The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 658 The Papal State

In fact, when Franz was making troubles, Prime Minister Metternich was not idle, but he still slid to Italy according to the historical track.

The four countries of Parma, Lucca, Modena, and Tuscany in Central Italy are actually controlled by Austria and are only independent countries in name.

Especially with the construction of the railway and the establishment of the Apennines business alliance, the continuous strengthening of the connection between these areas and the Austrian Empire has actually become part of the Austrian market.

As for the most powerful Sardinian kingdom in the entire Italian peninsula, it also had many marriages with the Austrian Empire, and was also influenced by the latter to a certain extent, at least on the surface.

Ferdinand II of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies directly changed from an extreme liberal to an extreme conservative due to the continuous rebellion in the country and the deep fear of death.

Conservative to the point of closing the country, that's right, the king who once established the first railway on the Italian peninsula, the first modern shipping company, and laid the first telegraph line.

Ferdinand II even once cut off foreign trade routes because of fear of revolutionaries landing from the sea, which eventually led to a major domestic famine and a decline in commerce.

The Kingdom of Two Sicilies is too far away from the Austrian mainland, and this crazy way of governing is naturally not Metternich's dish. He is aiming at the Papal State.

If Tsarist Russia is the sewer of the literacy rate of the great powers, then the Papal States is the bottomless pit of the literacy rate of the non-great powers.

Farmers, who accounted for the vast majority of the population, did not have the right to education or financial resources. The operation of the country did not depend on the government or the law, but on the mood of the pope and priests.

At that time, priests in the Papal State had great power. They could enter any house in the parish (similar to a community) at any time as they wished, and ruled whether the church's hadith had been obeyed.

They are police chiefs, judges, and prosecutors at the same time.In addition, they also hold the military and legislative power, as well as the functions of acting on behalf of the Holy See and judging heresy.

In short, priests are gods in their own diocese, and what they do may make those African benevolent kings of later generations look "wise" a lot.

More than 330 million of the 300 million population of the entire Papal States are chronically hungry. People live a medieval life, and there is almost no public lighting at night.

The houses of the poor are made of mud and stones, and the roofs are covered with straw. Even the luxurious palaces where nobles and priests live are covered with stench, because they also have no sanitation system.

Piles of filth can be seen here and there on both sides of the road, as well as barrels hanging by second-story windows.

Quite a few people could not afford to use ironware, and many people had little clothes, and some families even had only one pair of trousers.The terrible poverty not only makes modern people unbelievable, but even diplomats stationed in the Papal State can hardly believe it.

Rudolf von Lützow, the Austrian ambassador to Rome, wrote in his diary.

"It's hard for me to believe that I've seen the most blasphemous thing in the closest place to God
People don't eat enough, they don't have enough clothes, they don't know it, absurdity and ignorance are not enough to describe what I see.
On the way to Rome I met a cute kid who seemed interested in my cat.

Since the child had a pretty face, pretty eyes, and a lovely voice, but he had no shirt on and his hair was long, I couldn't tell its gender.

As a traditional Viennese, I love children, so I gifted the cute little guy my cat, a shirt, and a silver coin, in the hope that he or she will have a happy life. one day.

After about a quarter of an hour, I found that the child just forgot to take the cat food. I didn't want Mr. Saswa (the name of the cat) to leave his beloved dried fish, so I almost turned back.

However, what I saw was a dirty woman wearing the white shirt I gave away, and on the wooden shelf beside him was a bloody Mr. Saswa.

Angrily, I took out my single-shot pistol from the box, wanting to make this dirty woman in front of me pay for Mr. Saswa's life.

But when I saw the grateful and expectant eyes of the two children beside me, I chose to go back to the carriage and leave as if flying away.”

The poverty, backwardness, and ignorance of the Papal State can be seen. When the cardinals ride through the streets in extremely luxurious carriages, countless beggars are shuttling through the city.

They are begging on every street corner, every square, every monument and every church door. They are everywhere like the boundless power described by the church.
Pope Gregory XVI is not a popular ruler, and his incompetence and stupidity are also deepening the country's crisis.

Pope Gregory XVI was born in a local aristocratic family in Lombardy, northern Italy. He has a high nose, curved lips, and an eternal frown expression. The most terrifying thing is the tumor growing on his face. Let him only live in seclusion.

