Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 78
Chapter 78: Chapter 78: The Birth of Clickbait Titles
Translator: 549690339
Kingdom of Sardinia
In order to defeat Austria, Charles Albert had allied with the republics he loathed the most. The Austro-Hungarian War had just erupted, and before they had time to celebrate, an urgent plea for help arrived.
Upon receiving the plea from the Hungarians, Charles Albert was devastated and roared,
“Damn, are these Hungarians all useless? The war has barely started, and they’re already buckling under the pressure.
With 300,000 National Homeland Defense Troops, even if they were 300,000 pigs, in such a short time, the Austrians couldn’t kill them all!
Could it be that the Hungarians simply lack the courage to fight for freedom?”
“Your Majesty, Hungary is a multi-ethnic country. While the Hungarians fight for national independence, they also oppress other minority groups.
The Austrians have bought over these minorities. From the very beginning, the Hungarian Republic was losing,” Prime Minister Azzolini explained helplessly.
Hungary appeared mighty and independently robust, causing Austria’s national strength to diminish by a quarter. Moreover, in alliance with the Kingdom of Sardinia, both parties seemed evenly matched.
Unexpectedly, the seemingly strong Hungary turned out to be hollow and flimsy; no sooner had they turned against Austria than two-thirds of their territory changed colors.
“Worthless!”
Charles Albert cursed, and no one knew if he was denouncing Hungary or the Prime Minister.
“Army Minister, based on the current situation, how much longer can the Hungarians hold out?”
The named Li Qi immediately answered, “Your Majesty, no one can answer that question. The Austrians are advancing strongly, mainly because there are too many in Hungary whose hearts lie with Austria.
Rather than saying the Hungarian National Self-Defense Force was defeated by the Austrian army, it’s more like the Hungarians themselves willingly surrendered. ”
Charles Albert’s expression changed. If the Hungarian Republic fell, and without them to tie down the Austrian main forces, the Venice battlefield would face great trouble.
When the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. Even though he thought it inadvisable to make a rash decision to battle the Austrians in Venice, the
Kingdom of Sardinia had no choice. They couldn’t be without the Hungarian Republic at this time; they had to jump into this pit.
Public opinion within the Kingdom of Sardinia was pushing the government every day to have a decisive battle with Austria, and Charles Albert was influenced. Now, he finally made up his mind.
“Order Marshal Badoglio to accelerate the pace. At any cost, we must occupy
Venice before the end of the Hungarian Republic!”
Frankfurt
This commercial capital of the Germany Region became even more lively with the arrival of representatives from various locales, with discussions of the great event everywhere in the streets.
Even though the legality of the Frankfurt conference was still under consideration, everyone’s enthusiasm was unabated.
The dispute between Greater Germany and Lesser Germany was a particular topic of debate, with neither side convincing the other, yet all remained zealous.
Up to now, besides Prussia openly supporting the conference, only a few Free Cities and Sub-States had lent their support.
Whether they supported it or not, representatives from all the Sub-States had arrived in Frankfurt, some elected, but many more appointed.
The saying that capital knows no borders is not just a joke. Those capitalists longing for the unification of the Germany Region, to create a larger market, had already compromised their integrity.
At the Austrian Delegation’s accommodation, Rault asked in confusion, “Anderson, the people we met today, are they all elected representatives?” “Maybe, possibly!” Anderson replied uncertainly.
“But why do I feel like all these worker representatives seem more like enforcers?” Rault said furrowing his brow.
“Perhaps they are factory foremen, who cares so much about it, as long as the numbers are right. Aren’t we also appointed?” Anderson pondered and then said.
Enforcers can count as foremen, and foremen, of course, are workers too. The two looked at each other and had given up any illusions about the conference.
This is the social reality, whether it’s workers or peasants, even if they elect representatives, they still don’t have the qualifications to attend the conference, they might not even be able to afford the travel expenses.
How could the capitalists, who orchestrated the conference with their own hands, give up control? If it were an actual democracy, with their reputation, only fools would support them.
Whitewashing their image? Not a chance, this is the 19th century, capitalists with a clean background are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, the overarching social context is dark, and if you were clean, you’d be stained black as well.
They even feel that if they don’t attend the conference, others will represent them and for capitalists, pulling off such a thing is no sweat off their back.
“This is bad, Mr. Anderson, the organizers have informed us that regions like Bohemia and Hungary do not belong to the Germany Region, and these representatives cannot attend the conference.”
Anderson’s face changed, first with anger, then with delight. How could he not use such a pretext delivered to his door?
“Quick, get this news published in the newspapers, and make the situation sound even more serious. Emphasize the arrogance of the organizers,” Anderson instructed hastily.
“Wait, I think we can stir the pot even more, spread a rumor that the Prussians are controlling the conference with the goal of passing decrees to allow Prussia to annex all the other sub-states!” Rault added.
“If that’s the case, then we might as well pile it on, invent a rumor that the Prussians plan to establish Protestantism as the national religion of Germany and use the constitution to ban Catholicism!” Anderson continued.
Since they were there to cause trouble anyway, they felt no pressure in making up news; in this era, limited by communication, getting at the truth was too hard.
In Vienna, Franz even set up a team of experts, dedicated to collecting information sent from the front, then creating topics and steering them in the direction Austria needed.
By the time the Frankfurt conference began, rumors had already started to circulate in the Germany Region that the Prussians were plotting to use this conference to annex other countries.
“Capitalist thugs are actually representatives of the working class!”
“A peasant representative who owns a hundred thousand hectares of land!”
“Who actually elected these representatives?”
“Who gave the capitalists the right to dominate this country?”
With photographs lending an air of authenticity and after some artistic embellishment, the sensational headlines shamelessly took over the front pages ot mainstream European media.
The truth, mixed with rumors, was hard to distinguish. Many people only believe what they see, and, obviously, reality is brutal. The media’s exposure of the capitalist’s dark history did not differ from what they saw.
The Frankfurt conference undermined the authority of various monarchs and under Franz’s leadership, everyone jointly launched this battle of public opinion..
