Chapter 361: The Power of Boasting
As a desperate, last-ditch effort, the federal government funded revolutionary organizations to incite rebellions in various countries, a provocation that the ruling governments of those nations would undoubtedly not tolerate.
If the news was leaked, the Union government might not be doomed, as the countries still needed a divided United States and would not hit them with full force. But Lincolns administration would definitely be finished immediately.
Even the capitalists supporting them would abandon them at the first opportunity, and might even come out to step on them.
There was no way around it; the great powers would unreasonably stir up trouble. If they dont give Britain, France, Austria, and Spain a reasonable explanation, the federal government wont be able to pass this hurdle.
Of course, this was no longer important for President Lincoln. Based on the current situation, even without making trouble, he would still step down. If he did make trouble, the worst outcome would just be an earlier resignation.
He did not directly plan these actions or covertly sponsor these revolutionary organizations. As long as no one was caught with direct evidence, it would be within the reasonable scope of political struggle, and he could resign to settle the matter.
The ones truly responsible would be the federal government; its just a matter of how much money to compensate. Its still better than having several great powers intervene with full force.
The division of the United States was the common desire of the countries. How it would be divided would depend on the actual situation. Lincoln did not want to pin his hopes on the integrity of other nations, so he chose to take a gamble.
If successful and domestic unrest broke out in those countries, they could turn the tables. If the anti-war factions gained the upper hand in any country, then the intervention alliance would be down one member. At the very least, these anti-war factions could delay things for a while.
Historically, the British government delayed its decision-making and missed the opportunity to intervene because of the constraining influence of the anti-war faction.
In this era, most Europeans are very proud and dont see the United States, a newcomer, as a significant threat.
This kind of disdain undoubtedly provided an opportunity for the federal government to get through this crisis. President Lincoln decided to seize this opportunity and take a gamble.
By the end of 1864, under the protection of the federal government, members of these revolutionary organizations began to return to the European continent in batches secretly.
Across the ocean, some were happy, while others were worried.
Genuine revolutionaries were naturally enthusiastic and prepared to immerse themselves in revolutionary activities back in their home country. However, those who were just pretending to be revolutionaries to swindle funds had a different mindset. They were living comfortably in the United States, occasionally publishing a few articles as revolutionary leaders. Who would be willing to risk their lives in actual revolutions?
Revolutions lead to deaths, and the more conservative a country is, the greater the risk to those who start a revolution.
Conversely, countries more heavily influenced by liberalism were a bit safer. At least there was no need to worry about being executed without trial.
Stephen and Garibaldi happened to be placed on the same ship. The Americans probably intended for them to cooperate by arranging leaders of organizations with similar political stances together.
On the surface, there was no conflict between the Hungarian Independence Organization and the Italian Independence Organization.
After all, Hungarian independence wouldnt make any territorial demands on Italy, and the Italian Independence Organization had no interest in Hungarian territory.
In contrast, there was serious conflict between the French Revolutionary Party and the Italian Independence Organization. Many young French people believed that the Italian territories should belong to France, simply because Napoleon was Italian.
Dont dismiss this reasoning as nonsense, merely having a rationale is already good. Frankly speaking, for a French revolution, as long as the Parisians joined in, it would suffice; other areas would simply follow suit, with no need to ally with the Italians.
In this case, what had already been swallowed could not naturally be vomited back out.
Giving up the Kingdom of Sardinia sounded simple, but if the government actually did it, the French people would surely launch another revolution.
As for the leaders of the two organizations considered capable of cooperating amicably, they did not have a pleasant exchange.
Stephen explained: Mr. Garibaldi, if you take action in the Venetian territories, we can still cooperate to some extent. But if you take action elsewhere, then Im sorry, we cannot guarantee being able to hold back the Austrians.
This was the truth. Stephen felt that if he went to recruit in the Hungarian territories, being able to muster troops in the triple digits would only be possible with a miracle.
During the revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Republic caused a major uproar but still did not gain the support of the people. Now all they had left was the slogan of Hungarian independence. Could they still garner support from the people?
Back then, everyone was very arrogant. When defining the Magyar ethnicity, they did not consider the lower-class serfs to be their compatriots and did not give them corresponding treatment.
