Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 169: Only Interests are Eternal

Lack of money was a big problem. Although Fikwenna was a writer with a decent income, he was still unable to resolve the school’s funding issues.

Fundraising? If you study the reasons for establishing the Hungarian National School, it was clear that fundraising was now impossible.

This was related to the 1848 revolution. Those who strongly advocated promoting the Hungarian language and script were mostly inclined towards the revolutionaries, and most of these people had already gone to meet God, or were working hard for Austria’s railway industry.

Of the few moderates who narrowly escaped, they tended to be cautious and small in number, unable to bear this expense.

The Hungarian language and script evolved over ten centuries to take shape. Its origins were early, with eight hundred words already in the Middle Ages, mainly from Turkic, Caucasian, and many borrowed words from Romance, Slavic, and Germanic languages.

In 1836, Hungary launched the language and script reform movement. The modern Hungarian language and script were basically formed during this time. Hungarian became the official language of Hungary in 1844.

Most of the Hungarian aristocracy came from German regions. Many could speak Hungarian, but few had studied the Hungarian script, with Hungarian mainly circulating among the lower classes.

In this context, István Széchenyi established the Hungarian National School to promote Hungarian language and script among the middle and upper classes.

If history had not changed, such language schools would have blossomed all over Hungary, laying the foundation for later Hungarian national culture.

This was also one reason why István Széchenyi was later called “the greatest Hungarian”.

In fact, he made many other contributions to Hungary, such as establishing the Academy of Sciences, establishing the Aristocratic Club, and promoting the abolition of serfdom…

But there were no ifs in history. Due to Franz’s butterfly effect, this great Hungarian nationalist met God prematurely.

When the tree fell, the monkeys scattered. Without their leader, the remaining nationalists fell apart. Along with repression by the Austrian government, many opportunists withdrew from the nationalist movement.

As the social landscape changed, aristocrats and capitalists no longer wanted their children to continue learning Hungarian. They worried this educational background would reduce opportunities for the next generation to enter university, so donations were naturally out of the question.

Without financial backers, these schools naturally fell into dire straits, and had no choice but to accept the decree from the Austrian Ministry of Education.

Pest, once the most splendid city in Hungary, was now in decline. For political reasons, the postwar Austrian government did not allocate funds to rebuild Budapest, and the city was again split into two.

The once bustling aristocratic club was now desolate. Stepping inside and seeing the few familiar faces scattered about, most were now unfamiliar faces. Fikwenna’s fiery heart cooled.

Although three years had passed, this place still had not recovered. With the local aristocracy of the former capital severely weakened and many ancient aristocratic families had also vanished.

That so many gathered today was because the famous Hungarian celebrity Liszt had come to perform. They came because of his fame.

Though there were many people, few were willing to donate to the national school. If they were strangers, Fikwenna would also not fail to recognize them, since the moderate nationalist circle was not big to begin with.

Their luxurious, intoxicating, lustful lives continued, as if nothing had happened. In the end, Fikwenna did not speak up. A scholar’s pride did not allow him to stoop to their level.

The government established Austrian as the common language, and announced abolishing dialectal newspapers and publications, yet these people showed no reaction. Abolishing dialectal education in schools also did not move them.

At some point, Fikwenna had also accepted calling it a “dialect”.

Of course it was not wrong to call it a dialect. Hungarian was mainly concentrated in the Hungarian region, with only about one-fifth of the entire Austrian Empire using it.

A lavishly dressed middle-aged man walked over and greeted, “Fikwenna, come have a drink!”

Fikwenna raised the glass in his hand, clinked it with the middle-aged man, then elegantly took a sip and said, “Hanks, long time no see, what have you been up to?”

Hanks smiled and said, “Indeed, it’s been a while since we met. Recently I’ve been stocking up. It’s no secret anymore that the Austrian government intends to make a move on the Ottoman Empire and is hoarding strategic supplies. I’m just taking advantage and profiting a bit.

