Otto I's illusions didn't last long before they were shattered, and he didn't need to be reminded of it, he himself knew it was impossible.

Regardless of the public opinion in the country, they sent troops to attack the Ottoman Empire this time, and they were inescapable of the defeat of the coalition forces in the Second Battle of Bulgaria.

The British army suffered heavy losses in this battle, and Downing Street changed owners, if they were just let go, would the British still have face?

If the Russians did not win, the London government was still acceptable, and the British had low expectations for the army, and it was not too embarrassing to lose to the Russians.

But after participating in a war, the British couldn't just watch the French exert their power and become spectators, right?

In any case, the British Army desperately needed a win to prove its strength. Unfortunately, Greece is the soft persimmon they have chosen.

If it weren't for that, the Greek government wouldn't have gotten nothing after so long in the London government PR.

Otto I said helplessly: "Is it true that the army can't fight?" Even if it's just a tie, we also have the capital to negotiate! ”

The Minister of War replied sideways: "Your Majesty, since the defeat with the British, the morale of the army has been completely lost, and people are fleeing every day. If it weren't for the restraint of military law, the soldiers on the front line now don't know how many are left. ”

There is no way, this army is all patchwork, supported by nationalist patriotic ideas. Once this breath is vented, it will be revealed immediately.

Expecting this rabble to defeat the enemy army is a dream.

"Deserters?"

Otto I's eyes lit up, as if he had thought of something, but he didn't grasp it, and kept chanting: "deserter", "deserter"......

Seeing the king who was caught in the magic barrier, everyone tacitly chose to be silent.

After half a ring, Otto I said in a low voice: "What if we let the troops break into pieces and disperse and break out?"

As long as the British don't get the evidence, they won't do anything to us! ”

It has to be said that Otto I was still a smart man, and he did not really ally with the Russians stupidly.

Greece's geographical location dictated the strategic choice, and even if the Russians won the war, they would not be able to escape the influence of Britain and France.

If you jump into the arms of the Russians now, I am afraid that they will be finished before the war is over.

The Prime Minister reminded: "Your Majesty, if you do this, the losses will be great, and once these soldiers fall into the hands of the Ottomans, I am afraid that few of them will survive." ”

Since it is a civilian armed force, military discipline naturally cannot be better, there is revenge, there are grievances and complaints, and the war has been going on until now, and the seeds of hatred between the two sides have long taken root and sprouted.

At this time, the so-called scattered breakthrough actually means that you can't win, let's run away!

And it is not possible to run back to the Greek kingdom directly, otherwise the enemy will follow and kill them, and they will have to disperse and detour from other regions to return home.

In the case of the Greek army, an orderly evacuation does not exist, and it is estimated that the order will directly turn into a rout, and there will obviously not be many people who can run back alive.

The family foundation of the Greek kingdom is not thick, and this army is the majority of their country, and once they suffer heavy losses, it is a situation where "every family wears filial piety, and everyone cries".

"Do we have a choice? We can't win the enemy on the battlefield, and the Russians refuse to send troops to the rescue, so we can't expect the Duchy of Montenegro next door to come to our rescue, right? Otto I asked rhetorically

This war cannot be brought to the negotiating table, otherwise they cannot afford the liquidation of the British. Domestic nationalism is not easy to provoke, these people not only do not shed tears when they see the coffin, but they are also the masters who cannot afford to lose.

Anyway, they were going to lose, and Otto I naturally had to find a way to get out.

The army on the front line could not win, everyone scattered and broke through, no matter how big the losses were, on the surface it had nothing to do with the king, at least he did not have to bear the political responsibility for the defeat.

……

Vienna

The Queen Mother Sophie gave Franz an ultimatum that the marriage must be finalized immediately no matter what, even if it is not married to her niece, then she must find the right person.

This is not only her personal will, but also the will of the Habsburgs, and the will of the people of the empire, who cannot bear to be single anymore.

Free love? Franz regretted that he hadn't had time to fall in love yet!

In that case, it's better to be engaged to a familiar one than to marry someone who doesn't know anything, what if it's green?

The day after Christmas 1853, Franz was engaged to Princess Helen of the Wittelsbach dynasty. The whole process was arranged by the Queen Mother Sufi, and Franz just followed the procedure.

Appearance is justice, and in the case of buy one get one free, Franz is still very satisfied.

How messy is the European aristocracy? This question cannot be answered, in short, in addition to the fact that the bloodline cannot be diluted, there are a lot of messy and bad things, and the concept of chastity is terrible.

Although this marriage is not a good match, everyone is a childhood sweetheart, and the fiancée entered the Vienna Palace early to ensure that it is the original goods.

After the engagement, Franz and Princess Helen were restricted from intimate contact by the Queen Mother Sophie, and they were absolutely not allowed to get pregnant out of wedlock.

Encountering a crisis of confidence, Franz was very helpless, and he repeatedly assured that he was not a person who did not understand the rules.

However, the Queen Mother Sufi did not believe in his character, and unceremoniously pointed out what he thought he had kept secret, and it was obvious that there were not many things in this palace that could be hidden from this mistress.

