After the brief eting between Jero Bonaparte and Hubner ended, Baron Hubner quickly returned to the Austrian Embassy and issued a telegram to Vienna.
The content of the telegram is as follows: Esteed Duke of Schwarzenberg, I have obtained precise information from President Jero Bonaparte’s mouth that the French Republic is unwilling to interfere with the Austrian Empire’s punishnt of the Sardinian Kingdom.
The telegram was sent to the Vienna Telegraph Office by a nimble operator, who, after translating the ssage, hurriedly transcribed it and dispatched it to i Quan Palace.
Pri Minister’s Office at i Quan Palace.
The revolutionary storm of 1848 forced Prince tternich, who had established the Vienna System, out of this office in a disgraceful manner [referring to tternich’s escape in disguise].
A few months later, it welcod a new master, younger and more ambitious than tternich: Duke Felix Schwarzenberg.
Felix Schwarzenberg, born into a traditional military aristocratic family in Bohemia, was an imperial soldier stationed in the Venice region before becoming the Pri Minister.
However, Felix did not inherit the military genes unique to the Schwarzenberg Clan. From a young age, he was determined to beco a politician with a military background, using his military status as a springboard to advance to Prince tternich’s position.
Nevertheless, Felix’s political career was not easy.
If not for the revolution of 1848, and if he hadn’t t the then-Crown Prince, now Emperor Joseph Franz on the Lombardy battlefield, he might have spent his life in the barracks.
If Prince Windischgrätz hadn’t been his brother-in-law, Felix might have been sidelined after escorting the Habsburg family to Vienna.
Heaven granted Felix a series of opportunities, and he seized them firmly.
During the stalemate between Radetzky and the Sardinian Dynasty on the Lombardy battlefield, Felix, serving as Radetzky’s temporary advisor, seized the opportunity when he learned of his brother-in-law, Prince Windischgrätz, leading troops to Vienna to suppress rebels, to realize his ambitions. Felix voluntarily requested Marshal Radetzky to escort Franz Joseph.
Perhaps Radetzky saw through his temporary assistant’s mind, realizing it was not set on Italy, nor even on the army.
Radetzky agreed to Felix’s request and allocated so troops to escort Franz Joseph back.
With Felix’s encouragent, Joseph Franz decided to leave Lombardy and return to Vienna to reclaim his glory personally.
Accompanied by Felix and several thousand soldiers, a grand Habsburg entourage set out.
Along the way, Felix did everything he could to gain the trust of Empress Dowager Sophie—perhaps due to Felix’s determined character enhanced by Windischgrätz’s endorsent, Empress Dowager Sophie chose to trust Felix.
[It was known within the Habsburg Court that Prince Windischgrätz was Empress Dowager Sophie’s confidant.]
As the troops approached Vienna, Prince Windischgrätz’s 80,000-strong Bohemian army arrived, and the troops equipped with artillery swiftly suppressed the National Guard in Vienna.
Amidst the ruins mixed with blood and brain matter, the Habsburg family’s carriage returned to Vienna.
The city of Vienna was once again in the Royal Family’s hands. Subsequently, Felix and Prince Windischgrätz further discussed establishing Franz Joseph as Emperor.
They approached the then-Grand Duchess, Empress Dowager Sophie, to "persuade" her husband to abdicate in favor of Joseph Franz.
Under Windischgrätz’s military pressure and Empress Dowager Sophie’s manipulation, other Habsburg mbers unanimously agreed to "abolish" Ferdinand I in favor of Franz Joseph’s succession.
After Franz Joseph’s succession, due to his appreciation for Felix’s strong policies, combined with the support of Empress Dowager Sophie, Marshal Radetzky, and Windischgrätz, Felix Schwarzenberg, as a re soldier, successfully rose to beco Pri Minister of the Austrian Empire and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
[Equally, in neighboring Prussia, similar events occurred to those in the Austrian Empire. Princess William I incited Bismarck, accompanied by civilian troops, to orchestrate a coup, abolishing King Frederick William IV of Prussia. However, Bismarck lacked a prince and a brother-in-law controlling regular military forces. Relying only on peasant-ford civic troops, Bismarck decisively rejected Princess William I’s suggestion, for which the princess harbored grudges for a long ti. In a sense, Schwarzenberg was the successful version of Bismarck in 1848.]
Although it was Felix’s first ti serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs, he relied on his self-taught, proficient diplomatic skills, combined with the Austrian Empire’s still competent military, allowing him to navigate diplomatically by disguising under the mask of a great power.
