shadow of britain

Chapter 571 Munich Conspiracy

After Auschwitz, even writing a poem was barbaric.

—Theodor Adorno

"August, you look healthy. Does that mean your mission in Munich was successful? Did you get the information you wanted?"

In a small private room in the basement cellar of Göttingen City Hall, Arthur raised his beer glass and gently clinked it with Schneider's.

Schneider took a sip of beer, then carefully cut the pork elbow on the plate with a knife and fork, picked up a fat and thick piece and put it into his mouth.

From the way he ate, it was clear that this capable officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was very hungry.

Schneider ate several slices of pork knuckle before wiping his greasy lips with a napkin and saying, "I have heard a lot of news, but it may not be what Viscount Palmerston wants."

When Arthur heard the news, he could not help but joke about Lord Palmerston's nickname in the Foreign Office: "Then you are probably finished. How many lashes do you plan to get from the overseer?"

"That doesn't sound so bad. Better to get a few lashes from the chancellor than to be around a bunch of Bavarians."

"Okay, no more jokes." Arthur restrained his smile and said, "Although it's not polite to ask for information so directly, please understand that as the special national representative of the University of Göttingen, I really want to know whether the Confederation has introduced any new resolutions that will affect my work tasks."

Schneider took a sip of wine, put one hand on the back of the chair and took a long breath, "Of course I won't forget my old friend. I did get some very interesting information in Munich, and a lot of it is related to Göttingen."

"For example?"

"For example..." Schneider raised his eyebrows and squinted his eyes and said, "My dear Arthur, you'd better pay more attention to the two university sextons under you."

"College sexton? You mean Mr. Dolles and Mr. Schaefer?"

University sexton is a unique position in German universities. This position has not been established for very long. In fact, it is also related to Arthur's current position as special representative of the country.

Because the position of university verger was established by the Carlsbad Resolution passed by the German Confederation Congress in 1819, and the position of special state representative was established by the Carlsbad Amendment passed by the Confederation Congress some time ago.

From the perspective of the university's organizational structure, the university president manages professors, lecturers and students by leading the academic committee and is responsible for formulating daily work plans such as teaching and research. After the plan is formulated, the institution responsible for implementing the established plan and being accountable to the president is the Academic Affairs Office.

Unlike the principal, who is responsible for teaching, the National Special Representative is responsible for political work. Therefore, all departments related to ideology and discipline need to report to the National Special Representative. This means that departments such as the Student Disciplinary Committee, the University Court, and the University Press are all under his jurisdiction.

However, since these departments usually have their own work to deal with, the special representative of the country, who is equally important as the president, naturally has a set of administrative staff directly under him, and this is the university steward.

The duties of the university sextons were simple: first, they had to keep a close eye on the students and prevent them from dueling in the Powdergasse. Second, they had to be vigilant to ensure that new ideas, which had been kept out of the Göttingen quarantine station for decades, were not smuggled in from elsewhere by some private lecturer skilled in polemical thinking.

But unfortunately, the good results achieved by the two respected sextons of Göttingen University, Messrs. Schäfer and Dolles, after several years of work, were completely destroyed by their superiors within just one month.

First, Provost Hastings took the lead in the duel in Povedden Square. Second, although he did not smuggle a private lecturer with new ideas from elsewhere, according to the current situation, he himself is a guy with new ideas, and he also bypassed the two sextons and directly approved the employment of a new private lecturer.

Judging from the ideology alone, both sextons believed that Hastings was an absolute liberal. But judging from the means, his method of circumventing the resolution was too authoritarian.

Schneider grumbled as he ate: "Don't blame me for not reminding you that there are several reports about you in the intelligence department of the German Confederation. Some people say that the new academic director of the University of Göttingen is an authoritarian liberal."

Arthur took a sip of the red wine, savoring the slightly sweet taste of the country wine lingering on his lips and teeth. "That doesn't sound too bad. This title is better than a liberal despot."

"Really?" Schneider asked seriously, "Is there any difference between the two?"

“That’s a huge difference.”

Arthur explains: "Authoritarian liberals may believe in the value of individual freedom, democratic principles, and market mechanisms, but they believe that certain historical conditions require strong measures or even authoritarian means to achieve these goals. As for liberal authoritarians, they are authoritarians who recognize that a certain degree of openness and freedom is important for social stability and economic development. Therefore, they may allow limited freedom of speech, religious freedom, or other forms of individual freedom as part of their ruling strategy. The former place more emphasis on freedom and equality in the end result, while the latter may focus more on stability and efficiency in the process."

"Hmm..." Schneider chewed the pork elbow, thinking while slowly swallowing the food down his throat: "So which one are you?"

"Despotic liberals..." Arthur responded decisively, but after taking a sip of wine, he thought again: "Or liberal despots."

