Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 558: Russo-Polish Conflict

With the Polish royal election approaching, the Polish Republican faction, unwilling to lose power, also began taking action.

In Warsaw, at the Prime Minister’s residence, D?browski convened a meeting of the Republican leadership. If one paid close attention, one would notice that most attendees were government officials, while military generals were few and far between.

This was unavoidable. After all, the Polish independence movement was largely the result of external forces, and most of the military personnel leading the uprising were cultivated by foreign powers. The true strength of the revolutionary faction was limited.

This was not a problem in and of itself. The revolutionary party had already established a legitimate government, and pulling these people in could still be feasible.

Unfortunately, the Polish government was heavily influenced by French ideas and assumed that the military should naturally obey the government. The military’s status was greatly diminished in the structure of government power.

In times of peace, this might not pose an issue. The military not interfering in politics is the norm for most stable nations. However, the tragedy was that Poland was not a normal country. Although independent, it was constantly under threat of war.

In such a situation, the best approach would have been for the country to revolve around its military and make every effort to strengthen it. For example, neighboring Prussia was a great model from which to learn.

Clearly, the overly ambitious revolutionaries didn’t think that far ahead. Once they grasped power, they quickly became complacent.

In the eyes of the government leadership, this army—composed largely of people with ties to foreign powers—was unreliable. Therefore, they naturally sought to replace the military’s top leadership with their own people.

But the military is a place that respects strength. Without a solid record of accomplishments, how could they expect to win the loyalty of the troops?

The government’s actions were, of course, met with resistance from the military, and relations between the two became extremely strained. The senior generals appointed by the government were often ignored, and in many cases, sidelined.

In the eyes of the Polish government, this behavior was seen as the rise of warlordism, and in response, the government began to establish a new army entirely loyal to themselves, built from the revolutionary party’s armed forces.

The military is a money-eating beast, and establishing a new army would naturally divert funds from the existing forces, further intensifying the conflict between the two sides.

Since the government was so disliked, there were naturally attempts to overthrow it. At this time, the Prussians extended an olive branch, and under the influence of shared interests, the two sides quickly came to an agreement. As a result, many within the Polish military shifted their allegiance to the Kingdom of Prussia.

Prime Minister D?browski said, “Gentlemen, the current domestic situation is dire. The royal election is next month, and if we don’t take action, our great Poland will be swallowed by Prussia.

What are your thoughts? Feel free to speak openly. Today, we must find a way for Poland to survive. We cannot let Prussian ambitions succeed.”

The Prussian government’s desire to annex Poland couldn’t be kept a secret. Any secret, once enough people are involved, ceases to be a secret.

Over the years, the Polish government had been striving to free itself from Prussian influence. However, their efforts were often clumsy and many times resulted in chaos.

Foreign Minister Walery Wróblewski said, “The Foreign Ministry has already been in contact with various European countries, but the current outlook is not very promising.

Napoleon III has just died, and France is in the middle of a power transition. The French government is currently engaged in a war without gunfire. While they’ll support us diplomatically, the likelihood of direct military intervention is slim.

Recently, we had a diplomatic blunder that severely offended Austria. The Austrian government doesn’t want to see Prussia annex Poland, but they also don’t want us to continue governing Poland.

If the Prussians were willing to pay a high price, both France and Austria could remain neutral. The only good news is that the British are inclined to support us. They don’t want to see further annexations on the European continent.”

He didn’t mention the other countries because they lacked the strength to intervene. The one country that did, the Russian Empire, was unfortunately an enemy.

As politicians, they weren’t opposed to working with an enemy, but they had to consider the political consequences. The political fallout from cooperating with the Russians would be severe, and they couldn’t afford it. Moreover, if the Russian government intervened, it could very well make things worse.

Finance Minister Paderewski said, “The support of the British may not be very useful. They dominate the seas, but they don’t call the shots on the European continent.

If the Prussians decide to take military action, we won’t be able to resist them unless either France or Austria supports us.

Keep in mind that many of our domestic warlords have already aligned with them. If it comes to force, we will lose miserably.”

The Kingdom of Poland didn’t have strong resources, and after all these years of effort, the republican forces could only muster two infantry divisions and one cavalry division, representing 30% of the total Polish military.

After a moment of hesitation, Prime Minister D?browski made his decision, “We won’t let William I be elected. As long as someone else becomes king, the Prussian plan can’t continue.

I don’t believe the Prussians would dare send troops to annex us directly. No European country would stand idly by in such a situation.

