African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1568 Italy Declares War

The formation of the Greater Austrian coalition government did not end the turmoil in the Austro-Hungarian Empire; on the contrary, it exacerbated the empire's crisis. Domestically, capitalist parties such as the Austrian Nationalist Party refused to recognize its legitimacy.

The Czech Labour Party, the Hungarian Labour Party, and other Labour Party factions also have differing attitudes toward the Greater Austrian coalition government, with some unwilling to continue partnering with the Austrian Labour Party.

Externally, Austria's liberation from Habsburg control has stirred up neighboring countries, and now the biggest obstacle to their recapture of lost territory has been removed.

However, most of the Labour Party members in the Austro-Hungarian Empire generally supported the coalition government. Although the various Labour Party organizations under the Austro-Hungarian Empire had their own national characteristics, the Labour Party was not a nationalist party, and the two were even somewhat opposed to each other.

Therefore, while there are ultimately only a minority of opponents to the coalition government, a system of alliance states similar to the Soviet Union, it is not easy to fully integrate this force.

Prague, Bohemia.

The Czech Workers' Party has a ambivalent attitude toward a coalition government; however, given the current complex situation in the Czech Republic, it ultimately chose to cooperate with the Austrian Workers' Party.

Its leader, Gottwald, said: "The Czech Republic is bordered by a powerful Germany to the north. Therefore, even if the Czech Republic were to become independent in the future, it would face great difficulties. Joining the coalition government is the best outcome under the current circumstances."

"At the same time, Bohemia is also a multi-ethnic region, a land where Czechs, Germans, Slovaks, Hungarians, and others live together. Therefore, we should abandon ethnic prejudices, otherwise we will be no different from the extreme nationalist parties in Germany."

Like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Bohemia has a very complex ethnic composition. Czechs make up the largest group, but only about 40%, followed by Germans at about 20%, Slovaks at about 15%, and Hungarians at 5%...

Therefore, if the Czech Workers' Party pursues nationalism, it will exclude another 60 percent of the ethnic population, which is extremely dangerous.

If the Czech Workers' Party demands Czech independence, could other Bohemian ethnic groups follow suit and dismember Bohemia? That is clearly not what the Czech Workers' Party wants to see.

Debrecen, Hungary.

Debrecen is Hungary's second-largest city and the economic center of the east. Due to the impact of the Hungarian Revolution, the Budapest Labour Party suffered heavy losses, and Debrecen became the most active region for the Hungarian Labour Party.

After receiving notification of the coalition government, the Hungarian Labour Party discussed whether to join the coalition government.

The Hungarian Labour Party was more receptive to this suggestion than the Czech Labour Party. János, the current leader of the Hungarian Labour Party, said: "Our Hungarian Labour Party is weak, and it is difficult for us to overthrow the reactionary ruling forces in Hungary on our own."

"Therefore, joining the coalition government is the only option for the Hungarian Labour Party."

Now, with the collapse of the imperial society and ruling order, other labor organizations in the Austro-Hungarian Empire have basically started operating openly. Only the Hungarian Labor Party in Hungary is still classified as an "illegal organization".

The Austro-Hungarian government was still able to suppress its development, so the Hungarian Labour Party could only operate underground.

Based on this, the Hungarian Labour Party clearly realized that if Hungary wanted to change, it had to introduce the intervention of external forces. Brother organizations in Austria and Bohemia, among other regions, had established their own armed forces, or even armies, which was exactly what the Hungarian Labour Party lacked at the moment.

After the Czech and Hungarian Labor Parties accepted the proposal for a coalition government and intended to join the Greater Austrian Coalition Labor Party, the Austro-Hungarian Labor Party organization temporarily formed a unified center with Vienna as its core.

Within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia were essentially the three driving forces. Economically, Austria was in finance, Hungary in agriculture, and Bohemia in industry. If these three regions reached an agreement, they could essentially secure the overall situation.

Of course, the Labour Party cannot represent these three regions at present, especially the Hungarian Labour Party, which has no army or armed forces, nor any bases or occupied cities.

……

The newly formed United Republic of Greater Austria shocked the world and triggered great panic in European countries.

If a Greater Austrian Republic were to emerge and inherit the territory, population, and industries of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it would undoubtedly be a new nightmare for the European bourgeoisie, nobles, and landowners.

This would be the second most powerful Labour Party regime after the Soviet Union. Once established, its national strength would rank fifth in Europe and eighth in the world.

