Chapter 102 The Austrian Partition
"Seventy years ago we divided Poland with the aid of Prussia and Russia. Today our former allies have turned on us and half our territory shall be enslaved while we are forced to pledge fealty to the Hohenzollerns. How the Jagiellons must be laughing in their graves."- Maximillian von Hapsburg 1864
"With our former masters vanquished upon the battlefield Hungary is now and forever free from the tyranny of Austria. From this day forward there shall be nothing to stop the Magyar people from pursuing their destiny."-President Lajos Kossuth 1864
"My father brought about the golden age of the Russian Empire. I intend to finish what he started."- Tsar Alexander III 1900
After centuries of sovereign dynastic rule, with their house at one point becoming the most powerful dynasty in all of Europe and ruling a majority of the Americas in a glorious empire, the House of Hapsburg had lost almost everything under their control and were at the mercy of the Hohenzollerns, the very same dynasty who began their descent into failure with the rise of Frederick the Great and the denial of total Austrian control in Silesia. Everyone knew after the Revolutions that Austria's days were numbered and that it was very likely the empire would end soon. Yet few Europeans could've imagined that the war that would bring about the destruction of Austria would come and go so quickly, the fall of Hapsburg control ending in a whimper rather than a bang. With their armies devastated on the battlefield and the entirety of the Empire occupied by foreign powers, there was almost nothing that Franz Joseph or his kin could demand at the negotiating table, the Hapsburgs forced to sit aside as younger dynasties decided their fate. The only factor that Franz Joseph could possibly count upon was to play the hostility of the belligerent nations against each other. For this alliance of convenience was born out of greed and never meant to last. And without the existence of an Austrian buffer state to keep each other at bay, tensions would rise between all nations as alliances form against one another and relations continue to deteriorate for the next half century.
The selfish behavior of each of the participating Great Powers reflected at the Vienna Conference which took place during the remainder of June. On paper the terms had already been agreed to through the secret arrangements and correspondence between Bismarck and his counterparts in St. Petersburg, Budapest, and Rome. However just like most actions saying one thing is difficult than actually doing so. For one Germany was afraid of the potential leaps in power that both Russia and Italy had undergone. For Russia they were able to grab another Slavic state and increase their already behemoth of an empire, with Eastern Europe out of the way the Romanovs would soon turn their attention to the Balkans and Scandinavia, increasing surrounding Germany with a hegemonic alliance of Slavism and Orthodoxy. Then there were the upstart Italians who would ensure their dominance of the central Mediterranean and with all of the Italian peoples united would perhaps look towards started their own global colonial empire in the future. The possible total Italian annexation of Trieste was now seen as a huge misfire to the German Foreign Ministry as the annexation of Trieste would've ensure a German port on the Mediterranean and increase their global trade presence. Then there were the demands of the latest newcomer to the continent Hungary. While the Magyar nation didn't suffer any grievous casualties in the war they did play a large part in the downfall of Austria and were demanding a greater share of the pie. Then of course there were the war scares of a potential border conflict with Romania over the fate of the Bukovinan people, something that threatened to turn into an Hungarian Civil War with the unrest present in Transylvania. Thankfully while Bucharest was itching for blood, strong coercion from Russian diplomats forced them to back down, President Kossuth and his cabinet all the more grateful as they knew that their two decade independence would be horribly threatened in any direct conflict with Russia, considering the fact that their relations with Germany were not one of an alliance yet and neither Berlin nor Rome made any guarantees of support in such a conflict, all the while the Ottomans looked on in the south to intervene if they could.
The Vienna Conference, taking half a century against the original one which created modern Europe.
In the end the territorial redrawing that took place fell in line to most of the previous agreements. The one major change that occurred was the division of Bukovina with Romania receiving half of the province while Hungary was given thousands of square kilometers of Galician territory. To the diplomats present it was considered a far compromise in order to sate the Nationalist desires of Romania while also treating Hungary accordingly for their participation. Of course any one of the Great Powers could've demanded more and the conference may have easily become a squabbling mess of Risk in order to get as much land as possible. However everyone knew that the war's outcome was a practical impossibility with the coalition storming the country in weeks with few casualties and neither Britain nor France intervening. To ask more would be to ruin the fragile balance of power in Europe and give way to a far bloodier war with the possibility of all gains being lost. To the coalition it was best to be grateful for what they received and prepare for future expansion later.