Especially the smaller nations, if they don’t want to be annexed one day themselves, they’ll have to support us now. One or two countries might not matter, but if everyone unites, even Prussia will struggle.”

Finance Minister Paderewski shook his head, “Prime Minister, that’s going to be very difficult. William I has overwhelming support in parliament, far exceeding any of his competitors.

Even if we back someone else, we won’t have enough influence to win unless we use extreme measures to interfere with the election.

But doing so would have serious consequences. If we set this precedent, it will severely impact the future of Polish democracy, and we’ll be condemned in history.”

Prime Minister D?browski sighed, “Alas! The situation is tough, we can’t worry about all that right now. The most important thing is to save Poland first. The future of democracy can be dealt with later.

Poland’s independence didn’t come easily. It was won through the sacrifice of countless comrades. We cannot allow this achievement to be destroyed.

Compared to the greater good, our personal honor and disgrace are unimportant. I believe history will give a fair judgment.”

This is the best option to stop the Prussians from annexing Poland. As long as William I is not crowned king, the shared monarchy union between the two nations cannot proceed.

In Europe, a place where legal principles matter, anyone who breaks the rules must pay the price, and Prussia does not yet have the power to disregard the rules.

Prime Minister D?browski was already feeling some regret. If he had known that the situation would develop into this, they should have elected a king right when the Kingdom of Poland was first established.

At that time, many governments were opposed to William I’s election, and they could have easily excluded him and proceeded with the election. If Poland had a monarch in place from the beginning, there wouldn’t be so many problems now.

The lure of power is strong, and once there is a king, the prime minister can no longer have such absolute authority. D?browski had not resisted Prussian temptations back then and had naively believed he could control the situation.

In some ways, the decision wasn’t entirely wrong at the time. Prussia’s inability to annex Poland doesn’t mean it can’t partner with others to divide Poland.

If the Kingdom of Poland had proven itself after gaining independence by focusing on national development and showing some strength, then the Prussian government would have needed Poland as an ally, and things wouldn’t have turned out so badly.

But in reality, since Poland gained independence, it has been caught up in internal conflicts. The inexperienced Polish government drafted policies with little foresight, leading to a series of laughable blunders.

This was evident in economic development. Since independence, Poland has been focused on post-war recovery, but it still hasn’t reached pre-war levels, and some regions are even experiencing economic decline.

Poland’s industry is an even bigger joke. The country inherited some of Russia’s industries during independence, but instead of furthering their development, the Polish government’s mishandling left them on the verge of collapse.

The military fared no better, with misguided reorganizations. The country’s armed forces were artificially divided into two factions that were hostile to each other, and on the battlefield, it was only their patriotic fervor that kept them from sabotaging one another.

With this kind of internal strife, Poland simply wasn’t qualified to be Prussia’s ally. To consolidate its power and prepare for the next war, the Prussian government had no choice but to target Poland.

The final outcome boils down to either partition or annexation. In any case, Poland’s tragedy was inevitable from the start, and the current disaster is a direct result of the government’s incompetence.

The room fell into silence, with only the faint sound of breathing and heartbeats audible. The atmosphere had become tense.

“Prime Minister, something terrible has happened.”

A voice from outside broke the silence, pulling everyone out of their deep thoughts.

Prime Minister D?browski shot a dissatisfied glance at the one who had just entered. How could someone barge into a meeting like this? It was highly inappropriate.

He had already made up his mind. Unless it was truly an emergency, he would give this unruly individual a stern lesson.

“Speak up! the sky hasn’t fallen yet,” he said.

The young man answered nervously, “Yesterday afternoon, our garrison in the Kyiv region had a violent clash with the Russians, which escalated into a gunfight, leaving eight of our men dead and 12 wounded.”

After speaking, he quickly handed the telegram to Prime Minister D?browski.

Border skirmishes between Russia and Poland were not uncommon, but fatalities were rare. Typically, both sides exercised restraint, with any conflicts usually ending after a brief scuffle, and seldom involving gunfire.

The telegram outlined the causes and effects of the conflict but contained no additional details. Prime Minister D?browski’s face darkened immediately.

Troubles always seem to come in waves. This Russo-Polish conflict erupting at such a time was a major blow to the Polish government. If mishandled, it could cost them everything.

Slamming the telegram on the table, Prime Minister D?browski angrily struck the table and shouted, “This is outrageous! Are the Russians really so eager to provoke a war?”

Others took turns reading the telegram, and they all recognized the seriousness of the situation. It was clear to everyone that this clash had been deliberately planned by the Russians.