Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 216: Intervention

On July 1, 1853, Prime Minister Felix made another visit to the Grand Duchy of Baden for a historic meeting with Prince Regent Frederick.

Prime Minister Felix continued to persuade: “Your Highness, German unification is the common aspiration of all the German people. The Bavarian government, which blocked the way, has been abandoned by the people.

History has given us the mission to achieve national unification at this time. As the nobility of Germany, we have to fulfill this obligation.”

Faced with the slick-tongued Prime Minister Felix, Prince Frederick had an enormous headache. At the moment, “unification” was politically correct in the Grand Duchy of Baden. Having learned his lesson from the fall of the Bavarian government, he dared not make any mistakes on this issue.

In addition to persuasion, Felix was accompanied by the threat of Austrian military might.

With the Kingdom of Bavaria already pacified, the Austrian troops inevitably moved slightly toward the border of the Grand Duchy of Baden. There were not many of them, only over 100,000.

This number had already caused Prince Frederick to lose sleep. In his opinion, even if it was only 10,000 Austrian troops, it would still be a serious threat.

Fortunately, the Austrians knew to use diplomacy before force, so there was still room for maneuver. Even if they were annexed, they would have to sell for a good price, right?

Prince Frederick expressed his doubts: “Mr. Prime Minister, as a German nobleman, I am also willing to contribute to the unification of Germany. The current problem is that European countries are not willing to see German unification.

Britain, France, and Russia have all expressed their attitudes. Once Germany is unified, they will intervene with troops, and the Prussians are also colluding with them.

If we cannot handle this problem well, the unification process is likely to escalate into a large-scale war if we proceed hastily.”

Nobility was not only a privilege but also a responsibility. For this reason, European nobles were respected.

Prince Frederick could not outright reject German unification. Instead, he conveniently brought up the difficulties of unification, while also badmouthing Prussia.

If Austria couldn’t solve this problem, then unification was impossible. At worst, Austria might swallow Bavaria, and that would be the end of it.

Prince Frederick was not inclined to sympathize with the plight of the Bavarian royalty. After all, it was better to have an estranged ally than a formidable enemy. Besides, the Austrians were already treading carefully, publicly promising a territorial exchange between the two royal families as compensation.

Although the exact location was not announced, this was already the best choice for the Bavarian royal family. As a royal family abandoned by the people, it was impossible to remain on the throne by staying in Bavaria, so it was better to change territory to preserve their heritage.

Prime Minister Felix said confidently: “Your Highness, you can rest assured on this matter. If we cannot solve the diplomatic problem, we would not dare to talk about unification at this time.

I’m sure Your Highness understands the current world situation very well. Britain, France, and Russia are involved in a fierce war in the Near East. Even if they want to intervene now, they are unable to do so.

As long as everyone agrees, the unification of Germany will not be a problem. The current problem is the Kingdom of Prussia, which has always been ambitious and wants to annex all of Germany’s territories.

We will do our best to fight for it. If the Prussian government resists and colludes with the great powers, we will unify Southern Germany first.

This is Austria’s bottom line. Anyone who dares to obstruct it will see war!”

Prince Frederick understood — the previous words were all routine, and the last sentence was Austria’s real purpose.

After careful calculation, he found that Austria’s plan seemed to have a very high chance of success. The Kingdom of Bavaria was finished, and the Southern German States no longer had the strength to resist them.

If Germany were unified, Britain, France, and Russia would not tolerate it. If it were divided into North and South Germany, it would be a different story.

Austria was growing in strength, but this expansion barely touched the bottom line of the other powers without threatening their survival.

For the British, there would be no fear of the European balance of power getting out of control. An empowered Austria would be just as strong as France, or at best slightly stronger than the French, but still below Russia.

Anyway, Austria was surrounded by Russia, Prussia, and France. At this point, it could not expand any further. Even if it was stronger, it was still within the acceptable range.

As for the Russians, there was no need to mention them. The Austro-Russian alliance was known to everyone. As long as it was not the unification of all German territories that would make the Russians feel threatened, they could accept anything.

Prince Frederick suspected that Austria and Russia had long since come to an understanding, otherwise, the Austrians would not dare to act now.

Just France alone seemed unable to frighten Austria. Who is afraid of whom when they fight? Unless Napoleon was reborn, a united Austrian Southern Germany would be utterly fearless.

In his heart, Prince Frederick unconsciously assumed that the people supported unification. Therefore, when calculating Austria’s military strength, he included the strength of several southern German states.

This calculation was not wrong. If the French come to invade, these states will have no choice but to fight, whether they want to or not. How could anyone cry neutrality in the face of foreign invasion?

After much thought, Prince Frederick said: “Prime Minister, I am in favor of the unification of Germany in principle. The Grand Duchy of Baden will not stand in the way, but we must discuss the details.”

There was no room for retreat in the struggle for interests. Of course, Prince Frederick now had to fight for the interests of the Grand Duchy of Baden, or rather, for his interests.

Felix showed a look of joy. Having received a positive answer, he knew that the Grand Duchy of Baden was now in their hands, so what was there to be afraid of in discussing the specific terms?

Note that there was a law called “constitution” in the world, and the central government could completely restrict local governments’ rights by law.