Internally, he employed Josip Jelačić, Windischgrätz, and Radetzky to suppress revolutions in the Italian and Hungarian regions; externally, he allied with the German States against Prussia, allied with the Russian Empire to restrain Prussia, and even embezzled from fool Nicolai I’s 140,000 Russian Imperial Army to suppress the Hungarian revolution.
In less than a year, Schwarzenberg had largely cleared the Italian and Hungarian battlefields, while suppressing the Kingdom of Prussia, preventing it from becoming a nation on par with Austria.
At this mont, Imperial Pri Minister Felix Schwarzenberg was conversing with Minister of Justice Bach regarding post-war issues in Hungary.
"Pri Minister, I think the only way for the Empire to completely control Hungary and eradicate Hungarian tactics is to completely disband them into individual provinces!" Bach, wearing the characteristic attire of the Viennese middle class—tails, with a sash draped across his chest and a dal hanging at his chest, said aggressively to Schwarzenberg.
It’s hard to imagine that just a few months ago, the person before him, full of authoritarian rhetoric, was a liberal lawyer.
The saying "one’s position determines one’s perspective" applies at all tis.
Compared to the middle-class aura of Bach, Schwarzenberg was dressed in a light blue Lev uniform, with a Glory dal hanging from his right shoulder. His whole body exuded military traits, looking less like a qualified politician and more like a warlord who had usurped power.
"What after the provincialization?" Felix neither agreed with nor hastily denied Bach’s opinion, his speech calm, as if negotiating with Bach.
"After provincialization, we can discard Hungary’s original political system and mobilize a large number of administrative personnel from Bohemia and Austria to control Hungary! This can effectively prevent them from colluding!" Bach continued to Pri Minister Felix.
Pri Minister Felix, after pondering for a mont, spoke again: "Minister Bach, could you write down your entire plan and present it to ? I need to explain the specific implentation steps and thods to His Majesty."
Felix Schwarzenberg had clearly accepted Bach’s idea.
"Yes!" Bach nodded to Felix with a smile, delighted to have a Pri Minister as "understanding" as Felix Schwarzenberg.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
The sound of knocking ca from outside the door, and Pri Minister Felix softly said, "Please enter!"
The Pri Minister’s secretary hurriedly entered with a white letter in hand.
"What’s happening?" Pri Minister Felix asked the secretary.
"Pri Minister, a telegram from France!" the secretary said to Pri Minister Felix.
Both Felix and Bach’s eyes were drawn to the letter in the secretary’s hand.
"Pri Minister, I’ll take my leave!" Bach decisively chose to avoid involvent in matters outside his duties.
Entrusted by Pri Minister Felix Schwarzenberg with the power to manage Austria’s internal affairs, Bach had no desire to get involved in diplomacy, the private domain of every Austrian pri minister. To rashly express opinions would only make Pri Minister Felix feel that he wanted to replace him as the new pri minister.
"Hmm!" Schwarzenberg nodded and did not ask Bach to stay.
After bowing to Pri Minister Felix, Bach left the pri minister’s office.
After Bach’s departure, with a stern expression adhering to the principle that there are no small matters in diplomacy, Pri Minister Felix said to the secretary, "Let see the telegram!"
The secretary handed the telegram to Pri Minister Felix Schwarzenberg.
The content of the telegram was brief, yet it caused this Austrian "Iron Chancellor" Felix Schwarzenberg to frown repeatedly.
"Hmm? They’ve actually just abandoned the Sardinian Kingdom like this?" Upon reading the letter’s content, Felix Schwarzenberg exclaid in surprise.
"Pri Minister, does the reply from France not et your expectations?" the secretary cautiously responded to Felix Schwarzenberg, not understanding why, when the French Republic had agreed not to interfere in Austria and Sardinia’s politics, the Pri Minister was displeased!
"Do you think I asked Radetzky to incite a dispute on the border for what reason?" Felix Schwarzenberg asked the secretary in return.
The secretary cautiously replied, "To punish Sardinia?"
Pri Minister Felix Schwarzenberg shook his head, showing a face of disappointnt mixed with disdain, explaining, "The Sardinian Kingdom is not worthy of the Empire’s special attention; everything I’m doing is for the French Republic!"
"Pri Minister, with all due respect! There seems to be no connection between the Sardinian Kingdom and the French Republic!" the secretary asked, puzzled.
"Once Marshal Radetzky incites a dispute at the border, the French Republic will inevitably ensure the safety of the Sardinian Kingdom for border peace. At that ti, I can follow the wishes of France to propose a strategy to maintain the 1815 established boundaries!" Felix Schwarzenberg explained to the secretary, "The current president is a mber of the Bonaparte family. Are they really willing to be constrained by the established boundaries?"
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