upset middle-aged man exclaimed, “Kolbe, look at the newspaper. The world’s greatest comedic empire is about to be born, and we are about to become a part of it.

God, when did we agree to join this empire? I had no idea. This is just too awful!

I can’t imagine telling someone which country I’m from in the future and saying: I’m from the Comedic Empire. The consequence is just too horrible!”

The birth of the German Federation Empire was originally a farce, derided as the “Comedic Empire” by Virt, and then everyone started calling it that.

A “great empire” with fewer than ten million people and an area smaller than one hundred thousand square kilometers, how could it not be a comedy?

Although the Comedic Empire was indeed comedic, its overall national power was not weak, ranking just below the major European powers, economically on par with the Kingdom of Prussia.

But this was not enough to make it a real empire. If it had become a Kingdom of the German Federation, probably no one would have objected.

The bearded middle-aged man glanced over the newspaper and then said unperturbed, “Petra, is such a trivial matter really worth all this fuss?

The Paris conference, the unanimous decision of the European countries—did you actually expect the government to dare to refuse it?

What’s there to fear from ridicule? Even if the Germany Region is split into three parts, we still have two empires and a kingdom, a uniqueness unmatched by any nation in the world!”

It was apparent that Kolbe’s expression betrayed his heart; he wasn’t as relaxed as he claimed, only forcefully suppressing his anger from erupting.

In terms of overall strength, a unified Germany Region would top the world, even the British would pale in comparison.

This, of course, was impossible. None of the European countries were fools—who could tolerate the emergence of a Central European behemoth?

Once the results of the Paris conference were disclosed, nationalists in the Germany Region fell silent. The blow dealt by reality to them was unimaginable.

Although everyone knew Europe would oppose Germany’s unification, such a concerted pressure from many countries exceeded their expectations.

There’s no greater sorrow than the death of the heart. Many despaired, became apathetic towards politics; Kolbe was one of them.

However, this indifference was only superficial. When he learned that the German Federation Empire had indeed been established, he couldn’t help but mock it a bit.

Petra shot Kolbe a sharp look and scoffed, “Enough, you coward, shut your mouth. As long as there’s a single German alive, the Germany Region will one day be unified.”

Both of them were past the age of adolescence. After the fragmentation of the Germany Region, they did not go out to march and protest like the young students.

As the newspapers said, even if the entire population of the Germany Region came out to demonstrate, the enemy wouldn’t see it; they could only rant in their lairs.

Oh, this might be what the capitalists said since it affected their business dealings.

Since the countries jointly intervened in Germany’s unification process, the business community has been in lament. The South German Region was still okay, with Austria’s market being substantial, in addition to the Italian Area and Russia.

The capitalists in the north deeply felt the malice, suffering from the loss of the South German Region’s market and bracing for future competition with British goods. It was like they were being driven towards a dead end.

The Prussian business community, too, had a similar feeling. Since Austria accelerated its industrialization, they lost a large portion of their market, and their days were not so good.

Now it was worse, with the northern market threatened by British goods and trade barriers in the south.

Affected by the market, from the time of the reforms in the Kingdom of Prussia in 1848 until now, Prussia’s economy had not improved significantly and was showing signs of further deterioration.

This was not due to a lack of effort by the capitalists, but a harsh reality they were forced into. At the same time as the Kingdom of Prussia’s reforms, they also cut military expenses, keeping the military budget under 25%, and invested these funds into national construction.

Now, due to the influence of the international situation and the need to guard against Russia and Austria, Prussia’s military expenditure has risen instead of fallen. Under such circumstances, it would be a relief if the government did not resort to oppressive levies and extortion.

Facing an increasingly severe economic situation, Frederick William IV was plagued with headaches. Unfortunately, he was not the type to develop the economy; he might have had more to say if it were about developing the military.

Looking at an entirely military-dominated cabinet, economic development — difficult. “Reform” once again surfaced in the mind of Frederick William IV.

Vienna

Franz, who had just returned to the country, had to face three dilemmas.

The first, the issue of settling the Bavarian royal family;

The second, the issue of the nation’s name;

The third, the governance of new territories.

Since his return to Vienna Palace, Empress Sophie continually hovered around him, often bringing up the issue of marriage.

Although she didn’t directly mention the Bavarian royal family’s affairs, the implication was clear: after all, an explanation was due, wasn’t it?

How could it be right to keep them virtually under house arrest like this, compromising the Empress Mother’s dignity?