On this point, the Hungarian nobility bears the main responsibility. To safeguard their own interests, they refused to recognize these people as part of the same ethnicity.
In terms of bloodlines, it was actually the middle and lower classes of Hungarians who were the true Magyars, while the upper-class nobles were largely immigrants, not ethnic Magyars.
Culturally, Hungarian nobility is deeply influenced by German culture. German is often used in writing, followed by Latin, with less than five percent proficient in normal Hungarian script, and less than half proficient in the Hungarian language.
On the other hand, the middle and lower-class populace mostly use Hungarian, with about one-third also learning German. Influenced by the nobility, writing is predominantly in German.
This was due to historical reasons. A careful study would reveal that a large portion of the nobles across European countries originated from Germany.
As kings were exported, so were nobles. Adding to that, medieval Europe saw frequent wars, and the German territories were extremely impoverished at the time, leaving people no choice but to take up military service.
Through fighting and with some luck, some outstanding individuals would rise up and gradually become nobles over time. As time passed, nobles originating from Germany gradually increased.
The Hungarian Republic existed for too short a time and did not manage to acknowledge the status of the lower classes, so naturally the lower classes could not be expected to deeply identify with this republic.
To permanently resolve the issue, Franz directly created the Austrian nationality. Initially, he wanted to use German directly, but this term faced resistance from many, so he settled for Austrian.
This is a characteristic of European culture. Many people in Austria only identify with Austria, not with the German Confederation at the time.
However, later when Austria established the new Holy Roman Empire, they did identify with it, for a simple reason: Austria held absolute dominance.
This is human nature. For instance, if someone wants to take over your company, naturally you would be unwilling. But if you were the one taking over someone elses company, it would be a different story.
The Austrian nationality not only includes Hungarians but also many others of unclear ethnicity, all merged by Franz. It has become the second-largest ethnicity in present-day Austria.
Ethnicities can all be created, let alone others. Germans were called North Austrians, while the Austrian nationality was called South Austrians, a branch of the Germanic ethnic group.
Due to long-term intermarriage with South Austrian nomadic tribes and invasions by the Ottoman Empire, among other factors, different living habits were formed.
Whether outsiders believe it or not, the Austrian government believed it. The family histories of local nobles can prove that their ancestors came from the German region.
These various factors directly contribute to the struggles of the Hungarian independence organization. Even within the designated Magyar ethnicity, many still consider themselves a branch of the Germanic ethnic group.
Unfortunately, there is insufficient evidence in hand. Coupled with centuries of intermarriage, most people are of mixed heritage, making it impossible to prove lineage.
The only way was to prove it culturally, which left Stephen feeling hopeless. Most members of the Hungarian independence organization could use German, with those who could use Hungarian actually being the minority.
Without Istvn Szchenyis revival of the Hungarian language and traditional culture, where would the Hungarian nationality come from?
In this era of inconvenient transportation and restricted communications, even with the telegraph, given the exorbitant costs, no one would extravagantly use it to transmit such unimportant messages. Garibaldi naturally would not know these circumstances.
He thought Stephen was refusing out of self-interest because, on such major issues, no one would dare be a philanthropist. So he promised:
Mr. Stephen, dont rush to refuse. This matter wont go unrewarded for you. The Austrians are our common enemy, and their strength is formidable. Only by uniting can we have a chance of victory.
Now that youre helping to hold off the Austrians, I can guarantee that in the future, when you need assistance, we will spare no effort to help you.
Lombardy and Venetia are still under Austrian control, and there will be plenty of opportunities for cooperation in the future. You dont need to worry about my promise becoming void.
At the moment, Garibaldi could only offer empty promises, as he couldnt provide tangible benefits. The entire Italian National Salvation Army consisted of only about one thousand men.
If the revolution succeeded and he was able to take control of a territory, perhaps he could then offer real money and resources. For now, they lacked sufficient funds for even themselves.
Stephens situation was even more tragic. The Hungarian Independence Organization appears formidable on the surface. And the 1848 Hungarian independence movement demonstrated their strength. However, their rise was followed by a swift decline.
They did have domestic supporters, but over the years, peoples desire for independence had waned.
