Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 435

Chapter 435: Chapter 8, Misfortunes Never Come Singly

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It’s a good thing that the Habsburg Family is not participating in the struggle for the throne; standing on the sidelines allows one to make the most advantageous decisions.

Moreover, the Kingdom of Spain is currently a hotbed of trouble, and it won’t be easy to resolve the internal issues.

Throughout history, subjects have shared a common problem: they do not like a strong Monarch. Europe’s succession systems are well-established, giving them little room to exert influence.

This time, the selection of a Spanish King is different; an outsider King cannot do without the support of the local power factions, so the new King of Spain will most likely be an inept ruler.

Having already produced an unfortunate Emperor of Mexico, Franz seriously doubted how much of the Habsburg Family’s glory would remain if another incompetent King were to emerge.

After all, one is equally pained over all loved ones. Ignoring his too young son and considering his two brothers and several distant princes all have the same opportunity, Franz was reluctant to interfere.

With Spain already difficult to handle, would not a King with poor abilities only further complicate the matter?

There is no doubt that the Habsburg Family has produced its share of inferior members, including the idealistic Maximilian and those who indulge in eating, drinking, and merrymaking.

In terms of destructive power, playboys are no match for idealists. Yet, it is impossible to expect these individuals to accomplish anything noteworthy.

Prime Minister Felix said, “Your Majesty, judging from the current situation, the struggle for the Spanish throne is not likely to end anytime soon.

With the Polish throne dispute also unsettled, the situation in Europe is likely to become even tenser in the coming period.

To deal with the upcoming complex situation, it is necessary to prepare in advance to avoid being caught off guard.”

Will a war break out on the European Continent now? No one can answer this question, as accidents can happen in the blink of an eye.

From the perspective of the Vienna Government, they certainly do not wish to see Europe break into war at this time.

The second industrial revolution has just begun, and Austria has finally reached the forefront of the world; all would be in vain if a war were to break out now.

Franz can control Austria but has no way to control the rest of the European countries. With everyone already on tenterhooks, if some fool were to provoke a war, that would be a tragedy.

In the original timeline, the struggle for the Spanish throne led to the Prussia-France war. Now the Prussians don’t have the guts to challenge the French. Who can guarantee that the French won’t start trouble?

The French already have the air of considering themselves second only to God. The British can suppress them at sea, but on land, they respect no one.

If the French were to invade Austria, Franz would laugh; he could easily pile up their dead. But if they attacked Prussia, the German Federation, or Belgium, that would be troubling.

Franz is confident of victory in domestic warfare, but cross-border conflict is a different story—it’s uncertain until the battle is fought.

Many factors must be considered in war, and the strength that can be committed varies from one region to another.

The Russians are a cautionary tale here, limited by transportation, they could not capitalize on their numerical superiority, and were caught by a counterattack.

In the original timeline, France and Austria both fell before they could fully deploy their strengths.

The France-Austrian Alliance is even less reliable than the Russian-Austrian Alliance, with both parties temporarily allied out of necessity. There’s no such thing as traditional friendship between them; a flip through their history books reveals a chronicle of wars.

Since the medieval era, the Habsburg dynasty has been at loggerheads with the French, embarking on a path of mutual destruction.

During the time of Charles V, it even came to: fighting the Ottoman with fists, and France with kicks.

Of course, they were beaten by others even more frequently. Overall, the victories and defeats were balanced, as evidenced by the survival of all three powers.

Since there are no historical burdens, tearing up a treaty brings no pressure. The concept of credibility has been largely ignored by Monarchs since Maximilian I.

So far, Franz has not broken any promises, and if he’s lucky, he might just break that record

Nowadays, everyone’s credibility is based on the premise that their interests are not great enough. As soon as there is enough at stake, treaties are no more than waste paper.

“First, conduct a limited mobilization, such as increasing reserve training, without blindly expanding the army’s size to avoid alarming other countries and complicating the situation.

There is little possibility of a full-scale war breaking out in Europe right now; there’s no need to be so tense. Even if the situation spirals out of control suddenly, and no one is ready, we would not be at a disadvantage.”

Franz does not believe a major war will break out now unless everyone collectively loses their minds. Even if conflicts do occur, they could forcibly be suppressed.

On this issue, the British are allies of Austria, with both having the need to maintain European balance and stability.

The butterfly effect is potent, and in the current timeline, Amadeo I, who was supported by the French to succeed to the throne in the original space-time, now faces strong opposition from Napoleon III.

There’s no helping it; Napoleon III annexed the Kingdom of Sardinia, and though he had not directly deposed the Sardinian Royal Family, enmity had already been established.

To dominate Europe, the French must first stabilize Spain. Naturally, Napoleon III would not allow a Spanish King who is anti-French to emerge; this directly knocked Amadeo out of the race.

