My Italy

After the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary only held various rallies to mourn the death of the crown prince. But secretly, Austria-Hungary was making various preparations for war.

The support of the two allies was particularly critical to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Therefore, Vienna has also put some careful thought into this, especially for Italy.

Today, the Vienna Central Station is surrounded by military police and no one is allowed to intrude. Because there is a noble person who wants to leave by car here. The previous experience of the crown prince made these military policemen dare not relax their vigilance, because if something happened to this noble man, it would be more terrifying than the assassination of the crown prince.

So who is this noble man?

Yes, it was Queen Maria of Italy. This Italian queen was born in the Habsburg family. When Ferdinand died, she should have appeared at his funeral, let alone her brother's funeral.

Yes, Queen Maria and Archduke Ferdinand have a common father, Archduke Carl Ludwig. However, the two were born to the Grand Duke's second and third wives respectively, and coupled with the generation gap caused by the age gap (the two are 13 years apart), this also led to the relationship between the two being not very close. .

And after Maria married into the Savoy family. Contact with the Habsburgs was much less frequent, essentially limited to a dozen letters to my mother each year.

Even his son Vittorio has only met his grandparents a few times since he was a child.

The reason for all this is the delicate relationship between Rome and Vienna. Relations between the two countries are far less close to each other than to Germany. Yes, both Italy and Austria have close relations with Germany, but their relations with each other have become difficult to handle. This is caused by many reasons.

The first is historical reasons. When the Habsburg family was glorious, it ruled half of Italy. Everyone knows the subsequent results. After the decline of the Habsburgs, Italy took the opportunity to gain independence and unity. Of course, this was the case in other countries. Completed with the help of.

As we all know, being independent with the help of others will definitely not be so satisfying. This is indeed the case. Italy and Austria still have many disputed territories. The most important of these is the region known to everyone as Tyrol. Although this is a sparsely populated mountainous area, it is like a prominent corner embedded in northern Italy, allowing it to directly overlook the Po River Plain, the most important food and industrial area in northern Italy.

How can you let the Italians sleep when such an important place is controlled by the Austrians?

This also makes it difficult to have trust between the two countries. Even if Carlo marries Maria, this can only make the relationship between the two countries more friendly.

This time, if Austria-Hungary wants to seek Italian support, it will need to make concessions in the Tyrol region.

Of course, Vienna was also mentally prepared for this, otherwise Deputy Foreign Minister Zolni, the diplomatic envoy visiting Italy, would not secretly disguise himself as Queen Maria's entourage and go to Rome with him.

"Queen, please go first."

On the platform, Count Zolny stood behind the queen and reminded her in a low voice.

"Then I have wronged Your Majesty the Earl."

"For the sake of Habsburg and the Empire, all this is as it should be."

Then the group boarded the train back to Rome, and this Italian royal train was very luxurious, allowing them to live very comfortably on the train.

The special train is very fast because it does not need to stop at any platform, and trains along the line need to avoid it.

So early the next morning, the train arrived in Rome.

Then a long motorcade pulled the queen, the Austro-Hungarian envoy and others into the palace. Of course, the queen and her entourage were going home, while Count Zolny and his entourage were led by their attendants to the conference room. Here, King Carlo, the Prime Minister, the military and others have been waiting for a long time.

After Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, Italy held discussions between military and political officials. Regarding the assassination of the Archduke, many people believed that it would lead to the outbreak of war between the great powers.

That's right, unlike Austria-Hungary who believes that relying on the support of Germany and Italy, Russia does not dare to act rashly, Italy believes that this is very likely to cause a confrontation between the two camps. The reason is simple: Russia cannot afford to lose Serbia, which would have devastating consequences for its influence in the Balkans.

Just as Russia dared not let go of Serbia, France also did not dare to let go of Russia. Because this will lead to a reversal of its strategy, from the two countries allowing Germany to fight on two fronts, to allowing France to face Germany alone.

For Italy, the outbreak of war in Europe also meets Italy's needs. Because Italy's war preparations are almost complete, although there are still some war preparation plans that have not fully achieved the planned goals.

But as the saying goes, be afraid of comparison in everything. Compared with Germany, Italy and Austria, which are not yet fully prepared, Britain, France and Russia should be in the process of preparation. Among the three Allied Powers, France is the most prepared. Only this year did France change its two-year military service system to three years, and the service age was changed from 21 to 45 years old to 20 to 48 years old.

According to the French military's plan, France will complete war preparations in 1915. France is doing pretty well, but Russia needs to complete preparations for war and needs to wait until 1916.

From this, we can see who is more prepared for war between the two parties.

Based on this understanding, senior Italian military and political officials believe that it cannot be delayed any longer. We must strike first before the Allied Powers are ready. Even the place has been discussed, that is Crete, where the civil war broke out.

Italy forced a civil war on the island and then incorporated the island into the Kingdom of Italy. Britain and Greece would never watch Italy annex Crete, which would be a good opportunity to start a war in Europe.

However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. Austria-Hungary took the lead and triggered a conflict with Serbia, which also cost the life of its own crown prince.

In this case, it is Italy's turn to negotiate demands. After all, who doesn’t know Austria-Hungary’s ambition to annex Serbia?

Besides, Italy has territory in the Balkans, and it happens to face Austria-Hungary to the north and south across Serbia. In every aspect, Austria-Hungary needs Italian support. Otherwise, it would not be able to annex Serbia at all.

"Count Zolny, welcome your arrival."

Carlo brought a group of military and political officials to welcome the arrival of the special envoy.

Seeing the King of Italy and his senior military and political officials welcoming him in front of him, Count Zolni felt a lot of pressure on himself.