Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 575: Asking for Trouble

The deal with Prussia was completed, and the Russo-Polish War came to an end. Under the coordination of Britain, France, and Austria, an armistice treaty was signed.

The agreement only stipulated a ceasefire, without requiring Russian troops to withdraw, and there was no clear international resolution on the territorial issues between Russia and Poland.

A seed had been planted, and the hatred between Russia and Poland deepened further. Under the weight of this animosity, the Prussian-Polish union moved closer to fruition.

The Prussian government achieved its goal. Despite losing the Rhineland region, the annexation of the Kingdom of Poland strategically reversed the unfavorable situation for the Kingdom of Prussia.

Clenching the fist allows for a stronger punch. For the Prussian government, the biggest challenge now was not the Polish debt crisis, but rather the resettlement of immigrants.

Poland had only recently gained independence and hadn’t yet had time to build its creditworthiness. Due to its geographical location, the newly formed Kingdom of Poland was under military threat from Russia and could collapse at any moment, making it unappealing to investors.

Under these circumstances, it was not easy for the Polish government to secure foreign loans. Even Britain and France, who supported Poland, were unlikely to throw money into a sinking ship.

As a result, most of Poland’s debt was internal. The external portion, roughly 20 million pounds, mostly consisted of political loans given by European countries at the time of Poland’s re-establishment as a country to weaken Russia, with about one-third owed to Prussia.

Internal debt was hard to sort out. Affected by the financial crisis, the Polish government had repeatedly devalued its currency and relied on printing more money to get through these financial challenges.

The aftermath was disastrous. Poland’s domestic economy was in turmoil, even worse than during the time of the Russian regime. The Polish industrial and commercial sectors were the biggest victims.

This dire situation, however, was a good thing for the Kingdom of Prussia, as it created an opportunity for them to annex Poland.

The capitalists wouldn’t have turned toward the Kingdom of Prussia if the Polish economy hadn't been so poor. Without the support of the industrial and commercial sectors, William I wouldn’t have been able to win such a large majority in the election.

Since the goal was to annex the Kingdom of Poland, the Prussian government was prepared to clean up the mess.

In comparison, the real headache was the issue of “immigrant resettlement.” Not everyone was willing to leave their homeland. For many ordinary people, being ruled by the German Federal Empire wasn’t something entirely unacceptable.

From the very start, the resettlement efforts faced resistance from the local population, or rather, from the local capitalists. If all the people left, who would work for them?

It wasn’t just the capitalists stirring up trouble as the middle class wasn’t on board either. Many were still resentful of the Prussian government for selling out the Rhineland region, feeling it was a betrayal. Subconsciously, they rejected the idea of migration.

At the root of these problems, the main issue was resettlement. Capitalists could relocate their factories, but they couldn’t move their mines. The Prussian government simply couldn’t find an industrial area to replace the Rhineland region.

The middle class faced similar difficulties. If they moved, their networks of contacts would become worthless, and they’d have to start from scratch. Most would see their income and social status affected, and many wouldn’t be able to maintain their current standard of living.

On the contrary, the workers and farmers who seemed to make the most trouble on the surface were the easiest to deal with. Their demands were the lowest, and they could be settled as long as the government had money.

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At the Vienna Palace, Franz was troubled as he looked at the reports of the Near East War. It wasn’t because of defeats on the front lines. On the contrary, the front was doing too well.

According to the original plan, the Russians were not supposed to break through the Black Sea Straits, and the war was supposed to end under the mediation of the European powers.

However, plans could not keep up with changes, and the Ottoman Empire turned out to be even more incompetent than Franz had imagined. They couldn’t hold out for even half a year and lost the lands along the Black Sea Straits.

The biggest dilemma now facing the Austrian government was how to end the war. They couldn’t afford to make it too obvious that they were holding back, as the political elites of other nations would see right through it.

Given the current situation, the Ottoman Empire was on the verge of collapse. Considering the deep-rooted enmity between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottomans, what Franz should be doing now is taking advantage of the situation to crush his old enemy while they’re down.

In fact, the Austrian government was already doing just that. To buy time, Franz pushed forward the Imperial Parliament which didn’t have much presence.

In practice, this had little effect. It wasn’t just Austria that had grievances against the Ottoman Empire. Other states within the Holy Roman Empire also had their own scores to settle.

Now the whole empire was clamoring to finish off the Ottoman Empire, and the voice of the anti-war faction was almost inaudible, which greatly troubled Franz.

Given the current situation, it was almost certain that the Imperial Parliament would pass the bill to send reinforcements. Franz couldn’t force his subordinates to oppose public opinion and risk being branded as anti-war.

The Ottoman Empire was already being crushed by the Russian army without Austria even deploying troops to the Anatolian Peninsula. If Austria joined the fight, Franz doubted the severely weakened Ottoman Empire could hold out for long.

Without this unlucky fellow, who will be the next target when the focus shifts again? And what should the next strategy be?

It should be noted that although the Ottoman Empire was in decline, it was still quite large. Given the current situation, if Austria and the Russian Empire were to divide the Ottoman Empire, they would choke on it.

The European countries wouldn’t agree to it either, and when the time comes, there’ll inevitably be more parties wanting a share. This would be very unfavorable for Austria, which aims to dominate the eastern Mediterranean.

Franz asked, “How long will it take for the Russian army to recover before it can launch another offensive?”

War entails casualties, and although the Russian army seems unstoppable on the battlefield, they’ve suffered considerable losses as well.

