Constantinople

The Russian representative, Alexander Menshkov, who had lost face at the negotiating table, was quickly recovered, but the means were somewhat unsightly.

On April 2, 1851, Menshkov visited the Sultan and, in a very domineering tone, ordered the Sultan government to remove the pro-British and French foreign minister, Fouad, and replace him with the pro-Russian Rifaat.

Brutal tactics often proved to be the most direct and effective, and under pressure from the Russians, the Sultan government compromised.

Menshkov told the world with practical actions who is the boss in the Near East. Politicians from all over the world have collectively lost their voices, and anyone will feel a headache in the face of a player who does not abide by the rules.

Britain and France, who were slapped in the face, naturally would not be willing to lose, but in the Near East, their voice power in the two countries could not be compared with that of the Russians, and even lower than that of Austria.

Without waiting for them to take action, Menshikov sent a diplomatic note to the Sudanese government, accusing the Sudanese government of unjust treatment of the Orthodox Church and demanding that the two countries sign an agreement that the Russian government would govern the Orthodox Christians and that the Ottoman government should not interfere in the affairs of the Orthodox Church.

Injustice is inevitable, and in fact the Sudanese government has relaxed its religious policy in an attempt to eliminate religious contradictions in the country.

It is a pity that this contradiction has continued since the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It is not something that can be solved by a government decree, and the intervention of the Russians has made the situation even more confusing.

…… (10,000 words omitted for specific religious issues)

The demands of the Russians have already touched the bottom line of the Ottoman Empire. If this condition is agreed, it means that more than a third of the population will be handed over to the Russians.

The British and French could not stand such an expansion of their sphere of influence by the Russians, and by this time the British had already determined that war was inevitable and that the Russians were only looking for excuses for this war.

London

After the Constantinople negotiations were relayed, the British government was considering what to do in the next Russo-Turkish war.

Foreign Secretary Palmerston thought for a moment and said, "Your Excellency, if we want to suppress the ambitions of the Russians, it is not enough to win over the French, we must have the support of Austria.

If necessary, we can organize a European coalition to join forces to curb the ambitions of the Russians. ”

John Russell shook his head and said, "Mr. Palmerston, the question of organizing the coalition is put aside for the time being, we all know that things are not so simple.

On the issue of Russia, European countries have different attitudes, and many countries do not feel the pain, and it is almost impossible for them to work together to fight the Russians.

Let's talk about how to win over Austria, if we can pull them over and combine the forces of the three countries, we can suppress the Russians in the Near East. ”

Palmerston analyzed: "The intelligence coming back from Constantinople suggests that the Russians and Austrians have reached a compromise, and the exact terms are not yet known.

Now the Russians have recognized Austria's sphere of influence in the Balkans, and in return, Austria also supports the Russian ambitions for the Ottoman Empire.

This compromise does not mean that the contradictions between the two countries on the Balkan issue no longer exist, but that they have been temporarily suppressed by common interests.

With the appetite of the Russians, even if the two countries reach an agreement, they will eventually break up because of conflicts of interest. It is impossible for the Austrian government not to be aware of these problems.

The fact that the old fox of Metternich would side with the Russians this time also marked a change in the Austrian government's national policy.

It seems that the collapse of the Vienna system hit the Austrians hard, and now they no longer have the luxury of balancing Europe. In this respect, we have lost an ally in continental policy.

To be neighbors with the Russians, you must always be sober, and taking a nap means danger, and the current Austrian government is preparing to bring disaster to the east.

The partition of the Balkans is only a superficial reason. More, the Austrian government felt threatened and was unwilling to continue to take responsibility for holding back the Russians.

In order to drag down the Russians by provoking the Russo-Turkish war and buy time for domestic development, the expansion in the Balkans was only incidental. ”

By this time, the London government had already regretted letting the Vienna system collapse. After the collapse of the Vienna system, they were able to get rid of the restrictions and intervene in European affairs, but the results were not ideal.

From the beginning of the support of the Kingdom of Sardinia to the current crisis in the Near East, the London government has hardly achieved decent results in diplomacy.

Now the situation in Europe has become more complicated, and it involves a lot of their energy. On the contrary, unlike in the era of the Vienna system, the European continent was balanced and stable, and they could confidently and boldly expand their power overseas.

