Chapter 117: Disarmament
With the cooperation of Pope Pius IX, the Austrian government successfully convinced the bishops, and the pressure continued to mount.
Is the law not applicable to everyone?
If there was no such thing, many clergymen would want to be bishops.
Despite losing a significant portion of their church properties, the church continues to be a wealthy organization with ample public funds at their disposal, and there is no oversight in place.
Franz consistently adhered to the principle of persuading people through reason. In this deal with the Church, fairness was maintained, a fact personally confirmed by Pope Pius IX.
For clergy who didn't comprehend the situation, he offered gentle persuasion. If that approach failed, he continued to engage them in constructive discussions and sought to help them amend their perspectives. In cases of more stubborn individuals, a combination of critique and education was employed, ultimately aiding them in rectifying their shortcomings.
Following the dismissal of an archbishop, eighteen regional bishops, auxiliary bishops, and over a hundred priests who were deemed insufficiently devout in their faith, everyone actively cooperated with the government to facilitate the transition.
In regular circumstances, clergy members found lacking in devotion to their faith would typically face dire consequences.
However, this time was an exception, as Franz interceded on their behalf. They only needed to prove themselves as devout believers in the upcoming battle to reclaim the Papal States.
If they could resolve the issue with the Church without bloodshed, it would make the Austrian government realize the importance of the Papal States. Having a pro-Austrian Pope would help manage the clergy effectively.
In simpler terms, if any bishop caused trouble, they could be sent to serve God in the Papal States. For instance, being a guardian of the Holy Land was considered a promising position.
Having received benefits, they naturally had to perform their duties, and Pope Pius IX had fulfilled his role. Now, it was Austria’s turn to provide compensation.
Franz harbored a strong aversion to unpaid wages, and he certainly wouldn’t want to become the person he disliked the most.
“How is the situation with Marshal Radetzky? Do we need to redeploy troops from the homeland?" Franz inquired.
“Your Majesty, the withdrawal from the Kingdom of Sardinia is nearly complete, and the morale of the troops on the front line is high. They can continue to participate in this campaign.
However, Marshal Radetzky suggests that these soldiers return home while a portion of them be redeployed to intervene in the Papal States,” replied Prince Windisch-Gr?tz, the Minister of War.
Clearly, he was somewhat dissatisfied with Marshal Radetzky’s suggestion. While it sounded simple to transfer soldiers around, the actual implementation could be troublesome.
The high morale was expected, given that the Sardinian army was relatively inexperienced and had not faced many serious battles. They had essentially encountered little resistance along the way.
Casualties were minimal, yet the spoils of war were incredibly abundant. Even if they were heavily discounted when they were sold, each soldier could expect to receive hundreds of florins, which equated to several years’ worth of income for an ordinary person.
(1 florin ≈ 11.69 grams of silver)
In addition to this unexpected windfall, the promised land by Franz was about to be fulfilled. Given this fortunate turn of events, the soldiers were naturally willing to continue fighting.
After considering Marshal Radetzky’s suggestion, Franz believed it was essential to have the new recruits from Austria gain some battlefield experience. There wasn’t much danger in the current situation, and it could be seen as a valuable training opportunity.
The main concern was the defense forces in Vienna, who were equipped with the best weapons but lacked combat experience, potentially making them the weakest link in the Austrian army.
Franz found an excuse, saying, “The frontline soldiers have been in continuous combat for nearly half a year; it’s time to let them rest and recuperate.
Let’s follow Marshal Radetzky’s advice. We’ll rotate some new recruits from the rear to replace them and send the Vienna garrison forces for real combat training.”
Purely from a military perspective, even the most elite unit would feel fatigued after continuous combat for half a year.
In this Austro-Sardinian War, which had officially lasted for four to five months, the actual time of battle between the two sides was less than a month. The Austrian army had managed to push back from Venice to Turin during this period.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Prince Windisch-Gr?tz replied.
These were all minor issues, and no one would challenge Franz’s authority.
The interference in the Papal States relied more on the deterrent power of force, and the chances of a full-scale war breaking out were slim.
Although the revolutionary party’s government had seized power, there was still a part of the military supporting the Pope in the country. The indecisive bourgeois government was concerned about triggering a civil war and had not yet conducted a major purge of the military.
“Your Majesty,” Prime Minister Felix began, “the domestic situation has now stabilized, and the international circumstances are in our favor. Continuing to maintain such a large military force is placing considerable financial strain on the government. The Cabinet recommends a partial demobilization of our troops, allowing us to redirect the saved resources toward post-war reconstruction and development.”
Increasing the size of the army during times of war and reducing it after the war are common practices.
Currently, despite the unrest caused by the revolutions in Europe, conflicts between countries have not escalated yet. In this context, the likelihood of major conflicts between great powers is nearly nonexistent.
