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

Chapter 1101 Things are always so bad in Spain
Maximilian was a man with a very high opinion of himself, and his contempt for Isabella II had reached an extreme level.

Isabella II's governing philosophy was completely inconsistent with Maximilian's. Although the former claimed to be a liberal, she constantly tried to expand royal power and ecclesiastical power.

Spain promulgated two constitutions in 1837 and 1845, but almost all government agencies were accustomed to using the Old Law.

(The old law refers to customary law.)
Officials, nobles, and bishops were often above the constitution, and the people lived without dignity. The country was constantly experiencing uprisings, coups, and revolutions.

"You coward, you need to face your fear and defeat her! Conquer her!"

Madame Sophie looked angry at the lack of resistance. In her eyes, the Spanish mother and daughter seemed very docile and not very threatening, and those rumors were not reliable.

What Mrs. Sophie didn't know was that even the most ferocious dog would be timid when facing a tiger. Although Christina was once the regent queen of Spain, she herself knew that she would be nothing if she left Spain.

"Look how your elder brother dealt with that French witch!"

Madame Sophie became more and more excited as she spoke, but Maximilian became more and more disdainful.

"I can't learn to cheat before marriage."

"What good man doesn't have a lover?"

"My father!"

"Your father is stupid!"

Franz's forehead was throbbing with anger as he listened to this. Such a nice family banquet was turned into a mess, and he felt he had to say something.

"I think Maximilian and Princess Maria Amelia are a good match. They are of similar age and can get along well."

Historically, Maria Amelia was engaged to Franz's second brother Maximilian, but unfortunately the princess was infected with scarlet fever and then tuberculosis the year before her wedding, and then died at the speed of light.

Maria Amelia is a princess of both Brazil and Portugal, but she is considered a marginal figure by both parties, so she has always lived in Munich.

During the turbulent period of 1848, like many royal families in German regions, they all came to Tyrol, and the boys and girls aged sixteen and seventeen quickly became familiar with each other.

Princess Maria Amelia studied hard and took a wide range of subjects, including rhetoric, philosophy, history, geography, German literature, mathematics and physics.

In addition to Portuguese, she also studied English, French and German, and reached a very high level in sketching, painting and piano playing.

Legend has it that she has a quick mind and is self-taught. There is even a law professor who claims that she would be able to achieve great things if she became a lawyer.

Such an intellectual, talented and beautiful girl was very much to Maximilian's taste. He believed that only such a woman was worthy of him.

However, Maximilian, who was still in his rebellious period, wanted to appear to be indifferent on the one hand, but on the other hand he always passed by others crazily.

Anyone with a discerning eye could tell what was going on, and Franz had certainly heard about it. Although Portugal and Brazil, one was on the decline and the other was always on the rise, Maria Amelia was a marginalized princess. (The Brazilian government only recognized her status in 1840.)
But Franz didn't care about these. After all, the Austrian Empire was strong enough and fully capable of reinforcing this marginalized figure.

Portugal was once at the forefront of the colonial wave, but due to its limited national strength it was no longer able to do so.

Their long-time ally, Britain, only wanted to gain benefits from this ancient empire. Coupled with the possible competition problems caused by being too close, the British would not allow Portugal to truly recover.

The Austrian Empire had no such concerns at all, and also had enough strength to inject vitality into Portugal.

Although Brazil is favored by many people, Brazilian top leaders themselves know that they are completely penniless, with no money, no people, and no power.

Brazil's strength cannot support their ambitions, and they have to accept a large number of unequal treaties in trade.

On the one hand, it has to maintain its own low import tariffs, but on the other hand, it has to accept the high trade barriers of other countries.

Pedro II was an ambitious monarch, but he couldn't even control his own country. The nobles, landowners, and merchants would only choose to obey orders that were beneficial to them, and even the army didn't care much about his ideas.

Pedro II was eager to strengthen his imperial power, and marriage with the Austrian Empire, one of the great powers, was undoubtedly a good choice.

Both Brazil and Portugal would certainly be willing to marry into the Austrian Empire and accept Maria Amelia as a core member of the family.

However, compared with the benefits that marriage can bring, Franz pays more attention to whether the next generation of the family is healthy and intelligent.

Frankly speaking, the previous German Confederation Monarch Conference frightened Franz. All kinds of lunatics, fools, blind people, deaf people, lame people, half-paralyzed people, and mentally retarded people were all monarchs. The future of the empire was worrying.
In fact, the chaos in Spain at this time was really related to the Austrian Empire. As early as 1846, the Carlos family had married the Habsburg family.
Although she was only a princess of a collateral line, the bond seemed to grow stronger with the series of victories achieved by the Austrian Empire in 1848.

The Carlists gained more supporters, so the Spanish Civil War broke out again, and the Carlists gradually gained the upper hand.

This is also an important reason why Maria Christina and Isabella II, mother and daughter, were eager to marry the Austrian Empire. They hoped to offset the advantages of the Carlos faction and even blackmail Austria.

Unexpectedly, the Spanish liberals also sent people hoping to select a prince from the Habsburg family to inherit the Spanish throne and establish a constitutional monarchy.

Of course, the main thing is to support the constitutional monarchy, and it would be best if the rebellion could be quelled with the help of the Austrian Empire.

All three parties are villains, not a single good person. Moreover, Austria is not France and does not border Spain. Even if Franz really wanted to, he couldn't do anything, not to mention that this is not the right time.

However, Madame Sophie would not listen to Franz's advice at this time. She was still planning for Maximilian's future.

"It doesn't matter what kind of person Isabella II is. She just needs to give birth to a female heir and then die in childbirth."

Madame Sophie spoke of a shocking conspiracy in a very normal tone. In her plan, it didn't even matter whether Isabella II's children were actually Maximilian's descendants.

What Lady Sophie wanted was the right to inherit the Spanish throne. If the orphan left behind by Isabella II's death could marry a member of the Habsburg family, Maximilian would be able to become regent legitimately and eventually take back the right to rule Spain.

As for Isabella II's other children, since the queen could die in an accident, why not the princes?
(End of this chapter)