The terms of the Treaty of Vienna are as follows:
- The state of the Austrian Empire shall cease to exist
- The Kingdom of Bohemia shall become a constituent state of the German Empire. Prince Otto Wittelsbach of Bavaria shall be enthroned as King of Bohemia, swearing fealty to Kaiser Wilhelm.
- The Italian constituencies of the Tyrol province, the province of Trieste, and all Slovene lands shall become annexed by the Italian Federation. All annexed tyrol lands shall be split between the Republics of Venice and Lombardy, and Trieste and Slovenia shall be annexed as the Republics of Trieste and the Republic of Slovenia.
- The lands of Bukovina east of the Siret river shall be annexed by the Principality of Romania. All Romanian peoples in Bukovina may freely move to the Principality and accept citizenship by January 1st of 1866.
- Hungary shall receive the remainder of Bukovinan lands along with all Galician lands south of the river Prut.
- The Russian Empire shall annex the remainder of Galicia which will be incorporated into the Congress of Poland.
- The House of Hapsburg-Lorraine shall remain as the rulers of Austria with the title of Archduke. Emperor Franz-Joseph is to abdicate his throne and deny all dynastic rights to the Archduchy along with his children. Maximillian von Hapsburg shall become Archduke of Austria and swear fealty to Kaiser Wilhelm. Maximillian and his successors must swear off all claims to non-Austrian lands that were previously part of the Empire.
- Citizenship shall be granted to the inhabitants of all territories annexed.
The partition of the Austrian empire from its 1845 borders. Hungary (Dark Green). Germany (Grey). Russia (Purple). Italy (Green). Romania (Violet).
After the Treaty of Vienna a final though often forgotten piece of German expansion came with the annexation of the Principality of Lichtenstein late in 1864. The Principality had their own growing Pan-German movement within its borders, though with them being surrounded by Austria and cut off from Germany the noble establishment felt secure for the time being. Now finding themselves surrounded by the might of the German Empire, the rulers of Lichtenstein sought to make a favorable annexation deal where they would come in as a federal principality with rights similar to Bavaria and Saxony. With this and Vienna the German Empire would see its final continental expansion until the end of the Great War. For the peoples of Germany it was a grand achievement that few could dare atest to since the age of Charliegmene, all the German-speaking people were finally united under one nation, one Kaiser. While some feared that a potential backlash would result from the annexation, an overwhelming majority of Austrians in the months afterwords were observed to easily accept the transition, the German tricolor swarming the lands of the Austrian Archduchy and "Deutschlandlied" sang by millions of Nationalists. Much like the Slovene problem in Italy, many Germans at first were skeptical of annexing the entirety of Bohemia into their realm, a strong coalition of German Conservative, Progressive People's and half of the National Liberals within the Reichstag attempting to keep Bohemia out. Unfortunately for them Kaiser Wilhelm was as stubborn as a mule on the inclusion of the Czech Kingdom and fought tooth and nail for them to be incorporated into the empire, Bohemia having been considered by many to be a traditional part of Germany due to its role as an elector and the only Kingdom within the Holy Roman Empire. For the most part the Czechs were given a deal where they were allowed to become a federal kingdom as the Unified Kingdom of Bohemia and Moravia, albeit with all German portions annexed into the Sudetenland state and Silesia. For the monarch of this new Czech state, Prince Ludwig of Bavaria was chosen to be crowned as King Ludwig I due to the House of Wittelsbach brief tenure as rulers of Bohemia during the 30 Years War, having the oldest surviving claim. With the main issue of language secured thanks to the protection of the Czech tongue, the Bohemian and Moravian citizens now sought to ensure their status to be protected and to rise above the other German states, siding with the Zentrum party in federal elections.
A German Nationalist parade (Left) Uprisings by Pan-Germans during the war (Right).
