Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 42

“Your Highness, in view of the current domestic situation, I propose that we double the Vienna City Defense Army immediately and form an army of two hundred thousand soldiers to suppress the rebellions across the country!” Prime Minister Felix said in a murderous manner.

On the point of suppressing the rebellion, everyone was in agreement, and no nobles liked the revolutionary party.

“The proposal of the Prime Minister is right. The City Defense Army should be supplemented. The waste that did nothing in the previous rebellion in Vienna will be retired by my order!

It is imperative to build a counter-rebellion army. Lieutenant General Albrecht has performed well in suppressing the Vienna rebellion. I think he will be the right person to take on this task!”

Franz did not hesitate to take advantage. He not only took the opportunity to clean up the waste in the City Defense Army and replace them with his own people, but also to reach out to the army yet to be built.

“Your Highness, it is of great importance that we form a counter-revolutionary army. I am afraid that Lieutenant General Albrecht will be too busy to cover it all, so it is better to let Marshal Radsky and Prince Wentishgreitz come back to preside over the overall situation,” Felix replied.

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(Note: Marshal Radsky and Prince Wentishgreitz were two of Austria’s three great heroes, and both saved Austria once: the former suppressed the Italian rebellion, while the latter suppressed the Prague rebellion and the Vienna rebellion.)

The two were big shots in the Austrian army. If they came back, Albrecht could only stand aside. Prince Wentishgreitz was Felix’s brother-in-law, so it was definitely impossible for Franz to let him come back.

However, it was hard to baffle Franz. He answered, “These two are indeed the best candidates. Unfortunately, rebellion has already broken out in Lombardy. If we transfer Marshal Radsky back here, or anywhere else, at this time, who will be responsible for the rebellion?

In my opinion, it is better that Marshal Radsky is appointed as the governor of Lombardy and Venice, and he will be fully responsible for presiding over the counter-rebellion work in Italy.

Then we will move fifty thousand troops from Austria to reinforce the Italian region and try to suppress the rebellion in the shortest possible time.

And now the Bohemian region (Czech Republic) is also unstable. In the same way, if we transfer Prince Wentishgreitz back here or anywhere else, then who will take responsibility for suppressing the possible rebellion?”

The front line needed them to command and suppress the rebellion: this reasoning was very sound. Since Franz proposed it, no one dared transfer people arbitrarily. Otherwise, if there was a problem with the front line, they would be responsible for it.

Austria was still the Austria of the Hapsburg family. Even Prime Minister Felix, who was very strong, could only make concessions in the face of Franz’s insistence.

Political struggles could be very complicated. This concession meant that in the coming years, the Austrian government would revolve around Franz, and the cabinet would be in an auxiliary position.

Seeing that no one objected, Franz said, “Considering the special situation of Hungary, we must also take action.

I propose to use Josip Yelachic as the senior Croatian official and also as a commander of the City Defense Army.

(Note: Josip Yelachic was one of Austria’s three great heroes, and his main achievements were stabilizing Croatia and participating in the suppression of the Vienna rebellion and the Hungarian rebellion.)

Julius Jacob von Haynau will be the senior official in the Slovak region and will also serve as the City Defense Army commander to prepare to suppress the Hungarian rebellion.”

(Note: Julius Jacob von Haynau was an Austrian Marshal known for his brutal suppression of Italian and Hungarian rebellions, and he was known as the Arad Executioner, Brescia Hyena, and Hapsburg Tiger.)

Franz’s plan was very simple: he would use the meritorious statesmen in the history of Austria’s suppression of the rebellion in advance, and those idiots who failed would be excluded right out of the gate.

“Your Highness, the rebellion in Hungary has not yet occurred. If we take action like this, I am afraid it will cause great adverse effects!” Felix thought for a moment and said.

He did not expect that while the Vienna government was still negotiating with the Hungarians, the Crown Prince was already preparing to suppress the rebellion, which was completely undermining the negotiation.

However, once the Hungarians really rebelled, these arrangements would become very useful. Croatia and Slovakia were the territories of the Hungarian Kingdom in that era, but the people there leaned toward Austria.

Controlling these two places in advance was very smart for suppressing the Hungarian rebellion. In history, to suppress the Hungarian rebellion, the Croatian province needed forty thousand troops.

Franz shook his head and said, “Prime Minister, do you think it is a good idea to let Hungary go on like this?

For so many years in the past, the Vienna government made concessions to them. If we continue like that, we might as well let them be independent!”

This was not nonsense. Hungary was then nominally part of the Austrian Empire, but the tax revenue in Hungary had nothing to do with the central government of Vienna. Even between Austria and Hungary, there were tariffs.

However, they still claimed that Austria was oppressing and exploiting Hungary. In Franz’s view, this was complete nonsense.

The Vienna government had gained some benefits from Hungary, surely, but they could be considered protection fees because Austria had been responsible for Hungary’s security.

Without Austria’s protection, Hungary would either be annexed by Russia or by the Ottomans, and the final result could only be terrible.

On the surface, Austria’s industry was more developed, while Hungary was mainly developing its agriculture, so it became a market for Austrian goods.

In fact, the law of that era was the law of the jungle. As the weak, it was impossible to ask too much from the strong. Even to the ordinary Hungarian people, the Hapsburg family was the defender of their interests.

At that time, under that system, not only had the capitalists and nobles in Hungary suffered real losses, but they had also always wanted to make trouble.

After the Great Revolution, some commented that the Hungarian Kingdom of more than ten million people actually had only five hundred thousand people of the Hungarian nation.

In fact, it was the five hundred thousand capitalists and nobles who really exploited and oppressed the Hungarians. Franz was going to kill these worms and distribute their land to the Hungarians.

Therefore, at this point, the goal was not to suppress the revolution but to bring revolution to the Kingdom of Hungary and liberate more than ten million ordinary Hungarian people.

There would be bread for them, and milk. In this regard, Franz believed that he was starting a sacred crusade.

“Your Highness, don’t say that. Hungary is our granary. They are an indispensable part of the empire; we must not let them be independent!” Felix said seriously.

Franz smiled and said, “Prime Minister, don’t be so nervous. I just told the truth that Hungarians want reform, which is all right; however, all of it must be based on the premise of integration with Austria.

They just want to get benefits, but do not intend to pay the price. There is no such thing in the world. Instead of arguing with them every day, it is better to solve the problem all at once!”