Chapter 399 Civil War in the Land of Peace

Chapter 399 Civil War in the Land of Peace

Unexpectedly, Wagner finally found a job and became the court musician in the Netherlands.

Of course, this was indispensable without the help of William II's mistress, Miss Caroline, and the new financial advisor Hans Hoffmann also strongly advocated keeping this genius.

It is said that the newly appointed financial adviser's real name was not Hans Hofmann, but he changed it after studying in Prussia.

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Franz was troubled because he had received news about something he had never known about.

According to Austrian intelligence, a civil war is brewing within Switzerland. Franz thought this was ridiculous at first, because in his previous life, although Switzerland often pretended to be neutral, let alone the civil war, even the flames of war had not touched this land.

However, the archbishop repeatedly confirmed that the locals did have this idea and received the support of the Pope.

That's right, it was Gregory XVI, the miser who opened the Holy Water Company and the Holy Spirit Bank.

It is hard to imagine that such a short-sighted person could have such great ambitions to annex Switzerland and make it a direct territory of the Pope.

After some investigation, Franz learned that this was not the handiwork of Gregory XVI, but a kind of inheritance.

The Holy See has been formulating this plan since 1814, during which time it has gone through four popes.

Roman missionaries reestablished the Jesuit order and formed the Catholic Popular League to promote the legitimacy of the papal rule.

The Papal States invested a lot of money in this effort, but with little success. When Gregory XVI came to power, he no longer wanted to waste money on meaningless things.

So he sent a group of radicals to "stimulate" the local people. These high-ranking clergy in Rome even wanted to interfere in local public affairs.

The absurd plan, the foolish approach, ultimately incurred the wrath of both Catholic and Protestant governments across Switzerland. The nuncio from the Holy See was expelled, and the influence of the Jesuits was diminished.

The Swiss federal government even proposed “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

However, due to the dominance of Protestantism in the Union, the Catholic Popular League was squeezed out. This caused dissatisfaction among Catholic MPs and priests.

Some clergymen issued a cry that "our faith is in danger", which led many simple and devout mountain people to believe that the Swiss Confederation would persecute them and they must resist in order to survive.

At the same time, a priest named Bellit found the French ambassador and claimed to seek help from the French King Louis Philippe.

Louis-Philippe was very excited when he heard the news at first, because there was indeed a French-speaking population in western Switzerland, and the whole of Switzerland once belonged to France (Napoleonic era).

However, after being reminded by the old Marshal Soult, I looked at the map of Switzerland again and saw a piece of Prussian territory.

Louis Philippe suddenly lost his temper. He was not afraid of the Swiss Confederation or Prussia, but if this matter involved the entire German Confederation, it would probably be like the Luxembourg incident.

Coupled with the slow and unpredictable Russians, the Vienna Peace Treaty stipulated that Switzerland was a neutral country. If France sent troops to Switzerland, it would be tantamount to challenging this peace treaty.

Russia is a member of the Holy Alliance, and it certainly doesn't want to see anyone destroying the system established by the Holy Alliance.

Soult told Louis Philippe from a strategist's perspective.

"Only annexing western Switzerland will not attract the covetousness of the Holy Alliance, because the area is mountainous and difficult to defend, and there are not many resources that can be used for supplies."

"Aren't there many mountains in Luxembourg? The locals have to import their own food, but Austria and Prussia still sent troops. We can't take this risk," Louis Philippe immediately retorted.

Soult is already a dying old man, and has long since lost the courage to kill decisively on the battlefield. If Guizot had not been driven to America, he would have just wanted to spend his remaining years in his office.

Now that His Majesty the King has made a decision, Soult didn't want to say anything more and closed his mouth.

Louis Philippe had no responsibilities to begin with. At this time, France's layout was so big that it almost reduced the national treasury to an empty shell, which gave him even more reason to shirk.

The result was naturally that Belit's request for military assistance was rejected.

The Swiss Civil War was not only about differences in beliefs, but also about family conflicts and conflicts of interest. For example, the Crown family and the Horner family in canton Schwyz both owned large flocks of sheep, and at the same time they were also involved. Grazing cattle in a pasture.

In the end, the Horner family completely drove the Crown family out of Switzerland, and bloody massacres and naked interest disputes were also carried out in the name of defending the faith.

From 1814 to the present, riots in the Swiss Confederation have never subsided. Just as the German Confederation regained Luxembourg, Switzerland's German population was also ready to move.

But their actions were overshadowed by fierce religious conflicts.

Among them, Aargau canton is the area with the most intense conflicts, and local Catholics have even begun to recruit soldiers and purchase weapons.

In 1841, a riot broke out. The federal government demanded the arrest of Catholic leaders, but local Catholics did not show weakness and attacked the local Swiss federal government and prison.

General Frei Holloser led troops to suppress the local rebellion, an operation that killed more people than the entire Swiss Civil War combined.

Augustin Keller even called for the permanent abolition of monasteries. This move against Catholicism was opposed by Catholics throughout the Swiss Confederation.

Even because its approach was too radical, many Protestant states opposed it.

Although Augustin Keller's approach was opposed by many people, because the Swiss Confederation at that time simply did not have the ability to implement its own will on the states under its rule, the matter had to be left alone.

New elections in May 1842 gave birth to a new liberal government.

January 16, 1843. Lucerne became the capital state of Switzerland.

(The capital state is the state where the federal parliament is located.)

The new government again asked Augustin Keller to stop his behavior, but he refused.

The canton of Lucerne then sent a notice to other Swiss cantons, requesting that a parliament be convened to resolve the issue.

But Augustin Keller and the Aargau cantonal government had long been prepared. Through lobbying and secret deals, they not only escaped sanctions, but also had the parliament pass a series of bills that were extremely unfavorable to Catholics in the Swiss Confederation.

This was the scene where Pastor Belit asked France for help.

Of course, in addition to this, the Swiss cantons of Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug, and Friborg secretly established an independent alliance.

However, only what others don't know can be called a "secret". The organization of this independent alliance is extremely loose and undisciplined, so that surrounding countries are fully aware of their actions.

This naturally includes their enemies. Franz can only lament that this is really a wall that cannot be supported by mud.

However, Franz was still very interested in taking back the Habsburg family's ancestral property, Eagle Castle, and by the way, he could increase Austria's German-speaking population.