War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

It's funny that at that time the most anti-Russian people in the entire Austrian Empire were the Galicians in the north and the Croatians in the south, and they were all so-called Slavs.

This book was first published on the Internet by 𝕥𝕨𝕜𝕒𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞

It goes without saying that Poland and Croatia have always been the rebels among the Slavs due to religious issues. At this time, the Ruthenians (Ukrainians) actually had a deep hatred for the Russians.

Historically, the Polish masters once wanted to turn the Ruthenians into Poles, and after defeating Poland, Russia also wanted to turn the Ruthenians into Russians, and their methods were equally brutal and there was no distinction between high and low.

The most outrageous evidence is that after the Austrian Empire occupied Galicia, it implemented a system of book and newspaper censorship that it considered strict, but as a result, the culture of the Ruthenian people was revived.

Even the Ruthenians under Russian rule often crossed the border to Austria to publish books in order to pass on their culture, and then exported their culture to Russia.

Franz's first step in Moldavia was to announce the abolition of slavery. Although Grigore Alexandru Ghika was a wise ruler in Moldavia's history, he did not dare to act rashly in the face of the long-standing ills.

On the one hand, it was because it was easy to cause backlash, and on the other hand, Grigory had just ascended the throne and had not yet established a firm foothold.

In fact, he abolished slavery in 1853, and in 1859, following Russia's lead, he abolished serfdom.

But this time Grigory had no chance.

Backlash? Lack of strength? Franz didn't have such concerns. He was just worried that no one would oppose him.

The slaves who were freed and given land would become die-hard supporters of the Austrian Empire and would support Franz no matter what he did.

This was also one of the agreements made between Franz and Mileakov. The former promised the latter that Moldavia would be truly liberated. The abolition of slavery was only the first step. After that, Franz would also abolish serfdom and give the Moldavia the treatment of Austrian citizens.

That's why Mileakov surrendered and worked for Franz. Of course, in addition to this, the latter also guaranteed the former a high position, generous salary, and a title for his wife and children. His wife would be made a noble, and his children from intermarriage between the noble and the commoner would be able to inherit his title and go to Vienna to study.

As for the source of the land, aren't there so many rebels? If you catch a few of them, you'll have large tracts of land.

On the Dobruja battlefield, the appearance of the Austrian Imperial Army suddenly brought the entire war situation to a standstill. The Russians wanted to fight but were not strong enough, while the Ottomans had an advantage in military strength. However, Orma Pasha did not dare to fight, fearing that he would not be able to win, and also that even if he won, it would be even more difficult to end the war.

After all, this was only the vanguard of Russia and Austria. From the news that came back one after another, Olma Pasha speculated that the total number of troops mobilized by the Austrian Empire this time was at least more than 300,000, while Russia claimed to have 500,000.

If Orma Pasha really made some big news at this time, he would probably be in big trouble.

In fact, Orma Pasha had made a huge mistake, which was to enter Russian territory and engage in a fierce battle with the Austrian army that arrived.

Orma Pasha wanted to consult Zaganos about what to do next, but the latter and his confidants had long disappeared.

Orma Pasha suddenly felt as if the sky had fallen and the earth had collapsed. He sat alone in the big tent and muttered to himself.

"It's over. Everything is over."

However, what he did not expect was that his officers chose to conceal the facts and turned this great defeat into a great victory.

Istanbul, Topkapi Palace.

"The new Ottoman army has lived up to the Sultan's trust and has driven all the Russians out of the country. The Russian-Austrian coalition forces are stationed across the river in fear of our might."

But another secret report received by Queen Mother Shefkefuza was.

"Olma Pasha's reckless pursuit of success led to the failure of his plan to completely wipe out the Russian vanguard."

The two letters with contradictory contents made Queen Mother Shefkefuza feel angry and a little overwhelmed.

The reason is simple: Queen Mother Shefkefza trusts both parties, but does not dare to believe them completely.

Because Mejid's death was too sudden and left too much mess, Shefkefza sacrificed too much power to gain the support of others for his son's sultanate.

Coupled with the existence of the British emperor, the power of Queen Mother Shefkefza, as the helmsman of the Ottoman family at that time, was weakened to an unprecedented level.

Queen Mother Shefkefuza may be a master of palace fighting, but she may not be an excellent politician.

Queen Mother Shefkefuza quickly turned the beads in her hand, she was extremely upset.

If Orma Pasha could not be trusted, then who could she trust?

If this is a shameless frame-up, then who can I trust around me?

If this is true, what should I do? Will forcibly removing Orma Pasha from office cause a mutiny?

Colin Campbell's letter confirmed Orma Pasha's words, but it raised a new problem, that is, the Austrian Empire's arrogant intervention in the dispute between the two countries.

There could be no worse news for Queen Mother Shefkefza and the Ottoman Empire's top leaders.

As for whether Orma Pasha won or lost, it was not that important. Queen Mother Shefkefza immediately convened an emergency meeting in the name of Sultan Murad V.

"Damn it! What do the Austrians want?"

"We have to get them out of the war! We can't face Russia and Austria at the same time."

"Don't panic! As we said before, give Bulgaria and Dobruja to the Austrian Empire, and then give Eastern Bosnia and Southern Serbia to Russia.

Then they will start fighting among themselves and our crisis will be resolved.”

"But what if they don't fight?"

"But at least we have gained a chance to breathe. Do you have any better solution?"

Viscount Stratford also received news that the Austrian Empire had intervened in the Russo-Turkish War, which was very unfavorable for Britain.

At this time, Britain had no power to check and balance the Russo-Austrian alliance. Unless Russia and Austria turned against each other, the Ottomans would surely lose in the Balkans.

Viscount Stratford had something more to worry about than these, which was that a fleet was heading to the Black Sea from the British mainland to support the Ottoman Navy.

If the Austrians repeat their old tricks and once again shut down the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, it would be the end of the British Navy.

Viscount Stratford would never let this happen, so he immediately sent someone to notify the fleet to be prepared to evade and fight at any time.

However, the Mediterranean is Austrian territory after all. It would be troublesome if the Austrian army attacked again.

So Viscount Stratford immediately thought of another solution, which was to sign a maritime non-aggression treaty with the Austrian Empire.