Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 56
The news that the Kingdom of Sardinia was occupying Lombardy spread to France, causing a shock in the interim government.
The French had supported the war between the Kingdom of Sardinia and Austria, but only to expel Austria from Italy and make Lombardy and Venice independent. They did not intend to unify the Kingdom of Sardinia into Italy.
Since he’d received the news that the Kingdom of Sardinia took over Lombardy without shedding blood, the head of the interim government, Alfons De La Martin, had been in a bad mood.
Austria was one of the four major powers of the European continent. How could they be so frightened that they gave up Lombardy?
In his opinion, the correct way to see the situation was this: fighting caused destruction to both sides, so Austria had been unable to suppress the domestic rebellion and was forced to give up the Italian region. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Sardinia also suffered heavy losses in the war and was unable to annex the Lombardy region. They had been expecting the situation to go this way like a script they all compiled, but it had been changed at the beginning.
However, screenwriters like him had no right to change the plot back, because the investors sent them away early.
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“Your Excellency, the Austrian ambassador, Mr. Mentneid, is here.”
The servant officer’s voice sounded in his ear. Alfons came back to himself and said, “Please show him in.”
After a period of routine diplomatic greetings, Mantneid got straight to the point.
“Mr. President, what do you think of the Italian issue?”
Alfons smiled slightly. This was a good opportunity to increase the influence of France since Austria had sent representatives to negotiate with them.
“Mr. Mentneid, every nation has the right to pursue national independence. I think it is a good choice to make Lombardy an independent country!”
Mentneid was already cursing him in his heart: since it was not French territory, of course the French president did not feel distressed. Lombardy and Venice were important fiscal and taxation regions, and Austria could not possibly give them up easily!
“Mr. President, I think this issue should be considered in context. Lombardy is an integral part of the Austrian Empire. We will not make any concessions on this issue.
Why don’t we discuss other parts of the Italy issue, such as the division of power over the Kingdom of Sardinia? I believe we should have common opinions on this issue!”
The French had to be interested in carving up Italy. Even if the interim government was busy with domestic struggle, it also knew that it could not be silent on this issue.
A unified Italy was not in the interest of Austria, and it was also not in the interest of the French. The Mediterranean was too small to accommodate so many big countries.
If Austria was not willing to give up the Lombardy region, then the war with the Kingdom of Sardinia would certainly continue.
Since the Austrian ambassador had come to him, obviously, the purpose of carving up Italy was to exchange interests with France and get the French government to give up its support for the Kingdom of Sardinia.
Alfons didn’t have many choices. He had already made it clear that there was no fighting at all between the two sides, which meant that the Austrian army had not suffered any losses.
Without foreign support, he did not think that the Kingdom of Sardinia could beat Austria. The difference in strength between the two sides was too great, and it could not be made up by personal ability alone.
It was impossible for the interim government to provide too much support to the Kingdom of Sardinia then; moreover, what benefits could they get from supporting the Kingdom of Sardinia?
It was true that France wanted to take Italy for itself, but Alfons himself did not have that kind of ambition.
Although the Vienna system had collapsed, he had not forgotten the warning of the Russians, and the British were also watching him closely. If this step was taken, he would have to fight alone against the European continent.
“Mr. Mentneid, how do you think the division could be more reasonable?” Alfons asked with concern.
If the Austrians wanted to buy them over, he would look at their bid first; as long as the price was high enough, he would consider stabbing the Kingdom of Sardinia in the back.
Anyway, at that time, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia had not yet formed an alliance. The two sides had only a verbal agreement, and there was no shame in betraying that.
“Austria will have the Genoa and Turin regions, and the remaining regions will be owned by France. The two countries will ally to fight international pressure!”
Having said that, Mentneid took up a pen and drew a line on the map, dividing the Kingdom of Sardinia into two parts. The two parts were equal in size.
Alfons’s expression changed, for he hadn’t expected the Austrians to have such a big appetite that they wanted to take over the whole Kingdom of Sardinia.
On the surface, France had taken a big advantage this time: Austria had taken the responsibility of fighting the Kingdom of Sardinia, while the French only waited for the war to end and sent troops to occupy it.
In fact, it was not like that. The core areas of the Kingdom of Sardinia were in Turin and Genoa, which held more than eighty percent of the industries in the country.
If these two places fell into Austria’s hands, it would be difficult for France to take them back again. In that era, France’s military strength did not match Austria’s.
Alfons said, “Mr. Mentneid, I’m afraid this will not work. The essence of the Kingdom of Sardinia …”
…
Actually, it was just a strategy of negotiation.
The order received by Mentneid was to hold the French back and not allow them to provide support to the Kingdom of Sardinia. As for the division of the Kingdom of Sardinia, it was just a pretense.
Austria had a lot of internal problems, and Franz would not expand outside until all of those were dealt with completely.
Moreover, if the history had not changed, when the proletarian uprising broke out in Paris in June, the French would be too busy to support the Kingdom of Sardinia.
After the suppression of the uprising, the French government would be replaced again, and a new round of political struggle would begin, which would continue until the restoration of Napoleon III.
The so-called division of Sardinia was just an empty promise.
Alfons was not too stupid to see that there might be problems in the division of the Kingdom of Sardinia as proposed by Austria, but, for the time being, the interim government urgently needed to achieve something to ease the domestic conflict.
It could be said that the two sides became good partners after brief contact. Even if it was an empty promise, as long as the French had the strength, the promise could also be fulfilled.
At that time, any treaty that was beneficial to France was an achievement for the interim government and could be a good way to divert domestic attention.
The two of them then started a protracted war: in addition to carving up the Italian region, Alfons also needed Austria to admit the legitimacy of the interim government and abolish the shackles imposed on France by the Vienna system.
All these issues were used to negotiate. In that era, the French were very isolated in diplomacy, and the interim government was in urgent need of the world’s recognition.
The widely-criticized July Dynasty was actually not bad in terms of diplomacy. Since the war against France, the French government had been forced to act as a public enemy in Europe, even though they did not want to.
Of course, the interim government could not be too tough. Just look at the attitude of the Russians: if there was money to be had, the soldiers of Russia would have been killing in Paris.
