In the palace of Milan, the Wittelsbach family was having a final discussion about whether or not to give up the Greek throne.
This problem was actually very easy to solve. Unlike the original Otto I who was ousted, this time Otto I died of natural causes. Many of the senior members of the Greek government were brought over by Otto I from Bavaria.
With the support of Austria, these people still held the power. The Wittelsbach family's foundation in Greece was not damaged, and the heir sent out could stabilize the situation in the shortest time.
This was also the reason why Franz was inclined to support the Wittelsbach family. If it was a foreign king, it would be difficult to control Greece.
Although Otto I couldn't be called a successful king, he wasn't useless either. In the Near Eastern War, Greece lost, but the king was the winner.
With the help of the British, French and Ottomans, Otto I successfully eliminated his dissidents. Until now, the Greek radical groups had not recovered.
The few aristocrats and capitalists were smart people. It was fine to shout slogans, but anyone who believed that they could "rebuild Rome" must be a fool.
After a series of social beatings in the original universe, Greece's strategic goals became smaller and smaller, from the original "rebuild Rome" to "Greater Greece."
Even "Greater Greece" was not small at all. The territory was about seven or eight times larger than it was now.
George I proposed to "establish a Greater Greece with Constantinople as the capital and Athens as the economic center," which was criticized by Greek patriots.
From the map, this plan was about one-third of The Balkans and one-fourth of Turkey, including many islands in the Aegean Sea and Cyprus.
This plan was not too much, and Greece almost achieved its goal in the original universe. Unfortunately, it was so close that it still failed.
Now it was a tragedy. The road to expansion was blocked by Austria. It was the same whether they lowered the goal or not. There was no hope of success at all.
The Greek radical groups opposed Austria because they were unwilling to let their dream of becoming a great country be broken. However, in the face of the cruel reality, they had too few supporters.
In this context, with the support of Austria, as long as the domestic ability passed, it was not difficult to sit on the Greek throne.
…
Warsaw. After receiving the diplomatic reply from Austria, the Polish government didn't even celebrate Christmas.
They had no choice. Originally, they sent a note to Austria with the main purpose of provoking a war of words and using the patriotic enthusiasm of the people to divert everyone's attention.
The reason why he chose Austria was because he had no other choice. It was easier to scold the Russians, but after a long time, the people were numb to it.
Except for a few radicals who wanted to expand their territory to Moscow, most Poles had lost interest in the lands of the Russian Empire. Now they wanted to recover their homeland.
This part of the territory was in Prussia and Prussia. The Kingdom of Prussia was Poland's ally, and the pro-Pussia faction in the government was too powerful. They had to ally with Prussia to deal with Russia, so they could only deal with Austria.
The Polish government did not expect the Government of Vienna to respond so strongly. The Austrian – Polish territorial dispute had been going on for many years, but the Government of Vienna had not taken any drastic measures. This gave many Poles the illusion that they would get into trouble if they accidentally used extreme diplomatic words.
Well, they didn't know that Prussia was behind this extreme diplomatic rhetoric. Otherwise, the officials of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs would not have been so "negligent."
After receiving the threat from Austria, Poland's interim Prime Minister, Dombrowski, immediately summoned the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to scold them.
They didn't want to die so obviously. It would be strange if the Government of Vienna didn't react fiercely to the diplomatic note threatening Austria.
As an international revolutionary fighter, Dombrowski was not an ordinary person. In addition to leading the Polish uprising, he was also one of the leaders of the Paris Commune movement in the original timeline.
In the face of reality, compromise was still needed. In order to be able to retain power, Dombrowski turned into a "royalist."
The Polish throne was vacant. In addition to the intervention of international forces, the "royalists" led by Dombrowski did not want to let the king be born. This was also an important factor.
For them, the longer the time dragged on, the better. When the Polish people were used to not having a king, then Poland would not need a king.
The premise was not to cause trouble. Otherwise, if the great powers intervened, the situation would change. In an era where the monarchy was still strong, rashly launching a challenge was a road to death.
The Foreign Minister, WA Flublewski, said with a gloomy face, "Your Excellency, the matter has been investigated. The person who tampered with the document was a patriotic young man working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He committed suicide after the incident.
He also left a suicide note explaining the situation. It was mainly because he was dissatisfied with the government's weakness on the Austrian issue, and when he submitted the note to Austria, he secretly replaced the document. "
It didn't matter if the matter was true or false. Anyone who thought about it would know there was a problem. It was possible for a patriotic young man to secretly change the document, but suicide was very nonsensical.
Even knowing that there was a problem, WA Flublewski couldn't continue to investigate. Pretending to be ignorant was the instinct of politicians. If it was investigated further, the final result was not something the Polish government could bear.
