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

Chapter 1838 The Monarchical Congress of the German Confederation

However, the British and French treated the talk of martial law as a joke, and scoffed at Jacob Beaune's pleas for leniency.

To confront the entire German Confederation, whether on land or with Russia's help, would be suicidal.

The Danes see this as an internal problem of Denmark, and the Germans certainly see it as an internal problem of the German Confederation.

Intervening now will only lead to certain death.

Russia has not actually received any information yet, but given its own position, the possibility of Russia getting involved is not small.

However, the biggest problem for Tsar Nicholas I now is how to persuade his ministers and nobles to move the capital to Constantinople.

The glory and dreams of the Romanov family had no effect on these Russian ministers and nobles.

Nicholas I held several votes but failed to get them to agree to move the capital, which instead put him in an embarrassing position.

Nicholas I thought that using a democratic approach would reduce resistance and make it easier to shift blame to others.

However, those ignorant fools simply wouldn't listen, which put Nicholas I in a difficult position.

Forcing a relocation of the capital again would be like acting out of anger and embarrassment, but if no strong measures are taken, the relocation of the capital will probably be a long way off.

On the other hand, a large number of nationalists and volunteers from various German Confederation countries have gathered along Denmark's borders.

That's right. In addition to students, workers, farmers, businessmen, and scholars, there were also a large number of fully armed soldiers.

Many of these soldiers were active-duty soldiers from various states, along with a large number of mercenaries, veterans, and even the private guards of princes and ministers.

It can only be said that the German states didn't really take the Kingdom of Denmark and Frederick VII seriously.

Everyone was busy building up their reputation and, incidentally, trying to curry favor with the nationalists.

In fact, at this time, apart from the Austrian Empire, even Prussia within the German Confederation was deeply influenced by nationalism, and many policies needed to be reconciled with nationalists before they could be implemented.

This time, Denmark has made such a big deal out of it that everyone has no choice but to make a move.

Even without the issue of nationalism, it would be appropriate to send people to the two principalities to offer support and condolences in order to appease the feelings of the domestic population.

At this time, the monarchs of the German Confederation countries had gathered in Frankfurt for an emergency assembly of the German Confederation monarchs.

In fact, up to this point, Franz still gave Frederick VII face; he did not choose to resolve the matter at the Confederation Assembly, but wanted to keep it within the small circle of monarchs.

To give Frederick VII enough face, Franz sent him three separate messages: the first by telegram, the second by a private messenger, and the third by a confederate messenger.

However, Frederick VII perfectly demonstrated what it means to be ungrateful; the people Franz sent were turned away before they even saw Frederick VII.

Frederick VII's reason was also very rudimentary and perfunctory—he was ill.

When the envoy's telegram was sent back to Frankfurt, even Frederick William IV, who was most eager to see Austria make a fool of itself, felt a chill run down his spine.

Because Frederick VII's actions were not only a slap in the face to Franz, but to all the monarchs within the German Confederation.

This is why Prussia and Hanover strongly opposed the Monarchical Assembly, but unfortunately, Prussia was powerless to stop it at that time because the Austrian Empire was riding high on its victory.

Frederick William IV had expected this tactic to be used on himself, but he never expected it to be used on a nobody like Frederick VII first.

Frederick VII perfectly embodies the image of a foolish monarch in a monarchical country. Words like arrogant, stubborn, incompetent, incompetent, and deaf are insufficient to describe him.

"At this time, Schleswig and Holstein were in a state of emergency, and the Kingdom of Denmark was at risk of civil war."

Given that Frederick VII may have lost control of the Kingdom of Denmark, it is our duty as part of the German Confederation to lend him a hand.

Maintain order and protect the people.

Franz immediately defined the situation, and at this point, many people were still dissatisfied.

"Does anyone object? Any opinions are welcome."

Faced with Franz's questioning, the monarchs all shook their heads, and no one intended to step forward. Even Frederick William IV had to admit that it was time for the Confederation to take action.

In fact, the one who put on the most enthusiastic performance was Frederick William IV, because he happened to be sitting opposite Franz.

This made Frederick William IV very uncomfortable, but he had no choice but to put on a show, since Prussia was also studying how to counter the economic invasion of the Austrian Empire.

Coincidentally, Prussia is now also facing the problem of excessive division between the east and west. The Rhine region feels that it is a Prussian colony, and the people of the Rhine region feel that they are Germans and Prussians are Poles.