Schneider smiled and waved his napkin at Arthur, saying, "After you finish this mess in Göttingen, you should hurry back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help me share the whip. Viscount Palmerston likes people like you."

At this point, Schneider seemed to be in high spirits. He opened the door mysteriously and took a look outside. Then he returned to his seat, lowered his head and said in a low voice, "I got a lot of interesting and unreliable gossip in Munich. Do you want to hear it?"

"Who is it about?"

"Austrian Chancellor Metternich!"

"Has Lady Leven finally abandoned Viscount Palmerston and thrown herself completely into Metternich's arms?"

"Oh..." Schneider laughed frivolously, "I don't ask for such dirty gossip. The news I heard was about Metternich and Benstorff, the former Prussian Foreign Minister."

"Ok?"

Arthur couldn't help but make a bold guess when he heard this, but after guessing for a while, he still felt that his guess was too bold: "It seems that this gossip is indeed unreliable."

Schneider continued with a smile: "It's really unreliable, because who would believe that the Prussian Foreign Minister would be dismissed because of a little trick played by Metternich?"

Arthur shook his head slightly in disappointment and said, "Benstorf's resignation is related to Metternich? Even if we don't consider the poor diplomatic relations between Prussia and Austria, how can the Austrian Prime Minister influence Prussia's personnel appointments?"

Schneider laughed. “That’s the absurdity of it. Prussia’s Foreign Minister Benstorff had always been at odds with Metternich on how to deal with the liberal revolution. Benstorff believed that the troubles in Brunswick, Hanover, and other parts of Germany had little to do with France or revolutionary ideas, but rather with poverty, hunger, the impetuousness of individual officials and leaders, and ill-considered administration.

Benstorff felt that sending troops to suppress the justifiable rebellion of the impoverished poor would not only pollute the soldiers with foreign revolutionary ideas, but also cause low morale in the army, so he refused to consider any military intervention. For the same reason, he also opposed Metternich's formation of a pan-German military force to resist possible French invasion at any time and intervene in France at the right time.

It was precisely because of Benstorf's attitude that when the July Revolution broke out in France that year, he adopted the advice of Heinrich von Witte, the Prussian ambassador to Paris, and immediately recognized Louis-Philippe and supported the new government in Paris to prevent the situation from developing in a worse direction.

Metternich's view was completely opposite to Benstorff's. Although Austria also recognized the new French government, he believed that the July Revolution was just a rebirth of the 1789 Revolution, and the wrong and bad principle of popular sovereignty had declared itself victorious. At the Munich Conference, Metternich denounced the representatives of the German states, claiming that this victory was aided and abetted by various countries, especially Britain and Prussia, which recognized the change of the French dynasty and thus showed weakness. Metternich also believed that our independent solution to the Belgian crisis was simply appalling and disgusting because it encouraged the rebels on the one hand and destroyed the Vienna system established by the Vienna Conference in 1815 on the other. "

Arthur picked up his napkin and wiped his hands. "It sounds like Lord Metternich is quite angry. If so, why doesn't he allow Austria to recruit enough soldiers to resist the French?"

Schneider winked at Arthur and grinned, "Come on, Arthur, you know Metternich can't do it. The Habsburgs are almost bankrupt. If they don't mind turning Austrian government debt into junk, they can continue to expand their military."

"Is that why he wants to bring in the Prussians and Russians? The Tsar may share his ideals, but Prussia has Benstorff, so Metternich is deliberately trying to get rid of the Prussian Foreign Minister?"

"That's right." Schneider said, "I didn't expect that our small profit in Italy would lead to such a big turmoil."

"Hmm? What do we have to do with this?"

Schneider replied: "You should know that since the July Revolution, hundreds of political pamphlets have been published in various German states, and the whole of Germany is in a state of excitement. The independence of Belgium, the Polish uprising, and the riots in Paris and London last year have further fueled the situation. Societies and associations that support freedom of publication and call for constitutional government have sprung up like mushrooms after rain.

These people rejoiced in the Polish resistance to Russian oppression and, in defiance of the authorities, openly sang poems praising Paris and Polish freedom fighters. I heard that the files of the Mainz Intelligence Office recording the activities of secret societies have increased by 1 pages in the past two years. Metternich used this as a basis to warn Wittgenstein, the de facto Prime Minister of Prussia, that the revolution was approaching us at a speed of one mile per step.

At the Munich Conference, he refuted Benstorf's view that there was no real revolution in Germany, calling it disgusting nonsense. Benstorf had planned to debate him the next day, but that night, Benstorf was suddenly recalled to the country by a transfer order from Prussia. Later, we learned that a letter from the Austrian Emperor to the Prussian King Frederick William III was found in Benstorf's office. Benstorf was therefore accused of opening the king's private letter without authorization, and the angry king ordered him to be dismissed from his post.

"This..." Arthur felt somewhat guilty when he heard this topic.

