Chapter 168: Ethnicity on the Verge of Extinction
Constantinople
Russian representative Alexander Menshikov, who lost face at the negotiating table, soon regained it, though the means were somewhat underhanded.
On April 2, 1851, Menshikov visited the Sultan and, in an extremely overbearing tone, ordered the Ottoman government to dismiss the pro-British and French Foreign Minister Fuad, and appoint the pro-Russian Rifat as the replacement.
It turned out that crude means were often the most direct and effective method. Under pressure from the Russians, the Ottoman government compromised.
Menshikov demonstrated to the world with actual actions who the real boss was in the Near East. The politicians of all countries were rendered speechless. Facing a player who does not follow the rules, everyone got a headache.
Britain and France who had been slapped in the face, naturally would not resign themselves to failure, but in the Near East, their say could not compare with the Russians at all and was even lower than Austria’s.
Before they could take action, Menshikov submitted another diplomatic note to the Ottoman government, accusing the Ottoman government of unfair treatment of the Orthodox Church.
He also demanded that the two countries sign an agreement for the Russian government to manage Orthodox believers, with the Ottoman government not interfering in Orthodox Church affairs.
Unfair treatment was inevitable. In fact, the Ottoman government had relaxed religious policies this era, attempting to eliminate domestic religious contradictions.
Unfortunately, such contradictions had persisted since the Ottoman Empire was established. It was not something that could be resolved by a government decree. Plus Russian interference made the situation even more chaotic.
…… (Specific religious issues omitted, 10,000 words)
The Russian demands had touched the Ottoman Empire’s bottom line. Agreeing to this condition meant handing over more than one-third of the population to Russian management.
Britain and France could not tolerate such Russian expansion either. By now, the British had determined that war was inevitable, and the Russians were just looking for an excuse for this war.
London
After the proceedings of the Constantinople negotiations was conveyed back, the British government began considering how to make a choice in the upcoming Russo-Turkish war.
Foreign Secretary Palmerston thought for a moment and said, “Prime Minister, we must gain Austria’s support to contain the Russians’ ambitions. Just winning over the French is not enough.
If necessary, we can organize a European coalition army and jointly contain the Russians’ ambitions.”
John Russell shook his head and said, “Mr. Palmerston, let’s set aside the issue of organizing a coalition army for now. We all know it’s not that simple.
European countries have different attitudes on the Russian issue. Many countries have no vested interests and it would be almost impossible to have them jointly act against Russia.
Why don’t you talk about how to win over Austria. If we can bring them over, the combined strength of three countries can contain the Russians in the Near East.”
Palmerston analyzed, “The intelligence from Constantinople shows that the Russians and Austrians have reached a compromise, though we still don’t know the specifics.
The Russians have now recognized Austria’s sphere of influence in the Balkans. In return, Austria also supports Russia’s ambitions towards the Ottoman Empire.
This compromise does not mean the contradictions between the two countries in the Balkans no longer exist. They are just temporarily pressed down by common interests.
With the Russians’ appetite, even if the two countries reach consensus, they will still break up eventually due to conflicts of interest. The Austrian government must know this.
The fact that the old fox Metternich is siding with the Russians this time also signifies a change in Austrian policy.
It seems the collapse of the Vienna System has hit the Austrians hard. They no longer aspire for a European balance. In this sense, we have lost an ally in continental policy.
Being Russia’s neighbor, one must stay vigilant at all times. Even a nap means danger. The current Austrian government is ready to divert trouble eastward.
Partitioning the Balkans is just a superficial reason. More importantly is that the Austrian government feels threatened and unwilling to continue shouldering the responsibility of blocking the Russians.
They want to buy time for domestic development by provoking a Russo-Turkish war and dragging the Russians in. Expansion in the Balkans is just a bonus.”
By now, the British government regretted letting the Vienna System collapse. Though after its collapse they could get rid of restrictions and intervene in European affairs, the results were not ideal.
From supporting the Kingdom of Sardinia to the current Near East crisis, the British government had almost no decent diplomatic achievements.