Based on the above issues, Frederick William IV was very suspicious that Franz would take the opportunity to cause trouble, after all, only Prussia in the entire German Confederation could rival Austria.

Furthermore, at this time, the European countries were all busy with their own affairs, and at least Frederick William IV would have considered the issue of unifying Germany.

However, Franz had no interest in paying attention to this dead man, since according to Franz's memory, Frederick William IV should have been paralyzed by a stroke.

However, because Frederick William IV was always paranoid and might have accidentally opened some neural pathways, he did not suffer a stroke in 1857, although his mental state was visibly poor.

The situation in the two duchies and Denmark was indeed very urgent; the Danes' paper-thin defenses were no match for the people of the German Confederation.

Large numbers of people either crossed the blockade by land or traveled by sea, and the number of armed personnel gathered in the two principalities alone exceeded 20,000.

At the same time, the civil organizations of the two principalities placed a large number of orders with various states, and merchants could not possibly miss such an opportunity.

In addition to rifles and pistols used for individual combat, there are also more lethal artillery pieces, and even rockets.

The four countries most keen on selling arms are Prussia, Hanover, Saxony, and Luxembourg.

Hanover might have been motivated by a desire to earn some extra money, while Prussia and Saxony were simply testing the performance of their weapons, given that neither country had participated in any significant wars.

As for Luxembourg, they were the most enthusiastic about the war in the entire German Confederation, and they practically gave the two duchies weapons away for free.

In addition, the Duchy of Luxembourg provided the two duchies with two infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, and one artillery regiment, totaling 3500 soldiers.

These men were all regular soldiers, but in order to comply with Confederate regulations, they had to be discharged first and then travel to the Schleswig-Holstein region as individuals.

This doesn't even include civilian forces. If all of them were included, Luxembourgers probably made up about one-third of the German Confederation's volunteer army.

Luxembourg once had a population of just over 100,000 and an area of ​​over 2,000 square kilometers, but now it has a population of over one million and an area of ​​over 10,000 square kilometers. Luxembourgers enjoy some of the highest incomes and welfare benefits within the Confederation, and the root of all this lies in that Christmas speech, which has fueled their fervent nationalism.

On the other hand, Denmark's entire armed forces number only about 30,000. If war breaks out between the two sides, it is difficult to say who will win or lose.

Moreover, the volunteers included not only armed personnel, but also a large number of peaceful demonstrators, as well as students, priests, and social activists who came to join in the fun.

Allowing the two sides to fight each other would be the biggest scandal of the German Confederation since 1848.

Franz said again.

"If everyone agrees, then please sign. The Confederation's actions must be approved by all monarchs."

Franz was the first to sign his name on the authorization agreement and affix the seal symbolizing the Habsburg family, before sliding the authorization document toward King John I of Saxony.

In fact, the strength of the Kingdom of Saxony has greatly increased since it merged with Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Saxe-Meiningen, and Saxe-Altenburg.

In particular, its economic strength has surpassed that of Hanover and the Netherlands (excluding Luxembourg), ranking only behind Austria and Prussia.

John I signed his name without much hesitation, although he did not share his brother's ambition to unify Germany.

But he knew very well who had brought the Kingdom of Saxony to its current state, and he also knew that since Franz could promote the unification of its relatives, he could also dismantle it.

In reality, at this time, Franz's aunt Anna and Sophie's twin sister still controlled a considerable amount of power, and John I's value was more about providing legitimacy.

Franz's aunt and his mother, Madame Sophie, were indeed twins; their personalities were remarkably similar.

However, Aunt Anna, having no children, had an even stronger desire for control.

Therefore, she practically sidelined her husband, and even after John I came to power, she was unwilling to relinquish the power she held.

Franz was afraid that if things continued like this, his aunt would not have a good end. However, due to the ongoing conflicts within Saxony caused by the merger of related clans, a strongman was indeed needed to manage the situation.

If Augustus II was a botanist, then John I was a literary figure. John I was fluent in seven languages—note the emphasis on fluency.

How proficient is he? He can independently translate classic masterpieces, which is a huge achievement for scholars who lack deep knowledge of language and culture.

John I's most famous work was translating Dante's Divine Comedy into German, an effort that had been attempted by many scholars over the centuries.

However, they were all abandoned due to their overly complex literary nature and the significant conflict between the original poem's structure (three-line verse) and German grammar. After all, not every linguist is a literary scholar.