Before, in order to fool Franz and his niece into getting engaged, he naturally didn't mind these little things, but now that the overall situation has been decided, then he must be strictly guarded and not make jokes.

Franz was a little suspicious that he had been calculated by his mother, but after being sure again, he had to admit that his willpower was too poor to resist the temptation.

He was sure that this was definitely not his own problem, it must be the sequelae of the trip to St. Petersburg, which was damaged by the Russian aristocracy, and his willpower would decline.

These are all minor problems, and he is responsible for them anyway, and Franz is completely unintimidated. Even if he is not responsible, he is also not cowardly, and his son always has a higher status than his niece.

In the context of the marriage between the two families, all discordant factors must be extinguished in the cradle, and Franz was not worried about causing chaos.

This marriage was much more important to the Wittelsbach dynasty than the Habsburgs. Maximilian II, who had just arrived in Milan, could not do without the support of the Habsburgs if he wanted to secure the throne.

Franz agreed to this marriage, in addition to having a good relationship with Princess Helen, but also taking into account political factors.

The annexation of the Kingdom of Bavaria worried the newly joined royal families of Saxony, Hesse and Württemberg, and even if the throne of Lombardy was given to the Wittelsbach dynasty, it was not enough to reassure them.

If it weren't for these royal families and no princesses of the right age, maybe the object of this marriage would have changed. Don't doubt Franz's discipline, which is often involuntary in the face of politics.

If they could not be co-opted through marriage, then the marriage with the Wittelsbach dynasty could also play a role, and the Lombard kingdom had less political power, but nominally a level transfer.

On this issue, it was basically settled by negotiation, and the Habsburgs did not have a feud with the Wittelsbach dynasty, and it was naturally feasible to eliminate that unpleasantness through marriage.

Under the common interest, everyone has become allies again. By the way, it also reassured the royal families of Saxe, Hesse and Württemberg that the Habsburgs had a taste for food and would not swallow them all in one bite.

Franz can say with certainty that they are overthinking. In addition to reducing the difficulty of unification, the non-annexation of these states is more important because unification by force will cause indigestion.

National reunification is different from external expansion, and many radical means cannot be used. In the absence of a great purge, if the hearts and minds of the people cannot be regained, there will be no stability in the local area for the next ten or twenty years.

The overthrown royal family and interest groups will want to be restored, and there is no way to do so, they can also turn into a revolutionary party and overturn the table, and everyone will scatter, and no one will think about it.

Specifically, you can refer to the February Revolution in France, where Napoleon III could be elected president, and you can know the role played by the Bonaparte party in this uprising.

The so-called usurpation of the fruits of the revolution is actually not accurate, from beginning to end everyone is the leader of the revolution, but they are hidden behind the scenes, and they only jump out at the last moment, otherwise how could Napoleon III seize power so easily?

As an emperor, Franz did not want to leave a hidden danger in his rule, and the first thing to consider was stability.

Historically, Bismarck of the Second Empire advocated leaving so many states, in addition to being unable to swallow them due to lack of strength, but more for the sake of long-term peace and stability.

This method has proved to be very effective, and no matter how many conflicts there are between the local government and the central government, they are carried out within the scope of the rules, and there has never been a rebellion in a state.

The greatest gain from the annexation of these German states is not resources, not strategy, and still less political interests, but the greatest benefit is the population, and it is still a high-quality population.

According to the population statistics of two years ago, the total population of the Austrian Empire exceeded 37 million, second only to the Russians on the European continent, but only about 8.7 million peoples.

In order to make the data look better, at the suggestion of Franz, the Austrian government directly artificially divided some mixed-race children with German descent into Germans.

Then the number of Juche nationalities swelled rapidly to more than 10.3 million, and the Juche ethnic group rose from 23.5 percent to 27.8 percent.

Well, that's a bit too far-fetched. A lot of people of German ancestry, only a quarter or an eighth, have become Germans, and Franz is not such a rigid person, and the data is much more beautiful if you are flexible.

This situation has finally been effectively resolved, and the number of Juche nationalities has finally exceeded 40 percent.

With the development of the economy and the acceleration of population flow, this kind of marriage across nationalities will definitely increase greatly in the future.

I have to admit that this oldest way of ethnic integration is actually the most effective and the most hidden danger of national integration.

The current impetus for this national integration is the imbalance between men and women in Germany, and the urgent social reality of having more men than women, which lasted until after World War II.

On the contrary, Hungary has more women than men, which is not only due to the decrease in the number of young people in the local area due to the civil war, but also due to its own geographical environment.

Of course, the situation in Serbia and the two principalities of the Danube basin was even more serious, and the number of young people in the region decreased sharply.

If nothing is done, Franz can be sure that these regions will experience negative population growth in the next two decades, especially in Serbia.

These social backgrounds have created favorable conditions for national integration, so how could Franz give up such an opportunity?

Now the question is what to do to get everyone to get married, which is a headache. Franz had no successful experience to learn from in this regard.

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