Chapter 848 The Belgrade Conspiracy
As soon as this news broke out, Europe was in an uproar, and Italian nationalists knew that their spring had arrived.
Riots broke out in Lombardy and Venetia one after another, and even Tuscany, Lucca, and Modena in the hands of the Habsburg family were not spared.
People shouted "Long live Pius IX!", "Long live the unification of Italy!", "Long live constitutional freedom!", and ignited beacon fires in Italy.
However, most of these beacon fires started in the cities, rather than in the more pious and ignorant rural areas.
Such riots made Carlo Alberto extremely frightened. What he wanted was an Italy ruled by the Kingdom of Sardinia, not an Italy controlled by the magic stick.
Carlo Alberto ordered Count Di Castagnieto, who was in charge of intelligence work, to use all available resources to pay close attention to the movements in Vienna.
At the same time, he contacted the rebels in Lombardy and Venetia and promised them high officials and generous salaries. He wanted to get there first. After all, Pius IX was only the pope and not the king. Only the Savoy family could unify Italy.
At this time, the 38-year-old Cavour almost jumped up when he heard the news. He felt that the opportunity for the Kingdom of Sardinia had come and immediately published an article in his "Revenge" stating:
"Only the Kingdom of Sardinia can unite Italy, and the king should accept the constitution"
Cavour was a nobleman and a capitalist, so he supported the expansion of the unification war and wanted to put shackles on the king. There was no conflict between these two points.
As for so-called nationalism and Mazzini's ideas, he scorned them all.
After learning the news, Britain publicly expressed its support for the Italian Risorgimento, and at the same time immediately issued a letter of credence urging Austria to return Northern Italy to the "Italians" as soon as possible.
The Italians in the British Credentials are worth pondering. They support the emergence of another great power or quasi-great power in Italy.
After all, this is a much better result than France or Austria completely controlling Italy. In short, the more countries on the European continent and the more dispersed the power, the more in line with the interests of the British.
And the new Italy could only rely on Britain, at least John Russell thought so.
However, Palmerston did not think so. He felt that Italy would be a heavy burden. It would be better to only let Northern Italy become independent instead of reviving the so-called Italy, so that a true balance can be achieved.
As the younger brother of the British, the Ottoman Empire naturally chose to follow up directly. But I don’t know if anyone cares about Magid’s credentials.
In fact, the trade volume between Austria and the Ottoman Empire has increased year by year in recent years, and in terms of profit alone, it has exceeded the trade with the British.
Therefore, Magid's decision immediately aroused dissatisfaction among domestic business groups. They could not accept the Sudan's stupid decision, let alone lose such a good business partner in Austria.
But Magid actually had deeper considerations, because Serbian Grand Duke Miloš Obrenović came not long ago and made a bold suggestion to him.
"Great Sudan, we can take this opportunity to take back Western Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, and even go further to take back Belgrade."
As soon as these words came out, Magid's interest was immediately aroused. Pius IX could take back northern Italy, so why couldn't the Ottoman Empire take back those homelands?
In fact, Western Bosnia, Montenegro, and northern Albania are not very attractive to Magid, but Belgrade is an important land and water transportation route.
As long as it controls this place, it is equivalent to controlling the gate of the Balkans. At that time, the Ottoman Empire will be able to regain control of the Danube River Basin.
Serbia, Wallachia, and Moldavia would all be more closely linked to the Ottoman Empire as a result.
Note: At this time, Serbia, Wallachia, and Moldavia were all nominal vassals of the Ottoman Empire, and Wallachia and Moldavia were Russian protectorates.
At the same time, you can also choose to go north to capture Vienna to fulfill the glory and dream of the Ottoman Empire.
As for Miloš's statement that he would defend the country for the Ottoman Empire, neither of them would take it seriously.
Milos wanted to retake Belgrade with the help of the Ottoman Empire, while Meguid wanted to take the opportunity to regain control of the Danube River Basin.
However, they have a common enemy and that is Austria, which is also the basis for cooperation between the two parties. Miloš is a local snake who is very familiar with those lands, and he also has internal contacts in Austria.
There is no doubt that Sultan Meguid is a dragon who has crossed the river. He relies on the Ottoman Empire's strong military and economic strength, as well as the great cause of regaining his homeland.
The Russian ambassador was shocked and angry about this incident, but he could only choose to ask His Majesty the Tsar for instructions because the matter was too big for him to make the decision at all.
Things developed too fast, and Russia's disadvantage in being in a remote place was infinitely magnified. In fact, that's not entirely true, because the water was too muddy, and Nicholas I wanted to see it first before talking.
Prussia and Spain were both in a precarious situation at this time, but they had their own different judgments and approaches.
Spain was deep in civil war, and they wanted to divert the conflict, so they decided to make trouble for Austria.
Moreover, the Spaniards do not believe that the two sides can really fight. This kind of thing will most likely end in nothing. After all, no country will really go to war for the Pope.
Prussia was in chaos, and William IV's order found it difficult to even think of Berlin. He also believed that the two sides would not really fight.
The reason why the Pope succeeded last time was because the Austrians violated the agreement first and went deep into the Pope to develop their power.
But this time the conditions proposed by Pius IX were too harsh, extremely provocative, and trampled on the dignity of the Austrian power.
If it were before the 19th century, I am afraid that the Holy City would have been bloodbathed and the Pope would have been replaced.
However, with the wave of nationalism and revolution sweeping across Europe, this matter should eventually come to an end.
Although the Austrians have nothing to do against the Papal State for the time being, they have many tricks they can use against Prussia, which also belongs to the German Confederation.
For example, with the current wave of nationalism, as long as Prussia is labeled a traitor, those fanatical nationalists will most likely actually rise up in rebellion.
Even without engaging in a people's war, William IV could not afford to expel the Hohenzollern family from German citizenship.
In fact, the German nationalists at this time had occupied the Confederation Assembly in Frankfurt, and they were even preparing to turn the Confederation into an empire.
Yes, it would also be possible to establish the First German Reich or directly rebuild the Holy Roman Empire. Anyway, Germany should be unified under the same flag.
The French would love to see the Austrians expelled from Italy, but they have more important things to deal with at the moment.
The rally on February 22, 1848 soon turned into a demonstration, something Louis-Philippe was not prepared to see.