Chapter 167: Loli Development Plan (BONUS)
Constantinople
A negotiation that would decide the fate of three empires began. Russia was represented by Alexander Menshikov, Austria by Stürmer, and the Ottoman Empire by Halil Rifat Pasha.
The three were confrontational, and a heated verbal battle full of the smell of gunpowder began. In reality, the negotiations between the three were very harmonious, at least in the early stages.
Apart from Halil Rifat Pasha’s gloomy face, the atmosphere of the negotiations was quite harmonious. At least the negotiations between Menshikov and Stürmer went very smoothly.
The contents agreed upon in the Russian-Austrian Secret Treaty were now brought up, so how could it not go smoothly?
The Ottoman side tried to use the conflicting interests of Russia and Austria in the Balkans to undermine the two countries’ strategic goals, but this failed.
The British and French representatives present were dumbfounded. This was clearly not a three-party meeting, but Russia and Austria having already conspired to carve up the Ottoman Empire together.
In less than a morning, the Russian representative Menshikov and the Austrian representative Stürmer reached a consensus and openly divided the spheres of influence in the Balkans.
The Ottoman representative Halil Rifat Pasha was so angry he was fuming, but all of them were civilized people. Even when partitioning the Ottoman Empire, they could not say it outright!
Russia and Austria’s stance now was: dividing commercial trade zones to avoid vicious competition and help the Ottoman Empire join civilized society sooner.
Indeed joining civilized society, just not as the Ottoman Empire, but by being annexed by the two countries and then becoming a member of the civilized world.
Halil Rifat Pasha said gloomily, “Gentlemen, we understand your kind intentions, but the Ottoman Empire does not need such help from you!”
Menshikov sneered in response, “It doesn’t matter. Your country does not need such help now, but will need it soon. For the sake of world peace and stability, as the leader of the civilized world, the Russian Empire has the obligation to help the Ottoman Empire progress.”
A weak nation had no diplomatic power. This was thoroughly demonstrated here. Even if Britain and France were inclined towards the Ottoman Empire, Russia and Austria still had greater say on Balkan issues.
“You, you…” Halil Rifat Pasha was too angry to speak.
The Russians’ obstinate interference had been going on for a while. To be so blatant in a diplomatic setting was hard to accept.
Especially the phrase “leader of the civilized world”, which provoked the British representative Joseph Edward, who retorted sharply:
“When did your country become the leader of the civilized world? I wasn’t even aware of that. How can you say so?”
Everyone present wanted to laugh but had to hold it in painfully due to diplomatic etiquette.
Admitting Russia was the leader of the civilized world? How was that possible? Apart from the Russians themselves, no European country had ever acknowledged this.
If phrased differently, such as “a member of the civilized world”, it would probably be acceptable to everyone.
But the leader of the civilized world? Forget about it. Even as an ally, Stürmer could not support the Russians on this issue.
Diplomacy had never been a Russian strong suit. The diplomatic gaffes Russia committed were countless, so one more made no difference.
Menshikov’s face instantly turned ugly at being caught out like this. Wasn’t this how everyone declared things externally?
Whether it was the British or the French, when colonizing and invading overseas, they all claimed to be leaders of the civilized world. Naturally the Russians kept up with the times too.
Unfortunately, saying this in private was fine, but problems arise when brought up in formal diplomatic occasions.
Since it was already said, Menshikov could only brazen it out. He stiffly said, “As the number one power on the European continent, we are naturally the leaders of the civilized world.”
British representative Joseph Edward mocked, “Your Highness seems to have forgotten the word ‘army’ again. Let me remind you that the standard of civilization is not force. That is the way of barbarians.”
Menshikov angrily said, “Who are you calling barbarians? I challenge you to a duel!”
…...
Seeing Menshikov get played, Stürmer shook his head helplessly. He was speechless about Russia sending a general who believed in force as representative.
But he had to help smooth things over, or things could turn violent immediately.
“If you two want to duel, please choose another time and place. Otherwise, we will go down in diplomatic history as a laughingstock.”
Considering the disparity in might, Joseph Edward decisively chose to give up and coldly snorted, “Humph!”
Menshikov was no fool either. He had just been pushed to the wall by the British, so he simply went all out. After all, it wasn’t rare for Russian diplomats to duel others.
Of course, duels rarely happened in such formal diplomatic settings in this century, let alone at the duke level. Menshikov didn’t want to be the first either.
But the tradition of dueling was still prevalent in Russia. Even the father of Russian literature, Pushkin, died in a duel. It was worth mentioning that Pushkin was also a member of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
With the gunpowder smell so strong, the talks naturally could not continue. Since no one was in a hurry, and expectations of resolving contradictions through negotiation were low, it was better to rest for a few days to cool off before continuing the talks.
……
Vienna
Franz was naturally unaware of the farce in Constantinople as he was busy welcoming guests.