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Candidate after candidate was disqualified, and Franz couldn’t help but feel sorry for Spain. Nearly all of the candidates with high support rates were vetoed by the French.

If it were the heyday of Spain, they naturally would not care about the French attitude. But now, that was not the case; if they forcefully enthroned a monarch who was strongly opposed by the French, Napoleon III would surely intervene with military force.

The provisional government did not have the guts to say no to the French, and had to continue the election. With the popular candidates eliminated, even if the remaining ones with low support rates ascended to the throne, it would be difficult to command the people’s allegiance.

One could say that without the French even lifting a finger, Spain was nearly being driven to its grave. A king without sufficient support rates trying to control the country would certainly watch the fun unfold in the future.

Franz had no intention of intervening. With the French already off course, whether there were Spaniards to check the final outcome or not, it would be the same.

Without their restraint, the French could venture further down the path of self-destruction. Given that, why bother creating complications?

Effort and gain should be proportional; Austria’s energy was not infinite. If much was invested in the Spanish issue, naturally less would be put elsewhere.

…

Blessings never arrive in pairs, and misfortunes never come singly.

The year 1868 was destined to be harsh for the people of Spain, bearing the brunt of a conservative economic crisis in the first half of the year and facing wars and conflicts in the latter half.

The situation in the Kingdom of Spain before the revolution was this: severe land consolidation left peasants with no land to till; city factories were going bankrupt en masse, leaving unemployed individuals everywhere on the streets.

After the success of the revolution, the situation did not improve but worsened, with the addition of public order collapsing.

The provisional government lacked both governing experience and the capability to control the situation. Right after taking power, they rashly abolished Isabella II’s police force.

With the lackeys who suppressed the revolution gone, public order in Madrid also fell apart. The rebel army did not signify strict military discipline; most of the time, they were a disorganized mob.

The Spanish rebel army might be stronger than a rabble in battle, but in maintaining public order, they were a rabble. The very police they detested were in fact guardians of order.

Without constraints, robbery, rape, murder… such heinous crimes were incessantly unfolding in Madrid.

Even the worst order is better than none; the people of Madrid did not understand this before, but now they finally realized it.

As a result, Madrid became the most chaotic capital in all of Europe. The rebel army, once embraced by the people as they entered the city, lost public support in the shortest time.

These minor issues were too much for the provisional government to handle; electing a king was the big issue, and everything else was minor in comparison.

Soon enough, a major problem arose. In October 1868, a large-scale rebellion erupted in Cuba, thousands of miles away; the rebel army snowballed, and the Cuban crisis broke out.

For Spain, this was a heavy blow. Cuba was one of Spain’s wealthiest colonies, providing a substantial fortune to Spain every year.

Prior to this, the Americans had offered one hundred million US dollars to buy Cuba, an offer the Spanish Government dismissed without consideration.

Clearly, Cuba’s value was far greater than that. Since Spain’s decline, the transfusion from the Cuban colony was a crucial safeguard to maintain Spain’s status as a great power.

Not only the government, but many of the domestic vested interests were also alarmed. Most of the wealth from Cuba went into individual pockets, and without this income, many Spanish nobles would face tough times.

The newly empowered Francisco Government faced its first challenge. If they could not handle the Cuban issue properly, both the finances and economy of the Kingdom of Spain would suffer greatly.

The support of capitalists and nobility for the government would be affected as well. No matter what, Francisco had to suppress this rebellion.

Without a doubt, this rebellion was not simple; there were international forces involved in the background, otherwise, relying solely on the natives, a sudden outbreak would have been impossible.

The United States may have split into two, but that did not mean they had become compliant. Previously, they supported the Mexican civil war and incited Indian tribes in the Central American region against Austria.

Now it was Spain’s turn to suffer, being the easiest target among the four great powers that interfered in the American Civil War. The Americans began their probing with Spain.

Before this, whether supporting the Mexican rebels or encouraging Central America’s Indian tribes to rebel, it was all done clandestinely.

The ones responsible for execution were the arms smugglers, and the evidence left behind did not implicate the Federal government. During the turmoil in Cuba, the situation changed significantly, and the scope of actions took a much broader scale.

Almost everyone was aware that the Americans were supporting the Cuban Independence Organization. The intensity of this support was so great it could not be concealed.

This disaster was spurred by the economic crisis, with Anglo-Austrian two countries dumping goods in America, plunging it into an economic crisis.

The Southern confederation was better off as their industry was not significant, so the damage was not too severe. The Northern Federal government suffered a miserable fate, their situation was unbearable to witness.

In New York, it rained humans. Now when New Yorkers passed by Wall Street, they had to be wary of what was overhead, otherwise suffering an undeserved calamity by being crushed to death would be a bitter injustice.

Just at that time, a rebellion against Spanish rule broke out in Cuba. To break free from the economic crisis, the Federation’s capitalists turned their attention to Cuba.