Chapter 344: Chapter 31, Emperor of Mexico
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Belvedere Palace
Head of Intelligence Tyren reported, “Your Majesty, Archduke Maximilian and his wife left Vienna yesterday, bound for France.”
Franz took a sip of tea, suppressed the dissatisfaction in his heart, and said, “Let it be, let him go!”
Heading to France at this time clearly indicates that Maximilian is preparing to rely on French support to become Emperor of Mexico.
It’s likely that Napoleon III’s hand is in this; the French need a nobly born puppet monarch to facilitate their covert control of Mexico.
Maximilian could stand out because the French had no better choice. Not just anyone would be accepted by the Mexican constitutionalists—certainly not someone from the Napoleon family.
Actually, the initial choices were limited to the Habsburg and Bourbon families. Without a doubt, Napoleon III would never support a Mexican emperor from the Bourbon family, as it would be uncomfortable for himself.
If the Bourbon dynasty were to revive in Mexico and someone thought the Bourbons were doing well and wanted to change the monarch in France, that would be disastrous.
After all, the Bourbon dynasty is recognized as legitimate, with much higher legitimacy than the Napoleon family, so the possibility of a restoration is very high.
The Habsburg family almost became the only choice; Napoleon III’s support for Maximilian was not because of his extraordinary ability but precisely because of his naive political thoughts.
If he were truly capable, neither the Mexican constitutionalists nor Napoleon III would allow him to become the Emperor of Mexico.
What everyone needs is a puppet, not a sovereign ruler. The Habsburg dynasty is not weak, and if Maximilian truly had extraordinary abilities, he might become the master at any moment.
The family’s reluctance to invest is due to Maximilian’s lack of ability, making the chance of success too low. If he were indeed capable, Franz would not mind giving him a push.
As it turned out, adolescents still craving admiration are not to be trifled with, even though Maximilian was no longer young.
Refusing to sail to Mexico aboard an Austrian warship in protest of the family’s lack of support—what kind of bizarre idea is that?
You must know that such an escort has political implications, indicating that the Habsburg family still stands behind him.
With this, he could easily garner the support of the German descendants in Mexico, gain the backing of the Central American colony, and cheat a bunch of remnants of former greatness.
By running off to France, Maximilian not only slapped his older brother in the face but also rejected the family’s political resources in the American region.
Without these resources, he could only rely on French support to ascend to power, which would not be so easy to shake off in the future.
For Franz, this is also a good thing, not needing to reluctantly pour resources into maintaining the family’s honor.
With England, France, and Spain all eyeing Mexico, Austria intervening is very likely to provoke hostility from everyone. With what happened now, Austria could justifiably disengage.
Rather than competing for Mexico with so many others, it’s better to go manage the Central American region. Once the region is unified, when the Panama Canal is opened is for Austria to decide.
If possible, Franz would delay the canal’s excavation as much as possible. Without the canal, the United States would be split between the two oceans, having to take a long detour at sea, unable to attend to both ends.
Both commercial trade and national defense would be greatly affected.
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Paris
Napoleon III gave a grand welcome ceremony for the arrival of Maximilian.
It was evident that he was very pleased—a Mexican emperor who had left the support of the Habsburg family was exactly what he needed.
Dealing with an idealist was too easy for Napoleon III.
He wasn’t born into a high position. Napoleon III had also struggled and fought on his own before he became the French Emperor.
In this regard, he surpassed all his contemporary monarchs. If not for gradually losing himself in a series of victories afterward, perhaps he would have been one of the greatest French emperors.
After the banquet the next day, Napoleon III and his confidants gathered to exchange opinions.
Don’t assume these people lacked presence in history; it was with them that Napoleon III created the splendor of France in the mid-19th century.
The French Second Colonial Empire was established during this period, and the Industrial Revolution in France was completed under their hands. This period also saw the fastest economic development and the greatest improvement in the standard of living for the people of France.
Napoleon III asked, “What do you think of Maximilian? Is he worth supporting?”
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Pelisi replied, “Your Majesty, Maximilian is like a spoiled child. He actually ran off to Paris, and I guess the one in Vienna must be furious.”