While simple translations of the original text have existed for centuries, John I was the first to maintain a high level of literary quality and restore the original poem's structure.

John I personally admired reason and state bureaucracy. He disliked interfering in state affairs and would even like to implement constitutional government if possible.

However, given the character of those bureaucrats in the 19th century, if they dared to delegate power, they would create chaos within days.

Franz knew this all too well, which is why someone like Aunt Anna was still very necessary in Saxony.

After John I signed the document, it was passed to Frederick William I, King of Hesse, who, as a beneficiary of the merger, had no reason to refuse to sign.

Moreover, the Kingdom of Hesse lacked powerful figures, and the stability of the entire country largely depended on the Austrian Empire's power to maintain it.

The subsequent kings also had no reason to refuse, as the will of the people was an important factor in addition to the oppression of the Austrian Empire.

To put it bluntly, Denmark went too far. They didn't consider the issue of "the rabbit mourning the fox's death," or rather, they simply didn't care.

The result was that the entire population of the German Confederation was alarmed, and people in many countries began to regard the Danish government as a threat, or even an enemy.

It is truly a matter of divine will and popular support to join forces to resolve the issue between the two principalities.

The power of attorney was quickly presented to Frederick William IV, before whom no king had ever chosen to abstain or object.

In reality, due to Franz's leadership of the unification of related states, there were no truly small states within the German Confederation at this time.

At this point, Frederick William IV couldn't even find a pawn to stir up trouble, not because Prussia no longer had any pawns.

Instead, Franz simply placed Mecklenburg and the Duchy of Anhalt after Prussia.

This forced Frederick William IV to make a statement to his younger brother first.

(After the merger of the same lineage, the Kingdom of Saxony, Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach, Saxony-Coburg-Gotha, Saxony-Meiningen, and Saxony-Altenburg were united into one.)

The Kingdom of Hanover and the Duchy of Brunswick were merged into one; Hesse-Homburg, Hesse-Kassel, and Hesse-Darmstadt were merged into the Kingdom of Hesse; and Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz were merged into one.

Anhalt-Dessau, Anhalt-Beinburg, and Anhalt-Koten are combined into one team; Lipper and Lipper-Schömburg are combined into two teams; the Netherlands and Nassau are combined into two teams; and Denmark, Lübeck, and Lauenburg are combined into one team.

After that, what remained were the Austrian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Kingdom of Saxony, the Kingdom of Hanover, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Württemberg, the Kingdom of Hesse, and the Kingdom of Denmark.

Grand Duchy of Baden, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg, Duchy of Anhalt, Grand Duchy of Belgium, Duchy of Alsace-Lorraine, Duchy of Luxembourg

There are a total of 19 political entities, including the Principality of Liège, the Grand Duchy of Liechtenstein, the Principality of Reuss, the Principality of Schwarzburg, and the Principality of Lipper.

There are actually some smaller political entities that haven't been mentioned in detail; in short, Franz reduced the number of political entities within the German Confederation by more than half.
Frederick William IV was in a dilemma. To be honest, he didn't want to be used as a tool by Franz, but he also didn't have the courage to confront him directly, nor did he dare to offend the nationalists in the country.

At this moment, the power of attorney seemed to weigh a fortune in Frederick William IV's hands; he felt angry, and even somewhat ashamed.

But the monarchs of other countries were unaware of Frederick William IV's struggles at this time, especially King George V of Hanover, who sat next to him.

The blind king was anxious, and even more afraid that Frederick William IV would throw the power of attorney in front of him without him noticing.

George V did not trust Frederick William IV, so he anxiously fumbled around until his attendant reminded him, at which point he asked with some doubt.

"Why has it taken so long? Can't you find the signature either?"

George V's words were undoubtedly extremely sarcastic, which made Frederick William IV's blood pressure rise, but he really couldn't argue with the blind man in front of him.

However, George V had no intention of letting Frederick William IV off the hook, and he immediately sneered.

"Do you have a better solution, or do you have any objections to the decisions of the Confederate monarchs?"
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The previous content about merging related clans was limited to 200 words, so I was only entitled to payment.

　The content about merging related clans was actually written a long time ago. The reason I'm bringing it up again today is because some meticulous readers have been asking about it, and it also happens to match the current content, so I'm writing it down now.

　　(End of this chapter)