When young, one could disregard everything for ideals. But once they had a wife, children, and elders to care for, it was not so simple to make them take risks.
Moreover, even if these people were mobilized, they could not make much of an impact. The oversight of ethnic divisions in the past has marginalized them into a minority.
At this moment, Stephen even had the urge to rename their group into the Austrian Revolutionary Party. No matter what, that name at least had broad appeal, not limited to a single ethnicity.
Although Austria had developed quite well in recent years, there were still many dissatisfied people. Raising the banner of the Austrian Revolutionary Party would likely make recruitment much easier.
But he was also unwilling to compromise and admit defeat. Once renamed to the Austrian Revolutionary Party, the Hungarian Independence Organization would cease to exist, abandoning the goal of Hungarian independence and acknowledging that Hungarians were a part of Austria.
After hesitating for a moment, Stephen still didnt want to lose face, so he blustered, Mr. Garibaldi, its not that were unwilling to help, but we really cant do it.
To divert the Austrians would require organizing an uprising of at least hundreds of thousands of people. Do you think after the last Hungarian independence war, the Austrian government would not be on guard?
For so many years, they have never stopped suppressing us. You must have heard that among the various exiled revolutionary groups, Austrian revolutionary groups have had the fewest survivors.
The Austrian governments infamous wanted orders hang like a sword over our heads. Over the years, more than a dozen branches have been destroyed, with hundreds of people slaughtered, and the organizational structure has been severely damaged.
For secrecy, many of our communications were single-line with no backup data. As these branches were destroyed, we lost contact with over 90% of our members.
Seeing Stephens anguished expression, Garibaldi did not know what to say. He had heard of the Austrian governments viciousness in cracking down on revolutionary organizations.
The Italian National Salvation Army had not been targeted yet because they were newly established and hadnt caused trouble on Austrian territory, so they naturally didnt attract the Austrian governments attention.
Garibaldi said with an embarrassed look, Sorry, I did not know the situation you were facing was so dire.
Seeing that Garibaldi had been hoodwinked, Stephen breathed a sigh of relief. He still had some integrity and didnt want to make promises lightly, especially since their allies were few.
Without a few major rebels leading the charge, if the Austrian governments attention fell on them, it would be a tragedy.
Stephen didnt want to become the primary target, as it meant being at risk of dying in an accident at any moment. Unless he retired to the mountains and forests, nowhere would be safe.
The Hungarian independence organization managed to survive by learning to conceal themselves, not by being militarily powerful.
Ever since the revolution failed, they had long remained at the stage of just spouting rhetoric, never launching any substantive rebellion.
Their so-called disruptive activities amounted to nothing more than writing a few articles criticizing the Austrian government or distributing nationalist independence propaganda slogans.
This was not Stephens fault. It was mainly that those revolutionaries with actual combat ability had participated in the Hungarian independence movement and basically died in the independence war.
The fish that slipped through the net and survived were mostly loudmouths responsible for propaganda, lacking combat ability so they never appeared in the rebel armies.
Since too many were implicated, and they had been small fry at the time, they slipped through the cracks during the post-war purge.
After escaping the initial crackdown, everyone became worried and feared being caught and imprisoned, so they chose to exile overseas one after another.
Since they were already relying on their tongues to make a living, even after changing the time and place, there wasnt a significant change.
Over the years, their theoretical foundations and organizational abilities had indeed improved, but taking up arms to fight for independence was too much to ask of them.
Being able to talk big is also a kind of skill, and based on this ability, the Hungarian Independence Organization thrived in the United States.
By relying on their eloquence, they successfully deceived many people, and everyone thought they were a bunch of desperados. Even the criminal organizations in the United States kept their distance from them.
Thanks to the reputation they built, they also sheltered many Hungarian immigrants in the United States, gradually establishing themselves in the country.
The better life they had, the more they feared death.
Now, people like Stephen no longer had the will for revolution. Bearing the banner of the Hungarian Independence Organization was more about protecting their own interests than leading Hungarian independence.
America in this era wasnt exactly a pristine land either. Over the years, they had also amassed a considerable fortune. If not for their adept boasting, which intimidated a pack of jackals, tigers, and leopards, their good days would have ended long ago.
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