Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 133

Chapter 133: Chapter 20, Doing this also puts me in a difficult position

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Translator: 549690339

Berlin

Ever since learning that a large sum of donations had been raised in Austria, Frederick William IV was thrilled. Yes, thrilled, definitely not angered.

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Besides the Kingdom of Prussia, the donations collected from across the German Region, if converted to Austrian shieds, amounted to about 43 million–with Austria alone contributing over 30 million.

That sum was nearly half a year’s fiscal revenue for the Kingdom of Prussia. If it could all be obtained, it would undoubtedly be a godsend to the cash-strapped Prussian Government.

Unfortunately, His Majesty Franz had proposed earmarked funds, resulting in many German states following suit, though of course, they weren’t as scrupulous as His Majesty Franz.

Up to this point, the Prussian Government had still received over five million shieds in donations from the German Region, with the remainder being intercepted by their respective governments.

With such a significant benefit at stake, how could the bureaucrats remain inactive? Their donations were not as strict as those of Franz; receipts were issued for all, and unspent funds could be refunded.

As one might expect, the rest of the money was doomed not to reach the Prussian Government.

Even more frustrating for Frederick William IV was that according to the media, the Kingdom of Prussia had already received donations from the German Region, and this total amount had already exceeded 100 million shieds.

In an era of poor communication and without bank statements to check, these were all verbal claims. The states did not want to lose face and each claimed to have donated astronomical sums.

Real or fake, does it really matter?

After all, these were figures published by the media from various places, not officially acknowledged by the government. In the future, even if found out, it would hardly matter.

If faced with a shameless government, they could insist that they gave the money to the Prussian Government, and no one could prove otherwise.

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For example, Franz had allocated the first donation to the Prussian Government, a total of one million shieds in cash, handed over to the Prussian Embassy witnessed by the media.

Of course, perhaps thinking one million was too little, Vienna’s newspapers turned one million into three million. If Franz were less scrupulous, he could have pocketed the extra two million shieds.

Not everyone is as conscientious as Franz. Inflating donation numbers is a minor issue; many places that only gave two hundred thousand insisted on Prussian officials signing receipts for five hundred thousand.

After all, it’s take it or leave it when the money is in their hands. When faced with self-interest, the bureaucrats fight fiercely.

Apart from the states heavily influenced by Prussia, where such incidents were less frequent, the South German Region was particularly affected.

Prime Minister Joseph von Radovich said with concern, “Your Majesty, we cannot accept this money!”

“What’s wrong?” Frederick William IV asked, puzzled.

Discontent with the other German states is one thing, but there was no need to refuse money, right? Even if much of it had been embezzled by bureaucrats from other nations, the amount eventually received was still significant.

The Prussian Government was now deeply in debt. If the times had been different, Frederick William IV was even ready to declare government bankruptcy and default on all debts.

“Your Majesty, these states are nominally supporting our war efforts, but in reality, they all have ulterior motives.

Now that they have elevated us so high, what do we do if the Russians insist we give up the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein? How will we end this?” Joseph von Radovich said with a wry smile.

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Without a doubt, this strategy of using war to divert internal conflicts had gone too far, and the Prussian Government was now in a dilemma. If they could not take back the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, they would have no way of explaining to the public.

And that was not just to the people within Prussia, but also to those across the German Region.

They could attempt to steer domestic public opinion, but there was no hope of influencing foreign opinion. Wouldn’t it be odd if they weren’t slandered?

Frederick William IV had also thought of this issue, but he had no choice. Whether or not he accepted the money, the outcome would not change.

If they succeeded in reclaiming the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, they would be heroes to the German People. If they failed, they would be traitors to the German nation.

Unless they had the courage to truly battle the Russians, then regardless of victory or defeat, they could justify their actions.

In this era, Russia was the hegemon of Europe. It was normal for Prussia to be unable to defeat Russians one-on-one, something the populace could understand. They would then redirect their anger toward Austria and other states that did not participate in the war.

If Prussia didn’t fire a shot and just backed down, how could nationalists and patriots accept this?

In the eyes of the common people, all the states of the German Region were their support—shouldn’t they be undaunted even against the Russians?

Public opinion is terrifying, but the Russians are even more so!

What if a Prusso-Russian war were to break out, who would Austria help?

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In Frederick William IV’s view, it was unlikely that Austria would side with Russia. Under the pressure of public opinion, it would most likely support Prussia.

Unfortunately, such support was very limited. It was impossible for Austria to truly exert itself. After all, if the Kingdom of Prussia were to collapse, Austria’s biggest obstacle to unifying the German Region would be gone.

Even if Austria’s support was weak, it would offset the diplomatic pressure from France. A whole bunch of German States cheering would be enough to counteract the diplomatic pressure from smaller European countries.

The diplomatic pressure that the Kingdom of Prussia is currently under is, compared to history, far too small; yet the pressure exerted by domestic patriots has surpassed that of the same period in history.

Neither Prime Minister Joseph von Radovich nor King Frederick William IV could resolve to give up the two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.

