Chapter 54: The Crisis of Faith

Britain and Austria PK in South Africa, and European countries are happy to see the joke. In order to make the war last longer, the French also supported the "Boer Republic" with practical actions.

In this Anglo-Boer war, nearly one-fifth of the strategic materials were contributed by the French. The French also opened the door to the transportation of supplies from Austria to the front line in South Africa via Egypt.

The Anglo-Boer War was not so much a game between Britain and Austria as it was a Franco-Austrian war that together added to the British blockage. Although it was Austria that eventually occupied South Africa, the French did not lose money.

It is better to contain the British energy in South Africa than to let the British devote some of their energy to the European continent.

The anti-French alliance remained on paper and did not become a reality, and this "Anglo-Boer war" also played an important role.

It stands to reason that now that the Anglo-Austrian confrontation is taking place, the situation is very favorable to the French, and the establishment of the Great French Empire is unstoppable, and Napoleon III should be happy.

However, the external threat is gone, and the internal trouble has appeared.

The first to jump out was the Pope, the Italian states who were unwilling to lose, and tried to fight him by supporting the Pope.

As a Catholic country, the influence of the Holy See is still very large. Now that the emperor and the pope live in the same country, it is a headache who is big and who is small.

Now Napoleon III regretted it a little, and if he had known that it was so troublesome, he would have kicked out the Papal States.

It's no fun thing for the pope to become a political enemy. They are not without roots, and churches all over the country are supporters of the Pope, at least nominally.

At a recent parliament, the Pope directly occupied the throne, and Napoleon III was so angry that he was directly absent.

Once again, the divine and imperial powers collided, and the whole of France was plunged into a storm vortex. If one is not handled well, this new great empire is about to collapse again.

Neither Napoleon III nor Pope Pius IX could not back down now. They represent not only their own interests, but also the interest groups behind them.

The bourgeoisie, which had been dissatisfied with Napoleon III at home, now almost proclaimed its support for the Pope. Politically, Napoleon III no longer had an overwhelming advantage.

These people supported Pius IX, not because of how religious they were, nor because they really wanted the church to grow big again, but only to stir up strife and create opportunities for the seizure of power.

The struggle between the emperor and the pope for power is sure to provoke popular discontent, and when the anger reaches its peak, it is when the parliament takes over the power of the state.

It can be said that the establishment of Grand France ignited the internal contradictions of France. Everyone wants to take advantage of this reshuffle of rights to further obtain more benefits.

At the Palace of Versailles, Napoleon III's close confidant of the Minister of Police, Ansochi, proposed: "Your Majesty, since Pius IX is ignorant of current affairs, simply give him to ......"

At this point, Ansoqi made a gesture to wipe his neck, as if to say that it was a hundred years to kill Pius IX.

Napoleon III glared at him fiercely and said solemnly: "No, this kind of thing must not happen."

Once an accident happens to Pius IX, we are the most suspicious, and then the situation will be out of control.

Now not only can we not touch him, but we must also protect his safety and not let others kill him!

Moreover, even with the change of pope, the situation has not changed. Whoever becomes pope is on the opposite side of us.

Those people will not give up, and without them making trouble behind their backs, Pius IX would not have jumped out to fight us. ”

Political struggle is the most taboo assassination, and now that Napoleon III has been whitewashed, this means simply cannot be used.

If the news leaks out, if there is no civil war in France, at least the revolutionary party will definitely take the opportunity to launch a rebellion, and if there is no coup d'état within the government.

The Italian region is unstable, and now it is only suppressed by force, and a single spark can detonate a contradiction, let alone assassinate the pope?

At this time, Napoleon III's mind was still very clear. He knew that his enemy was not the pope in the open, but the interests that supported the pope.

The mastermind, Pelissi, proposed, "Your Majesty, or continue to push for the Reformation. Find an excuse to abolish the Papal States and set up provinces, which are directly governed by the central government. Let religion be religious, and the secular to secular. ”

Promoting the Reformation and abolishing the Papal States is equivalent to cutting off the foundation of the pope's meddling in politics. From then on, the pope was detached from politics and existed only as a religious leader.

Napoleon III's eyes lit up, and if he was able to kick the pope out, the rest would be easy to do. Without this bannerman, the opposition would be torn apart.

"That's a good idea, and it's better to limit the Pope's powers by the way, so as not to cause us more trouble later.

I'll leave this matter to you, try to make the Holy See stink, don't leave them a chance to turn over. ”

When he said this, Napoleon III still had a bit of resentment in his eyes. The feud between the Bonaparte family and the Holy See has not been a day or two, and the relationship between the two sides has not been good.

Napoleon I was not recognized by the Holy See at first, but later fought to Italy by force, and when he was crowned emperor, he snatched the crown directly from the pope.