Pope Gregory XVI regarded himself as an ascetic, but successively established financial institutions such as the Discount Bank, the Bank of Rome, the Holy Spirit Bank and the Savings House, and also established the Holy Water Company, appointing entrepreneurs to manage the internal affairs of the church. The desire for money far exceeds its predecessors .

However, due to poor management, the Papal State could only keep borrowing to survive the immediate crisis. By 1846, the total debt had reached 3600 million ztilos (1 ztilos = 0.4 pounds).

Among them, the Rothschild Bank of France alone lent nearly 2000 million francs, and the debt owed to the Austrian Empire exceeded 5000 million florins.

In order to repay the debt, Gregory XVI mortgaged the tax cards of various places, as well as the trading privileges of wine, salt, fish, sugar, and cotton cloth to merchants.

This further exacerbates the divide between rich and poor, with the "black nobility" controlling everything while millions of people suffer from poverty and hunger.

The black nobility refers to the descendants of the pope and the relatives of the cardinals. Another saying is that the monks are called black nobility because they wear black clothes.

Under such a rule, coupled with the spread of nationalist ideas, uprisings are inevitable.

The Papal States at the beginning did not realize the seriousness of the problem. Maste Ferre (later Pius IX), who was the bishop of Bologna at the time, did not comment on the rebels:
"All the rioters in Perugia, Foligno, Spoleto and Terni numbered no more than 500"

"Without uniforms, leadership, and guts, this group has nothing to scare anyone!"

Then the so-called five hundred rioters defeated the Papal State's 1-strong army under the city of Bologna, and the team quickly grew, rushing into the town to kill the clergy and looting the holy treasury everywhere.

Mustafa Ferret abandoned the city and fled, but he didn't think he had lost, but that his epileptic seizures made him unable to lead his own expedition, causing his morale to collapse, and he applied to the Holy See to take command again.

The senior officials of the Holy See felt that he was very brave and decided to give him another chance.

As a result, another disastrous defeat was encountered in the Imola area, and the Papal State's [-] troops were defeated by one blow.Gregory XVI had to send people to France and Austria to rescue soldiers overnight.

In 1831, the July Dynasty had just overthrown the rule of the Bourbon Dynasty, and Louis Philippe had no time to look around, so he only sent 250 soldiers to defend the Holy See.

Gregory XVI was so angry that he almost had a stroke. Fortunately, Ruigi Lambruszini, the chief secretary of the Holy See, invited the Austrians in spite of all the arguments.

Both Emperor Franz II and Prime Minister Metternich felt that this was a good opportunity.

So the Austrian army entered the territory of the Papal State to suppress the rebellion, and the result was surprising. The rebel army, which the Pope claimed to unite Catholics all over the world, was easily defeated by the Austrian army in Bologna.

However, although the rebellion was put down, the root problem has not been resolved.With the passage of time, when Franz II passed away in 1835, the Austrian Empire spent millions of dollars on the Pope's military expenditure every year.

After the death of the "Italian Emperor", Metternich, who had no support, could only cut expenses and linger on for the purpose of maintaining the Pope's rule.

However, history has changed at this time. With the entry of the Austrian Empire into the German Customs Union in 1834, coupled with Franz's intervention later, its economic strength far surpassed that of the same period in history.

Metternich was not stupid. He knew that the times were quietly changing, and those governments that failed to make timely changes would be swept into the dustbin of history.

For example, the Bourbon dynasty, which was successfully restored after the Napoleonic Wars, was unknowingly overthrown by his citizens again.

The Papal State borders Lombardy and Venetia, and is closely connected with the small states of Central Italy. Whether it is stable or not will directly affect Austria's rule in Italy.

Metternich was determined to strengthen the rule of the Papal State, but he had also been to the Papal State and met the Pope himself, so he believed that reform was necessary.

Metternich wanted to use his ideas to transform the Papal States and let capable people dominate the government, which in the eyes of Gregory XVI was completely treasonous.

The result is that the money is spent, but the effect is very small, people are more miserable, and uprisings and riots follow one after another.Tens of millions of florins are spent every year, but the pope does not appreciate it, and even tends to fall to France.

