Chapter 1674 - 1580: Franz II’s Last Stand

Chapter 1674: Chapter 1580: Franz II’s Last Stand

The Austrian city in the central and western part, Graz.

The meeting hall door of Eggenberg Palace slammed open with a bang, and Earl Walterhausen walked out with an ashen face, his right hand clenched around a document still trembling slightly.

Originally, because the Austria-Russia Alliance Army crushed the Vienna rebels, the pro-war faction he led had the upper hand. Who would have thought that Metternich, the long-silent royal adviser, would suddenly jump out and raise the banner of advocating peace talks.

Just a few minutes ago, His Majesty the Emperor unexpectedly announced the signing of a ceasefire agreement with the Hungarian Parliament, officially issuing it while the State Minister was absent. And the Emperor let him come just to inform him that future matters regarding Hungary would be handed over to Metternich.

Next to him, the Foreign Minister Messerschmitt was equally gloomy, muttering with his head down: "The Bohemian Congress and Kaunitz have never had any connection. Why would they support that guy Metternich!"

In his view, Metternich’s political capital should have been inherited from his father-in-law, Count Kaunitz. But not long ago, the Bohemian Parliament suddenly requested the Emperor to withdraw their troops back to Prague because their finances were on the brink of collapse unless the Emperor was willing to allocate 2 million florins to them.

At the same time, several important political figures in Bohemia also openly praised Metternich’s ceasefire strategy as being in the empire’s best interest.

Subsequently, the Slovak Corps also used the pretext of military expenses to start dawdling on the front lines.

Earl Walterhausen just kept a cold expression without replying. What he is pondering now is not the ceasefire itself but that following the achievement of a ceasefire agreement, the pro-war faction might become marginalized in the political arena.

Messerschmitt glanced at the document in his hand, continuing to complain: "If it weren’t for that damned report, perhaps we could have delayed until Archduke Karl launched the general offensive on Pest."

It was a report titled "Vienna Damage Assessment" that His Majesty the Emperor had just thrown to them.

The report mentioned that Vienna’s population had decreased by 80,000 to 100,000. It’s noteworthy that before the rebellion, the entire city of Vienna had less than 300,000 people.

The homes of almost all the nobles in the city were looted. The once-upscale neighborhoods were now filled with ruined buildings, hardly better than slums.

The destruction of various public facilities was also severe; the Albertina Museum and the Vienna Riverfront Theater were badly damaged, with the latter even set on fire. Even St. Stephen’s Cathedral was not spared.

One can imagine how greatly these messages shocked His Majesty the Emperor.

They had not anticipated that just within 11 days of recapturing Vienna, these figures would be compiled.

Well, actually, there was no detailed accounting at all. The report was fabricated by Joseph’s people from the Security Bureau based on the scale of the war in Vienna.

But it was enough for Metternich. No one would verify the report’s accuracy, and even if discrepancies were found later, it wouldn’t be Metternich who would be held accountable.

In reality, this report wasn’t the final straw to crush the pro-war faction.

This morning, led by the Gemeiler Bank, several major banks suddenly decided to reduce the short-term loans provided to the government, or substantially raise interest rates, prompting Franz II to ultimately make a decision.

The reason they provided was the concern that the war would cause severe damage to Hungary. Even if the Emperor’s army regained control of Buda and Pest, it would not be able to collect enough tax revenue, and might even need to spend funds to support Hungarians displaced by the war.

This concern was quite reasonable. After all, the war between the Emperor and the Hungarian Parliament was a civil war, where victory would not bring the same gains as an external war.

In the meeting hall behind Earl Walterhausen, Franz II signed the authorization letter for the negotiating representatives, stamped it with his seal, and then handed it to the respectfully standing Metternich at the side: "I hope you can end this war as soon as possible."

His hand paused briefly: "You just mentioned enlisting France and England in the negotiations?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Won’t this compromise the dignity of the empire?"

Metternich bowed slightly and said: "Your Majesty, I believe this is beneficial and harmless to our country.

"After the Vienna uprising and the war with Hungary, the most important thing for the empire is to restore national strength as soon as possible.

"A stable international environment becomes very critical.

"We can take this opportunity to improve relations with France and revisit our special ties with England.

"Subsequently, our foreign policy should temporarily steer clear of the struggle for leadership in Europe..."

Franz II frowned immediately: "Are you asking us to bow down to be a second-rate small nation?"

Metternich hurriedly replied: "Of course not, Your Majesty. This is just a strategy for accumulating strength.

"You see, over the past few decades, we have been frequently embroiled in wars, overextending our national power, yet gaining little.

"And currently, as Britain and France are vying for European dominance, we can absolutely temporarily feign weakness, waiting for them to wear each other out.

"We can even use a diplomatic strategy of remaining uninvolved to become the object of wooing by most countries.

I call it — balance diplomacy."

Franz II became interested immediately, straightened up, looked at him and said: "Please elaborate..."

A little after five in the afternoon, Metternich finally walked out of Eggenberg Palace, his facial expression appearing quite relaxed.

Just now, the Emperor had shown intentions of making him the Foreign Minister, which was the best starting point for his return to the political arena.

He turned his head towards his attendant and said: "Go ask Mr. Hertzman if my new attire is ready. I want to wear it to Pest the day after tomorrow."

"Yes, my lord."

...

Paris.

In the reception room of the Grand Trianon Palace, Count Saigul stood respectfully before Joseph and said: "Your Highness, the negotiations are progressing very well.

"The Hungarian side indicated that the Emperor of Holy Rome has agreed to almost all of their demands, except for the change of the national name.

"They hope this item could be skipped, and the agreement be directly signed."

Indeed, Franz II immediately rejected the name "Austrian-Hungarian United Empire."

In his opinion, this was undoubtedly announcing to the world that the Habsburg family had abandoned the dream of unifying the Holy Roman Empire.

"That’s not surprising," Joseph smiled slightly, "since His Majesty the Emperor doesn’t want to compromise, let’s help him turn it into reality."

He looked at Saigul and said: "Let the Hungarians delay a bit longer. You go to Bavaria and tell them they can proceed according to plan."

Count Saigul naturally understood what the Regent meant by the plan and quickly bowed, saying: "Yes, Your Highness."

He hesitated for a moment and then asked: "Your Highness, could this potentially create a rival in Southern Germany?"