What about you? Why the worried look? Still upset over your little newspaper?

Don’t think too much about it. This was decided by the National Assembly and can’t be changed. I heard it’s to advance Austria’s integration process.”

Fikwenna shook his head and said, “You know my barely alive little newspaper doesn’t make any real money. If it’s shut down then it’s shut down.

But if this continues, our Hungarian national culture will be finished. With newspapers and books prohibited, Pest’s last remaining national school has also turned its back on Hungarian. I’m really worried…”

Hanks immediately changed his expression and said, “Stop right there. Unified language is the trend. Don’t think about these messy things.

Think about it. Before this, just the Hungarian region alone had fifteen major languages. Back then you advocated unifying language too. Now it’s not okay?

You haven’t got the right attitude. Unified language is best. We can even save huge amounts on translation fees. This benefits the nation and the people.”

……

Fikwenna was somewhat exasperated. He had been lectured. He regretted discussing it with this old friend who had now changed. Capitalists always followed profits.

These people used to be the most opposed to the Austrian government, but had now become its staunchest supporters. The world is impermanent, only interests are eternal.

Unified Austria, whether in markets or economic growth and potential, far surpassed the original Hungary.

For capitalists, Austria now was undoubtedly the best era. As long as you had a brain, investing in any industry now would make money.

No one had heard of “economic overheating”. It was believed to be natural economic growth after the Austrian government eliminated obstacles to capitalist development.

From a free market perspective, this reasoning was not wrong. The massive influx of foreign capital was determined by the market economy. Government policies were only a minor factor.

“Fine, pretend I said nothing. Let’s drink!” Fikwenna said helplessly.

If one is unable to change society, then one could only adapt to society. Hadn’t he also accepted this reasoning deep down?

The Habsburgs ruling Hungary was no recent development. People had long become accustomed to being part of Austria.

Independence? The few months of farce resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties, nearly a million homeless, and halving the Hungarian aristocracy directly.

After such great losses, the surviving people now shuddered at the mention of revolution. The huge army of laborers building railways, where did they come from? It was no secret. Hungary contributed at least 200,000 people.

This living example let people know rebellion came at a price. With no interest groups backing them, the so-called revolutionaries had no place left in Hungary.

From top to bottom, all classes in Hungary hated them to the bone.

The lower classes saw it as these rioters who exploited and oppressed them. Because the Emperor had forbidden their exploitation and oppression, they launched the rebellion.

The evidence was that after suppressing the revolutionary party, people’s lives improved considerably. Serfs obtained freedom, workers got labor protection laws, and all kinds of harsh miscellaneous taxes were swept away.

Of course this was the result of Austrian government propaganda. The lower classes didn’t care about specifics. They didn’t understand profound principles, but believed what they saw before their eyes.

The aristocrats who escaped a calamity dare not provoke the government’s authority. Under guidance of the well-intentioned, the most popular saying now was that if not for the rebels, they would not have lost land and privileges.

Whether they believed it or not, they dared not offend the government, and could only redirect hatred. No one knew their inner thoughts, but outwardly they pinned all responsibility on the revolutionaries.

The citizens who suffered heavy losses even more so. They had personally experienced how frightening the revolutionary mob army was. Having suffered, they naturally opposed the revolutionaries.

This resentment would slowly fade over time, but not with this generation. People believed what they saw themselves. After experiencing it once, such notions were ingrained.

The general environment could greatly influence people. Moderates like Fikwenna had begun to change.

In an era of ideological turmoil, once doubts emerged about past ideals, change was imminent.

Hanks, believing he had persuaded his friend, happily said, “Well then, let’s drink!”

After a drink, he added, “If you want to resume publication, that’s possible too. Just register with the Information Bureau and switch to Austrian.”

Fikwenna nodded. Although the paper was barely alive, it represented his status. It was best if it could be kept. Ideals always had to compromise with reality.

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