In just six months, the Russian government has replenished its forces four times, and now it’s preparing for the fifth. The total number of casualties has reached 240,000, with nearly a quarter of that being fatalities.

From the Russian government’s perspective, these losses are acceptable. While replenishing the troops, the Russians have also used the excuse of “rest and reorganization” to continuously rotate frontline units.

According to data from the Allied Command, a total of 650,000 Russian soldiers have cycled through the battlefield at various times. Just the bullets consumed in new recruit training have exceeded 1,500 tons.

The Russians’ reasons were reasonable: the front-line troops had suffered too many casualties and needed to be recalled for rest and reorganization.

Given the high number of casualties, even though Austria knew full well that the Russian government was using this as an opportunity to train their troops, they couldn’t refuse.

In just six months, the Russian army consumed supplies worth over 65 million guilders. If it were the Russian government funding this alone, they certainly wouldn’t be so willing to spend in this way.

This was just the Russian army’s expenses. If the Austrian army’s expenses were added, this number would increase by half.

Airship bombings and naval shelling have similarly consumed significant amounts of ammunition. Fortunately, the Austrian army in the Middle East was merely besieging Jerusalem. If they had fought all the way through, the military expenditures would have been even higher.

The consumption of weapons, ammunition, and strategic supplies was not the biggest issue. In fact, the largest single expenditure in the war was the compensation for soldier casualties.

Taking Austria as an example, the minimum compensation for a soldier killed in action was 600 guilders. The annual preferential policies and benefits paid to the families of martyrs are at least 10 guilders, which over a 30-year period adds up to 300 guilders.

This was just the theoretical baseline. The Austrian army’s compensation also takes into account factors like rank, service years, and whether the soldiers distinguished themselves in battle, all of which add to the amount.

In normal circumstances, the government wouldn’t send rookie soldiers straight to the battlefield. This means that in actual warfare, the compensation paid out will be even higher.

On average, for every Austrian soldier who dies, the Austrian government must pay 1,200 guilders in compensation. If 10,000 soldiers die, that totals 12 million guilders.

The expenses for the dead were high, but the expenses for the severely wounded who survived were actually even higher.

Not to mention, the government must bear the subsequent medical expenses and must also be responsible for solving the livelihood problems of those who lost their ability to work.

To ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops, these expenses cannot be skimped on. Franz was willing to spend generously in this regard, and Austria’s post-war compensation work was among the best.

Fortunately for the Russian government, they don’t have to pay as much in compensation. Otherwise, Alexander II would be in tears by now, as the compensation for casualties would outweigh the battlefield expenses.

With the development of industrial technology, the cost of industrial materials has decreased, while the cost of human lives has risen. In later times, the emphasis various countries placed on soldier casualties was actually driven by the high compensation costs.

Albrecht, the Minister of War, said, “Following past practice, the Russian army will rotate out units with casualty rates exceeding 10%.

The Russian government still has 200,000 new recruits in the Ukrainian region, and they can reach the front line in as little as a week, or at the latest within two weeks.

The deadline for us to provide military supplies is fast approaching. The Russians are sure to race against time, and I believe the Russian army will launch another offensive in no more than 20 days.”

Initially, the Austrian government promised to provide six months’ worth of military supplies for 150,000 Russian soldiers. Later, the two sides made a deal, and this limit was increased to 200,000 soldiers, with the deadline extended to the end of 1874.

The Russian government had just dealt a heavy blow to the Poles and achieved a brilliant victory, but their treasury was hit hard. Given this situation, the Russians are naturally trying to save money wherever possible.

Only by launching a major offensive before the final deadline can they obtain more supplies from the Austrian government to prepare for future wars.

The Russian army had been doing this all along, such as falsely reporting war losses and hiding strategic materials.

Austrian officers at the front had long reported these issues, but since the Russians were still needed on the battlefield, Franz did not investigate further.

Hiding strategic supplies is not as easy as it sounds, especially if they can’t be caught red-handed by the Austrian officers on the front lines. Concealing a small amount of supplies is simple, but hiding large quantities is much harder, and it’s difficult to balance the accounts.

Austria has officers overseeing the process, and even inflating casualty figures must pass inspections. If any problems are discovered during the checks, those responsible will be held accountable.

Austria distributes strategic supplies based on the number of Russian troops, but on the battlefield, people are dying every day, so the consumption naturally decreases as soldiers perish.

However, the quartermasters in charge of distributing supplies don’t receive immediate updates, so the Russian troops on the front continue receiving the same amount of supplies, creating a surplus.

The inflated casualty reports and hidden supplies mainly come from this surplus. As long as the accounting is clean, Austria won’t dig too deep into the matter.

How much of these supplies end up in the hands of the Russian government and how much gets privately divided among Russian officers isn’t something Franz is concerned about.

After a moment of contemplation, Franz made a decision, “Release the news that we are preparing to send 500,000 troops to destroy the Ottoman Empire.”

Many European countries would love to see the Ottoman Empire in trouble, but none of them want to see it completely destroyed.

Without this large entity to balance the region, Austria could focus all its energy on Central Europe, increasing the defense pressure on several countries.

At the London Conference, Britain and France had already begun mediating this Near East War, but it wasn’t enough. The diplomatic pressure from the European countries wasn’t yet strong enough to force the Austrian government to back down.

Franz’s move to destroy the Ottoman Empire was intended to turn up the heat, catching the attention of Britain and France and pushing them to put more effort into intervening in the war.

It was absurd, causing trouble for oneself, yet this absurdity was actually happening. Franz couldn’t help but laugh at the thought.