Chapter 487 Great Hungary
It is also an area hardest hit by nationalism, but the Hungarian side appears to be much quieter. After all, their previous series of death-defying operations have severely damaged their vitality.
The common people did not trust the local council, and the serfs were eager to run to the Habsburg family immediately, and it was impossible for the German immigrants to side with the Hungarian nobles.
Even relying on foreign powers has become difficult because of the change of ownership in Belgrade. In fact, the best way to attack Austria from the Ottomans is Serbia, but at this time, Belgrade, which is the throat, is already Austrian territory.
Moreover, Austria has never stopped reinforcing this place after acquiring it. After all, the key to the Balkans is a battleground for military strategists.
Historically, the competition between Austria and the Ottomans over Belgrade has almost never stopped. If you want to break this cycle, you must change your strategy.
As far as the locals in Belgrade were concerned, they did not object to Vienna's rule because they were greatly enriched materially.
At the same time, due to the two immigration policies of Serbia and Austria, real locals have become extremely rare.
The Germans and Croatians who migrated in large numbers grew up listening to stories that demonized the Ottomans, and the Italians, descendants of Rome, also had a bad impression of these Near Eastern barbarians.
At least the mass base for the Ottomans to want to rule Belgrade disappeared. Coupled with religious conflicts, the cost of fighting a security war was also very high.
However, Franz did not think that such a situation would happen again. After all, the empire invested a lot of materials in the construction of this city and concentrated a large number of troops to defend it, so it would be extremely difficult for the Ottomans alone to break through.
It is inevitable that Hungary's technological and economic development has almost stagnated, because they chose to derail from Austria, thereby losing their vast market and the driving force for innovation.
The only eye-catching technology is the roller grinding method, but in fact this is not something worthy of praise. After all, it has appeared in the East hundreds of years ago.
Due to its low technical content, Austria was able to reproduce it without much effort and also upgraded it.
When the Hungarians wanted to obtain Austrian technology, it was very difficult, whether it was high-end analytical machines or low-end vulcanized rubber technology. As for their steam machinery, they were still at the level of twenty years ago.
Because Franz asked Mrs. Sophie to openly bribe a large number of Magyar nobles, the division within Hungary was much more serious than in history.
The moderate reformists that Széchenyi failed to establish some time ago are now a force that cannot be ignored, although they still cannot compete with the radical liberals in Kossuth.
Moreover, Szechenyi also changed his position, no longer advocating national independence, but instead advocating integration and co-prosperity, saying that the latter's approach was to push Hungary to the grave.
But what the Hungarian nobles want is more rights, even if they do not increase or decrease, they must at least protect the rights in their hands without losing them, so Kossuth still has many supporters.
In 1844, the Hungarian Parliament officially passed a resolution establishing Hungarian as the national language of the kingdom; any official documents, contracts, and legal clauses must be written in it, otherwise they will be deemed invalid.
At the same time, it was stipulated that ethnic minorities must learn Hungarian, and books and newspapers published in ethnic minority languages were prohibited; Deak Ferenc and Kossuth even declared "Egy ország, Egy nemzet".
This sentence is not like Chinese, which can be played with the Spring and Autumn Period and derive many meanings. Based on the background of the times and the actual situation, there is only one explanation, and that is "There are only Magyars in the Kingdom of Hungary."
This decree immediately aroused dissatisfaction among all ethnic minorities, including Gypsies. After all, two-thirds of the St. Stephen's Crown Territory were "ethnic minorities."
In fact, the translation as ethnic minorities is not accurate, and "foreign ethnic groups" is more appropriate. This title better reflects the Magyar people's sense of superiority and contempt for other groups at that time.
The Kingdom of Hungary carried out some reforms after the Napoleonic War, but the results were not satisfactory. Especially after Austria joined the German Customs Union, the market shrank and economic development tended to regress.
In fact, Hungary still has a group of pioneers who established breweries, sugar mills, steel mills, textile mills, and steam machinery manufacturing plants.
However, because the neighbors next door developed too fast, they could only enclose the land for their own enjoyment, which resulted in their products being uncompetitive. Those pioneers quickly "died" on the road, while the latecomers clung to the policies. And the thighs of monopoly.
Hungarians complain about low-quality and expensive goods, but high-quality goods cannot come in, so they can only choose to swallow their anger.
But foreigners will not buy it. Hungarian industrial products shipped to Trieste often have to be shipped back intact, because compared with Austrian products that transcend their times, they are no different from garbage.
Of course, the Magyars also understood that their industry would not be able to develop if this continued.
As a result, an almost harsh protection regulation was born. Anyone who had no choice but to bring any Austrian goods back to Hungary in any form would be fined the equivalent of 500 florins. In severe cases, all property would be confiscated or even sentenced to hanging.
This outrageous decree immediately aroused dissatisfaction in Vienna as soon as it was promulgated. Because this is equivalent to acknowledging the fact that it is illegal for an Austrian to wear his own clothes to Hungary.
In fact, before the Austrians could react, the Hungarian frontier troops had already begun to deal with the passing merchants.
In the eyes of this group of people, there is no difference between Austrians and Hungarians. They only see "fat sheep". In less than a month, many important figures were murdered.
This included the family of Anselm Rothschild, the eldest son of Solomon Rothschild; Anselm was fearful of his father but disdainful of anyone else.
A group of border bastards blocking the road were naturally not taken seriously by the eldest son of "His Majesty the King". But as a big man and businessman, he won't waste time with these ants.
So Anselm asked the coachman to get ten groschen to prepare, but the soldier sitting on the wooden fence of the checkpoint knocked the copper coins to the ground.
"You want to send us brothers away with just a few coppers? I tell you today, listen carefully, for one hundred florins, or I will send you to prison."
"A hundred florins?" The coachman's eyes widened. To be honest, it's not like he has never seen the world before, but asking for a hundred florins to pass the checkpoint is a bit exaggerated. He usually only charges a few florins.
You must know that there are dozens of checkpoints from here to the Austro-Hungarian border, and one hundred florins is enough for a family of three to spend for a year.
Anselm also doubted his ears. He felt that he might have encountered a robber. After all, this was not uncommon in Hungary. It was not surprising even if these people were wearing uniforms at this time. After all, there was no surveillance at this time.
Anselm winked at his bodyguard, who immediately got out of the car and argued with the sentry at the checkpoint, but soon the two sides started fighting. Soon Anselm was imprisoned, Solomon found Metternich, and the matter completely escalated.