Now the European situation was even more complex, taking up much of their energy. It was not as good as the Vienna System era, when continental Europe was balanced and stable, allowing them to boldly expand overseas.
In this sense, the Vienna System also enabled Britain’s hegemonic position.
The Minister of State asked in puzzlement, “Mr. Palmerston, according to your judgment, is it impossible for us to win over Austria?”
The Austrian Empire had always been at the forefront of resisting Russia, yet the two did not become enemies. This showed the diplomatic prowess of the House of Habsburg.
Such confrontation was clearly detrimental to Austria’s growth and development. The government’s energy being completely preoccupied by its neighbor, where would their ability to develop itself be?
Before the collapse of the Vienna System, the Austrian government had asked the British for financial aid to maintain this system, but was rejected by the government back then.
The British suggestion back then was for Austria to carry out social reforms. After completing the reforms, there would be money.
As it turned out, completing social reforms could indeed reverse the fiscal dilemma. But the current Austrian government was no longer interested in the Vienna System.
To work hard for European balance while the biggest beneficiary under the system reaped the profits silently, how could anyone feel okay with that?
After thinking about it, Palmerston replied, “It depends on the Russians. If they can make the Austrian government feel threatened, then we can pull Austria over to our side.”
History was the same. Austria’s defection was not because of inducements from Britain and France, nor because of conflicts of interest with Russia over the Danube River Basin. The crux was that they felt threatened.
To abandon allies for one’s own strategic security was perfectly normal. Even if it was Franz, if the Russians displayed overwhelming might that threatened Austria, he would also choose to defect.
The same went for Russia. If Austria became too powerful and threatened them, they would become enemies too.
……
Since the military expansion bill passed, a military fever had swept Austria. The lure of land was huge, especially after the war heroes who obtained land in the previous war became role models.
The soldiers who enlisted last time were relatively lucky. That was a smooth journey from start to finish, and they did not experience the cruelty of war. Even if there was cruelty, that was to the enemy.
With this military expansion and preparation for war, it was all but directly said to attack the Ottoman Empire. If it was two hundred years ago, the first reaction to invading the Ottoman Empire would absolutely be fear. Now all that remained in people’s eyes were military exploits.
Who made the Ottoman Empire decline? Couldn’t Austria and Russia together defeat the Ottomans?
The risks were low and the rewards ample, naturally attracting people.
Not to mention ordinary people, even aristocrats were racking their brains to enter the military and serve, determined to get in on this destined victorious war for exploits.
Such opportunities were rare. Missing it this time, who knew when the next foreign war would come.
Long lines had formed in front of the conscription points. The thinking of “obtaining merit right away” was very prevalent in mainland Europe.
In this era, standing out on the battlefield was the best shortcut to success. Especially for the lower classes, this was almost their only path to high society.
Many reserve officers also shone in the previous war. In many people’s eyes, even if they couldn’t enter the regular army, the reserves were still a decent choice.
Military status was highly regarded in Austria. Even reserve soldiers were respected.
A young officer looked at the long line and sighed, “There are a lot of people today. It seems we can raise conscription standards.”
A middle-aged officer next to him glared discontentedly and said, “Welshton, don’t spout nonsense there. Hurry up and organize the tests.
Remember, Austrian speakers get priority this time. I don’t want to train them after they get to the troops.”
“Yes, Major!” Welshton immediately replied.
Austria had never enacted explicit language discrimination laws, but government, military, corporate and other institutions all tacitly gave priority to speakers of the Austrian language.
To use a folk saying: “You can’t even speak the common language. Do you expect me to assign you a translator?”
This was the most realistic issue. Without a common language for communication, finding a job became the first hurdle after entering society.
Even nationalists had to accept this social reality. Finding a job without learning Austrian was already as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Want preferential treatment and consideration? Sorry, employment institutions in Austria had the right to freely choose talent. The government could not interfere arbitrarily.
After three years of promotion, although Austrian had not achieved universal prevalence nationwide, most urban populations had grasped everyday usage.
This scene could now be seen in many parts of Austria. To achieve this, the Austrian government also paid a considerable price.
Especially when promotion of it first began, it encountered resistance from many nationalist radicals. Unfortunately for them, they happened to have been caught up in the revolution and got harmonized or eliminated.
