Chapter 381

Alexander Menshikov, the representative of Russia, who had lost face at the negotiation table, quickly found his way back, but his methods were somewhat unsightly.

On April 2, 1851, Menshikov visited the Sultan and, in a very domineering tone, ordered the Government of Sudan to dismiss the pro-British and French Foreign Minister Fouad and replace him with the pro-Russian Rifat.

On the 2nd of April, 1851, Menshikov visited the Sultan and, in a very aggressive tone, ordered the Sultan's government to dismiss the pro-French Foreign Minister Fouad and replace him with the pro-Russian Rifat.

It turned out that rough means were often the most direct and effective. Under the pressure of the Russians, the Sudanese government compromised.

The politicians of various countries were collectively speechless. Facing a player who did not abide by the rules, anyone would feel a headache. The politicians of the various countries were collectively speechless. Anyone would feel a headache when faced with a player who did not abide by the rules.

Britain and France, who had been slapped in the face, were naturally unwilling to accept their defeat. However, in the Near East, the power of their words could not be compared to the Russians. They were even lower than Austria.

Without waiting for them to act, Menshikov sent a diplomatic note to the Sultan's government, accusing the Sultan's government of unfair treatment of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He demanded that the two countries sign an agreement whereby the Russian government would manage the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Ottoman government would not interfere in the affairs of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Unfair treatment was unavoidable. In fact, in this era, the Sudanese government had relaxed its religious policies in an attempt to eliminate religious conflicts in the country.

Unfair treatment was inevitable. In fact, the Government of Sudan had relaxed its religious policies in an attempt to eliminate religious conflicts in the country. It wasn't something that could be solved by a government decree, and the Russians' intervention made the situation even more chaotic.

… (For specific religious issues, 10,000 words were omitted)

The demands of the Russians had touched the bottom line of the Osman Empire. If they agreed to this condition, it meant that more than one-third of the population would be handed over to the Russians to manage.

Britain and France could not tolerate the expansion of Russia's sphere of influence. At this time, the British had already realized that war was inevitable.

London

After the negotiations of Constantinople were passed back, the Government of the United Kingdom was considering how to choose in the upcoming war between Russia and Turkey.

Foreign Minister Palmerston thought for a moment and said, "Prime Minister, if we want to suppress the ambitions of the Russians, it is not enough to rope in the French. We must get the support of Austria.

If necessary, we can form a European coalition to suppress the ambitions of the Russians. "

John Russell shook his head and said, "Mr. Palmerston, the issue of the coalition can be put aside for now. We all know that things are not that simple.

On the issue of Russia, the European countries had different attitudes. Many countries did not feel the pain, and it was almost impossible for them to work together to attack the Russians.

You'd better talk about how to win over Austria. If we can win them over, we can suppress the Russians in the Near East with the combined strength of the three countries. "

Palmerston analyzed. "The Intelligence from Constantinople indicates that Russia and Austria and Austria have has reached, Empire. of, we, I, Austria, Russians,".

Now the Russians have recognized Austria's sphere of influence in the Balkans, and in return, Austria has supported the Russian ambitions against the Ottoman Empire.

This compromise did not mean that the conflict between the two countries on the Balkans issue no longer existed. It was just temporarily suppressed by common interests.

With Russia's appetite, even if the two countries reached an agreement, they would still break up because of the conflict of interest. It was impossible for the Austrian government not to know about these issues.

Metternich, that old fox, standing on the side of the Russians, marked a change in the policy of the Government of Austria.

It seemed that the collapse of the Vienna system was a big blow to the Austrians. Now, they were no longer looking for balance in Europe. In this regard, we have lost an ally in the European policy.

We all know that to be neighbors with the Russians, we have to stay awake at all times. Even a nap can be dangerous. The Government of Austria is preparing to divert the trouble.

Dividing up the The Balkans is only a superficial reason. The Government of Austria feels threatened and is unwilling to continue to bear the responsibility of stopping the Russians.

They want to provoke a war between Russia and Turkey to delay the Russians and buy time for their domestic development. The expansion in the The Balkans is just incidental. "

At this time, the Government of London regretted the collapse of the Vienna system. After the collapse of the Vienna system, they could indeed get rid of the restrictions and intervene in European affairs, but the results were not ideal.

From supporting the Kingdom of Sardinia to the current crisis in the Near East, the Government of London had almost never achieved decent results in diplomacy.

