Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 471: Strategic Withdrawal

Watching the French’s frantic diplomatic maneuvers, Franz merely smiled. Clearly, Napoleon III had not fully prepared for this sudden action.

Otherwise, he should have started preparing bargaining chips years ago, ready to be offered for an exchange of interests now.

In international politics, there’s no problem that can’t be solved with enough interests. If there is, it means the offered interests aren’t big enough.

This time, the interests the French offered were rather insignificant, such as promising Austria the annexation of the Ottoman Empire, which was hardly enticing to Franz.

It wasn’t that this piece of meat wasn’t tempting, the key was that once swallowed, it wouldn’t be easy to digest. The Ottoman Empire had at least ten million people, how could it be easily dealt with?

Even if they could be driven toward Central Asia, the political repercussions of destroying the Ottoman Empire would once again thrust Austria into the spotlight.

Franz could even set aside the nearby German Federal Empire, let alone the Ottoman Empire.

After much effort to let the French take the heat, why should Austria step in now to share the burden? Franz wouldn’t engage in such a losing proposition.

As long as the banner of the Greater French Empire flew over the European continent, Austria could develop with peace of mind, without worrying about becoming the target of all.

Unless the French could truly assimilate Italy, the empire would remain a threat. No amount of winning hearts and minds would suffice. There were simply too many Italians, more than any ethnic group within France.

With a long cultural heritage, they were not inferior to the French in this respect. Except for Greece, no other European country could compare with Italy in terms of historical heritage.

As the birthplace of the Renaissance and the cradle of modern thought, Italians had their own pride, which wouldn’t be easily extinguished.

Colonial Minister Stephen analyzed, “Your Majesty, with the French strategically withdrawing overseas, we are likely to face increased pressure.

Especially in the Americas and Asia, where our presence is weak and competing with the British is very difficult. We will need to contract our presence in these regions.”

This is one of the downsides. Without the French to share the burden, facing the British in the Americas and Asia, Austria doesn’t have enough confidence.

Asia is relatively better, as the Austrian colonies’ neighbors are the Dutch, who pose a relatively smaller threat. Even if conflicts arise, Austria can still threaten their European homeland.

The situation in the Americas is different. Alaska is the worst off, with no risk mitigation capabilities. If the British decided to act unscrupulously, they could even masquerade as pirates to seize it.

In South America, the Austrian colony of Patagonia has low risk mitigation capacity. Both Argentina and Chile pose a threat.

A few years ago, both countries had approached Austria to buy this colony, but the Austrian government quoted an astronomical price of 100 million guilders, scaring them off.

Deterred by Austria’s strength, they wouldn’t normally dare to act recklessly. However, if John Bull gets involved, the situation might change.

The Central American colonies seem strong, but they face the greatest challenges. The Confederate States of America have their eyes on these territories and have repeatedly made tentative offers to buy them from Austria.

These plantation owners have an insatiable appetite for land. Most of America’s land was acquired during the Democratic Party’s rule, with plantation owners being the main force behind it.

It wasn’t that they had become docile now, but mainly because they had suffered huge losses in the American Civil War, and European countries opposed their expansion.

Austrian Central America was not some wilderness. After the initial immigration and with the original residents, the local white population now exceeded one million.

With the addition of Native Americans and a large number of mixed-race individuals, the local population reaches 3.5 million, rivaling any country in Central and South America.

But that was about it. However, the potential for development in Central and South America is minimal. Without Austria as a backing, it wouldn’t have reached this point.

To progress further, they would need to annex Colombia in South America or Mexico in North America. This isn’t easy to achieve, as both the United States and the Confederate States pose obstacles.

It would require Austria to shift its strategic focus to the Americas and invest its entire national strength, which is almost impossible.

In reality, in recent years, Austrian Central America has not engaged in external expansion. Even in Panama, they mainly focus on infiltration.

Franz smiled slightly and calmly said, “No matter, when it comes to colonies, it is not necessarily better the more you have of them. By now, most of the areas suitable for colonization have already been divided up. It’s time to halt our expansion.

Not only us, but the British have also reached their expansion limit, though they haven’t realized it yet.

Now all the good places have been divided up. The remaining areas are either tough nuts to crack or worthless lands that are neither useful nor dispensable.

Next, the Colonial Ministry should focus on construction. As long as we integrate the African continent into our homeland, we can face any challenge.”

With sufficient advantage, Franz remained composed. He didn’t even bother with the ongoing Anglo-Boer War.

Strength is confidence. In the original timeline, even the Boers could keep the British busy. Now, Austria’s strength on the African continent was equivalent to a hundred or so Boer republics. What was there to worry about?

The nobles who could establish themselves in Africa were no pushovers. The real incompetents had died along the way. Any one of these people had fought their way through fire and blood.

Franz even suspected their military skills surpassed those of the regular army. At least the regular army still had moral principles, while these people would do anything to win.