Too much has been invested; the war expenditure paid by the Kingdom of Prussia for this war has already exceeded Austria’s spending in the Ausa War.

Although the war has been ongoing for over a year, and despite the short actual combat time and the Prussian Army easily defeating the Danish people, a military standoff still costs money!

During times of war, military spending is often several times higher than in peacetime—posing a considerable difficulty for the militaristic Kingdom of Prussia.

Military expenditure in the Kingdom of Prussia has always been exorbitantly high. From the accession of Frederick II in 1740, the number of Prussian soldiers increased sharply from 70,000 to 200,000—accounting for 9.4% of the entire population—with annual military spending consuming four-fifths of the government’s entire budget.

At the time, Prussia ranked tenth in Europe by area and thirteenth by population, yet its army was second only to the forces of Russia, France, and Austria, placing fourth in Europe.

Furthermore, this figure increased to 235,000 personnel under Frederick II’s successor, Wilhelm II, and the numbers of the Prussian Army subsequently never fell below this figure.

Maintaining such a large troop in times of peace was an immense financial strain for the not yet industrialized Kingdom of Prussia, with its modest population.

For this country, budget deficits were a common occurrence. In such circumstances, it was incredibly difficult for the Kingdom of Prussia to seek loans abroad or issue bonds.

It was only because the government was out of money that Frederick William IV humbled himself to seek assistance from the German Confederation. Despite knowing the difficulties in obtaining this money, he still accepted it.

“It’s too late to speak of these things now, let our people first gather evidence. If a change of situation occurs in the future, we can also drag them under water.”

“These are all inferior strategies, our ultimate plan is still to retain the two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. By then, these states will obediently hand over the money.” Frederick William IV said fiercely

“Your Majesty, I’m afraid things aren’t that simple; most likely, these states will demand the independence of the two duchies,” Joseph von Radovich said thoughtfully.

“Don’t worry, as long as we successfully reclaim these two duchies, once we establish a done deal, there’s nothing they can do about it, and we are not without supporters,” Frederick William IV confidently stated.

After so many years of promotion, the idea of Lesser Germany has outweighed the theory of Greater Germany in many regions, with no small number of people supporting the Kingdom of Prussia’s unification of Germany.

If it weren’t for Franz causing disturbances at the Frankfurt Convention, the Lesser Germany idea would have become mainstream in the German Region by now.

The Prussian Government’s persistence is causing a great deal of trouble for the St. Petersburg Government.

From the beginning, they stood by Denmark, and the Tsarist Government even publicly announced that if the Prussian Government did not yield, they would use military force.

What to do now? To act would be to benefit the Austrians gratuitously; not to act would bring into question whether Russia’s face mattered anymore.

How could the Tsarist Government be so fickle as to not even protect their own subordinate states, and then continue to mingle on the international stage confidently?

It can only be said that things are not the same as in past times.

Once, the Tsarist Government could treat their credibility like toilet paper, use it and throw it away; now, the Russian Empire is competing for world hegemony, and if they do not pay attention to credibility, who will submit to them?

A lonely world leader might look imposing but is actually full of crises. Unless they can forcefully unite the entire world, taking a page from Napoleon would do.

St. Petersburg

Nicholas I asked with concern, “What’s the stance of the Austrian Government? Are they willing to mediate this Prussia-Denmark war?”

“Your Majesty, the Austrian Government has refused to partake in this mediation. That old fox, Metternich, says that due to domestic public opinion, the Austrian Government’s participation would only support Prussia’s side,” Foreign Minister Carl-Wassell replied with difficulty.

Russians do not wish to wage war against the Kingdom of Prussia; the Tsarist Government is trying every means to avoid conflict. This fact is no secret and was naturally discerned by the Prussian Government.

Tragically, having obtained this intelligence, the Prussian Government made a strategic misjudgment, believing that Russia would not intervene with force, bolstering their confidence.

“Damn it, the Austrians are probably still dreaming that we’ll clear the hurdles for them in unifying Germany. Are they not afraid that we’ll leak the Russo-Austrian secret agreement?” Nicholas I muttered to himself.

All those present were perceptive people; none dared to foolishly reply with: “Not afraid.”

If the Russo-Austrian pact leaked, Austria’s subsequent strategies would be troublesome, and Russia’s would be downright doomed.

Austria, which sought to annex the South German States, would make the British wary at most, barely raising their threat level to an extent nearing the French. However, when compared to Russia—which aimed to swallow the Ottoman Empire—Austria’s threat became insignificant.

There are plenty of ways to restrain the former, whether by supporting the Kingdom of Prussia, instigating Franco-Austrian tensions, or sowing discord between Russia and Austria.

The latter’s situation differed; the British could only watch Russia at the moment, and if they allowed Russia to annex the Ottoman Empire, a change in the world’s hegemony would inevitably happen sooner or later.

Even if Nicholas I very much wanted to draw Prussia onto the ship, he dared not leak a shiver of information to them, going so far as to raise confidentiality to the highest level during deliberations.