Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 557: Prelude

The phrase “There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests between nations” captures the essence of international diplomacy. Not long ago, Austria and Britain were at odds over the Near East conflict, but now they are starting to cozy up to each other again.

This isn’t too surprising. After all, Austria and Britain are still allies. Even if they frequently clash, it doesn’t stop them from enjoying cooperation when needed.

However, if people learned that Prussia and Russia were secretly in contact, it would cause an uproar. Right now, Russia is preparing for revenge against the Kingdom of Prussia, while Prussia is similarly gearing up for war.

Yet, in the face of interests, nothing is impossible. The two nations never completely severed their secret communications even during the Russo-Prussian War.

After failing to persuade the Austrian government to intervene militarily in the Polish royal election, the Russian government knew things were going to be difficult.

Alexander II, being no simple figure, decisively chose to set aside old grudges temporarily, seizing this opportunity to secure the greatest benefits for Russia.

A richly dressed old man said coldly, “Have you considered our proposal? As long as your country agrees to the previous terms, we will consent to your annexation of Poland.”

The middle-aged man sitting across from him shook his head indifferently, “This isn’t just about us annexing Poland, It’s about both our nations dividing Poland. Your country would take half of it, how can we agree to that? If word gets out, the Polish people will riot. Besides, we have no intention of annexing Poland. This election is simply about respecting the will of the Polish people.”

If someone familiar were present, they would recognize the two negotiating parties as former Russian Minister of the Interior, Mikhail, and former Prussian Minister of War and Navy, Albrecht von Roon.

Two enemies sitting together, calmly discussing the partition of Poland—if this were made public, no one would believe it.

Mikhail rolled his eyes disdainfully. Prussia had no ambition to annex Poland? Such words might fool the general public, but not an enemy who knows them so well.

A large number of people in Poland supported William I becoming king, largely because they felt driven to it by the Russians.

During the last war, the Kingdom of Poland was the main battleground, and it was reduced to ruins. While the economic losses were significant, the real issue was the loss of over 800,000 able-bodied men.

This left the Kingdom of Poland in a weakened state post-war. Now, Ukrainians make up almost one-third of the population, while the ethnic Poles, who suffered devastating losses during the war, are even experiencing a decline in population growth.

Of course, this also has to do with Poland’s dire economic situation. The agricultural crisis in particular led to severe population outflows. Many Poles left for Prussia and Austria in search of work.

Among those who left, women were the majority—some voluntarily, others deceived—and during this period, the underground human trafficking trade in Poland thrived. Many young women were sent abroad by unscrupulous capitalists, often forced into the sex trade.

The Polish government tried multiple times to crack down on this but had little success. As long as there was demand, the market would persist. In the face of survival, dignity became a secondary concern.

At the same time, the Russian government had completed its initial social reforms. With the Russian enemy regaining strength next door, Poland’s domestic elites began to panic.

If the Russians came back, everything these elites had would be gone. The powerless would become powerful, and their political stance inevitably shifted.

The Prussians proposed a shared monarchy between the two nations to form the strongest alliance possible, and many Poles were tempted. They conveniently ignored the fact that Prussia wanted to annex Poland.

This was driven by interests. If Prussia annexed Poland, the Prussian government would still have to invest resources to win them over, which was far better than the Russian government wanting to cut off their heads.

The decisions made by these interest groups directly impacted Polish society. No one talked about Prussia’s ambition to annex Poland. Instead, the propaganda focused solely on the union under a shared monarch.

The concept of a shared monarchy was something Poles were quite familiar with. Their ancestors had done it before, and the public was still very accepting of it.

There is now media hype claiming that the Kingdom of Prussia is also a part of Poland. The old history of Prussia once being under Polish rule has been dug up, greatly satisfying the vanity of the Polish people.

In the short term, it’s hard to see any impact, but over time, the Polish people might start seeing Prussia as one of their own. If that happens, the barriers to merging the two countries would disappear.

William I’s ambitions toward Poland are not just about greed. A large portion of Prussian territory was once Polish land, but the population there has since been Germanized.

More crucially, Austria has set its sights on the region of Germany, and Prussia simply can’t compete. The best option for Prussia is to annex the Kingdom of Poland, rebranding itself with a new identity.

In recent years, Prussia no longer considers itself solely a German state, reflecting a change in national policy.

This path wasn’t chosen by William I, it was decided by the Junker aristocracy. Given the chance to rule on their own, who would want to remain a subordinate?

The Holy Roman Empire may be great, but they wouldn’t be the ones in control. Austria was too large, and even if Prussia joined, its influence would quickly be diluted and eventually swallowed up.