In this respect, the Vienna system also made the British Empire the hegemon.

The Secretary of State asked suspiciously: "Mr. Palmerston, according to your judgment, it is impossible for us to win over Austria?" ”

The Austrian Empire has always been on the front line of resistance to Russia, and the two countries have not become enemies, which shows the diplomatic ability of the Habsburgs.

Such a confrontation is obviously not conducive to the development and growth of Austria. The government's energy is exhausted by its neighbors, where can it still develop itself?

Before the collapse of the Vienna system, the Austrian government had turned to the British for help to pay the government in London to maintain the system, but the government at the time refused.

The original proposal given by the British was to let the Austrian government carry out social reforms, and when the social reforms were completed, there would be money.

It has been proven that the completion of social reforms can indeed reverse the financial dilemma. However, the current Austrian government is no longer interested in the Vienna system.

I work hard for the balance of Europe, but the biggest beneficiary of the system is making a lot of money on the side, and no one will balance it in my heart.

Palmerston thought for a moment and replied, "It's up to the Russians, and if they can make the Austrian government feel threatened, then we can bring Austria over." ”

Historically, too, Austria's defection was not due to the temptation of British and French interests, nor was it the conflict of interests in the Danube Valley between Russia and Austria, but the most important thing was that it felt threatened.

For the sake of one's own strategic security, it is normal to turn one's back on one's allies. Even if Franz was replaced, when the Russians showed that they were too strong to threaten Austria, he would also choose to jump back.

The same is true of the Russians, who would have become enemies if Austria had been too strong to threaten them.

……

Since the passage of the enlargement bill, Austria has set off a boom in joining the army. The allure of land is enormous, especially after the heroes of the last war have become role models after they got the land.

The soldiers who joined the army last time were lucky, and it was a smooth battle from beginning to end, and they did not be able to appreciate the cruelty of war. Even if there is cruelty, it is for the enemy.

This time the military expansion war almost said that it was going to fight the Ottoman Empire. If it was two hundred years ago, if they wanted to attack the Ottoman Empire, everyone's first reaction was definitely fear, and now everyone is left with war exploits.

Who let the Ottoman Empire decline? Austria and Russia joined forces, and they still can't win against the Ottomans?

The risk is not large, the reward is huge, and it is natural for people to rush to it.

Not to mention the common people, even the nobles are trying their best to enter the army to serve, and the war is doomed to victory, and everyone wants to go in to make war achievements.

This kind of opportunity is not easy to come across, and if you miss this opportunity, you don't know when the next foreign war will be.

In front of the conscription point, there was already a long queue. The idea of "making a name for yourself but taking it right away" is very popular in continental Europe.

In this era, if you want to get ahead, making military achievements on the battlefield is the best shortcut. Especially for the people at the bottom, this is almost the only way to the upper class.

In the last war, many reserve officers and soldiers also shined, and in the eyes of many people, even if they could not enter the regular army, entering the reserve was a good choice.

The status of the Austrian military is very high, even if it is a reserve soldier, it is very respected.

A young officer looked at the long line, sighed and said, "There are a lot of people here today, and it seems that our recruitment standards may be improved." ”

A middle-aged officer next to him glared at him dissatisfiedly, and said, "Wellston, you don't have to sigh there, just organize a test for me."

Remember that this time the priority admission of those who can speak Austrian, so as not to get the army, and Lao Tzu will give them training. ”

"Yes, Major!" Welston replied immediately

Austria has not introduced a clear language exclusion law, but the government, the military, enterprises and other institutions have tacitly agreed to give priority to those who can use Austrian.

In the folk vernacular, it is: "You don't even know the common language, do you want me to give you a translator?" ”

This is the most realistic problem, the language barrier, the communication is unchanged, after the birth of the society, the job has become the first problem.

Even nationalists have to accept this social reality. Without learning Austrian, it is difficult to find a job.

Want preferential care? Unfortunately, employers in Austria have the right to freely choose the talents they need, and the government is not allowed to interfere at will.

After three years of popularization, the Austrian language has not been widely spoken, but most people in the cities have mastered the common language.

This scene can now be seen in many parts of Austria. In order to do this, the Austrian government also spent no small price.

