Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 526

Chapter 526: Chapter 99: High Stakes Gamble
 

In the Milan Royal Palace, the House of Wittelsbach was engaged in a final discussion on whether to give up the Greek throne.

The matter was actually quite straightforward, unlike the original timeline where Otto I was deposed, this time Otto I died a natural death, with many at the top echelons of the Greek Government being people Otto I had brought over from Bavaria.

With Austrian support, these individuals still held significant power. The Wittelsbach family’s foundation in Greece remained undamaged, and a successor dispatched could stabilize the situation in the shortest time possible.

That was also why Franz was inclined to support the House of Wittelsbach, as replacing with a foreign king would make it difficult to wield control over Greece.

Although Otto I could not be considered a successful king, he was far from ineffectual. During the Near East War, Greece suffered defeat, but the king emerged victorious.

Utilizing the knives of England, France, and the Ottomans, Otto I successfully purged his adversaries. Up to the present, Greece’s radical groups had not regained their strength.

The limited nobility and capitalists, all shrewd individuals, were content with shouting slogans. Only a fool would believe in “restoring Rome.”

In the original timeline, after a series of societal beatings, Greece’s strategic goals became progressively smaller, devolving from the initial ambition to “restore Rome” to “Great Greece.”

Even “Great Greece” was not actually small, its territory would be roughly seven or eight times larger than the current size, perhaps even more.

George I proposed “establishing a Great Greek nation with Constantinople as the capital and Athens as the economic center,” and even this was criticized by Greek patriots.

Looking at the map, this plan encompassed roughly a third of the Balkan Peninsula, as well as a quarter of Turkey, including many islands in the Aegean Sea and Cyprus Island.

The plan was not excessive, as Greece in the original timeline nearly achieved this goal. Sadly, they missed it by a hair’s breadth, which culminated in failure.

Now the tragedy was that the path of expansion was blocked by Austria, and whether they lowered their goals or not, there was fundamentally no hope of success.

The Greek radical groups opposed Austria because they could not accept the shattering of their great power dream. However, in the face of harsh reality, they had too few supporters.

Against this backdrop, with Austrian support, as long as domestic capabilities were sufficient, securing the Greek throne was not difficult.

…

In Warsaw, after receiving the Austrian diplomatic response, the Polish Government didn’t even celebrate Christmas.

They had no choice, their consultation with Austria was primarily meant to spark a verbal battle, exploiting the patriotic enthusiasm of the populace to divert public attention.

The reason for targeting Austria was the lack of alternatives. Insulting the Russians was certainly simpler, but after doing so for an extended period, the public became desensitized.

Apart from a few radicals who wished to expand territory to Moscow, most Polish people had lost interest in the lands of the Russian Empire, and what they wanted now was to reclaim their historic territories.

These lands lay within Prussia and Austria. The Kingdom of Prussia was Poland’s ally, with a too powerful pro-Prussian faction within their government, and given that they had to join forces with Prussia against the Russians, they could only target Austria.

The Polish Government did not anticipate such an intense response from the Vienna Government. The Austro-Polish territorial disputes have been going on for many years, and the Vienna Government had never taken drastic measures, leading many Polish people into a delusion, resulting in inadvertently aggressive diplomatic language that caused trouble.

Alright, they didn’t yet realize that behind this excessively aggressive diplomatic language, Prussians were causing mischief. Otherwise, the officials of the Polish Foreign Ministry wouldn’t have been so “carelessly negligent.”

After receiving Austria’s threats, the interim Polish Prime Minister Dobroborsky immediately summoned officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a severe reprimanding.

Seeking death should not be so obvious; threatening Austria in a diplomatic note, the Vienna Government would be expected to react intensely.

As an international revolutionary fighter, Dombrovsky was no ordinary man; in addition to leading the Polish uprising, in the original timeline, he was also one of the leaders of the Paris Commune.

In face of reality, compromises were still necessary. To retain power, Dombrovsky quickly became a “protecting the king.”

The Polish throne was vacant, and apart from international intervention, the reluctance by the “protecting the king” faction, led by Dombrovsky, to have a new king arise was another significant factor.

For them, the longer the delay, the more advantageous it was. When the Polish people became accustomed to having no king, then Poland would no longer need a king.

The prerequisite was not to cause trouble, as otherwise, with the Great Powers’ intervention, the situation could change. In an era where the monarchical system still held sway, rashly initiating a challenge was tantamount to courting death.

Minister of Foreign Affairs V. Vlublevsky said with a somber face, “Prime Minister, the matter has been investigated, and the person who tampered with the document was a patriotic young man working at the Foreign Ministry who has committed suicide after the incident.

He also left a suicide note clarifying the situation. Mainly he was dissatisfied with the government’s weakness regarding the Austrian issue, and during the submission of the communiqué to Austria, he secretly swapped the documents.”

The truth did not matter anymore, as anyone who thought about it knew there was something off. A patriotic youth privately switching documents was plausible, but the suicide was complete nonsense.

