Chapter 207: The Point of No Return (BONUS)
Munich
Ever since learning about Felix’s journey through Germany and the fact that the final stop would be in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Maximilian II had not had a good night’s sleep.
While other states could do Tai Chi and stall for time, as the last country, what options do they have?
Without a doubt, each state hoped that Bavaria could step forward to prevent Austria’s actions. As the leader of the small states, Bavaria could not escape this.
Especially since Maximilian II came to power and implemented the strategy of a three-way division of Germany, it has pushed Bavaria into a corner.
Since the Kingdom of Prussia was being alienated by everyone, Frederick William IV felt no pressure playing dumb since he was not afraid of offending anyone anyway.
Bavaria was different. If it wanted to be the leader of the small states, it must step forward now. Whether supporting Austria’s plan or opposing it, either option was better than being an ostrich.
Maximilian II said cautiously, “Gentlemen, Felix will arrive in Munich shortly, and we have little time left. Today, we must make a choice.”
This was the price that had to be paid for the previous diplomatic mistakes. Duped by Prussia previously to announce the strategy of dividing Germany into three, they had offended many small states.
At this moment, the Bavarian government was faced with the choice of either aligning with Austria, joining the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire with everyone and becoming one of its minor shareholders.
Or obstructing Austria’s plan, voicing the thoughts in many German states’ hearts, regaining everyone’s support. After all, national ties were maintained by common interests. With aligned interests, everyone would remain friends.
Prime Minister Karl von Abel analyzed: “Your Majesty, stopping Austria’s plan is easy, but the consequences would be extremely severe.
Firstly, we would gravely offend Austria. Restoring friendly ties between both nations would be difficult then. Secondly, domestic public opinion would be hard to appease. Currently, most citizens hope for peaceful German unification.
Although we all know German unification is impossible, as the ones personally closing this door, we would inevitably face condemnation from the public.”
Karl von Abel had already sensed the dangers. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrians established the German Federal Parliament to prevent French invasion.
Unexpectedly, the French remained quiet for decades, rendering Austria’s efforts futile. Now that the French had reestablished their military, Bavaria’s western borders were no longer secure.
If they did not improve relations with their eastern neighbor Austria now, who knew when disaster might strike? After all, Maximilian II had made numerous foolish decisions since ascending the throne.
Ambition needed sufficient strength to support it. Germany split three ways was what Britain, France and Russia hoped to see most. There would be no lack of international support, it was just that Bavaria lacked the power to realize this plan.
In theory, if the Kingdom of Bavaria’s strength doubled and they had the support of the great powers, they could strive for this.
However, Maximilian II’s efforts were premature. With insufficient strength and the loss of support from many small states, their influence within the confederation became negligible.
Finance Minister Karl von Schrenck opposed: “Prime Minister, these pressures can be resisted. Once we accept Austria’s conditions, the Holy Roman Empire will be resurrected.
Now is different from the past. Nationalism has awakened, and the central government is no longer a dispensable rubber stamp. They can use public opinion to pressure us to make concessions.
Austria is already the largest state in Germany, whether in terms of population, territory, or even the economy. They nearly match all our states combined.
If they obtain the rights of the central government, they will have the moral high ground, and we will have no choice but to compromise.
Perhaps initially, it’s just about unifying currency and abolishing tariffs, and it seems like we won’t have to pay much.
However, over time, you will find that control over the military, finances, and diplomacy will fall into the hands of the central government, and we will be, at most, a highly autonomous government.”
This would happen sooner or later. Any central government would find ways to centralize power.
However, the various German states were not fully united. For example, those free cities wouldn’t mind becoming highly autonomous regions, which was a good thing for the capitalists.
The compromise acceptable by most small states would also be far greater. To them, these were unimportant powers, but undoubtedly substantive interests for the larger states.
From this aspect, the royal houses stood to lose the most. With an emperor above them, they no longer hold supreme authority, and if certain policies were unpopular, the public could appeal to the central government.
Assaulted from within and without, royal power would soon be whittled to nothing, with the cabinet governments slowly decaying into provincial governments as their powers decline significantly.