Out of everyone within Austria after the war, the only real losers would be the House of Hapsburg. After the signing of the Treaty of Vienna, Franz Joseph fled the country and took refuge in the Kingdom of Belgium, mocked til the end of his days as the Emperor who lost everything, eventually committing suicide in 1873. For the remaining Hapsburgs in the country it was not their best point either as the new Archduke Maximilian had to give up his potential claims as Emperor and pledge fealty to the Hohenzollerns, the house that had been mortal enemies of the Hapsburgs for the past century and a half. Many Hapsburg possessions were confiscated by the state or sold to provide a stable income. Maximilian himself had little political authority compared to his peers as the writers of the new Austrian constitution did their best to ensure that the dynastic heads were little more than figureheads with little possibility to bring the Archduchy to ruin. It wasn't until Archduke Joseph, Maximilian's firstborn and heir, came to power that the position of Archduke gradually began to gain power again and become a strong executive figure in its own right. With the end of 1864 came the end of an age. The Hapsburgs, the family that were once seen as masters of the Western world, supreme rulers of Germany, and protectors of the Church, had lost their time. The sun had finally set on Vienna.
Archduke Maximilian
Within Italy celebration rang out over the success and final completion of Italian unification. Now beyond a small number in the tens of thousands of their Catholic French and Croatian neighbors, almost all Italians within the Old World could rightfully claim to be citizens of the Federation. Pope Pius was stated to have been grateful for the swift and light end to the war, praying for reconciliation of all Catholics within former Austria and for peace to continue within Europe. While millions of Italians were grateful to have their brethren returned to the fold, most were unsure of the addition of hundreds of thousands of Slavs to their country. While the Slovene people differed from most of the Orthodox Slavs in being Catholic, they were still in many ways an alien culture to that of the Latin Italians. A few Nationalists in the Senate called for the rejection of the Treaty of Vienna and the creation of an independent Slovene state that would be subservient to Italian interests, a vassal in all but name. Unfortunately for these Italian purists, they were drowned by the cries of the more expansionist fanatics, specifically the Neo-Romans.
The Neo Roman movement began fully after the end of the Sardinian Heresy and continued to grow from the mid 1850's. Those who ascribe to the Neo-Roman ideals can be considered to be in a sense reactionaries who wish for the resurrection of the centuries dead Roman Empire, specifically the Western Roman Empire that fell in 476. Incorporating various elements of Catholic Democracy, Catholic Capitalism, Imperialism, and Latin Unification, Neo-Romanism grew to become widely popular within the Italian Federation and was seen to replace traditional mainstream Italian Nationalism by the time of the Second German War. To the Neo-Romans Slovenia belonged to the Federation since it was a Catholic nation whose borders lie within the old Western Roman Empire. Therefore petty differences such as their Slavic language should be overlooked so that they may be integrated and pledge themselves towards the glory of a reborn Roman Empire. Both of Italy's heads of state were inclined to support the Neo-Roman doctrine as Pius saw such a philosophy as a way to unite Catholics into one nation and ensure that the teachings of the Church held supreme, while Prime Minister Garibaldi saw Neo-Romanism as a way to spread his revolutionary ideals to nations that were under the control of reactionary monarchies, even if it required the incorporation of non-Italians into the Federation. On July 22nd the Treaty of Vienna was passed by the Senate and thus Slovenia was annexed into the Italian Federation. With the exception of minor territorial concessions to both Venice and Treiste, Slovenia entered Italy as a unified state with a majority of the Slovenes within its borders and would ascend itself to become an equal federally to the likes of the Papal State and the Two Sicilies. With nearly total autonomy and representation in Rome, the Slovene people for the first time in centuries had a chance to chart their own destiny. Time would tell whether they would embrace Roman ideals or look towards the calls of Pan-Slavism.
Modern day Slovenia.
