Chapter 1140 Thorn in the Flesh (Part 2)

Chapter 1140 Thorn in the Flesh (Part 2)

On January 13, 1847, Archduke Joseph passed away. The 29-year-old Archduke Stefan inherited his father's legacy and often used his privileges to issue amnesties, causing the situation in Hungary to become increasingly chaotic.

Especially during the Galician rebellion, he showed endless sympathy for the Poles and even wrote poems to praise the indomitable spirit of the Poles. He was once called "the good" Stefan.

In 1848, when various factions in Hungary were hesitating, it was Archduke Stefan who convened an emergency meeting in Pressburg, unified his thinking internally, established the policy of establishing an independent Hungarian government, and passed the reform of counties. A wider range of representatives of the Hungarian people were elected, and a plan to merge with Transylvania was proposed.

In fact, it is more appropriate to say it is annexation. After all, the Transylvanians have almost no rights. Even the concept of Transylvanians is not recognized. In Archduke Stefan's plan, there are only Hungarians. and a people who share the idea of ​​Hungary.

Historically, he even made a move that can be called the MVP of MVPs during the March Revolution.

Archduke Stefan used his royal status and privileges to bypass the entire Austrian Imperial Government and directly get the ill Ferdinand I to sign a declaration, directly legalizing Hungary's independent reforms.

The "Imperial Decree" issued on March 17, 1848: allowed Hungary to establish its own government, responsible to the Hungarian Parliament, and appointed Archduke Stefan as the emperor's plenipotentiary representative to take charge of reform.

Archduke Stefan immediately appointed Baujani as his prime minister, completely pushing the Hungarian revolution to a climax.

But that's not all. On the eve of the war, under the operation of Archduke Stefan and Baujani, the Hungarians successfully captured Pressburg at a very small cost.

In 1848, when the Hungarian army arrived on the outskirts of Vienna, Archduke Stefan was credited with the first achievement.

The importance of Pressburg to Vienna is equivalent to the Hangu Pass of the Qin State. Just imagine if Qin loses Hangu Pass at the beginning, how can it still play?

But his defiant move ended here. The Austrian reinforcements easily defeated the Hungarian army besieging Vienna, and Archduke Stefan fled back to Vienna in panic.

Afterwards, Kossuth came to power and confiscated all the property of Archduke Stefan, and quickly formed a large army to repel Prince Windischgratz's troops.

At the end of the war, Archduke Stefan was not punished in any way, but he was not appointed to any official position until his death in 1867.

Many of Franz's operations, including the Vienna Rebellion, were also based on the consideration of preventing this traitor from stealing his home.

Franz has no intention of protecting this anthropomorphic thing, but his life is still very useful and can solve many problems as long as it is used well.

This anthropomorphic thing will die in an unexpected way.

Wait a little longer, wait until the Hungarians have exhausted all the popularity of all ethnic groups in the territory of St. Stephen's Crown, and then take action.

Soon Galicia's information was sent to Franz's case, and he sighed helplessly.

"Some smart people can't wait, but there seems to be nothing to argue with a dead man."

Franz signed an order allowing the Galicians to organize local temporary troops, and three months later they were allowed to join the imperial army's order of battle to avenge Hungary.

On the other hand, the Ottomans could not withstand the pressure and had no choice but to ask for help from the British. At this time, Prince Albert finally recognized the reality and stopped interfering in politics. He focused on the 1851 London World's Fair. He wanted to prove the British power in other aspects. The empire is not weaker than man.

The new British Prime Minister Edward Smith-Stanley expressed strong indignation at Prince Albert's desertion.

After all, the latter has to clean up the mess left by the former. If he is not careful, he may be nailed to the pillar of shame.

But the good news is that the royal family's excessive interference in politics has finally been stopped. Although it has nothing to do with Edward Smith-Stanley, it can always give an explanation to the plutocrats and political parties behind it.

(Edward Smith-Stanley is the 14th Earl of Derby, and from now on he will be called the 14th Earl of Derby, which sounds more comfortable than his full name.)

If there was a different prime minister, I am afraid that he would have used his power to put pressure on Prince Albert, but who made him one of the weakest prime ministers in British history?

For the 14th Earl of Derby, forgetting about fighting for national power abroad and punishing national traitors at home, it is better to make peace and make money.

London Peace Conference? international influence? How much is it worth? Let the Austrians and Russians fight!

The actions of the 14th Earl of Derby caused a direct quarrel in the British Parliament. After all, Britain had always acted in a high-profile manner on the international stage, and the new prime minister must have set the tone too low.

"Mr. Count! You are a spy invited by the Russians!"

"I suspect that you have accepted bribes from the Austrians, and I want to impeach you!"

(In fact, generally speaking, the British cabinet is collectively responsible. Even if there is a conflict with the prime minister, resignation should be threatened. However, as one of the weakest prime ministers in British history, the 14th Earl of Derby is unable to form a cabinet alone. Only then will such a strange scene appear.)

The Earl of Derby could neither refuse Prince Albert's intervention nor suppress the different voices in the cabinet, let alone the entire Parliament.

"I'm not! My property can be made public!"

"Then you must have transferred your property!"

"Now that neither the Austrians nor the Russians agree to hold a peace conference in London, what do you want? Direct war with Russia and Austria?"

Earl Derby slammed his hands on the table and roared.

"Can you beat them?"

"Our British Royal Navy still has absolute strength."

The Prime Minister interrupted the Minister of the Navy before he finished speaking.

"Then how were you driven out of the Mediterranean by the Austrians!"

"The Austrians are so despicable. They actually used the army to sneak attack our rear in the naval battle! They also used warships to attack our merchant ships to block the waterway. They are simply a group of robbers!"

"Is your navy much better than the Austrians? You even went to the sphere of influence of a third country to attack Austrian merchant ships!

What was the result? The battle you promised was foolproof ended up with a complete annihilation of the army, with less than three digits of survivors, and Portugal was almost involved!"

Earl Derby had long been fed up with the boasting and arrogance of the Admiralty, and with the pressure from Earl Aberdeen, he accidentally spoke out his thoughts.

"Are you the British Prime Minister? How can you speak for the Austrians! I will impeach you!"

"Earl Derby, you must be responsible for what you said!"

Earl Derby successfully transferred all the conflicts to himself. At this time, no one cared about where the peace conference would be held.

In fact, Earl Derby's plan was quite successful. The Austrian and Russian high-level officials soon quarreled over the venue of the peace conference.

For Prince Schwarzenberg, nothing is more important than expanding the influence of the Austrian Empire. Only with a strong enough influence can the German Confederation be effectively controlled.

In his eyes, the German Confederation is the basic plate of the Austrian Empire, and the Near East is just a wild land.

After all, the latter's infrastructure and stabilization costs are several times that of the former, while the benefits are not even one-tenth of it.

Andrei Uvarov has his own considerations. On the one hand, he really wants to win the right to host the peace conference for Russia to gain the initiative. On the other hand, compared with the so-called initiative and bullshit influence, the advantage in his hands is real. He hopes to buy some time for the Russian army to occupy more areas.