Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 229: Marriage

Otto I’s fantasy did not last long before it was shattered. He knew that it was impossible without others reminding him.

Domestic public opinion aside, the invasion and surprise attack on the Ottoman Empire, which resulted in the defeat of the allied forces in the Second Battle of Bulgaria, placed an undeniable responsibility on Otto I’s shoulders.

In this battle, the British forces suffered heavy casualties, and even Downing Street changed hands. If they let this happen, would the British have any face left?

Failure to defeat the Russians might still be acceptable to the British government. After all, the British didn’t have high expectations for the army, and losing to the Russians wouldn’t be too humiliating.

However, having participated in a war, the British cannot just stand by and become mere spectators while the French show their strength, can they?

In any case, the British Army desperately needed a major victory to prove its strength. Unfortunately, Greece was the easy target they had chosen.

Otherwise, the Greek government, which had invested so much in public relations with the British government, would not have come out empty-handed.

Otto I said in resignation, “Can the army really not fight? Even if it’s only a draw, we would have leverage in negotiations!”

The Minister of War replied evasively, “Your Majesty, since the defeat at the hands of the British, the morale of the army has completely collapsed, with people deserting every day. Without military discipline to keep them in line, who knows how many soldiers would be left at the front?”

There’s no way around it. This force has been hastily assembled, relying entirely on nationalistic and patriotic sentiments. Their true nature will be immediately revealed as soon as this spirit dissipates.

Hoping that this motley crew can defeat the enemy is simply wishful thinking.

“Deserters?”

Otto I’s eyes lit up as if he had thought of something but couldn’t quite grasp it. He kept muttering, “Deserters,” “deserters”…

Seeing the king in a dilemma, everyone tacitly chose to remain silent.

After a moment of silence, Otto I spoke in a low voice, “What if we disband the troops, break them up into smaller groups, and make a scattered breakout? As long as the British have no evidence, they will do us no harm!”

It must be said that Otto I was still a wise man; he didn’t foolishly ally himself with the Russians.

Greece’s geographic location determines its strategic choices. Even if the Russians win this war, they cannot escape the influence of Britain and France.

If they sought refuge with the Russians now, they might be doomed before the war is over.

The Prime Minister reminded him: “Your Majesty, if we do this, the losses would be enormous. Once those soldiers fall into Ottoman hands, I’m afraid few would survive.”

Since these were civilian militias, there was naturally a lack of military discipline at the outset, leading to resentment and grievances. As the war had progressed to this point, the seeds of hatred between the two sides had long since taken root and sprouted.

At this point, a scattered breakout is essentially admitting defeat and everyone running away!

Moreover, they cannot return directly to the Kingdom of Greece, or the enemy will follow and attack. They must disperse and take a detour through other regions to return home.

Given the condition of the Greek army, an orderly retreat seems impossible. A single order would likely turn it into a complete rout, and those who managed to return alive would undoubtedly be few and far between.

The Kingdom of Greece does not have deep reserves, and this army is a significant portion of their young and able-bodied population. If they suffer heavy losses, it would cause a situation of mourning and wailing in every household.

“Do we have any other options? We cannot win on the battlefield, the Russians are unwilling to send reinforcements, and we certainly cannot rely on the neighboring Principality of Montenegro to come to our aid, can we?” replied Otto I.

They couldn’t bring this war to the negotiation table, otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to handle the repercussions from the British. Stirring up domestic nationalism was also risky. These people would refuse to give up until they saw the coffin and were sore losers.

Since they are destined to lose, Otto I naturally wants to find a way out.

If the frontline army can’t win and everyone scatters in a breakout, regardless of the extent of the losses, on the surface it won’t be directly linked to the king. At least he won’t have to bear the political responsibility for the failure.

……

Vienna

Archduchess Sophie gave Franz an ultimatum: whatever the circumstances, the marriage must be arranged immediately. Even if he didn’t marry her niece, he would still have to find a suitable match of equal social standing.

This was not only her personal will, but also the will of the House of Habsburg and the people of the Empire. They couldn’t tolerate the Emperor remaining unmarried any longer.

Free love? Unfortunately, Franz hadn’t even had the chance to fall in love yet!

Since that’s the case, he might as well get engaged to someone he knows. It’s better than marrying someone he knows nothing about; what if he ends up being cuckolded?

On the day after Christmas of 1853, Franz was engaged to be married to Helene, Princess of Wittelsbach. The entire process had been arranged by Archduchess Sophie, and Franz was merely going through the motions.

Beauty was indeed a virtue, and given the “buy one, get one free” situation, Franz was quite satisfied.

How chaotic was the European nobility? There was no way to answer that. In any case, apart from not diluting the purity of their bloodline, there was a whole heap of sordid affairs, and the concept of chastity was surprisingly lax.

Although this marriage was not a match of equal social status, they were childhood sweethearts. His fiancée entered the Vienna Palace early on, ensuring her “purity”.

After the engagement, Archduchess Sophie placed restrictions on Franz and Princess Helene’s intimate interactions, absolutely forbidding any occurrence of premarital pregnancy.

Faced with a matter of trust and confidence, Franz felt a great sense of injustice. He repeatedly asserted that he was not someone who disregarded decorum.