Napoleon III laughed and said, “The angrier the better, otherwise, with the political maneuvers of the Habsburg family, we might have suffered a great loss.”
Under the butterfly effect of Franz, Austria was reborn from the ashes, naturally becoming a compulsory course for the monarchs of all nations.
In conjunction with the development history of the Habsburg family, a book titled “Habsburg Family Politics” was compiled.
The empire from the waist down could not be achieved by marriage alliances alone; more political maneuvers were also needed.
Otherwise, there would not be only one Habsburg empire in Europe that was coined as the empire from the waist down.
Marriage alliances among nobility were complex, and while there were other stud families like the Habsburgs, only the Habsburgs managed to integrate an empire, and the difference lay in their political savvy.
Of course, being politically savvy did not equate to military prowess; these two abilities seemed to be inversely proportional.
At its peak, the Habsburg family occupied half of the European continent, including: Spain, the majority of Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Shinra Symbiote, Hungary…
The colonial empire of the Habsburgs spanned from North Africa to Mexico and was the world’s first empire on which the sun never sets, claiming to occupy half the earth.
This title is not an exaggeration as, at its peak, half the earth was within the sphere of influence of the Habsburg dynasty, but due to the times, they were unable to directly rule it all.
Yet, such an enormous entity was still defeated by the French. In its later years, the Habsburg dynasty was forced to split in order to preserve its rule.
The fact that they played their good cards so poorly proves that political strength does not equate to military strength.
At that time, the French were surrounded, and as long as they did not make a super mistake, they could have won by sheer force.
Unfortunately, Charles V made frequent miscalculations; although he won some and lost some due to his strong power, he was utterly defeated in strategy.
Of course, the powerfully built Habsburgs could afford to lose, but Charles V had squandered so much wealth that his successors had a hard time and gradually lost their hegemony.
Staff officer Patti analyzed, “Your Majesty, even if the one in the Vienna Palace is willing to make an effort, Maximilian may not appreciate it.”
Having an excellent older brother might be a good thing for ordinary people, but not necessarily for a spoiled child.
Living in the shadow of his brother from a young age, what Maximilian wants to do most now is to accomplish something great to prove his capabilities.
And staying in Austria, he would never have that opportunity. Franz must understand his own brother, which is why all the positions Maximilian held over the years were nominal.”
Napoleon III frowned and said, “This doesn’t seem to be good for us either. If Maximilian is too incompetent, even with our support, it would still be very difficult for him to secure his position as Emperor of Mexico.”
“Mexico is indeed a mess right now, and an ordinary person simply cannot clean up the aftermath.”
“Hopefully, Maximilian can inherit a bit of the Habsburg family’s talent; otherwise, we’re going to have big troubles later on.”
This was the contradiction. On one hand, the French needed a puppet emperor to manipulate Mexican politics easily and gain the maximum benefit;
On the other hand, the French also hoped that the emperor had some capabilities to stabilize the situation in Mexico. Otherwise, if there were internal conflicts every day, how could they make money?
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After some discussion, taking into account various factors, the French still concluded that Maximilian was worth supporting.
As for the high risk of failure, that was an unavoidable fact; high investment could lead to high returns.
Even if Mexico changed rulers, it wouldn’t dare to default on their debts. If they supported a powerful monarch, they might end up with a total loss.
At the end of 1863, Maximilian and his wife boarded a French warship and headed to the Mexican Empire.
Franz, far away in Vienna, simply ignored all this. Apart from Empress Sophie, who sent a telegram furiously reprimanding Maximilian, the rest of the Habsburg family members chose to watch coldly from the sidelines.
From the moment he left Vienna, Maximilian and his descendants were automatically renounced from the Habsburg family’s line of succession.
However, as Maximilian was drafting the court etiquette manual on the warship, he seemed unaffected. As if leaving the support of the Habsburg family was an insignificant matter.
Princess Charlotte felt some unease, yet submerged in the beautiful life of becoming an empress, she did not voice her concerns to her husband.
