The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1514 This is Balkan

However, this is the Balkans. What will be the consequences if they force a group of people with completely different languages, nationalities, customs and religions together?
You should know that the people here love freedom, have a strong martial spirit, and are considered to be far away from the civilized world and are deeply influenced by clans and religions.
The situation between outsiders and local residents was almost a fight to the death, and coupled with the ethnic migration policies of Greece and the Ottoman Empire, it resulted in multi-party fighting, mass murder, and even genocide from time to time.

Large-scale fights would involve thousands of people, and several villages could be wiped out in a few battles. Small-scale fights were equally brutal, often ending only when all the members of one side were wiped out.

A considerable number of those who are lucky enough to survive the fight will choose revenge, and some will even choose to take revenge on the world indiscriminately.

Therefore, shepherd boys and girls would often disappear for no reason. If they walked in the middle of the road during the day, they might be shot in the head for no reason. Even if they were draining water outside at night, they might be at risk of having their throats cut.

If the Czechs dared to try lying on the railway tracks here, they would be crushed into a pulp on the spot.

In comparison, the ethnic minorities within the Austrian Empire were simply model students, emphasizing being well-behaved and harmless.

Otto I experienced many ups and downs in Greece over the years, and even lost his arm.

However, the officials he recruited from various German states had never seen such a scene and were all busy and overwhelmed.

However, Otto I's envoy was shot in the head as soon as he got off the carriage in Macedonia. This time he could not hold it in and immediately sent troops to suppress the rebellion.

The result was still the same old problem: there were too many mountains and hills, and it was impossible to find the target, just like punching cotton. In the end, the government could not afford the high consumption of the army and had to give up.

In fact, in the era without satellite phones, closed mountainous areas were like small kingdoms, each with its own logic and rules.

Due to the lack of grassroots control, the Greeks were like blind men, unable to move forward in their own land.

The Greek government's spending on public security has far exceeded the benefits brought by foreign population
Otto I had no choice but to send a telegram to Franz, hoping that the Austrian Empire could lend him some elite troops to quell the rebellion.

The top officials of the Austrian imperial government did not mind this. They felt that this was a good opportunity to expand the influence of the Austrian Empire, and it would be best to station troops in Greece for a long time.

In fact, it is not difficult to understand that although Greece was a powerful country in the Balkans at that time, in the eyes of the Austrian Empire, Greece was more like a vassal, so it was better to take this opportunity to consolidate this vassalage.

In particular, Franz often set up some messy national alliances. They felt that since there could be the German Confederation and the Apennine League, there could also be a Balkan Cooperation Organization.

However, the royal family did not agree with this, especially Mrs. Sophie. She was not afraid that the Austrian Empire would annex Greece, but she did not want the Habsburg family to be involved in the troubles of other families.

Franz's thoughts on this point are highly consistent with those of his family. He doesn't want to step into the mud.

As for lending troops to Greece to quell the rebellion, that was even more a fantasy.

Officials of the Austrian Empire always felt that the money in the treasury was inexhaustible, and that there were so many soldiers that they had to retire, so they thought that fighting a war could be used as training.

But in fact, every war is an exploitation of national strength. Franz just distributed it to the whole society, so they didn't feel anything about the war.

Franz did not deny that fighting could train soldiers, but this was by no means the only way to train soldiers. The Austrian army was indeed good at dealing with bandits and robbers, but that was based on strong grassroots control.

The Greek government had no control over those mountainous areas, and the Austrian army would be scattered around like headless flies if they went in. Sending troops to Greece would also cause many international problems, such as the precautions and suspicions of other countries, and Franz did not like the feeling of being overly concerned.

To put it bluntly, it was still due to lack of strength. Given the geographical location of the Austrian Empire, if it was surrounded and beaten, its fate would be even more miserable than that of the Napoleonic Empire.

In fact, it was difficult to reach a unified opinion within Greece alone, not to mention other countries. Although Otto I trusted Franz very much, it was difficult for those Greek officials, especially the Greeks, not to be vigilant and think that Austria might use a false pretext to destroy Guo.

People in this era are easily influenced by nationalism and statism. If someone comes up with a call under the banner of national justice, Franz will be speechless.

There was only one sentence in Franz's reply to Otto I, which was to close the border.

That’s right, when your feet are off the ground, the virus’s passage will be closed.

The most important thing now is to prevent refugees from the Balkans from entering Greece at the root, otherwise no matter how much "water" the Greek government adds, it will not be able to put out this fire.

In fact, there is no ethnic group that cannot be assimilated, but the amount that each country can accept at the same time is very limited. Once this limit is exceeded, it will cause turmoil.

The Greek Kingdom at this time had clearly exceeded this limit. Greece's expansion in recent years had been too fast, and the Greeks on the Greek peninsula were too easy to assimilate, giving Otto I and the Greek government an illusion.

At this time, let alone attracting more immigrants, they can't even solve the ethnic problems at home. They are thinking about what's in other people's bowls before integrating the newly conquered Macedonia region.

It would be strange if Greece was not in chaos.

Given the size of Greece, it would be considered lucky if it could digest what it has now in thirty to fifty years. If it is unlucky, it is not impossible that it will take several centuries.

The safest way is to close the border and digest the situation slowly.

If you are in a hurry, you can learn from the Russians. It only takes 20 to 30 years to completely deal with this generation and complete assimilation.

As long as Russia does not fall and there is no foreign invasion, those people will always be obedient citizens.

Otto I obviously did not have that kind of courage. He was more inclined to agree with Franz's suggestion. After all, he himself could not think of any good ideas.

Moreover, Otto I was tired of carrying the banner of nationalism all day long, and he wanted to take a break. He immediately ordered the closure of the border and then reorganized the domestic order in Greece.

Although the border is closed, it is still not difficult to cross into Greece in this era, but it always reduces the number of refugees flowing in.

On the other hand, the Ottoman Empire was not so lucky. Eastern Rumelia had always been open, and due to religious and other factors, the Ottoman government was unable to close these areas.

Public security, uprisings, and rebellions were not the most troublesome problems for the Ottoman Empire. After all, these problems had existed for hundreds of years and they had long been accustomed to them.

But now with the growing population, they have encountered an unsolvable problem: insufficient land carrying capacity.

(End of this chapter)