“Prime Minister, how many troops is the government planning to demobilize?” Franz inquired.
Felix responded confidently, “Considering that we are about to intervene in the Papal States and the current situation, the government proposes demobilizing one hundred thousand troops within the year and another one hundred and thirty thousand next year. Our final total force will be maintained at around three hundred and fifty thousand.”
This disarmament primarily targets regular troops. The locally raised temporary forces have been gradually discharged and returned to their home regions after the war ended.
Many areas are still involved in reemployment and resettlement efforts, which was an initiative introduced by Franz himself and was not a common practice in Austria before.
Currently, the government holds a substantial number of industries, and under the planned economy system, there are plenty of positions available to accommodate these individuals.
It’s worth noting that almost all soldiers who received significant land rewards have chosen to return home and engage in farming.
Factories were not seen as desirable destinations for people during this era. If given a choice, most people were reluctant to become laborers.
While the same is true for state-owned factories, they were slightly more popular than privately owned ones, mainly because there was no concern about employers withholding wages in these government-controlled facilities.
After all, these state-owned factories have operated on a piece-rate system from the beginning, meaning that the harder you worked, the more you earned. There was no room for slacking off, so the workload was equally demanding.
At this point, Franz couldn’t help but be thankful for his clear thinking and not blindly absorbing Sardinia. Otherwise, if he had to downsize the military now, it might have led to further expansion.
Tens of thousands of Austrian troops were enough to conquer Sardinia, but to rule it effectively, even two to three hundred thousand soldiers might not suffice.
This was a lingering consequence of nationalist awakenings, and it was challenging to establish control without a significant cleansing process. The best solution was often to relocate the local population entirely, which would then stabilize the region.
If this were the 21st century, relocating five or six million people at once wouldn’t be a big deal as long as you were willing to spend the money.
However, it was still the mid-19th century, and even if the Austrian government did nothing else and focused solely on organizing ships to transport people, it would take several years to complete this task.
Once the people were gone, all that remained was a vast expanse of land with no resources and no industry. What would Franz do with it?
If he had the time and resources, it would be more worthwhile to expand into colonial territories. Even if he invested only a fraction of the resources, he could gain many times the land area of the Kingdom of Sardinia.
Prince Windisch-Gr?tz objected, saying, “Prime Minister, we are currently negotiating with the Russians, and it won’t be long before we reach an agreement.
When the time comes, we will inevitably need to send troops to the Balkans. This won’t take too long. If we demobilize now and have to re-mobilize later, will we have enough time?
Once we can’t achieve a quick victory and end up in a stalemate with the Ottoman Empire, and if Britain and France intervene, our interests will be difficult to safeguard.”
For Austria, expanding into the Balkans is indeed an opportunity.
Not long ago, the Austrian government made concessions to the British regarding the issue of Sardinia and gained British support for Austria’s expansion in the Balkans.
In order to provoke tensions between Russia and Austria, the British were unusually generous, accepting all of Austria’s demands related to its interests in the Balkans. The two nations even reached a memorandum of understanding.
Palmerston could never have imagined that the Austrian government would make a deal with the Russians, especially considering that once the Russians control the Black Sea Straits, Austria’s interests in the Mediterranean would also be affected.
If the Russians expand significantly in the Mediterranean, Austria would be trapped in the Adriatic Sea, losing its strategic advantage.
These concerns have indeed crossed the minds of high-ranking Austrian officials, but in the end, they were convinced by Franz.
The reason is quite simple: the Russians can’t win against the British at sea, and the British Mediterranean fleet can easily block the Russians in the Black Sea.
Prime Minister Felix shook his head and said, “Who said we are immediately going to join forces with the Russians to start a war? Austria has just experienced a civil conflict, and the most important thing now is to resume production.
Dividing the Balkans with the Russians is a strategic necessity, and setting our interests in advance is just to avoid conflicts.
Turning the treaty’s provisions into reality is something for the future. In the short term, the Austrian government has no intention of starting a war.
We have made it clear to the Russians that Austria needs to recuperate for at least ten years and will not expand in the European region during this time.
If they can’t wait and decide to act earlier, Austria can provide them with material support, but we won’t participate in the conflict ourselves.
This is a prerequisite for our alliance, so you can rest assured about the disarmament. War will not break out in the short term.”
This explanation left Prince Windisch-Gr?tz feeling quite disappointed. As the leader of the Near East Faction, he had already started preparing for war, only to be told suddenly that the war wouldn’t happen.
However, the military must serve politics.
Due to the butterfly effect of Franz’s actions, the Austrian military’s power did not swell significantly. While they had a strong say in domestic and foreign affairs, they lacked decision-making authority.
On this matter, Franz supported the government’s stance. Austria's top priority at the moment was to recuperate and strengthen its national power. Expansion could be pursued when the time was right.
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