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

Chapter 1170: Earth-shattering (Part )

In Vienna, grand banquets were held one after another, and everyone seemed to be immersed in a life of decadence and luxury.

Until a piece of bad news came.
"The Hungarians killed the entire family of Grand Duke Stefan!" (Grand Duke Stefan was introduced in Chapters 105 and 106.)
"What?! Killing the royal family, are the Hungarians crazy?"

Killing the royal family at this time was definitely a shocking event, especially killing the royal family who had no resistance during the war.

Strictly speaking, Archduke Stefan should be considered Franz's uncle. Killing the direct descendants of the royal family was not only a challenge to the authority of the Austrian Empire, but also a slap in the face of Austria.

Compared with the reaction of Austrian officials, the reaction of representatives from other countries present was even stronger.

Because the killing of royals easily reminds them of the French Revolution, that period of history left an indelible shadow in the monarchy.

"The Hungarians are crazy!"

"You must report this to His Majesty the King immediately!"

"The executioners are back again!"

The venue immediately went into an uproar; everyone lost interest in celebrating; even those who were hostile toward Austria became cautious.

Even Viscount Stratford, a staunch anti-Austrian, did not dare to gloat at this time, but he felt somewhat happy in his heart.

In 1848, the Austrian Empire defeated France, forced peace with Britain, swept through Germany and Italy, dominated the Vienna Conference, and established the European Monetary Union, which accumulated too high a reputation.

But at this time, members of the royal family were slaughtered like dogs in the streets, which would certainly greatly weaken Austria's prestige and influence, and would greatly encourage other rebels in the Austrian Empire.

"Spread this sad news quickly."

Viscount Stratford could hardly suppress the smile on his face, but he still held it back. After all, if the Austrians really turned the tables on him, it would be an unprovoked disaster.

Old Ali was also very happy. He was well aware of the impact that the killing of an important family member would have on the rule, just as the deaths of many of his relatives in the Second Turkish-Egyptian War directly led to a power vacuum.

Although Muhammad Ali did not understand the political structure of Austria, judging from the position of Archduke Stephen as Vice Prince of Hungary, he should have considerable influence.

Some people hiding in the corners felt extremely excited, it turns out they are not alone.
The news that the Hungarians had executed Archduke Stephen's family spread quickly, and Tocqueville, who had just left, also received the news.

Unlike his cheering colleagues, as a thinker and political observer, Tocqueville could fully understand the Hungarians' anger, but he did not advocate this approach.

Tocqueville acknowledged that in certain circumstances violent revolution was the only way for oppressed nations to gain freedom and independence.

There are many examples in history of people taking extreme measures for independence and freedom, but such violence can also lead to severe retaliation and escalation of the scale of conflict.

When observing the French Revolution, Tocqueville saw how violent revolution evolved into the reign of terror and the establishment of a despotic regime.

He did not want the tragedy of the French Revolution to be repeated, which ultimately caused the Hungarian revolutionaries to lose their original direction.

Tocqueville's pen is getting heavier
After receiving the news, Prince Uvarov immediately returned to Vienna and asked others to send the news to St. Petersburg as quickly as possible.

In Vienna, in a high-end private room on the second floor of a cafe.

Bismarck sat opposite Prussian Foreign Minister Franz Eichmann. "The Austrians finally got their comeuppance. They and the Russians jointly created the Vienna Convention, which was aimed at us.

They actually want to abolish the constitution! What should we do in Prussia? Why did His Majesty agree to it? If His Majesty had insisted on not accepting the constitution, there wouldn’t be so many troubles now. "

Franz Eichmann was very dissatisfied with the Russian counterattack, and was also dissatisfied with William IV's wavering attitude.

France did not collapse after Russia's actions, but Prussia was in chaos.

In the previous German Confederation's liquidation of constitutionalists, Prussia was the least thorough, and William IV's own character was largely responsible for this.

"The Russians are not our enemies."

Bismarck simply replied that this was his judgment.

"But the Russians are Austria's allies, and they are working together to fight against Britain and France throughout the peace conference."

"That was in the Near East."

Franz Eichmann was not stupid and understood immediately after being pointed out. However, he was still surprised at the experienced vision and firm will of the young man in front of him. It was hard to imagine that this man was an old farmer in Latin America a few years ago.

(Bismarck was 33 at the time, but that was considered young in political circles at the time.)
"This time the Hungarians executed Archduke Stefan's family. The Habsburgs lost face because they couldn't even protect their own blood relatives."

"It's just too coincidental."

Bismarck ignored Franz Eichmann's meaningless comments and looked at the limited information at hand.

"Why at this time?"

Bismarck murmured to himself that he couldn't believe such a coincidence. The news of the death of Archduke Stephen's family reached Vienna just after the Vienna Peace Conference ended.

Who would be the beneficiary? Bismarck suddenly had a very scary idea.
The news that the Hungarians had executed Archduke Stefan's family was spreading across the European continent at an unimaginable speed.

At the same time, true and false news were flying around with the help of some people with ulterior motives. There were even rumors that the Austrian Emperor Franz fainted due to excessive grief.

However, the most room for development is the death of Archduke Stefan's family and the means used by the Hungarians to execute them.

Countless people have used their imagination, either actively or passively, to fill in the details of the description. Some say that in order to intimidate opponents, the Hungarian government dragged Archduke Stefan and his family to the streets and executed them directly.

Some say that in order to avoid riots and possible prison breaks, the Hungarians chose a secret location to execute Archduke Stefan and his family.

Some say that the Hungarians tortured Austria directly on the walls of Budapest in order to humiliate Austria.
The methods of execution varied, some said it was hanging.

(In the German region, traditional nobles believed that hanging was a humiliation and only thieves, liars, and rapists would be subjected to this punishment.

A true noble should be executed with a knife, sword, or gun. Even during World War II, many captured German soldiers demanded to be shot, the most famous of whom was probably Hermann Wilhelm Goering.

Some records claiming to be historical records say that Goering was afraid of pain and thought he could escape punishment if he was not killed by the bullet. This is completely nonsense.

A few more words: In modern times, large amounts of fraud and burglary were punishable by death.