Knowing that there was something amiss, Minister V. Vlublevsky could not afford to probe further. Feigning ignorance is a politician’s instinct; if the investigation continued, the resultant situation would be more than the Polish Government could bear.

No matter what, the Vienna Government would not let this pass easily. With official diplomatic communiqués issued, consequences had to be faced.

Dobroborsky’s face was taut as he spoke, “No need to explain to me; the problem now is how to get the Austrians to back off.

The Vienna Government has been wanting to interfere in Polish domestic affairs for some time, and now you have delivered an excuse right to their door. Tell me, how should we manage the aftermath?”

The Polish Government was indeed in a tragic situation, politically influenced by the powers of Europe, especially by the Prussians, with very limited sovereignty.

Including social reforms, the Polish Government was unable to implement them according to their own will. One need not think about a proletarian revolution; they could not even fully carry out a bourgeois revolution.

Dobroborsky had always wanted to free Poland from the influence of other countries, but couldn’t even take the first step. Now the Polish Army was deeply influenced by Prussia, and the military sought greater power, resulting in fierce clashes with the government.

The Polish Armed forces had always wanted to install Wilhelm I as the monarch and then achieve a status equivalent to the Junker aristocracy in Prussia.

Without a king, the officers who had made significant contributions in the war could not become members of the nobility.

These individuals had become vested interests, seeking to solidify their positions, and were highly resistant to the policies of the Dombrovsky Government.

Had it not been for the support of England and France, the Dombrovsky Government might have already been overthrown. Prussia dared not offend England and France and was now borrowing Austria’s knife.

From the perspective of interests, the cause and effect were easy to analyze. Knowing what you know, Dobroborsky had no other choice.

He had to either quickly appease Austria’s anger or marshal his strength for a battle with Austria—there was no third option.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Va.Frublefsky said, “We have already been in touch with England, France, and Prussia; they have indicated that they will watch closely.

England and France suggested that we should accede to the Austrians’ demands, suppress the anti-Austrian movement within the country, and make amends to settle this disturbance.”

The Prussian Government stated it would not stand by as Austria invaded Poland, but they did not give a clear response on how to act.”

Theoretically speaking, accepting Austria’s terms would not be difficult at all. It was just a matter of losing face, without harming national interests—most of those in power knew what choice to make.

However, this was just theoretical. If the anti-Austrian movements were suppressed, the Polish Government would lose its public base and not be far from collapsing.

Prussia’s stance was even more bewildering. As allies against the common enemy, Russia, Prusso-Polish relations were cordial. But the Berlin Government’s desire to annex Poland was hardly a secret.

Prussians not standing by as Austria invades Poland does not mean they would send troops to protect Poland; they might even join with Austria in partitioning Poland.

In matters of interest, it is best not to test the integrity of a nation, or the outcome can be very touching.

Finance Minister Badleyevsky stood up: “The matter is not so simple, let’s not forget the Russians. The Russian-Austrian Alliance is fractured but not yet dissolved.

If the Russians take this opportunity to get involved, with Russia and Austria joining forces, even if England, France, and Prussia support us together, the ultimate outcome is likely to be less than ideal.”

Badleyevsky advocated for compromise, stating, “If we lose face, so be it. The public base might be the most important or the least important for a government, depending on the specific circumstances.

Losing the public base is serious now, but there is still a chance for redemption, which is better than letting the Austrians come knocking at the door.

Didn’t you see the military, which always liked to meddle in politics? This time they remained silent, as if they had become invisible, leaving everything to the government to handle.”

“Will the Austrians actually make a move? I’m not entirely convinced,”

Dobroborsky said with a cold laugh, “Defeating us is easy, but is it in Austria’s interests? You must realize that if our government is overthrown, the next one will surely be Pro-Prussian. The influence of England and France in Poland would greatly diminish, and the likelihood of Wilhelm I ascending the Polish throne would increase—a scenario the Vienna Government would not want to see.

The Polish Government is desperately poor, and the Austrians wouldn’t even be able to recoup their military expenses. The Russian-Austrian Alliance has not dissolved; even if they could seize a piece of Polish territory, wouldn’t they be morally obliged to return it to Russia by rights?

After all is said and done, all the effort would only dress others for their wedding. I do not think the Vienna Government would fail to see this.

At the end of the day, we have not actually harmed Austria’s interests, just affected their pride. From an interest standpoint, Austria is more likely to be bluffing.

We are the people’s government; we cannot suppress the patriotic movement. However, the government can still offer an apology to Austria, giving them a way to step down gracefully.

Presumably, the Vienna Government will not blow matters out of proportion. At worst, we’ll just have to reduce the tariffs on industrial and commercial goods between our two nations, conceding some interests.”

This was a high-stakes gamble, betting on whether Austria would take action against the fate of Poland. Minister Badleyevsky hesitated to speak again; everyone cared about their reputation, and the damage to prestige from suppressing patriotic movements was simply too great.

The Polish Government had too little control over the military. Aside from the support of England and France, the support of the people was also very important. If they lost the people’s heart, their chances of maintaining power were very low.