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

Chapter 1952 Spring Breeze Blows Again

In fact, the farmers' demands are very simple: "fairness".

However, limited by the knowledge level and living environment of peasants in the 19th century, they could only understand the most basic sense of justice.

They do not want to be exploited without restraint, do not want to suffer oppression that borders on enslavement, and do not want to be driven from the land to the city to continue complaining.

They wanted their suffering to be heard, they wanted the law to be enforced, and they wanted landlords and officials to not disregard the law and morality and force them to do things, instead of just unilaterally restricting the peasants.

Whoever can do these things, they are willing to worship them as gods.

Franz's Labor Protection Law perfectly fulfilled their imagination, so in the eyes of the peasants at this time, the Austrian Empire's army was the executor of justice.

In reality, the peasants at this time greatly admired the Austrian army, since usually only respected elders and noblemen in rural areas were qualified to judge these matters.

People are only willing to talk about these things when they truly consider each other as outsiders.
In fact, the landowners were equally justified, as they were simply following tradition. Historically, rural Europe had always been a power vacuum for the central government, making the landowners the true local tyrants.

Historical experience shows that new rulers will always side with them, since no one can gain a foothold without their support.

Emotionally speaking, they are nobles, and the emperor of the Austrian Empire is the biggest representative of the entire noble class. Should we help the peasants instead of the nobles?

Even if they really encounter someone who betrays their class, they can drag it out for thirty or fifty years with just the excuse that the local situation is complicated.

However, while they had dared to disregard the laws of the Kingdom of Prussia in the countryside, they dared not act recklessly in front of the Austrian army at this time.

Even if you're going to say "the local situation is complicated," you should first make your position clear.

"I advocate for reform."

This made the farmers want to punch someone. If these landlords had been so reasonable before, they wouldn't have gotten to this point.

Of course, the peasants were not so resolute at this time. If the landlords offered them a little something sweet, they would still be willing to take it. Some peasants even felt guilty and reflected on whether they had gone too far before.

But the farmers still felt they had the upper hand, after all, they had brought bread, eggs, and homemade liquor.

Franz had long anticipated that such a situation might arise, so he had stipulated many years ago that the military could not accept private property.

This was mainly to prevent bribery, but it also left a loophole: military supplies could be used.

Franz was well aware of the farmers' economic situation, which is why he compensated them for their losses. On the other hand, the circulation of Austrian imperial currency would continue to deepen its connection with the Austrian Empire.

Since the landowners are willing to accept reform, then let's go with the flow and help both sides. Those who are unwilling to reform should be put on hold for now, awaiting Franz's further action.

What the peasants cared about most was whether the Austrian Empire would keep its promise and whether it would continue to collude with those landlords.

Franz had to show them a different country, a different emperor.

However, both sides overestimated the Austrian Empire's army at this time. These people were good at fighting, but it would be too much to ask them to make judgments.

There were too few civilian officials accompanying the army, and they lacked the necessary expertise and skills. Fortunately, the telegraph existed in this era, and the Austrian Empire's bureaucratic system was sufficiently robust.

As soon as a telegram is sent from the front lines, professional personnel will arrive one after another.

Of course, Albrecht was initially very enthusiastic, but he soon realized that he wasn't cut out for it.

As a German nationalist, Albrecht was relatively approachable to the people; other archdukes would likely not have personally intervened in such matters.

It's not that others are indifferent, but rather that members of the royal family are taught from a young age to maintain a sense of distance from those around them.

The main reasons for doing this are historical and practical, as well as for security and to maintain an air of mystery.

Archduke Albrecht's attitude emboldened the people, but he was powerless to resist.

These farmers have very strange concerns. All they talk about is dogs biting people, sheep eating crops, children stealing fruit, the mill's scales being faulty, and neighbors borrowing pots and not returning them.
However, there are some things that can indeed raise the blood pressure of Austrians, such as farmers having to pay money for their weddings, taking a cut from the sale of firewood, and even having rules about repairing pigsties.