But Archduchess Sophie did not believe in his character and bluntly pointed out things he had previously thought to be secret. Apparently, not much in this palace could be hidden from the matriarch of the house.

Previously, it had been to deceive Franz and betroth him to her niece, so of course she didn’t mind these little things. Now that the whole situation has been settled, it is imperative to guard against any possible embarrassment.

Franz began to suspect that he had been tricked by his mother. But after repeated confirmation, he had no choice but to admit that he lacked the willpower to resist the temptation.

He was confident that this was not his fault; it was undoubtedly the aftermath of his trip to St. Petersburg, where the Russian nobility led him astray and weakened his willpower.

These were all minor issues and he took responsibility for them anyway. Franz was not intimidated at all. Even if he was irresponsible, he wouldn’t be intimidated. After all, the status of a son was higher than that of a niece.

Against the background of the marriage alliance between the two families, all discordant elements must be nipped in the bud. Franz was not worried about the outbreak of any kind of chaos.

This marriage alliance was far more important to the House of Wittelsbach than to the House of Habsburg. Maximilian II, who had just arrived in Milan, needed the support of the Habsburgs to stabilize his reign on the throne.

In agreeing to this marriage, Franz took political factors into account, in addition to his good relations with Princess Helene.

The annexation of the Kingdom of Bavaria caused some concern among the newly joined royal houses of Saxony, Hesse, and Württemberg. Even the transfer of the Lombard throne to the House of Wittelsbach was not enough to reassure them.

Had it not been for the lack of marriageable princesses from these royal houses, the choice for the bride might have been different. Do not doubt Franz’s principles; in politics, one’s choices are often limited.

Unable to win them over through marriage, forming an alliance with the House of Wittelsbach could also be effective. While the Kingdom of Lombardy’s political influence had diminished, it was still nominally a peer in terms of diplomatic matters.

In this matter, negotiation was essentially the key. The Habsburgs had not become enemies of the Wittelsbachs. Therefore, marriage was a viable option for resolving any unpleasantness.

With common interests, they became allies once again. This also reassured the Saxon, Hessian, and Württemberg royal families; the Habsburgs had their limits and wouldn’t swallow them up completely.

Franz could say with confidence that they were thinking too much. Besides reducing the difficulty of unification, the more decisive factor for not annexing these states was that forced unification by military means would result in poor assimilation.

National unification, unlike external expansion, cannot rely on extreme measures. In the absence of a massive purge, if the hearts and minds of the people cannot be won back, stability in the region won’t be achieved in the next ten or twenty years.

Overthrown royal families and interest groups may seek restoration. If restoration is not possible, they may turn into revolutionary parties, overturn the table, and everyone goes their separate ways, with no one having an easy time.

You can look at the French Revolution of 1848 in France for specifics. Even Napoleon III could be elected president, indicating the role the Bonapartists played in that uprising.

The so-called usurpation of the fruits of the revolution was actually inaccurate. They were the leaders of the revolution from the beginning to the end, hiding behind the scenes and pulling the strings, and only stepping forward at the critical moment. Otherwise, how could Napoleon III have seized power so easily?

As emperor, Franz did not want to leave any hidden dangers to the security of his reign. Stability was paramount.

In history, during the Second Reich, Bismarck advocated leaving many sovereign states intact, not only because he lacked the strength to forcibly annex them, but more importantly for long-term stability.

This approach proved to be very effective. Regardless of the conflicts between state governments and the central government, they operated within the established rules, and there were no reports of any sovereign state rebelling.

The greatest gains from annexing these German sovereign states were not resources, strategic advantages, or political benefits. The most important benefit was the population and a high-quality population at that.

According to population statistics from two years ago, the total population of the Austrian Empire exceeded 37 million, second only to the Russian Empire on the European continent. The main ethnic group, however, numbered just over 8.7 million.

To make the data look more favorable, the Austrian government, at Franz’s suggestion, directly classified some persons of mixed descent with Germanic ancestry as Germans.

The main ethnic population then rapidly expanded to over 10.3 million, rising from 23.5% to 27.8% of the total population.

Well, that was a little bit of a stretch. Calling those with only a quarter or an eighth of German ancestry German was going too far, but Franz was not that rigid a man. A little flexibility with the data made it look much better.

This situation has finally been effectively addressed, and the number of the main ethnic population has finally exceeded 40%.

With economic development and increased population mobility, such interethnic marriages will undoubtedly become more common in the future.

It must be admitted that this oldest form of ethnic integration is, in fact, the most effective and least problematic form of ethnic amalgamation.

The actual driving force behind this ethnic integration was the gender imbalance in the German territories, with men significantly outnumbering women. This pressing social reality persisted until after World War II when it was reversed.

In Hungary, on the other hand, the situation was exactly the opposite, with more women than men. This was due not only to the local reduction in the number of young men caused by the war but also to geographical factors.

Of course, the situation was even worse in the Serbian and Danubian Principalities, where the number of young men was greatly reduced by the recent wars.

If nothing was done, Franz could be certain that these regions would experience a population decline over the next twenty years, especially in the more severely affected areas such as Serbia.

All these social backgrounds create favorable conditions for ethnic integration. Faced with such opportunities, Franz would not let them slip away so easily.

The current challenge is to figure out how to promote interethnic marriages, which is a headache. Franz had no successful experience to draw on.

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