If it were to complete the integration of its internal resources like the Soviet Union, it could easily surpass France and move up one place in the rankings. If it could maintain the same terrifying growth rate as the Soviet Union, it might even surpass Britain in industry and become the third largest industrial power in Europe.

The Soviet Union's total industrial output is already rapidly catching up with Germany's, and in a few years, after completing the Third Industrial Revolution, it may become the largest industrial country in Europe.

In this way, the largest and third largest industrialized countries in Europe will both be Labour countries, which will completely overturn the entire European landscape. Not to mention the emergence of the Soviet Union and now Greater Austria, who can guarantee that other European countries will not be overthrown by the Labour Party in the future?

Therefore, the existence of the United Republic of Greater Austria, a terrifying entity, is something that neighboring countries absolutely cannot tolerate.

Rome, Italy.

Upon hearing of the establishment of the United Republic of Greater Austria, Benito felt both fear and excitement about the regime.

At an Italian cabinet meeting, Benito gesticulated wildly and said, "We absolutely cannot tolerate the emergence of a second Soviet Union, especially one that would become an enemy of Italy."

"Now, Italy should mobilize immediately. We must represent the will of the people of Europe and eliminate this terrible and evil regime."

"At the same time, we will recover the entire territory of Lombardy and Venice, restore the traditional Italian territory, and bring the two places back into the embrace of the motherland."

The emergence of the United Austrian Republic directly handed the pretext for war to Benito. If it were the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Benito might have had to consider international public opinion pressure, but waging war against the Labour Party regime was the politically correct thing to do in the capitalist world.

Therefore, Italy now has two layers of protection when launching a war against Austria-Hungary: first, to eliminate the United Austrian Republic, and second, to reclaim Lombardy and Venice.

Thus, on May 15th, the day after the formation of the Greater Austrian Union government, Italy formally declared war on the Greater Austrian Republic, and more than 5 Italian troops on the border crossed the border to wage war against the Austro-Hungarian army in the region.

At this time, the Austro-Hungarian troops stationed in Venice and Eastern Lombardy were clearly not the troops of the Greater Austrian Union Government, but rather the original Austro-Hungarian garrison.

At this time, the Austro-Hungarian border guards were also in a state of confusion. After the fall of Vienna, they had basically lost their command, and the emperor was on his way to Budapest and had not yet re-established contact with them.

Faced with Italy's sudden attack, Marshal Borojevich, the border general of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, did not hesitate to order a counterattack.

The fact that Marshal Borojevich, a veteran, was in Venice itself demonstrates the correctness of the Austro-Hungarian government's assessment of Italy. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire were to experience turmoil, Italy would be the most likely country to take advantage of the situation.

Before Vienna fell, Emperor Rudolf had already delegated command of the entire southwestern theater, including Lombardy and Venice, to Marshal Borojevich, and ordered him to refrain from sending troops north to support Austria, thus preventing Italy from taking advantage of the situation.

Emperor Rudolf knew very well that the Habsburg dynasty's defeat was due to the loss of popular support, which could not be resolved militarily. Even if the rebellion was forcibly suppressed by military means, it would be futile, and new rebellions would still occur.

Therefore, he preferred to use military force to safeguard the integrity of his own territory, suppressing local separatist forces on the one hand, and guarding against other countries taking advantage of the chaos to invade Austro-Hungarian territory on the other.

Marshal Borojevich was loyal to the Reich, and although he was Croatian, his loyalty was tested during World War I.

At this time, he was stationed in Venice and immediately noticed the unusual activity in Italy.

"Italy is indeed a wolf in sheep's clothing. Unfortunately, the empire is currently in turmoil, Vienna has fallen, and we can only rely on our own strength to resist the Italian invasion."

The deputy commander of the Venice theater was also in a bad mood. He asked Marshal Borojevich, "Marshal, it is probably difficult for us to contend with Italy on our own. Italy is not a small country in Europe. There are more than 200,000 Italian troops on the border now, and there will likely be more later."

“Even if we manage to hold off the first wave of attacks, Benito will not give up this opportunity easily. In the past, with the Empire behind us, we were not worried about Italy’s attack. Now, I’m afraid that even if we do our best, we will not be able to stop Italy’s advance.”

Borojevich was well aware of the Austro-Hungarian army's predicament, but he said, "We are not without a chance. In terms of terrain, we can maneuver against Italy. As long as the domestic turmoil ends, even the new government will not be able to stand idly by, unless they are determined to sell out Venice and Lombardy."