Albrecht waved his hand and ordered his soldiers to lead the peasants to enforce the order, which resulted in the landlords' armed forces attacking the army.

Albrecht was good at fighting, but in those trivial matters, some people harbored malicious intentions, and some sought personal revenge.

It was clearly impractical to have Albrecht and his group of laymen do such a thing, and the crowd's blockade also made it difficult for the Austrian army to make any progress.

In fact, the more they try to treat everyone fairly, the more people they will offend.

Another reason is that the advent of trains made officers and soldiers feel that traveling by train was a more efficient way of moving around.

Unfortunately, the railway workers in the Kingdom of Prussia went on strike, and the remaining forces of the Prussian government dared not repair the railway.

Walking to Berlin would result in being mobbed by crowds, but it was better in rural areas where the scenes were less bloody.

In the city, workers and citizens desperately try to prove themselves. This group of people is somewhat educated, but not so much so, so the things they do often surprise people.

Take the so-called public trial, for example. When the Austrian army entered the city, they had the illusion of stepping into the Piercing Commonwealth, with corpses and people about to become corpses hanging on both sides of the road.

This was nothing to the Austrian soldiers who had witnessed the cruelty of war, but they were horrified when they passed by a makeshift trial bench and heard the verdict.

"How dare he sell me my things! He's a disgrace to the German nation!"

"Save people! Save people!"

Austrian soldiers rushed to the front of the platform in a panic and stopped the execution. Even Robespierre would have been moved to tears by the actions of these extreme German nationalists.

The workers completely took over the factory, getting it running again and trying to prove they could function without the factory owners.

However, with the market paralyzed, their products simply cannot be sold.
Seeing the mountains of goods actually dampened their enthusiasm. Initially, this excited the factory owners, as it proved their words true.

"Without capitalists, everything would collapse." But before long, a new supply system was formed, and they were even able to obtain raw materials to maintain production.

As it turns out, even without the factory owner, the machines could still run, production could continue, and the workers could still make a profit.

But for some, it wasn't the roar of machines, but the sound of a myth shattering.

The students wanted immediate change, while the reporters diligently pursued the Austrian soldiers, asking them all sorts of questions.

Of course, for the whole country or the entire German Confederation, the situation was worse than in 1848. Uprisings were everywhere, which completely paralyzed the government, and the so-called order was maintained at a very idealistic level.

Albrecht could only send a telegram to Franz for help. He began to feel lost, unsure whether he should fight his way through or retreat again.
Franz believed that Albrecht could abandon his continued attacks on Prussia and Hanover and instead help the Netherlands quell the rebellion.

Albrecht was not suited to dealing with overly complex situations. For him, the best life was one with a clear goal and a clear enemy, and then fighting and sacrificing for them.

However, Franz still sent several small units into the capitals of the various states. The mission of these units was not to attack, but to protect important figures in the states.

In fact, Franz did not want things to escalate to such a degree; even at this point, he did not want the people to kill all those who opposed Franz and Austria.

Especially the royal families; in a sense, they are the ones who belong to the same class as us.

Amid this contemporary tide of nationalism, the German National Assembly was resurrected once again.

Before people even realized what was happening to them, they had effectively crushed the governments of the vast majority of the Confederate states.

The newly formed German National Council immediately sent a telegram to the entire Confederation, stating that the corrupt monarch belonged to the past and that they no longer had the right to rule.

All Germans should belong to the same crown, and they should restore the imperial throne that Franz Joseph I lost to the Jews in 1848.

This statement angered the Jews, but it was endorsed by German nationalists in various states at the time.

The Habsburg family's eagle flag and the black, red, and gold tricolor flag symbolizing the German Empire instantly filled the entire German region.

It was only then that Bismarck and Wilhelm I, hiding in Sanssouci Palace, realized that they had been tricked from the very beginning and were merely pawns to be manipulated.

Not only them, but all the princes and ministers of the entire German Confederation were pawns that Franz Joseph I could manipulate at will.

At this point, they finally understood why the Austrian Empire had never taken any action to unify Germany; it turned out that everything had been planned in advance and was just waiting for someone to ignite the flame.

