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

Chapter 1331 Treaty of Vienna 1849
Vienna, Hofburg Palace.

The vast majority of the countries participating in the conference belonged to the Holy Alliance and had very close relations with the Austrian Empire, so they naturally would not oppose it everywhere, and so the process of the conference proceeded very quickly.

The Austrian Empire's actions also left the British with no reason to object. After all, compared to uniting with Spain, it did not seem so unacceptable for the Habsburg family to only get the Two Sicilies.

According to Franz's proposal, King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies would be crowned King of Spain and announce the transfer of the throne of the Two Sicilies to the Habsburg family.

However, there are some other details. The Duke of Parma gave up Parma and received the Duchy of Liege as compensation in exchange.

The Duke of Modena was sent back to his ancestral home in the Swiss mountains by Franz, who promised to build a railway for him to facilitate his travel.

In addition, the ownership of Spain's overseas colonies was officially transferred to the Austrian Empire, and the Austrian Navy settled in the port of Ceuta, facing the British Navy in Gibraltar across the sea.

As an extension of the Austrian Empire's maritime power, the Canary Islands will greatly enhance the radiation range of Austrian naval power, which will be conducive to ensuring the safety of shipping routes and control over western Africa.

The locations of islands such as Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam are also critical, and their resource output is relatively abundant, but they still need to be occupied slowly.

In fact, for fear that the British would suddenly join the war, Franz never dared to disperse the Austrian Navy. Although he did not understand the details of naval warfare, he knew that the most taboo in naval warfare was to divide the troops.

Franz had read Mahan's "The Principles of Sea Power". Although his memory of it from his previous life was vague, he could still remember the main points.

Mahan believed that the navy’s primary task was to concentrate its forces to engage in a decisive battle with the enemy’s main fleet in order to destroy the enemy’s maritime power and thus gain control of the sea.

History has proven that this theory was correct and effective at least in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

These theoretical knowledge were also expounded by Franz and Friedrich. The latter might not be a genius, but he used correct theories that were ahead of his time, coupled with a lot of acquired learning and experience, as well as enthusiasm, so Friedrich was at least no worse than the famous generals of this era.

Franz sent the Duke of Parma to Liege, and the latter would not have any complaints. After all, the environment in the Duchy of Liege was much better than that in Parma.

But for the Austrian Empire, the enclave of the Duchy of Liege seemed to be very useless. It was not only difficult to plan, but also had minimal benefits. It even had to pay additional fees to help it complete its infrastructure construction.

The recovery of Parma and Modena was mainly for Franz's Central Italian strategy. On the one hand, it was to connect the Italian regions, and on the other hand, it was to completely block the path to the revival of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Although the strength of the Kingdom of Sardinia at this time was far weaker than the same period in history, no one in history believed that the Kingdom of Sardinia could really unify Italy.

Since those rubbish are useless, Franz will take over the battle himself.

The British seemed to have no reason to object to all of this. After all, the vast majority of countries attending the meeting stood on the side of the Austrian Empire and had reached a consensus. Apart from that, Franz's approach was not so unacceptable.

So the British ambassador, Viscount Stratford, asked a question.

“When will the Austrian Empire lift its blockade of the Strait of Gibraltar?”

This was the issue that the British were most concerned about at the time. They had admitted defeat on the Spanish issue, but they did not want to admit defeat again on the Middle East issue.

The Russian ambassador was also present, and the Russians were also concerned about this issue. After all, once the British entered the scene, the situation would become complicated.

The Austrians kept the British out of the Mediterranean, which was one of the reasons why the Russians dared to launch a massive attack on the Ottoman Empire.

In fact, Franz had been waiting for the Russians to come and talk, but the Russian side did not seem to have thought of this.

"Our country has not blocked the Mediterranean Sea, and ships from various countries are not affected."

Prince Schwarzenberg replied. "But why does your country prevent our warships from entering the Mediterranean? Does the Mediterranean belong to the Austrian Empire?"

Viscount Stratford demanded.

Prince Schwarzenberg could clearly feel the other party's hostility, and he didn't want to give him a good face.

"Your country has been providing weapons and equipment to the Spanish rebels. Now that warships are carrying a large amount of weapons and equipment into the war zone, it makes people wonder what your country is trying to do."

"We, Britain, are not a belligerent country. We have the right to travel freely on the seas!"

"The so-called right of free passage at sea was entirely proposed by your country. Our country does not recognize your country's right to such a right in the war zone of the Mediterranean."

At that time, there was no so-called right of passage at sea in international law, but it was common sense for the warring parties to blockade the war zone.

It was naturally impossible for Viscount Stratford to use the British theory to refute Prince Schwarzenberg. The British were able to dominate everything in the diplomatic field before because of their military advantages and strong international influence.

But Britain obviously did not have this advantage facing Austria at that time, and finally Viscount Stratford could only take a step back.

"The war is over now. Should your country lift the blockade?"

"of course."

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Viscount Stratford breathed a sigh of relief, he could finally finish his mission. But Prince Schwarzenberg said immediately.

"But the blockade of warships will continue for another three months."

"Why!"

Lord Stratford almost cried out.

"Help Spain stabilize the situation."

Ferdinand II laughed happily. In his heart, the Austrians were indeed reliable.

Prince Schwarzenberg made a special remark to Viscount Stratford.

"During this period, if your merchant ships or territories are attacked, you can ask our country for help."

This sentence made Viscount Stratford feel very uncomfortable. He didn't like the feeling of being bullied at all. After all, he was the one who bullied others before.

Only the British care about these issues. Other countries have no opinion on them. After all, they have no impact on them at all. So why should they take the initiative to get involved in disputes between major powers?

The process of the conference was very fast, and it was time to sign the agreement in a blink of an eye. The British had only two choices: sign or not sign.

If the British recognized the Treaty of Vienna, the Austrians' above-mentioned strategic goals would be fully achieved, and the blockade of British warships would be lifted after three months.

If the treaty is not signed, the Austrians' above-mentioned strategic goals will actually be achieved, and Spain and Austria will have more reason to prevent British warships from entering the Mediterranean.

At this time, the Austrian Imperial Navy had already stationed in the Ceuta area, and with the supplies from Spain, it was simply impossible for the British Navy to exhaust the enemy.

(End of this chapter)