As a neighbor, the Bavarian government had always been very vigilant of Austria. After seeing Austria expand its military, the Bavarian government became worried.
Even if they thought Austria had designs on the Balkans, they still wanted to repair relations between the two countries as soon as possible to eliminate potential threats.
Archduchess Sophie advocated a political marriage between the two royal families. After Franz delayed for some time citing political needs, he did not reject the Bavarian royals’ proposal, but gave an answer to wait a few years.
Worried that more dreams would come the longer the night, the Bavarian royals simply sent Princess Helene to visit her aunt. Of course she did not come alone, but with junior members of the royal family, including the later famous Princess Sisi (Elisabeth).
As the host, Franz naturally had to give his mother face and personally hosted this welcoming banquet.
Europeans matured relatively early. To be frank, both girls had grown into great beauties. From their behavior, Princess Helene seemed to have received a good court education, while Princess Sisi performed much worse.
It shouldn’t be assumed that with the title of princess, they were real princesses. At most they could be considered imperial clan daughters in an Eastern monarchy.
Their father was a duke from a branch of the royal family, a third degree or more distant relative. Normally, they would not be eligible to marry Franz, nor would the Bavarian royals have this idea.
The reason for all this was Archduchess Sophie. She and Princess Helene’s mother were close sisters, having been very close since childhood. A marriage alliance had been proposed even before Franz took the throne.
In contrast, Princess Sisi was tragic. Her birth mother was just a maid who seized power after her mistress passed away.
This was also one of the historical reasons for Princess Sisi’s tragedy. As Archduchess Sophie’s niece, Princess Helene naturally received favoritism. She, the interloper, obviously could not expect Archduchess Sophie to show her kindness.
That could have been let go. The Vienna court also had rules. In principle, mother-in-law conflicts could not affect the Archduchess’s status.
But the problem was Princess Sisi was rebellious, not fitting court etiquette at all, and often did things beyond her status, causing scandals for the royals.
As things went back and forth, the Archduchess naturally had to intervene and educate her, and contradictions between them gradually accumulated.
Later, as scandals grew louder, the Vienna court felt Princess Sisi lacked the qualifications to raise the next generation, and Archduchess Sophie deprived her of the right to educate her children. This completely intensified the contradictions.
On these issues, the original host had naturally made decisions he thought were right, but was actually completely ineffective.
Of course, even if it was anyone else, this problem could not be resolved. Unless Princess Sisi’s personality was thoroughly altered, tragedy would be inevitable.
If mother-in-law conflicts and children’s education could still be reconciled, then political grievances were extremely fatal.
Especially on the issue of birthing Austro-Hungary, as Archduchess she gained the admiration of the Hungarian people, while also standing in opposition to the Austrian people.
For a time, voices calling for her deposition became mainstream in Vienna. This showed how difficult her situation was.
History and movies were completely different concepts. Rather than the court, her tragedy could be said to be caused by herself.
While restricting her, the Vienna court etiquette also protected her. Without these rules, she would probably have become the first deposed Archduchess in Austrian history.
Looking back through history, Franz made no judgment. While enjoying the convenience of birth status, one had to pay a price too.
Before this political marriage, Princess Sisi’s parents held no positions and were far removed from power centers.
Country life seemed idyllic on the surface, but in reality, Duke Maximilian had no choice but to stay away from big cities due to financial difficulties.
The unrestrained life in childhood, in other words, meant the family could not afford tutors due to economic hardship, and could only attend public school with others, making truancy easy.
One look at Franz and you would know - with dozens of teachers monitoring a student, could one even dream of truancy? Do you know, your truancy means collective holiday for the teachers!
It shouldn’t be assumed that all aristocrats were wealthy. For royals like them, distant relatives far removed from power centers and not engaged in production, and have been long term parasites, how could they maintain the expenses of a life of grandeur?
This could also be seen from Princess Sisi’s destitute dowry. The dowry she obtained as Archduchess was actually insufficient even for half of Franz’s expenditure for one grand banquet.
Princess Helene could receive good upbringing of course not without the financial aid of her good aunt. After all, Archduchess Sophie had always held economic power. As a close royal relative, Archduke Karl’s side had considerable income each year.
Archduchess Sophie smiled and asked, “Franz, what are you thinking about? Are you infatuated?”
Franz casually found an excuse to gloss over, “No, I was just thinking about the Constantinople negotiations.”
Archduchess Sophie laughed. “Oh? We have guests today. Please keep those matters for after the banquet!”
Anyway, she was very satisfied with Princess Helene’s performance. The only regret was her slightly lower birth, but she was her niece, so she wouldn’t mind that.
“Of course, Mother!” Franz laughed.
He had to give his mother some face no matter what. Franz invited both cousins for a dance, then pulled them aside for chat about life.
In fact, nothing happened. Franz simply disliked participating in such aristocratic banquets. Being surrounded by flatterers every day, one would get tired of it after a while.
And then, there were two lolis in the Vienna Palace.
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