In Romania celebrations occurred for the recovery of the Bukovina province, or at least the eastern half of the province. Prince Nicholas' gambit had paid off and with it he had earned the admiration and trust of his new subjects, the Romanian people embracing their Romanov monarch as one of their own. By the end of the year an estimated 35,000 Romanian people from the Hungarian side of Bukovina had immigrated into Romania. Abusing the contents of the treaty, many Transylvanians also sought to immigrate to Romania in order to join their ethnic brethren and escape Magyar rule. By 1866 it is estimated that a total of 145,000 people of Romanian descent crossed the border into the neighboring Principality. Since Romania had not seen any combat during the war, the economy remained stable and continued to grow after the first tumultuous years of independence. With another portion of rightful Romanian land returned, domestic stability was maintained for the next decade within Romania. Unfortunately this would not come to last forever, for three factors would break the tranquility of the Balkan state. First, the hesitance of Prince Nicholas to engage in liberal reforms would put him at odds with Parliament along with a majority of the Romanian people as Nicholas sought to retain complete autocratic power within the ruling dynasty, setting him at odds with the Liberals of Parliament. Second, the increasing Romanian Nationalism and a growing rejection of Slavic subservience began a rise in Romanian Nationalism where Radicals would come to the forefront and advocate for a Grater Romania free of Russian influence and dominant in the Balkans. Thirdly, the Revanchism of the Romanian people made sure that they would continue to be in conflict with all of their neighbors for complete unification, Hungary and the Ottomans being the greatest enemies of all.
While Hungary did not gain much in territory like the other states, their own share of Bukovina being coerced into division at the Conference of Vienna, Hungary did gain something far greater in return for their participation in the war. The end of the Hapsburgs as an independent dynasty and the assurance of continued Hungarian sovereignty. Even though Austria was in absolutely no shape to do so after the Revolutions, it was a common fear within Hungary that one day the Empire would strike back and eventually win a war where they would force Hungary back into the realms of Austria and once again be forced servitude towards Vienna. Magyar Nationalism which had been growing at rapid rates before the war, exploded to new heights and entered into mainstream society as now Hungary could stand proud and tall as the "strongest" nation along the Danube, their former Austrian occupiers powerless before the Hungarian armies. Moods were so jubilant that Lajos Kossuth decided not to run for a fifth turn and stepped down from the presidency in 1865. Kossuth said, "Hungary has withstood the trials of independence and its sovereignty is undeniable. My job is done, it is the duty of the next generation to continue the charge." Kossuth's successor Gyula Andrassy would continue a more moderate path of Kossuth's reforms and look towards expanding the Hungarian industry to open itself to the emerging global market. While most of the Magyars were in jubilation, theirs was but an ignorant bliss of the emerging problems that threatened the empire. The Transylvanian revolts while a failure proved the dissatisfaction of the Romanian minorities under the rule of Budapest, how they longed for reunification with the Principality and would freely take up attempts of Magyarization with violence. To the north and west the Slovak and Croatian peoples demanded for a greater say in the national government, hardly satisfied with local autonomy. The next half century would be a test for Hungary to see if the nation would fight for the rights and prosperity of all Hungarian peoples, or just the Magyar.
A mural depicting the founders of Hungary during the revolution.
For the Russian Empire the war was a complete success that saw the final disintegration of the Austrians who had treacherously betrayed them during Crimea. Now the blood of the tens of thousands of Russian lives lost during the First German War and Hungarian Revolutions could now be avenged thanks to the incorporation of Galicia within their borders. With victory having been achieved against both the Ottomans and Austria, the mid-1860's was one of the various high points of popularity during Alexander's reign. To the Russian people Alexander was a glorious ruler who had brought constant victory on the battlefield of Russia, expanding the Empire to cover the globe and acting as Supreme Protector for Slavs and followers of the Orthodox faith. Having recently liberated the Serfs in 1861, ending the centuries long and archaic agricultural slavery, Alexander was a hero among the common folk and hailed as the "Liberator" in many ways viewed to this day as a sort of Abraham Lincoln of Russia. With Russia finally entering into the Second Industrial Revolution and its economy booming thanks to the opening of the empire to foreign markets, it seemed that a glorious era was about to begin in Russia. This feeling of total prosperity would not last long with the spreading of the Polish revolts and the eventual formation of the proper Polish Insurrection, its aftermath having numerous ripples which have scarred Eastern Europe to this day.
Tsar Alexnader II and the Russian General staff surveying the Polish countryside
A/N: Happy Late Texas Independence Day! Thanks for sticking around as we now finally finish the German saga. Next chapter will be Paraguay and then we'll be off to Texas for a little bit to cover Seguin's final years in office. As a heads up, I will give dedicated sections to politics in Germany, Russia, Italy, and Hungary in the future so be on the look out. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more. Glory to the Republic!