Now, the situation in Europe had become more complicated and involved a lot of their energy. It was not as good as the era of the Vienna system, when the European continent was balanced and stable, and they could boldly expand their power overseas.

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

The Minister of State asked in confusion, "Mr. Palmerston, according to your judgment, it is impossible for us to rope in Austria?"

The Austrian Empire had always been on the front line against Russia, and the two countries had not become enemies. The diplomatic ability of the House of Habsburg was evident.

This kind of confrontation was obviously not conducive to the development of Austria. The government's energy was exhausted by its neighbor, how could it have the ability to develop itself?

Before the collapse of the Vienna system, the Government of Austria had asked the British for help and asked the Government of London to provide money to maintain the system, but the government at the time refused.

The suggestion given by the British was to let the Government of Austria carry out social reform, and after the social reform was completed, there would be money.

It was proven that after the social reform was completed, the financial predicament could be reversed. However, the current Government of Austria was no longer interested in the Vienna system.

He had to work hard for Europe's balance, while the biggest beneficiary of the system was quietly making a fortune. No one would feel fair if they were in his shoes.

Palmerston thought about it and replied, "It depends on the Russians. If they can make the Government of Austria feel threatened, then we can rope in Austria."

It was the same in history. Austria's defection was not because of the temptation of Britain and France, nor was it because of the conflict of interests in the Danube River Basin. The most important thing was that they felt threatened by Russia.

For their own strategic security, it was normal to betray their allies. Even if it was Franz, when the Russians showed that they were too strong and could threaten the survival of Austria, he would also choose to attack the Russians.

The same was true for the Russians. If Austria was too strong and could threaten them, they would stab them in the back.

…

Ever since the military expansion bill was passed, there was a craze to join the army in Austria. The temptation of land was huge, especially for the meritorious subjects in the last war, who had obtained land and set an example for others.

The soldiers who joined the army last time were luckier and had a smooth journey from beginning to end. They didn't experience the cruelty of war. Even if there was cruelty, it was only for the enemy.

This time, the expansion of the army was just short of directly saying that they were going to attack the Osman Empire. If it was two hundred years ago, everyone's first reaction to attacking the Osman Empire would definitely be fear. Now, only military achievements were left in everyone's eyes.

Who asked the Osman Empire to decline? If Austria and Russia joined forces, they still couldn't defeat the Osman Empire?

The risk was low, and the rewards were high. Naturally, people would rush to join.

Not to mention the ordinary people, even the nobles were thinking of ways to enter the army. In a war that was destined to be won, everyone wanted to go in and earn military achievements.

This kind of opportunity was hard to come by. If they missed this opportunity, they didn't know when the next war would be.

There was already a long queue in front of the conscription point. The idea of "fame must be obtained on horseback" was very popular in Europe.

In this era, if one wanted to stand out, making military achievements on the battlefield was the best shortcut. Especially for the people at the bottom, this was almost their only way to the upper class.

In the last war, many reserve soldiers had also shown extraordinary results. In many people's eyes, even if they couldn't enter the regular army, entering the reserve was a good choice.

The status of Austria's soldiers was very high. Even the reserve soldiers were respected by others.

A young officer looked at the long queue and sighed. "There are a lot of people here today. It seems that our recruitment standards can be raised."

A middle-aged officer next to him glared at him unhappily and said, "Welston, don't be so emotional. Hurry up and organize the test.

Remember, this time, priority is given to those who can speak Austrian. After they get into the army, I won't have to give them training. "

"Yes, Major!" Welston answered at once.

Austria didn't have a clear language exclusion bill, but the government, army, business, and other institutions had a tacit understanding to give priority to those who could speak Austrian.

In the words of the people, it would be, "You don't even know the common language. Do you want me to give you an interpreter?"

This was the most realistic problem. Language barriers and communication didn't change. After being born into society, finding a job became the number one problem.

Even nationalists had to accept this social reality. It was already difficult to find a job without learning Austrian.

Want preferential treatment and care? Sorry, in Austria, employment agencies had the freedom to choose the talents they needed. The government couldn't interfere.

After three years of promotion, although the Austrian language wasn't universal, most people in the cities had mastered the common language.

This scene could be seen in many places in Austria. In order to achieve this, the Government of Austria also spent a lot of money.