What angered them most was that not only did the Austrian government’s retrogression not arouse popular indignation after the fact, the domestic situation quickly improved instead.
By now, all schools in Austria used Austrian as the main language. Other languages and scripts were treated the same as foreign languages, elective courses, and fee-based elective courses at that.
People were realistic. With exams not testing these and jobs not requiring them, plus having to pay extra to learn them, people naturally became indifferent. The key words of ethnicity and independence also faded from people’s lives.
Not long ago, Franz even ordered all non-Austrian books and periodicals in the country banned.
Many thought this would cause social turmoil, but reality slapped them hard. Apart from some scholars making noise, the general populace simply did not care.
Nationalism also needed publicity. Cutting off publicity channels, how would commoners even know what this was?
Under government crackdown, it quickly became underground thinking. They had to consider actual circumstances if they wanted to spread it. Ever since education reform, the youth no longer went along with them.
With no desperate youth groups, these people’s fighting power greatly decreased. Stand up against the government? Those daring enough had long been jailed. Where was the chance to mess around till now?
Fikwenna was a Hungarian writer, one of the leading figures of Hungarian nationalism.
However, he belonged to the moderate camp, opposed all violent revolutions, and did not follow Kossuth in seeking independence. He even published articles criticizing the atrocities of revolutionaries multiple times.
Such non-threatening existences were naturally not purged. Recently he had been very worried, even more so than when the Kingdom of Hungary was partitioned back then.
For a nationalist, he could accept Hungary being gone, because he did not oppose becoming Austrian. But without the Hungarian national language and script, he could not stand it.
Not long ago, the Hungarian Vorw?rts newspaper he ran was banned. Although this obscure paper’s circulation was less than a thousand copies per issue, it was still a cause he struggled for.
What was even harder for him to accept was that the Hungarian National School established by Count István Széchenyi also listed Hungarian as a paid elective course instead of an instructional language.
Now he was going to argue with the school leadership and could not let the Count’s efforts go to waste. At this moment, he hated Kossuth and his revolutionary comrades immensely.
If not for the 1848 rebellion, the Kingdom of Hungary would still be the Kingdom of Hungary. Under Count István Széchenyi’s leadership, they could still carry out social reforms and build an ideal Hungarian society.
There were no ifs in history. After losing their leader, their group of moderate Hungarians fell apart. Many had been absorbed by the Austrian government.
If nothing unexpected happened, it would not be long before Fikwenna also accepted the Austrian government’s goodwill. For now, he still wanted to try once more for the former dream.
“Principal Engels, why did you abolish the Hungarian language?” Fikwenna questioned.
Engels explained, “Mr. Feikwenna, you should know the Hungarian National School relied on outside donations since establishment. We only collect minimal tuition.
In the last two years, the donations we received have decreased greatly. The school’s finances have become dire. Since a year ago, we have been unable to pay staff salaries on time.
In order for the school to survive, we had to accept educational grants from the Austrian government.
According to the Austrian Ministry of Education, all schools accepting government grants must use Austrian as the sole language of instruction for primary and secondary education.”
Engels had given this explanation to many. The school’s actual situation was even worse than what he said.
Learning an additional language undoubtedly took up a lot of study time, affecting grades in other subjects. Many parents suggested abolishing Hungarian.
Let’s not talk about grand principles. They only cared about exams for advancement. The chances of entering university were already low in this era. For the next generation’s future, many could not care about much else.
“Is there really no other way?” Fikwenna asked with a frown.
Engels sighed and said, “Mr. Fikwenna, we cannot defy reality. After what happened in 1848, the Austrian government became very vigilant against nationalism. It is promoting integrated education comprehensively in the cultural and educational fields.
This is a national policy set by the government. Unless we can make them believe in us again, this suppression will not end. You know this is impossible.”
Rebellion, revolution? They were not unfamiliar with such things, but that was not their expertise. Everyone had a family to care for. Who dared take risks?
Moreover, times had changed. With rapid domestic economic growth and social stability, the populace simply lacked impetus for revolution.
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