He would eat the food in one bite once it was ready.

In this situation, the states can't even preserve themselves, let alone resist.

The Austrian Empire wouldn't need to expend a single soldier; a simple act of fanning the flames would be enough for the populace to overthrow and even wipe out the remaining forces of the various states. At that point, no one would be able to stop the Austrian Empire.

However, they all seemed to have misunderstood something; Franz was not in Vienna at this time.
It's a long story, but in reality, these things all happened almost simultaneously.

One second Napoleon III was gloating in Paris, the next Prussia had lost, and suddenly the German National Assembly emerged to unify the whole of Germany, and even the entire German Confederation had collapsed.

"The German civil war seems to be over. Should we continue fighting? The Austrians have given us an ultimatum, demanding that we withdraw from Alsace-Lorraine."

Duke Morni swallowed hard, he hadn't expected the situation to change so drastically overnight.

The Duke of Morny was not as arrogant as the Napoleonic supporters in the French government; he did not believe that France had already secured victory.

The Duke of Morny's main reason for supporting the war was that he felt he could take advantage of the chaos, and that a stronger France would also benefit his own interests.

To really fight the Austrian Empire? Given France's current strength, it would probably suffer a loss.

Especially after the Austrian army annihilated the main Prussian army in a single day, Duke Morni became even more confident in his judgment.

However, he was not very willing to take responsibility, so he hoped that Napoleon III would decide to withdraw his troops himself.

From Duke Morni's perspective, if you can't win, then don't fight. It's a very simple question, especially since the Austrian Empire has already offered a way out, and the Second French Empire has no need to fight to the death at this point.

"That's absolutely impossible! How could a man from the Napoleonic family retreat without a fight!"

Tell General Pellissier to seize Alsace-Lorraine at all costs before the Austrians arrive.

The Duke of Morny, being an illegitimate son, simply could not comprehend Louis Napoleon's concept of dignity. In fact, Louis Napoleon only developed such a strong sense of self-esteem after becoming Emperor of the Second French Empire.

"Wouldn't that mean we'd have to fight on two fronts?"

In fact, the French army had another plan to invade Algeria, but the Duke of Morny was unaware that this plan had already been abandoned.

It wasn't that Napoleon III and the Napoleonic faction in France didn't want to, but rather that the French navy's strength wouldn't allow it. Besides the blow from the mass defection of the Grand Eastern Fleet, the Duke of Omar was also constantly infiltrating France.

In addition, the economic downturn and the rise to power of radical Napoleonicists and French nationalists led to a brain drain of some technical personnel.

Napoleon III invested heavily in the fleet over the years, but the new Grand Eastern Fleet was merely a facade. Not only was internal corruption rampant, but data was also falsified.

On paper, the new Great Eastern Fleet possessed 20 main warships, including 6 of the latest ironclad paddlewheel warships. It also had over 50 auxiliary vessels and more than 40,000 officers and men.

But when Napoleon III actually wanted to go to war, he found that of the so-called twenty main warships, apart from one prototype ship, the Emperor Napoleon, there were only twelve warships. Eight of them were still old-fashioned sailing warships, and there were even armed merchant ships recovered from Britain and Austria.
With such fighting power, let alone returning to Algeria, even Louis Napoleon began to worry about his own coastal defenses.

A southern campaign was impractical, so a northern expedition was the only option. Having secured a pretext in Hanover, he immediately launched a war to retake Alsace-Lorraine.

"That's not important! Listen, nobody wants the Austrian Empire to unify all of Germany, not even Russia would agree."

We will succeed! Britain and Russia will surely support us! At the very least, we will stop the Austrians in their tracks!

Napoleon III firmly believed this, because if he were in Napoleon's shoes, he would never have allowed a single country to successfully unify Germany, let alone the already enormous Austrian Empire.

Napoleon III even thought that Franz wouldn't dare to launch a war to unify Germany, and that the German Confederation would most likely maintain the status quo, at most weakening Prussia and Hanover.