Especially when the promotion was just started, it was resisted by many nationalists. Unfortunately, they were unlucky and happened to be in time for the Cultural Revolution. The troublemakers were neutralized.

What angered them the most was that after the Government of Austria's reversal, not only did it not arouse public anger, the situation in the country quickly improved.

Up until now, all the schools in Austria mainly taught Austrian. Other languages were treated the same as foreign languages. They were considered elective courses, and they were paid elective courses.

People were realistic. They didn't need to take entrance exams, find a job, and pay extra to study. Slowly, people naturally didn't pay attention to it. Keywords like nationality and independence also faded from people's lives.

Not long ago, Franz even banned all non-Austrian books and newspapers in the country.

Many people thought that this would cause social unrest, but the reality was very face-slapping. Other than some experts and scholars shouting, ordinary people didn't care at all.

Nationalism also needed to be publicized. How would ordinary people know what it was when the propaganda channel was cut off?

Under the suppression of the government, it quickly became an underground idea. If they wanted to spread it, they had to look at the actual situation. Since the reform of the education system, young students didn't play with them anymore.

Without the suicide squad, the combat effectiveness of these people was greatly reduced. Stand up against the government? If they dared to do so, they would have entered long ago. How could they have the chance to stay here?

Fikwenna, a Hungarian writer, was one of the representatives of Hungarian nationalism.

However, he belonged to the moderate faction and opposed all violent revolutions. He didn't follow Kossuth in seeking independence and even published many articles criticizing the atrocities of the revolutionary party.

Such a non-threatening existence naturally wasn't purged. Recently, he was very worried, more worried than when the Kingdom of Hungary was broken up.

For a nationalist, the loss of Hungary was acceptable because he didn't reject being Austrian. But without the Hungarian national language and writing, he couldn't help it.

Not long ago, the Hungarian newspaper Forward, which had sponsored the movement, ceased publication. Although this small newspaper sold less than a thousand copies per issue, it was also a cause he fought for.

What was even more difficult for him to accept was that the Hungarian National School established by Count István Széchenyi also included Hungarian as a paid elective instead of the language of instruction.

Now he had to fight for it with the school leaders. He couldn't let the count's hard work go down the drain. At this moment, he hated the revolutionaries led by Kossuth.

If it weren't for the rebellion of 1848, the Kingdom of Hungary would still be the Kingdom of Hungary. Under the leadership of Count István Széchenyi, they could still carry out social reforms and build an ideal Hungarian society.

There was no "if" in history. After losing their leader, the Hungarian reformists became scattered sand, and many people were incorporated by the Government of Austria.

If nothing unexpected happened, it wouldn't be long before Fikwenna accepted the goodwill of the Government of Austria. Now he still wanted to work hard for his former dream.

"Headmaster Engels, why did you cancel the Hungarian language?" Fikwenna asked.

Engels explained, "Mr. Fikwenna, you should know that since the establishment of the Hungarian National School, we have relied on donations from the outside world. We only charge a small amount of tuition fees.

In the last two years, the donations we received have been greatly reduced, and the school's funding has been in trouble. Since a year ago, the salaries of the staff have not been paid on time.

In order for the school to survive, we have to accept education funding from the Government of Austria.

According to the regulations of the Austrian Ministry of Education, all schools that receive government funding will have Austrian as the only specialized language in primary and secondary education. "

Engels had already explained this to many people. The actual situation of the school was worse than he said.

Learning another language would undoubtedly take up a lot of time and affect the grades of other subjects. Many parents proposed to the school to cancel the Hungarian language.

There was no need to talk so much. They only cared about the entrance exams. In this era, the probability of being able to go to university was low. For the future of the next generation, many people didn't care so much.

"Is there no other way?" Fikwenna asked with a frown.

Engels sighed and said, "Mr. Fikwenna, the arm can't beat the leg. After the incident of 1848, the Government of Austria was very wary of nationalism. In the fields of culture and education, integrated education was promoted comprehensively.

This is a national policy made by the government. Unless we can make them believe us again, the suppression will not end. You know it is impossible. "

Rebellion, revolution? They were not unfamiliar with these things, but it was not their strong point. Everyone had a family. Who would be willing to take the risk?

Moreover, the present was different from the past. The domestic economy was growing rapidly, the social order was stable, and the people had no motivation for revolution.