Given that, they chose a different route. To carve out their own space, and Poland happened to appear at the right moment.

Looking through history, they quickly found links between Prussia and Poland and thus established a legal pretext for Prussia to annex Poland.

Of course, this connection is tenuous at best. The so-called legitimacy is something they believe to be valid, but the outside world certainly won’t recognize it.

This led to the Polish throne dispute. According to the Prussian plan, they would first promote a shared monarchy between the two countries, then establish a federal empire, and finally achieve full annexation and integration.

The plan was very clear. William I was just the operator put forward by the Junker nobility. Although he seemed to hold a high position and great power, he could not go against class interests.

Mikhail said, “Your Excellency, this joke isn’t very funny. If you’re not planning to annex Poland, then there’s no need for us to continue these talks. Perhaps a third partition of Poland could be a good option. I’m curious, though. If Austria joins in, what will your country think of that?”

Roon’s face changed dramatically. If Austria were to join in the partition of the Kingdom of Poland, even if Prussia managed to annex Poland, it would only be a reduced version. In fact, whether they could secure the largest share of the spoils would be highly uncertain.

This is a world where whoever has the strongest fist has the most say, and if the Russians truly conspired with Austria, there would be no one to stop them.

Sensing that Mikhail’s threat wasn’t entirely sincere, Roon quickly realized that the Russians wouldn’t easily invite Austria into the deal.

After all, the lands of the Kingdom of Poland were once part of the Russian Empire. If those territories remained with Poland or Prussia, Russia would still have a chance to reclaim them.

But if they fell into Austrian hands, given the current situation, it would be permanently lost. This is determined by the balance of power, not by personal will.

“Sir Mikhail, if your country were truly willing to invite Austria to partition the Kingdom of Poland, you wouldn’t have lost the last war. Back then, you weren’t willing to pay the price, and now you think your country would agree?

Moreover, Austria today is not the Austria of old. Do you really think if Austria got involved, the Austrian government wouldn’t swallow up most of the Kingdom of Poland?

At that point, we wouldn’t need to worry about future wars between our two countries. We could all tremble together under Austria’s shadow!

Don’t forget, the Kingdom of Prussia was once a state within the Holy Roman Empire. If we were willing to return, the Austrian government would welcome us with open arms.

Your country would be in a sorry state then. Don’t be fooled by the current alliance between Russia and Austria. Once the German region is unified, Austria will become the new dominant power in Europe. As the former hegemon, your country is destined to be suppressed.”

This was an open conspiracy. How could the Russians not have concerns about Austria’s rise? If Russo-Austrian relations were truly so solid, the Russian government would have directly supported Austria’s ascent after its own collapse as the dominant power.

Clearly, that was never going to happen. The Russians don’t want to see Austria continue to grow. Even when weakened, they’ve made subtle moves to undermine Austria.

These little actions didn’t escape the notice of the Austrian government, but Franz wasn’t particularly interested in continental hegemony. He allowed things to unfold naturally, turning it into shared power among nations. More precisely, France and Austria jointly divided the spoils, while Britain, Prussia, and Russia each retained some influence.

Just reflecting on the dirty tricks between Russia and Austria over the years made Mikhail want to cry. If history could be rewritten, he’d definitely stop the Russian government from making those petty moves back then.

Apart from worsening the relationship between the two nations, those actions achieved nothing substantial. Yet, they still went ahead. Once you start playing dirty, it’s hard to stop the spiral of mutual backstabbing.

In this context, if Austria were to grow stronger, future suppression of the Russian Empire would almost be inevitable. From the Russian government’s perspective, having France as Europe’s dominant power would be preferable to Austria taking that role.

The Russian government would rather hold Austria back and stifle its growth than allow it to become even stronger.

Even Roon’s threat of Prussia rejoining the Holy Roman Empire couldn’t be dismissed by Mikhail. Though it wasn’t a current possibility, the future remained uncertain.

If the Kingdom of Prussia lost the next war, joining Austria to preserve its own interests would become a very real option.

Roon likely never imagined that a simple attempt to sow discord would prompt Mikhail to think so deeply.

But joining the Holy Roman Empire isn’t so simple. Unless Prussia hits rock bottom, it’s not going to happen.

Austria, too, wouldn’t just accept it passively. If Prussia came to them, Austria would certainly take advantage of the situation. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Kingdom of Prussia were dismantled and turned into a directly governed province.

Don’t think Austria wouldn’t do such a thing. What principles are there in the face of interests? When it comes to protecting their control over the Holy Roman Empire, they wouldn’t hesitate to split Prussia apart for their own interests.