Austria had a dominant position in the new regime. What can these small states do to resist?

Felix magnanimously persuaded: “No problem at all. Considering that the different German states all have their independent systems, we are basically in favor of state autonomy.

Apart from the fact that everyone has to obey the common constitution, the central government usually does not interfere in the regional government.”

These all had one stipulation, which was — temporarily.

Prince Frederick was satisfied. Even if he was not satisfied, he had no choice. Prime Minister Felix’s stance was too firm — to refuse was to face military threats, so he could not refuse.

As for leaking Austria’s plan, Prince Frederick was not so foolish. It was a thankless task.

Even if the British and the French knew, it would not change the result that the Grand Duchy of Baden would be swallowed. Now, selling the Grand Duchy of Baden for a good price was the best choice.

If they are at odds, they could point to the treatment of the Bavarian royal family. Swapping territories may sound good, but in practice they suffered great losses, generations of hard work gone at once, having to start all over again.

What if the Austrian government becomes shameless and gives them trouble again in eight to ten years? What if they find an excuse to take away their throne?

In the new territory, they would lack the support of the people. If the royal family were abolished, they would be finished and would not be able to make any waves.

After a week of negotiations, on July 9, 1853, Prime Minister Felix, representing Austria, and Prince Frederick, representing the Grand Duchy of Baden, jointly signed the “Declaration of German Unification”.

In simple terms, the Grand Duchy of Baden and Austria would now be considered one country, even though the fledgling Holy Roman Empire had yet to be formally established.

Earlier, the Duchy of Saxony had already signed an agreement. In the face of Austria’s combined fists of coercion and temptation, along with the domestic masses blindly following, they really could not refuse to compromise!

German nationalism had already been ignited. The Bavarian government, which was hindering national unification, was removed by Austria. The Duchies of Saxony and Baden also reached an agreement with Austria, so it seemed that the day of German unification was not far off.

By the time Prime Minister Felix arrived in Württemberg, the welcoming crowds had already filled the streets. Negotiations had to be held in a villa outside the city instead.

When Austria declared war, everyone thought that war was inevitable. However, the Bavarians successfully turned the war into an armed parade, and the dawn of peaceful unification appeared once again.

Even before the negotiations began, the Württemberg government was under great pressure. Previously, many people had publicly stated that they would not help the government fight if war broke out.

To avoid the fate of the Bavarian government, the Kingdom of Württemberg naturally surrendered. As long as Austria can withstand international pressure, everyone will become one big family.

On July 11, 1853, the fledgling Holy Roman Empire, though not yet formally established, consisted of five states: Austria, Bavaria, Baden, Saxony, and Württemberg.

Southern Germany was now essentially unified. On his way to Hesse-Darmstadt, Felix announced that the Free City of Frankfurt had joined the Holy Roman Empire.

By this time, Britain, France, Russia, and other countries planning to intervene had reached an agreement. On July 6, Britain, France, and Russia issued a joint statement announcing a one-month cease-fire in the Near East.

The next day, twelve European countries, including Britain, France, and Russia, issued a joint memorandum demanding that Austria cease its actions to unify Germany.

Without any military threats, just this one memorandum forced Austria to abandon its unification efforts. Fortunately, by this time Franz had already achieved his goal.

The fledgling hopes for unification that had just arisen in Germany immediately plunged into mourning. Many people helplessly realized that unification was still a long way off.

Prussia had also appeared among the intervening countries this time, though Franz did not find this unexpected. What does it matter if they have to bear a little infamy for the sake of their interests?

In any case, their reputation was already ruined, and Frederick William IV didn’t mind being scolded a few more times.

Had the Kingdom of Prussia not participated in this move, it would certainly have had nothing to do with the current division of Germany.

Support Prussia against Austria? Such a sweet deal existed only in dreams!

Britain said: Hanover is under us and therefore cannot be abandoned, otherwise where would their face be? Together with France and Russia, is it not enough to hold Austria back?

France said: I’m not stupid. Isn’t Austria enough of a competitor? Do we need to add another one?

Russia said: Okay, we support you spiritually, but you have to fight for your interests. Russia is not stupid.

Europe’s total interests were only this much. If Prussia took more, it meant others would have less.

What kind of fool would willingly sacrifice his own interests to support a competitor?

Geography had already dictated that once the Kingdom of Prussia rose, it would become everyone’s competitor. Now that there was no meat left for them, they could only snatch and seize from others.

Restrain Austria? With Germany divided, Austria’s path to expansion was already blocked.

To the west was France, to the east was Russia, to the north was Prussia, and to the south were the Balkans. The Kingdom of Sardinia in the southwest was under Britain, and the other states in Italy were under Austria. They were completely unable to make any moves.

What options did Austria have? Oh, there’s still Switzerland, which had nothing to offer. Unless the Austrian government collectively lost its mind, it would have no interest in the backbone of Europe.

According to the plan proposed by the Russians, Austria either stays put or goes out to grab colonies if it wants to expand!

Britain and France did not fear it. Austria was not their opponent in the competition for overseas colonies. The passive strategy of colonization was determined by geography.

At least until the Suez Canal was dug, Austria’s overseas development would be at the mercy of Great Britain and France. It lacked competitiveness.

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