War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

69𝖘𝖍𝖚𝖝.𝖓𝖊𝖙】

After the German Customs Union was incorporated into the German Confederation, Franz still needed to make some reforms.

Historically, after the Prussians completely took control of the Customs Union, they began to exploit it crazily, and they even used the income from the Customs Union to support the army.

According to the Prussians' thinking, the armies of those small countries were uniformly trained by Prussia anyway, and their security was also shared with Prussia, so it would be better to give all the money to the Prussian army for unified management.

However, the ugly eating and astonishing corruption led to a surge in military expenditures, and a large amount of funds went unaccounted for.

Eventually, the Customs Union was unable to make ends meet, and the member states had to pay back, causing complaints within the alliance and almost falling apart.

The Austrian-led Customs Union would give priority to the daily expenses and operations of the Confederation with tariff revenues, and the remaining 30% would be used as a reserve for the Confederation to deal with sudden wars and disasters, as well as to reward outstanding figures within the Confederation and those who made special contributions to the Confederation.

The remaining 70% will be redistributed according to the population of the country, which can ensure that all countries can enjoy the alliance dividends, which is of great significance for maintaining stability within the Confederation.

At the same time, this is also Franz's policy to stimulate population. The states will definitely encourage childbirth in order to get more dividends, which can effectively increase the population growth in the German region.

And a considerable part of these new populations will flow into the Austrian Empire, and the specific number will depend on the future development of the Austrian Empire.

Even so, if it is a customs union dominated by the Prussians in history, then all countries will still be dissatisfied, after all, this still harms their interests to a certain extent.

However, this time is different, because the Confederation has a large number of shared colonies, which is no longer a purely loss-making business.

Loss is loss, but some gains are different.

The most important thing is that the Germans also desire land under the sun, which was only hindered by their lack of strength in the past. At this time, the Austrian Empire has taken the first step, and other countries naturally want to share a piece of the pie.

The development and construction of colonies requires a huge amount of funds and a large population. If a country is allowed to bear it, even a great power like Austria can only choose those lands full of gold.

Ordinary countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, and Portugal either do not have enough strength to develop, or cannot even do daily maintenance after development.

But the German Confederation is different. They only need each country to bear part of the cost to accomplish what a single country cannot do with its national strength.

Moreover, the colonies selected by Franz for the German Confederation have great potential, but there may be some minor frictions with other countries in the future.

In fact, Franz still has a lot of reform plans, but they cannot be implemented all at once. Some are too radical, some are too advanced, and some are simply likely to affect the interests of some people, so they can only be guided step by step.

So far, the main topics of the German Confederation Conference in 1848 have basically ended, and the results are as follows:

1. The same clan merger proposal.

2. Prussia and Denmark immediately and unconditionally cease fire.

3. Prussia must complete the withdrawal before September 20, 1848.

4. Denmark officially joins the German Confederation, and the Danes must abide by the laws of the German Confederation and respect the traditions of the Germans.

5. Cancel the status of the four free cities.

6. The ownership of the four free cities is divided. Bavaria gets Frankfurt, Saxony gets Hamburg, Hanover gets Bremen, Denmark gets Lübeck, and Prussia gets the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg.

7. Determine the treatment of the remnants of the constitutionalists and the masterminds behind the scenes.

8. Designate Patagonia as the place of exile for Jews.

9. In order to prevent the constitutionalists from reviving, the designated location of the Confederation Parliament will be changed to Vienna, and a permanent office will be established. The Austrian Empire will temporarily bear all its expenses.

10. The German Customs Union will merge with the German Federation and become a subordinate institution of the Confederation. Its headquarters will also be in Vienna, and a Confederation reserve fund will be established.

The internal problems of the German Confederation have come to an end for the time being, but Franz has deliberately dug a few holes. For example, Saxony and Belgium, Nassau and the Netherlands, Hanover and Brunswick, Lübeck and Denmark

Lübeck is indeed one of the four free cities, but it is a poison for Denmark.

Because with the joining of Lübeck, the power of the Germans in the Kingdom of Denmark will completely overwhelm the Danes, and the Danish nationalists will never give up.

In order to compete for dominance, a series of struggles will inevitably break out between the two sides. If it is just a struggle within Denmark, there will be many factors that determine the outcome, and it is hard to say who will win or lose.

But now that the Kingdom of Denmark has joined the German Confederation, there can only be one inevitable result.

More than one million Danes will succumb within ten years, and begin to Germanize within twenty years. After two or three generations, Denmark will completely become a geographical term.

Franz dug a pit for people to step on, but some people can no longer hold back.

The blind king of the Kingdom of Hanover wanted to prove himself too much, and George V directly proposed a request to merge with the Duchy of Brunswick.

The performance of the Duchy of Brunswick in 1848 can be described as amazing. In the turbulent German region, it was not only not affected, but also strengthened the government's credibility and control.

Duke William was one of the few wise rulers in Germany at that time. He was capable and determined, but lacked ambition.

After George V publicly made this unreasonable request, Duke William actually agreed.

This made Franz speechless. The situation of the Kingdom of Hanover and the Duchy of Brunswick did meet the conditions for the merger of the same clan, and he really had no reason to stop it.

It was just that this time the mentality of King William IV of Prussia completely collapsed. Saxony was reunited and got Hamburg again, and Hanover got Bremen and Brunswick successively.

In particular, Brunswick has always been deeply influenced by Prussia. From both an economic and political perspective, it can be regarded as Prussia's younger brother.

However, once Brunswick returns to Hanover, the situation will be completely different. Hanover will inevitably compete with Prussia for the position of the strongest state in North Germany.

Coupled with the Kingdom of Saxony, which is recovering, Prussia will have a harder and harder time.

Although Franz cannot and will not stop the merger of Hanover and Brunswick, he still has to do a favor.

"Duke William has always been one of the most talented and capable people among us. I suggest that he be appointed as the Governor of Bremen to stabilize people's hearts."

Georg V was blind, but his heart was not blind. He understood what Franz meant. It was indeed the best way to let Duke William serve as the Governor of Bremen at this time.

This would not only reduce Duke William's dissatisfaction, but also minimize the negative impact of the merger of the same clan and stop the relatives from talking.

The most important thing was that after Franz's suggestion, Georg V even felt that Duke William had set his sights on the position of Governor of Bremen.

You know, a wealthy governor would live a more carefree life than a king of a small country, and the governor of this era could be hereditary.