Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 51: Which Is More Important, Politics or the Military?

"Why don't we also convene an assembly with the German Confederation? We can invite the state governments to attend and discuss the issue of unification.

I'm sure that for an assembly on the governmental level, its influence will definitely be beyond anything a bunch of capitalists could hope to compare to!" proposed Archduke Louis.

"But an assembly of that scale will never produce anything conclusive. The various countries all have their own differing interests. Reaching an agreement is virtually impossible!" said Prime Minister Felix, frowning.

The alternative solution, one that everyone had failed to mention, was to exert diplomatic pressure and force the dissolution of the capitalist Parliament.

The chances of success were very low, however, as revolutions were breaking out across many countries in the German Confederation. The Frankfurt region was practically already in the hands of the capitalists--unless troops were sent in.

Of course, this wouldn't do for Franz. Had he the strength, he would have long ago suppressed the civil unrest within the country and restored national power.

After deliberating for a moment, Metterlich suggested, "Why don't we contact the other countries in the German Confederation? We can declare the Frankfurt Parliament illegal and refuse to ratify any of their agreements!"

Historically, Austria did, in fact, do this, but only in response to a constitution stipulated by the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849, which the monarchies desperately avoided until a group of countries including Austria, Prussia, Bavaria jointly denied its legitimacy.

But there were still twenty-nine other German states, and, forced by domestic public opinion, they had no choice but to accept the constitution. This was the legal basis that would allow Prussia to unify Germany later on.

This was no conspiracy, however. Although there were Prussians behind this Parliament, it did not necessarily reflect the sentiments of the royal family. Prussia was not monolithic, and various opposing forces were at play within its borders.

"Why don't we do this then: send some capitalists in to cause trouble and bring up a bunch of complicated issues. Buy us as much time as possible before they can reach an agreement. Once we settle our internal affairs, then we can deal with them!"

In the end, Franz came up with this devious idea. From the start, the Frankfurt Parliament had a slew of internal conflicts and were constantly quarreling amongst themselves.

Sending in representatives to deliberately buy time would make reaching an agreement much more difficult. Historically, the constitution was only finally drafted in March 1849.

A little more delay should give them enough time to deal with Austria's internal affairs. At present, the Austrian government possessed much more power than its historical counterpart.

"Your Highness, we can also spark a war of public opinion against them. It was the bourgeoisie who convened the Parliament, but they are unable to represent the German people," added Metternich.

"Now they are merely using their resources to rally support, but even the so-called representatives were mostly not democratically elected by the people.

We can expose this atrocity and publicly declare it as a conspiracy by the capitalists to enslave the people."

Franz lightly smiled and thought, "No wonder he is a strongman who dominated European politics for over 30 years. Having him serve as the Minister of Foreign Affairs was indeed a wise choice!"

Was it not obvious what the capitalists' true colors were? If one had too much ugly history, it would be only too easy to dig it up.

Exposing the Parliament delegates' dirty laundry would certainly destroy their reputations.

Then, they could attack any decisions made at the Frankfurt Parliament, expose the evil intentions of the capitalists, and bring about a very different outcome.

If anyone dared to exclude Austria from Germany, he would be seen as a traitor attempting to divide a unified Germany. No matter what others might think, advocates of Greater Germany would certainly agree.

When ideologies clashed between supporters of Greater and Lesser Germany, there would also be infighting amongst the capitalists. Even if they were unwilling to fight, it would not be beyond the Austrian representatives to stir up trouble.

If there were no scandals to be found, one could always be created, such as proposing a capitalist-favoring bill. It would certainly not pass, but it would make a joke out of the Frankfurt Parliament.

In the first place, the Parliament itself was held against a background of some state governments' powerlessness to suppress their domestic revolutionary movements. These governments had allowed the Parliament to convene simply to divert attention.

As these revolutions were raging, instead of staying in their countries to continue the movement, capitalists abruptly appearing in large numbers at the Frankfurt Parliament would only cause people to associate the two.

While the capitalist representatives were nominally democratically elected, in reality, it was all nonsense.

Running a nation-wide election at this time would be a hugely complicated undertaking. Any sensible government would do what they could to prevent it, so most election activities would not have even been possible.

Therefore, right from the beginning, the Parliament had nothing to do with the general public. They only represented the interests of the capitalists.

...

Just as everyone was discussing ways to disrupt the Frankfurt Parliament, a flustered-looking, middle-aged officer hurried over and announced from outside the room, "Your Highness, urgent military intelligence!"

Franz frowned. "Bring in the report!"

Cabinet meetings were not to be interrupted, save for urgent military matters. But they first had to be granted permission by Franz.

Receiving the report, Franz grimly read the news. Milan was lost, and nearly all of Lombardy had fallen into enemy hands. Now, the war had spread into Venice.

After reading, Franz handed the report to the Prime Minister, for circulation amongst the Cabinet members.

The contents of the report were very vague, and many things were not explained clearly.

Apart from descriptions of the Italian pincer attack, losses of cities and territory by the Austrian army, and heavy damages, the specific number of losses and the reasons for failure were not detailed.

Franz was aware that this was not Field Marshal Radetzky's usual style. Even if he had lost the front line, he was not one to fail at something as simple as writing a battle report clearly.

Under normal circumstances, one would call for reinforcements upon losing a battle. Although Radetzky had indeed requested reinforcements in the report, he did not ask for them to be sent immediately, which meant that he wanted the government to deal with the matter as they saw fit.

This could only mean one thing: he was planning something. For the sake of secrecy, many key details had been omitted.

"Your Highness, this is not the time for us to be suffering defeats!" scowled Foreign Minister Metternich.

Indeed, it was untimely. Were they not just preparing to disrupt the Frankfurt Parliament? A defeat in battle was not good for Austria's reputation.

In future diplomatic talks with other countries, Austria would be at a disadvantage.

Glancing at the map and gathering his historical knowledge, Franz more or less understood Radetzky's plan.

As all politicians in Europe were aware, given the current situation both at home and abroad, Austria could not afford to lose this war with Italy.

Under these circumstances, Radetzsky was doing the opposite, using his defeat to lure the enemy. Strategically speaking, his plan was actually quite feasible..