At this time, Franz made some interventions (mentioned earlier, but it is too long to briefly describe it here).

Franz's advice to Metternich was to treat this as a deal, since Gregory XVI was a businessman.

No matter how selfless the Austrian Empire is, it should be seen by the other party.After all, Gregory XVI was the church, and the Austrian Empire was a Catholic country.

Therefore, before sending troops, sending people to the Holy See requires the cost of sending troops, which can greatly ease the relationship between the two countries.

As a result, the Holy See's attitude towards the Austrian Empire changed significantly. Not only did it alienate France, but it also gave the Austrian Empire two more cardinal positions.

However, this is a temporary solution, not the root cause. The Austrian Empire still needs a large amount of military funding every year to maintain the rule of the church.

While doing so, it also became the target of public criticism. The people regarded the Austrian Empire as the accomplices of those black nobles. The people and nobles of the country felt that this kind of support was completely a waste.

The great powers even accused the Austrian Empire of interfering in the internal affairs of the Papal State, intending to be detrimental to the Pope.Italian nationalists even listed Austria as the number one enemy.

Revolutionaries in other regions have also listed the Austrian Empire as the number one reactionary force, and even had a worse reputation than Russia at one time.

Franz did not agree with such things as selling heads to aid the United States, so he suggested that Metternich should be reformed from suppression.For Ferrara and Bologna, which are closer to Austria, it is possible to consider sending troops directly, the reason being that it is convenient for continuous suppression.

This proposal has really been approved by the Pope's Hall. In the view of the top of the Pope, maintaining their own status and safety is more important than anything else. The long-term presence of the Austrian Imperial Army can not only reduce rebellion, but also save the need to go to Vienna every time to rescue soldiers. cost.

Then the Austrian side proposed to help the Papal State to govern. After all, there may still be dangerous elements in these rebellious areas.

Those people once killed the officials of the Holy See. In order to avoid the tragedy, the Austrian Empire can help govern and help collect taxes.

The senior officials of the Holy See immediately expressed their support. On the one hand, they were indeed worried about security issues, and on the other hand, they had no reason to refuse if they could get something for nothing.

But Gregory XVI was not a fool, but fortunately he was a leader who could negotiate.

Finally, after the Austrian Empire promised to donate 50 florins to the Pope's private treasury every year, Gregory XVI finally agreed to hand over the Ferrara and Bologna areas to the former for management.

However, Gregory XVI firmly opposed the construction of railways on the land of the Papal State, so the Austrian railways could only be built to the border of Ferrara.

Then the "corrupt" rule of the Austrian Empire won unanimous praise from the local people, and the papal state's education of the people for hundreds of years was not in vain.

As long as the Austrian side gives the people a little favor, the latter will be grateful and surrender.In fact, Austrian businessmen still control most of the important industries, but the local people's requirement is only to have enough food.

It is not difficult to do this in this era of rapid agricultural development.So by comparing the two, the locals quickly came to a conclusion that Austrian beliefs were more pious than Roman beliefs, because the land could produce more food under the former's governance.

This kind of self-brainwashing consciousness is a very good quality in the eyes of the ruler.In order to fulfill the long-cherished wish of the old emperor, Metternich is also steadily advancing the area of ​​the Austrian governance area.

However, paper cannot contain the fire. Someone noticed the intention of the Austrian Empire and informed the Holy See.Gregory XVI immediately ordered the return of Ravenna, Ancona and other places, but soon the war broke out again and he had to invite the Austrian army back.

In the following years, the rebellion never stopped, so that even now, fools can see that it was Metternich's tricks.

However, at this time, what the prime minister thought was a clever strategy was actually playing with fire. Leaving aside the opposition from the great powers, it was impossible for the top leaders of the Papal State to allow Austria to be encroached on like this.

All the achievements at this time were achieved under the greedy and fatuous ruler of Gregory XVI. If it were replaced by a more capable Pope, Austria would be hindered and even had to be transferred to the Pope. its giving up.

However, what Franz didn't know was that the new pope who was about to appear on the stage could be said to have interpreted the word "disgusting people and hating dogs" to the extreme.

There are very few people in this world who can be hated by both conservatives and liberals, by the poor and by the rich, and even he himself hates himself very much.

(End of this chapter)