Humanity and bottom lines didn’t exist; colonizers were equivalent to executioners. This wasn’t a joke. If crimes were to be investigated, every colonizer in the world, without exception, could face execution.

Perhaps occasionally, there are those who are unjustly accused, but that’s only because they haven’t had the chance to commit crimes yet.

All crows under the sun are equally black, and the major European colonial empires are no exception. Naturally, no one is willing to uncover this truth.

Not taking action against the Ottoman Empire now didn’t mean never taking action. The wishes of generations of Habsburg monarchs still needed to be fulfilled.

Moreover, Franz is very interested in reclaiming the Holy Land to gain political prestige.

Franz accepted the olive branch extended by the French, but that was the extent of it. With the promise from the French government, Austria would have the upper hand in future negotiations over the Middle East.

As for the British, they could be overlooked. The establishment of the Greater French Empire has already divided the Mediterranean in two. It’s only a matter of time before John Bull’s influence is pushed out of the Mediterranean.

Even if they hold the heart of the Mediterranean, Malta, what can they do?

Surrounded by the spheres of influence of both France and Austria, sandwiched between two great powers, the British would need to invest too much to maintain their influence.

If relations were to break down someday, this isolated island would be impossible to defend. The more resources invested, the greater the potential future losses.

The Royal Navy being the world’s best doesn’t mean it dominates every region. It’s normal for other countries to have regional maritime supremacy.

Austria wasn’t swayed by the French but still played a role in containing the British. France and Austria tacitly worked together to push the British out of the Mediterranean.

Such conflicts occur almost daily around the world. For instance, Austria was squeezed out of the Far East by Britain and France, losing its interests in Japan.

Similarly, the French were squeezed out of Southeast Asia by Britain, Austria, and the Netherlands, leaving only a few isolated islands struggling to support themselves.

In Australia, Austria had just extended its feelers when it was blocked by the British.

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Similar situations have happened countless times. Allies in one region could become enemies in another.

This era is one of simultaneous cooperation and confrontation. As long as outright conflict is avoided, anyone can be an ally.

Truly aligned interests among allies exist only in theory. In reality, as long as treaties are upheld, they are considered good allies.

Napoleon III wasn’t surprised by the Austrian government’s actions. Everyone acted based on their own interests.

Austria’s annexation of the German Federal Empire is fundamentally different from France’s annexation of Italy. The former has popular support and doesn’t require taking risks.

The Austrian government’s choice to proceed step by step was actually the best choice. Voluntary integration is far less problematic than forced annexation.

If possible, Napoleon III would also want the Italians to voluntarily join France, but that’s clearly impossible.

Thus, he has to resort to the oldest method: the first-generation ruler unifies by force, and the second-generation ruler wins hearts and minds through appeasement. This was the most effective governance method in the feudal era.

With achievements during peaceful times, the throne becomes stable. By the third generation, the foundation is solid, and as long as they don’t make grave mistakes, they will maintain their legitimacy.

Napoleon III was racking his brains to pave the way for his son.

The biggest victim of France’s strategic retreat overseas is Maximilian I. With reforms underway, rebellions in Mexico have been incessant.

If the task of suppressing the rebels hadn’t been contracted out to the French army, Maximilian I would have been overthrown by the rebels long ago.

It must be noted that this contract greatly burdened the French. Over the past few years, the French army has suffered at least 8,000 casualties while suppressing the Mexican rebels.

As compensation, most of Mexico’s mineral resources and tariffs fell under French control. Unfortunately, due to the civil war, the revenue didn’t cover the costs.

Unknowingly, the Mexican government accumulated a debt of 1 billion francs to the French, in addition to 8.6 million pounds to the British, and 30 million pesos to the Spanish.

Objectively speaking, Maximilian I’s reforms had some positive effects on the country, weakening the conservative forces and promoting the modernization of Mexico.

The costs, however, were also clear. The emperor became isolated, with only a group of like-minded idealists, while the original royalists nearly turned into revolutionaries.

Now, as the French strategically withdraws from overseas to concentrate on potential changes in Europe, it means Mexico is about to lose its biggest support.

Even if Napoleon III, for the sake of appearances, doesn’t abandon Mexico, the French forces in Mexico alone cannot deter the ambitious Americans.

An emperor calling for the reclamation of lost territory is never popular. Both the United States and the Confederate States wanted to overthrow Maximilian I’s rule.

With the French backing them before, and the great powers maintaining the principle of unity on American issues, the Americans naturally didn’t dare to act rashly.

Now it was different. The French could hardly protect themselves, and the crown prince established by Maximilian I made him fall out with the Habsburgs, the possibility of Austrian intervention was also small.

If the Americans fail to seize such an opportunity, they wouldn’t have their current status. Since news of France’s strategic withdrawal spread, both the Union and the Confederacy have begun to take action.

With external support, the Mexican rebels have become active again. Uprisings are erupting across Mexico, and Maximilian I’s rule is once again precarious.