Even the two little girls often clung to him, as if to say, if you won’t provide an explanation, we’ll cry for you to see.

Alright, Franz had acted dishonorably on this matter; despite the promise to provide them with another throne, he had continually dragged it out without finalizing this issue.

To escape the days of harassment, during the state affairs meeting, Franz said helplessly, “Gentlemen, other issues can wait, let’s first find a suitable place for the Bavarian royal family?”

Prime Minister Felix thought for a moment and said, “Your Majesty, the Kingdom of Bavaria still has the Palatinate province, which was also handed over to the German Federation. It would be easier to restore the Grand Duchy of Palatinate for the Bavarian royal family to continue as Grand Dukes.”

Metternich objected, “That’s inappropriate. We promised to ensure the Bavarian royal family’s throne, and now we need to soothe the public sentiment. An abrupt retraction could easily provoke unrest.”

Prime Minister Felix shook his head and said, “I don’t want to go back on my word either, but the problem is, the Bavarian royal family won’t accept the Serb throne.

Maximilian II is now arrogance embodied, expecting to continue as king on a prosperous land; how is that possible?”

Metternich retorted, “Serbia is a wilderness, even less to be desired than the Kingdom of Greece. Considering the Bavarian royal family’s investments in the Greek throne, they’ve not recouped it over many years; how could they possibly accept Serbia’s throne?”

Presently, Serbia is no good place, its population having plummeted to fewer than seven hundred thousand due to the war, consisting mainly of the old, weak, and disabled, with young men between 16 and 40 years of age all conscripted by the Ottomans.

Economically relying entirely on agricultural production, this nominal kingdom is in fact inferior to a province of Bavaria.

If one were to become the King of Serbia, it is estimated that for a long time to come, the fiscal revenue here would be non-existent.

The aspirations of Maximilian II have been completely eroded; he is not willing to endure this hardship anymore.

Watching the disputing individuals, Franz proposed, “What if we split the Lombardy-Venetia Kingdom, restoring the Kingdom of Lombardy so Maximilian II could take the throne there?”

Finance Minister Carl opposed, “Your Majesty, the Lombardy region is economically developed, accounting for nearly one-tenth of our fiscal revenue. If we let it be independent, our losses would be considerable.”

Franz shook his head, “It’s not about making it independent. Let’s first coax Maximilian II to take the throne and provide an explanation to the Bavarian people.

Then, through constitutional means, the Central Government can take control of local appointments and financial power, and just let him accept his pension quietly.”

Independence? Dream on! As an outsider, without Austria’s support, what on earth enables Maximilian II to rule over the locals?

Expecting Italians to support him as their king, Franz doesn’t believe Maximilian II has that charismatic allure, or else he wouldn’t have fallen into such a pitiable state.

Finance Minister Carl thought for a moment and said, “If we don’t let the Lombardy region be independent, only maintaining Maximilian II, then it’s not a big issue.”

The matter of a hundred and eighty thousand shields indeed warrants no further mention. For the long-term peace and stability of the Bavarian Region, this expense is necessary.

Metternich voiced his concerns, “Your Majesty, if Maximilian II becomes the Lombard King, England and France may instigate local independence in the future.”

Independence? Frankly speaking, Franz has never cared if the Italian Area might become independent. The region couldn’t possibly become the core of Austria in terms of developmental potential.

The Austrian Empire now has over six million Italians, which is already a very high population proportion. Nationalism in the Italian Area has awakened, so long-term rulership over these people is also a formidable challenge.

The Austrian Government does not give up on Lombardy-Venetia now mainly because of — benefits. That’s why they’ve spent heavily on assimilation there.

If the cost of ruling exceeds the returns, Franz would probably have let them become independent long ago. After all, the area is resource-poor, and its industrial products are gradually losing competitive strength.

Before the westward strategy kicked off, the Austrian Government had already made the worst-case scenario plans to give up the Lombardy-Venetia Kingdom in exchange for recognition of Austria’s annexation of the South German Region.

Unexpectedly, England and France launched the Crimean Campaign, which left them temporarily unable to send troops to intervene, so those regions were preserved.

Franz shook his head, “Even without this king, our enemies have not forgotten to plot local independence.

According to our plan, switching from wheat to mulberry trees, in no time, the region’s food will be completely dependent on Austria.

As time goes by, when the local textile industry thrives, if they leave Austria, where will they find a market?”

If the Italian Area is to achieve long-lasting stability, the Austrian Government has studied this, and the answer is: control over food and economic dependency.