Thus, bureaucrats from every state firmly opposed this.
Prime Minister Karl von Abel shook his head and said: “Mr. Schrenck, I think you’ve misunderstood. I’m only against directly opposing Austria, not suggesting that we should support them.
With so many parties unwilling to see the Holy Roman Empire reappear, do we need to pull hatred onto ourselves? Why should everyone share the benefits but we alone bear the resentment?
Our current stance should be in line with most of the other states. If no one opposes Austria’s plans, then we won’t either.
Dragging down all the state governments, either everyone opposes the rebuilding of the Holy Roman Empire, or we all return to the imperial era together.”
“Prime Minister, I’m afraid it is not so simple. Now all the German states want us to take a stand, even the three powers, Britain, France, and Russia, hope for our opposition. Hoping to muddle through this is likely impossible. At least diplomatically, we can’t justify it,” Foreign Minister Ludwig von der Pfordten opposed.
In simple terms, Bavaria wanted to shrink back but many big shots were forcing them forward. Ignoring the opinions of the great powers, the Bavarian government wasn’t that audacious to do so.
Maximilian II frowned. Why were they pressuring him when this was Austria’s problem? This was clearly bullying the weak!
Prussia itself was unwilling to take the lead, so they pushed Bavaria forward. Britain and France couldn’t intimidate Austria and couldn’t influence Prussia’s decisions, so they seized the opportunity to bully Bavaria instead.
Russia pushed them to oppose, purely to trouble Austria and delay the unification of their ally.
With all these factors combined, the Bavarian government found itself at the forefront. Faced with diplomatic pressure, even Prime Minister Karl von Abel, who vehemently opposed, had to yield.
Only with the support of the great powers could Bavaria preserve its standing within the Confederation. Essentially, they were just a small state, comparable in overall strength to Belgium.
A small nation was a small nation, with little territory and population. They had no choice but to rely on large nations to survive.
This was also why Maximilian II sought to integrate many small German states. Only by bringing these states together could they form a medium-sized country, possessing the ability to be independent.
For a medium-sized nation, as long as they developed well, they could become a minor power, much like the current Kingdom of Prussia. With the strength of a medium-sized nation, they had the possibility of entering the ranks of the great powers.
In order to achieve this, Bavaria first needed the support of the great powers. Without Britain, France and Russia restricting Austria and Prussia, when would Bavaria have the chance to consolidate the many small German states?
During the debate of ideologies, Maximilian II also proposed the “Lesser Germany” plan with Bavaria at its core. Unfortunately, even the people of Bavaria lacked interest in it.
The reason was very simple — it was too small, not meeting everyone’s expectations of the “dreams of a great nation.”
Any nation with a rich history harbored dreams of becoming a great power, and how could the German people be an exception? Since it was the dream of becoming a great power, it had to be sufficiently large. This was also the reason why Austria was currently popular.
The new Holy Roman Empire would truly be massive. Once established, its area would exceed 1.1 million square kilometers, surpassing neighboring France in every metric, satisfying the dreams of many of it being a great nation.
The German-French conflict was the result of the House of Habsburg and the French clashing for centuries. The Franco-Prussian War in history was just a continuation of this conflict.
Surpassing the French also held a special meaning among the Germans. This was also why, after the Franco-Prussian War, Prussia was able to integrate the loosely connected German states.
With national vanity satisfied and national pride emerging, national identity also rose, transforming “Germany” from a regional name into a country.
Maximilian II sneered and said, “Since everyone wants Bavaria and Austria to be enemies, then we can only go along with it.
This is also an opportunity. As long as we stand up against Austria, we can gain the support of the great powers. With their support, the possibility of successfully integrating the various German states is very high.
Neither Britain, France, nor Russia wants to see the emergence of a colossal German Empire. Our plan aligns well with their interests. With their support, the likelihood of ultimate success is very high.”
Unable to go against the great powers, Maximilian II reluctantly acknowledged this fact. Still fantasizing over that beautiful future, he did not know this one step had set him on the point of no return.
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