"Moreover, we are not entirely without support. Slovenia and Dalmatia are still in the hands of the Empire, and southern Austria has not fallen. As long as we can re-establish contact with His Majesty the Emperor, we can organize these areas to resist the Italian attack. At the same time, the navy can also cooperate with our operations."

Although Vienna fell, most of Austria remained under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, because Vienna was located in a relatively remote basin in the northeast of Austria.

If Rudolf had marched south earlier, he could have used the hundreds of thousands of troops in the southwestern theater to launch a counterattack on Vienna, but that would have left the southwestern defenses vulnerable.

Now all these forces are concentrated in the hands of Marshal Borojevich, and the navy is also under his control.

Overall, Marshal Borojevic's forces should not be underestimated; in peacetime, they would be enough to deter Italy from taking any rash actions.

Italy's only advantage over Marshal Borojevich is its abundant military strength. Moreover, if further mobilization is launched, Italy's military strength can continue to increase, and it would not be surprising if it exceeded the Austro-Hungarian garrison by several times.

Italy borders only two countries, and France obviously won't go to war with Italy, so Italy can focus on dealing with the Austro-Hungarian army in the southwest.

5 month 17 day.

The Italian army and the Austro-Hungarian army clashed fiercely in Cremona, in southern Eastern Lombardy, with Italy launching a major offensive with five times the number of troops.

Meanwhile, Eastern Lombardy had been in turmoil for some time, with countless Italian armed groups within its borders. With their cooperation, the Austro-Hungarian garrison was unable to hold out, and in less than a day, this important transportation hub was recaptured by Italy, thus threatening the heart of Eastern Lombardy and threatening to cut off the Lombard garrison's connection with the rear at any time.

Eastern Lombardy is mostly plains with no natural defenses, and its population is predominantly Italian, so the Austro-Hungarian army lacked popular support.

Transportation routes and communications were highly vulnerable to guerrilla threats and were frequently cut off, making it difficult for the Austro-Hungarian army at the front to mount an effective defense.

Moreover, the Italians had a clear numerical advantage, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire's defensive lines were too long, making it difficult to defend both ends and vulnerable to being defeated piecemeal.

Therefore, Borojevich decisively ordered his troops to withdraw from Eastern Lombardy, move north into the Alpine defense line, and east into Venice to continue searching with Italy, thereby shortening the defensive line and using the terrain to their advantage, with mountains and rivers to resist the Italian attack.

In less than a week, Eastern Lombardy was brought back into Italian hands by a multi-pronged attack from Italy, which greatly boosted morale in Italy.

After recapturing the entire Lombardy region, Italian forces concentrated their forces in the east and advanced along the Po River plain.

In order to reduce casualties among the Austro-Hungarian army, Borojevich tried to avoid a direct confrontation with Italy on the plains. His forces were dwindling with each battle, while Italy could receive timely reinforcements. Therefore, a head-on battle was definitely not a good option.

Under the command of Borojevich, the Austro-Hungarian army retreated in an orderly manner toward the Alps and Venice, retaliating against the Italians along the way, until they stopped about 30 kilometers west of Venice.

Upon arriving here, the Austro-Hungarian army could launch a counterattack against Italy from the Brenta River and fortresses such as Padua. At the same time, the highlands extending from the Alps to the north provided a commanding advantage. Furthermore, the mountainous region was less than 50 kilometers from the Adriatic, a distance from which the Austro-Hungarian navy could provide artillery support in conjunction with the army.

Therefore, the Austro-Hungarian army completed its retreat, and with the advantage of terrain, it confronted the Italian army along a defensive line several tens of kilometers long at minimal cost.

For a time, the Italian army's offensive stalled and reached a stalemate. To break the deadlock, they would have to pay a greater price and suffer more casualties.

In response to this situation, Italy launched a three-pronged attack. First, it mobilized its domestic forces to continuously reinforce the main battlefield and launch a strong offensive against the Austro-Hungarian defenses. At the same time, Italian mountain troops moved north, gradually capturing Austro-Hungarian fortresses and strongholds in the Alps, seeking to open a passage to the north and eventually encircle the main Austro-Hungarian forces in the south from the Alps.

Finally, in response to the Austro-Hungarian navy's attacks on the land battlefield, the Italian navy also set sail from the west to support the Adriatic Sea, and even the Italian navy in North Africa was mobilized.

(End of this chapter)