When it was Napoleon III's turn, things weren't much better. Catholicism has always been pro-orthodoxy, and Napoleon III had nothing to do with it.

After the seizure of power by a coup d'état, Napoleon III was to be crowned emperor, and the Holy See was very faceless. Inviting Pius IX to come over and be crowned, people didn't buy it at all.

There were only two options left for Napoleon III, either to be crowned in Rome or to become emperor first, and to find a way to be crowned in the future.

These were the two options available after the emperors of Europe could not obtain recognition from the Holy See. Of course, going to Rome for coronation will definitely not be so harmonious, and it is usually to send troops to fight over and force the pope to be crowned.

Napoleon III, who had an unstable foundation, endured, and in order to talk about the Pope, he also did a lot of thankless things, which can be called "Catholic filial piety".

He is really a "filial son of Catholicism", unlike the previous French monarchs, who did some bad things that harmed the interests of the Holy See.

After doing so many things and not getting the harvest I wanted, I naturally have resentment in my heart. Had it not been for the annexation of Italy, he did not know if he would have been crowned a pope and become a legitimate emperor in his lifetime.

Now because interests are on the opposite side again, Napoleon III also wants to follow the example of his ancestors and continue the story of the "Catholic filial son" of the past.

Catholic filial piety is not a good word, and the French have nothing to do with "filial piety", such as the Prisoner of Avignon, the Blasphemous League, joining the Protestant League during the Thirty Years' War, and taking out the Knights Templar......

In short, the French made an outstanding contribution to the decline of Catholicism, even more so than Protestantism.

Of course, Napoleon III was not so extreme. There are the great achievements of his ancestors, and he is not ready to surpass. However, the final blow to the declining Holy See is still indispensable.

The struggle between imperial power and theocracy cannot be compromised, and even if both sides are in decline, they must decide a winner.

Napoleon III did not have a supporter on this issue, and the monarchs of Europe were all potential supporters of him.

……

With the order of Napoleon III, the black history of the Holy See suddenly increased. Not only have old accounts been turned over, but the current clergy are often pulled out by newspapers and whipped to their corpses.

It's all real people and real things, without any moisture, it's a real case that happens around everyone, and it's hard to turn white. As if overnight, the reputation of the Holy See became insignificant.

The telegraph accelerated the spread of news, and the scandals of the Holy See in France and Italy spread to the European continent in the shortest possible time.

In this era, the Holy See no longer has the strength to coerce Europe. The endless black history of the Holy See in the newspapers is enough to explain a lot.

In this age of ideological explosion, the people have doubts about the existence of God, and faith has become less religious.

In the aftermath of the attack, anti-papal movements emerged in many places, and in some areas even reached the point of popular storming of churches.

It was only then that Napoleon III realized that he had gone too far, but the situation was no longer under his control.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, he succeeded in taking out his political opponents, but he caused a crisis of faith in Europe and plunged the country into ideological confusion.

France is not the only one that has been affected, but Austria has not been left alone. After the outbreak of the religious crisis, the Austrian clergy did not escape either.

Many clergy who have inappropriate private lives and poor moral cultivation have been exposed by the newspapers.

Real people, real things, conclusive evidence. The impact of this kind of news on the minds of the public can be imagined, and even in Austria, the stronghold of conservatives, there is a crisis of faith.

Heated discussions also broke out among the people, and the idea of atheism began to spread rapidly. All kinds of experts and scholars appeared on the stage, using the newspaper as a battlefield, and began to fight for dragons and tigers, and for a time fell into a group of demons dancing.

Watching the intensifying chaos in the ideological circles, Franz couldn't sit still. If this continues, who knows how many wonderful ideas will be born in the end?

"Prime Minister, how is the cabinet going to calm this turmoil?"

As a successful leader, Franz has always believed in the abilities of his subordinates. When something happens, it's right to ask the cabinet first.

After pondering for a moment, Prime Minister Felix replied, "Your Majesty, I am afraid that this matter will require you to personally take action to appease the people.

The consequences of the collapse of faith are very serious, and if they are not dealt with in a timely manner, and some messy thoughts are passed on, the consequences are serious. ”

Well, it's a platform for the Catholic Church. This crisis of faith was directed at the Holy See from the very beginning, and Catholicism was naturally the hardest hit area.

After hesitating for a moment, Franz spoke: "Well, the depravity of the clergy, that is, their faith is not religious, and the supervision of the Holy See is not in place.

We can help in this by legislating to regulate the behavior of the clergy and to punish these sinners on God's behalf. ”

There is no problem in pacifying the people, but it is also necessary to suppress the church. Since the French rushed to the front, Franz naturally did not mind falling into the ground.

The church could not supervise the clergy, so the government did the work for them. Institutions like the Inquisition should not exist.

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