No matter what the reason was, the Government of Vienna wouldn't give up easily. After the formal diplomatic note, they had to bear the consequences.
Dombrowski said with a straight face, "There's no need to explain to me. The problem now is how to make the Austrians stop.
The Government of Vienna has wanted to interfere in Poland's internal affairs for a long time. Now you actually sent an excuse to my door. Tell me how to deal with the aftermath? "
The Polish government was still very tragic. It was politically influenced by the European powers, especially Prussia, and its own autonomy was very limited.
Including social reforms, the Polish government couldn't promote them according to their will. There was no need to think about the proletarian revolution. They couldn't even carry out the bourgeois revolution to the end.
Dombrowski had always wanted to get rid of the influence of other countries on Poland, but he couldn't even take the first step. Now the Polish army was deeply influenced by Prussia. The military wanted more power and had a fierce collision with the government.
The Polish military had always wanted to support William I to the throne and then obtain the same status as the Juncker nobles in Prussia.
Because there was no king, the officers who had made great contributions in the war couldn't become a member of the nobles.
These people had become vested interests. They wanted to consolidate their position and were very resistant to the policies of the Dombrowski government.
If it wasn't for the support of Britain and France, the Dombrowski government might have been overthrown. Prussia didn't dare to offend Britain and France, so now they were borrowing Austria's knife.
From the perspective of interests, it was easy to analyze the cause and effect. Knowing was knowing, Dombrowski had no other choice.
Either quell Austria's anger as soon as possible, or concentrate their strength to fight Austria. There was no third way.
Foreign Minister WA Flublewski: "We have been in contact with Britain, France, and Prussia. They said they would pay close attention.
Britain and France suggested we accept the Austrians' request to suppress the anti-Austrian movement in the country and make an apology to quell the storm.
The Government of Prussia said they wouldn't sit back and watch Austria invade Poland. They didn't give a clear answer on what to do. "
In theory, it wasn't difficult to accept Austria's conditions. It was nothing more than losing some face, and there was no need to harm national interests. Most people in power knew what to choose.
However, this was only in theory. If the anti-Austrian movement was suppressed, the Polish government would lose its popular base and wouldn't be far from collapse.
Prussia's position was even more of a mystery. With Russia as a common enemy, Poland and Poland were allies. But it wasn't a secret that the Government of Berlin wanted to annex Poland.
The people of Prussia wouldn't sit back and watch Austria invade Poland. It didn't mean that Prussia would send troops to protect Poland. They might even divide Poland with Austria.
In the face of interests, it was best not to test a country's moral integrity. Otherwise, the result would be very touching.
Finance Minister Badlevski stood up. "It's not that simple. Don't forget that there are still the Russians. The Russo-Austrian Alliance is broken, but it hasn't collapsed.
If Russia takes the opportunity to join in, Russia and Austria will join forces. Even if Britain, France, and Prussia support us, the final result won't be ideal. "
Badlevski was in favor of compromise. Losing face was not a big deal. The popular base could be said to be the most important or the least important of a government. It depended on the specific situation.
Losing the popular base was serious, but there was still a chance to recover. It was better than letting the Austrians come to their door.
The military, which had always liked to meddle in politics, was silent this time. It was as if they had become invisible and left everything to the government to handle.
"Will the Austrians make a move? I don't think so. "
Dombrowski smiled coldly. "It's easy to defeat us, but is it in Austria's interest?
After we are overthrown, the next government will definitely be pro-Portuguese. Britain and France's influence in Poland will be greatly reduced, and the possibility of William I ascending the Polish throne will increase. This is not what the Government of Vienna wants to see.
The Polish government is so poor that the Austrians can't even collect their military expenses. The Russo-Austrian Alliance hasn't been dissolved. Even if they can seize a piece of land from Poland, according to morality, shouldn't they return it to Russia?
They've worked hard and are making a wedding dress for someone else. I don't think the Government of Vienna can't see it.
From the beginning to the end, we haven't really harmed Austria's interests. It's just a matter of face. From the perspective of interests, the Austrians are more likely to bluff.
We are the people's government. We can't do things like suppressing patriotism. But the government can still apologize to the Austrians and give them a way out.
I don't think the Government of Vienna will make a fuss. At worst, we'll lower the industrial and commercial tariffs of both countries and give up some of the benefits. "
This was a big gamble, using the fate of Poland to bet on whether Austria would make a move. Badlevski wanted to say something but stopped. Everyone wanted reputation, and suppressing patriotism would hurt their reputation too much.
The Polish government's control over the military was too weak. In addition to the support of Britain and France, the support of the people was also very important. If they lost the people's support, the possibility of them keeping power was very low.
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