Chapter 103: Threatening Other's Interest

Hungary

As the news of the defeat of the Sardinian Kingdom spread, more and more Hungarians lost confidence in the revolution, and a series of cities such as Miskolc, Debrecen, Pecs, and Szeged fell one after another.

By mid-June, the last remaining city in the Hungarian Republic was Budapest.

After losing important cities, the revolutionaries who were unwilling to fail again fled to the countryside, trying to rely on guerrilla warfare to continue their stubborn resistance.

It is a pity that the Hungarian people did not believe in the revolutionaries' words. In the eyes of ordinary people, the Habsburg dynasty is their protector, while the Hungarian republican government is a plundering government composed of nobles and capitalists.

Before they could be talked into starting an uprising, it was completely suppressed by the masses.

It can be said that Franz's intelligence operations in Hungary were very successful, and they successfully pushed all the dark and corrupted history of Austria to the Hungarian Interim Government.

The world will never lack smart people. The Hungarian aristocrats who have experienced civil strife and their strength have been severely damaged, quickly put themselves in their position, and took actions one after another to prove their role to the Vienna government and prepare to occupy a favorable position in the new social system.

This is the way of survival for the ancient nobles, who know how to compromise with reality. The nouveau riche who did not learn from this got their lunch as early as the suppression of the Hungarian rebellion in Austria.

In an ancient castle outside the city of Alab, a young man said angrily: "Father, do we really have to do this? Once the Hungarian Kingdom ceases to exist, we can only..."

The old man waved his hand and said earnestly, "August, don't be blinded by interests! The Kingdom of Hungary no longer exists. It was doomed from the moment the Hungarian Revolution began, and the determination of the Vienna government to split Hungary will not be shaken. Although we can admire others' courage to try stopping the Austrian pursuit, we must never be the ones to put it into action. This is our ancestral motto. Since it is impossible to avoid Hungary being divided, why not take advantage of this opportunity and get the most out of it? The Austrian government can use this revolution to split the Kingdom of Hungary, but it still lacks a legal basis. This is our chance."

August frowned and said, "But father, the Vienna government divided our land, and the millions of hectares of land passed down by our ancestors have become history, and we can never get them back!"

The old man shook his head and said, "What do you think? These lands have been divided into the hands of hundreds of thousands of people, and no one can take them back. Do you want to become a dead man just to fight for these lands and the subjects of our fiefs? August, you are too extreme. Things have already happened, the most important thing is not to blame others, let alone take revenge, but to stop how much we will lose now! Don't forget that these lands were taken out in the name of redemption, but we didn't get the money for the land ransom. At this time, the Vienna government is eager for you to mess up so that they don't have to give it to someone else."

The powerful nobles like the House of Koháry-ház paid great attention to the management of their fiefs. They were notorious. They were all upstarts and prodigals. They were the "real" ancient nobles that attached great importance to reputation.

Aristocratic wars often break out in Europe, and the nobles must rely on their subjects in their fiefs to give their lives. Why should the great nobles have a special status if they cannot gain their support?

The wealth is touching. Now that the land has been distributed, the boat called the revolution is done for, and the serfs who have obtained the land are not willing to give them up. If they want to get the land back, they must stand against these people.

There is simply no other way, this time they can only accept this loss and try to stop losing more. As for revenge on the Austrian government, they can have such thoughts, and it can even cause trouble for them secretly, but there can never be any action done on the surface.

Perhaps because of the marriage of the great nobles, the Habsburg family could not kill them, but it is still possible to withhold their compensation for the land taken.

No, it's land ransom. Even if it is a discount, the ransom of millions of hectares of land is not a small sum, and no one can refuse this wealth.

It is also not so simple to get this money. The land ransom money is collected by the Austrian government, and they will not take it out so easily.

Even for the sake of the government's credibility, they cannot directly default on their debts, as long as they give full play to the subjective initiative of the bureaucrats, custody becomes a series of debts for the rest of their lives.

Thinking of this, August wilted instantly. Obviously, the Austrian government harmed their interests, but in order to stop the loss, they had to help the Austrian government stabilize the area.

At least until the huge land ransom money is obtained, they must stand on the side of the Austrian government and expect Austria to develop better, otherwise, no one will pay them back.

After a long silence, August said helplessly: "Okay, I will promote the petition movement and let the Austrians split Hungary justifiably!"

For the huge amount of land ransom that belonged to the House of Koháry-ház, no matter how reluctant he was, August could only accept it at face value.

Launching a public petition to apply to become the direct jurisdiction of the Habsburg family, providing an excuse for the Austrian government to split Hungary, is the first step they sold to Vienna.

Franz wanted to swallow Hungary, it was easy to split Hungary, but it was difficult to convince the local people. Historically, after the Kingdom of Hungary was split, it died and came back to life soon after, but the local people were not convinced.

If the local people took the initiative to apply and become the direct jurisdiction of the Habsburg family, then it would not be a problem. This is public opinion, and no one will question such choices.

Public opinion is often blind, and at this time it is the nobles' turn to perform. With them taking the lead and the reputation of the Habsburg family among the people, it is easy to plan such a petition.

...

Budapest, now an isolated city, the Austrian army seems to have lost interest in attacking the city and has not launched an attack for a week.

With the Danube river in the city, there is no shortage of water in the city, but there is no way to replenish other material supplies. Hesitantly lacking industrial raw materials, the factory has long stopped running.

A large number of unemployed people are facing high prices, and the city's economy has collapsed. The young and strong can join the National Guard to eat together, while the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled have completely lost their source of income.

The collapse of the military discipline of the National Guard is mainly due to the soldiers still having children to support.

In order not to starve their families, they must also suppress the "counter-revolutionaries", and only then can they seize enough wealth from the "enemies" to support their families.