Chapter 73: "The Poor Hungary"

Leopold sneered and asked: "If that is the case, why did you call us here today? Is it just for everyone to come and listen to a speech? I admit that Sir Kossuth's speech just now was very good, but everyone is tired of listening to this kind of speech, why don't you change it?"

Kossuth's face was gloomy and terrifying. He couldn't say that he was worried that you were unreliable and would become traitors at any time. Now that the Austrian government has confiscated your land, everyone is in the same boat.

It's good for everyone to know these things. If the bubble popped, how will they get along?

Don't look at these nobles who seem to have suffered heavy losses, and think that they are longer a tiger and can be bullied by dogs. Their strength is not weak at all.

"Your Excellency, that's enough!"

"Austria has raised the butcher's knife, what we need now is unity, and if you want to be held accountable, I can resign. Ladies and gentlemen, who think that they have the ability to lead the Hungarian Republic out of the predicament, I can give up the presidency and let someone more capable take it! "

Out of anger, Kossuth simply got pissed off. The expressions of everyone present changed greatly. At this point in time, it is not easy being the president of the Republic of Hungary. At least Duke Leopold is not interested.

Everyone knows that being the current president of the Republic of Hungary is not easy an easy job to handle. Historically, when the Austrian government decided to suppress it by force, the Hungarian government shuttered its doors, and then the revolutionary party headed by Kossuth came to power.

Under Franz's butterfly effect, the Hungarian Republic's current situation is even worse. No one wants to be the first president, thus Kossuth became the head of state.

Because the approval rate is too low, Kossuth's prestige in the government is not high, and many nobles do not take him seriously.

It looks a lot more like a child throwing a tantrum.

No matter how many shortcomings Kossuth has, and how naïve his political views are, he is the Founder of the Hungarian Republic.

Seeing that the momentum was not right, another noble representative, the Marquis of Roche, stood up and changed the subject.

"Okay, let's not talk about the past. The most important thing is to think about how to deal with the current situation. Let's come up with a basic solution first!"

In "War or Peace", there is no doubt that the revolutionaries headed by Kossuth are the main war faction. Most of these people are idealists and young college students, while the weak aristocrats and capitalists are all advocates of peace.

With a livid face, Kossuth said, "Does this still need to be considered? The Vienna government is starting to split Hungary. Even if we can reach an agreement with Austria, Hungary will only have less than 35% of its territory, which only has forty percent of the population. That is what Hungary will become if we stay in Austria, we can't even keep our current status. Are we just watching the Austrians exploit us every day?"

Kossuth also knew that he was too naïve at this time. Because of the opposition of the nobles, he did not solve the land issue, and because of the opposition of the emerging capitalists, he did not solve the national problem.

Yes, the terrible national policy of the Hungarian Republic was born out of the emerging bourgeoisie's fear of competition.

Although now whether it is Croats, Romanians, or Slovaks, there is no strength to compete with them.

But once they are given equal rights in politics, this kind of competition will soon arise. The Hungarian Republic is too small to accommodate so many competitions, and they have to suppress their opponents in advance.

This has been confirmed in the Austrian Empire. Because of political advantages, almost the entire country's industry is in the hands of the Germans, and the Hungarian capitalists also rely on tariffs and local protectionism to survive.

Now that it is their turn to be the masters, they will naturally follow suit. After all, no capitalist can resist this temptation, but now they have gone too far.

Driven by interests, extreme nationalism has become the mainstream ideology in Hungary, which makes other ethnic minorities in the country very dissatisfied. After the Vienna government threw an olive branch, everyone decisively defected.

Kossuth's words awakened the emerging bourgeoisie. For their interests and their heads, they had to support the government to start a war with the Austrians. Only by winning can they get everything they want.

Although the probability of winning is low, they have already boarded the ship. The Vienna government may be open to the nobles, but there is no reason to show mercy to the capitalists.

It is the same in ancient and modern times at home and abroad. The concept of "no businessman is not a traitor" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. It is politically correct to kill a profiteer.

It is a pity that, as the earliest capitalists, they have naturally been labeled as traitors, and not being able to become traitors[1]. They are all real cases of unscrupulous capitalists in the history books. Killing them can not only reap a fortune but also gain a wave of popular support.

"Mr. Kossuth, now Hungary has enemies on all sides, how should we fight this war?" asked the Marquis of Roche with concern.

There is no doubt that the Marquis of Roche did this on purpose. As a great noble in Hungary, the Marquis of Roche is not afraid of the reckoning of the Vienna government.

As long as the Habsburg family still controls the power in Austria, it is impossible to kill the nobles. This is the advantage of having more relatives.

Without the pressure to survive, the big aristocrats think differently from the capitalists, and their main purpose is to stop losses.

After speaking, the Marquis of Roche opened the map that had been prepared. On the map, Hungary was sandwiched between the three major powers of Russia, Ottoman, and Austria, and the location was clearly marked.

There is no doubt that Hungary is surrounded by enemies. Russia and Austria are allies, and the tsarist government publicly announced that it will help Austria and Prussia suppress the revolution, they were originally not enemy but now both Russia and Prussia have become enemies.

They can't always ask for help from their good neighbor, the Ottoman Empire, right? If you want to fight side by side with the Ottomans, it is estimated that the Austrians will not fight, they will start fighting each other first.

"Now the enemy is strong and we are weak, but the enemy is not without weaknesses. Now the Austrian government is still fighting against the Italian state. This is our chance." Kossuth said a plan that he thought was reasonable.

Yes, in theory this is indeed an opportunity, they can launch an offensive on the easiest military group and beat them one after the other.

However, Duke Leopold shook his head, sighed and said: "Mr. Kossuth, this is not feasible militarily, the enemy is not a fool, they will not give us so much time to defeat them one by one."

Kossuth smiled: "Your Excellency, as long as we have enough troops, we can hold back the enemy from all directions. Austria is strong and vulnerable at the same time, as long as we achieve a victory, it will cause a chain reaction, and the upsurge of the revolution will break out again!"

Everyone understood that Kossuth went around in such a big circle to ask for money!

[1] this is the best way to word it unless someone else can give me a better way of wording it. It basically means as example you are automatically put in a group, you don't have a chance to decide what group you can be in and there is no way to change which group you are in.