Especially when it was first launched, it was resisted by many nationalists. It's a pity that they were unlucky, just in time for the Great Revolution, and the troublemakers were harmonized.

What angered them the most was that the Austrian government's perverse actions not only did not arouse public anger, but the situation in the country quickly improved.

Up to now, all schools in Austria are mainly Austrian, and other languages are almost the same as foreign languages, which are electives and paid electives.

People are realistic, they don't take the entrance exam, they don't need to find a job, and they have to pay extra money to study, so slowly everyone naturally doesn't pay attention to it. The key words of nationality and independence have also faded away from everyone's life.

Not long ago, Franz ordered the banning of all non-Austrian-language books and newspapers in the country.

Many people think that this will cause social unrest, but the reality is very slap in the face. Except for some experts and scholars shouting, ordinary people simply don't care.

Nationalism also needs propaganda, and when propaganda channels are cut off, who knows what it is among ordinary people?

Under the government's suppression, it soon became an underground ideology. If you want to spread it, it also depends on the actual situation, since the reform of the education system, young students have stopped playing with them.

After the absence of the second middle school death squad, the combat effectiveness of these people was greatly reduced. Stand up against the government? If you dare to do this, you have already gone in, where is the opportunity to wave until now?

Fikvenna, a Hungarian writer, is one of the exponents of Hungarian nationalism.

It's just that he belongs to the moderate, opposes all violent revolutions, and does not follow Kossuth for independence, and even publishes articles criticizing the atrocities of the revolutionary party on many occasions.

This non-threatening existence has naturally not been washed away. Lately he has been worried, even more so than when the Kingdom of Hungary was divided.

For a nationalist, Hungary is acceptable because he does not reject being Austrian, but without the Hungarian national language and script, he can't help it.

Not long ago, the Hungarian Forward newspaper, which sponsored it, was suspended. Although this small newspaper is not popular, the sales of each issue are less than 1,000 copies, which is also the cause he strives for.

What made him even more unacceptable was that the Hungarian National School, founded by Count Isván Széchenyi, also included Hungarian as a paid elective and was no longer the language of instruction.

Now he had to fight with the school leaders, and he could not let the Count's hard work go to waste, and at this moment he hated the revolutionaries led by Kossuth very much.

Had it not been for the rebellion that took place in 1848, the Kingdom of Hungary would still have been the Kingdom of Hungary, and under the leadership of Count Istefan Széchenyi, they could also carry out social reforms and establish an ideal Hungarian society.

History has no ifs, after the loss of their leader, their gang of Hungarian reformists became a mess, and many of them were absorbed by the Austrian government.

If nothing else, it won't be long before Fikvena accepts the kindness of the Austrian government, and now he wants to work hard again for his dream.

"Rector Engels, why do you want to abolish the Hungarian language?" Fikvenna asked

Engels explained: "Mr. Fikvenna, you should know that the Hungarian National School has been maintained by external donations since its establishment, and we only charge a small amount of tuition.

In the last two years, we have received a significant reduction in donations, and the school has been struggling with funding, and staff salaries have not been paid on time since a year ago.

In order for the school to survive, we had to accept an education grant from the Austrian government.

According to the Austrian Ministry of Education, Austrian is the only language of primary and secondary education in schools that receive government funding. ”

In this way, Engels has already said it to many people. The actual situation in the school is even worse than he said.

Learning an extra language will undoubtedly take up a lot of study time and affect the performance of other subjects, and many parents have proposed to the school to abolish the Hungarian language.

Don't talk so much, they only care about entrance exams. In this era, the chances of being able to go to college are already low, and many people can't care so much about the future of the next generation.

"Is there no other way?" Fikvenna asked, frowning

Engels sighed and said, "Mr. Fikvenna, your arms can't reach your thighs. After the events of 1848, the Austrian government was very wary of nationalism. In the fields of culture and education, we will comprehensively promote integrated education.

This is a national policy set by the government, and unless we can make them believe in us again, this repression will not end, you know it is impossible. ”

Rebellion, revolution? They are all familiar with these things, but this is not their specialty. Everyone has a family, who is willing to take risks?

Moreover, unlike in the past, the country's economic growth is rapid, the social order is stable, and the people have no revolutionary motivation at all.