Not for any other reason, but because he had done a lot of private opening of letters when he was at Scotland Yard.

But on second thought, Benstov's dismissal was obviously different from what he had done before, especially the timing of the incident was too coincidental.

Arthur asked, "You mean the gossip that Metternich had left in Benstorff's office?"

"That's it." Schneider smiled. "In Germany, where authoritarianism prevails, there is no greater political scheming than this. It's just opening a piece of letter, right? You know, Viscount Palmerston's affairs..."

"Ok?"

"Oh..." Schneider covered his mouth in surprise: "Look what stupid things I said."

Arthur could tell at a glance that this guy was acting, and he was acting so poorly on purpose.

Privately opening the king's letter is not a minor crime no matter where you go. If you insist that doing so in Britain is less serious than in Germany, it is simply because the monarch here still holds great power and is therefore more sensitive.

As for Palmerston's interception of the letter, even if Schneider didn't mention it, Arthur knew something about it.

Because when he went to the Royal Mail to "pick up" letters, he often ran into his colleagues from the Foreign Office.

At that time, Arthur was still lamenting that the efficiency of the Royal Mail was so low that even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to come to pick up the parcels, but now thinking back, it turns out that this is also "human nature".

Schneider deliberately let the cat out of the bag just to show Arthur that he knew a lot of secrets. And for diplomats, secrets are money and power.

Arthur lightly exposed the dirty work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and asked, "After Benstorff was dismissed, did anyone follow Metternich's proposal?"

Schneider shook his head. "If you're talking about establishing a pan-German armed force, no one would respond to that. The German states are not stupid. They can't contribute money and manpower, and then hand over the command of the army to the German Confederation. Because everyone knows that the Confederation is actually controlled by Austria. However, due to the news of the Italian revolution during the meeting, the states still agreed to strengthen cooperation in other areas."

"For example?"

"For example, issues of illegal immigration and border control."

Schneider said, "You should know that the failure of the Polish uprising last year sparked riots in Paris, and the people of Paris strongly demanded that the government send troops to support Poland. In Germany, demonstrations against the Tsar broke out almost all over Germany. And because Germany borders Poland, most of the Polish soldiers who failed in the uprising fled across the border to Germany, and they were warmly received wherever they went.

Everybody, whether citizens or peasants, took the Polish soldiers to their beer halls or their houses and treated them to wine and dinner. A Prussian officer I know, who was then stationed in Mainz, told me that it seemed unusual for the citizens there to see a Pole who was not drunk in their city, and at least when I went out on the streets, I never saw a sober Pole.

He also joked to me that these fugitives were especially popular with women, so much so that many rogues deliberately got a Polish military uniform and deliberately spoke broken German on the streets. In the first few months, the Polish military uniform was even more effective than a pass from the police chief, allowing all criminals to pass through any area of ​​Germany unimpeded.

In order to prevent the Italian revolution from spreading and to prevent a wave of refugees similar to the Polish uprising, as well as the new ideas and revolutionary enthusiasm they brought. Almost all members of the Confederation agreed to strengthen cooperation in police and intelligence. They also set up a German Confederation Central Police Intelligence Committee.

At this point, Schneider sighed with a gloating look, "I must say that all professors and students at the University of Göttingen should be thankful that the Kingdom of Hanover and Britain have formed a monarchy. Otherwise, given the intensity of the work of this committee, they would have been in big trouble these past few days."

"What happened in the past few days?"

"What happened?" Schneider exclaimed. "They created files on every university lecturer and professor in the kingdom!"

Arthur didn't seem surprised at all. He ate his meal quietly. "That does sound too much."

"In addition, Professor Bell of the University of Würzburg was sentenced to 15 years in prison, Professor Jordan of the University of Marburg was sentenced to five years in prison, and five other professors were prosecuted for treason and sentenced to serve in military fortresses."

Upon hearing this, Arthur slammed the table and said, "That's really too much. What did they say?"

"Nothing more than those statements that made the king and the Confederate representatives feel threatened."

Schneider grinned: "But what's even more ridiculous is the news from the University of Tübingen. A group of students broke the windows of the president's office because their president is a conservative member of the Württemberg Parliament. At this critical juncture, it's not easy to manage a university. If you sing the praises of freedom, you will go to jail. If you support the Confederation resolution, you will be attacked by students. Therefore, smart people usually choose to hold a European electromagnetics conference at this time."

Arthur ignored him and said, "It was just a matter of convenience, but if possible, I would rather talk to you about border control and illegal immigration."

Schneider had no idea of ​​Arthur's intention. He just thought that Arthur just didn't want to talk about his little thoughts: "Why? You want to get some Polish military uniforms now and show the charm of freedom to the ladies in Göttingen?"

Arthur cut off a piece of pork elbow with his knife and fork and placed it on Schneider's plate. "Polish military uniforms are out of season, but I can get a few Italian uniforms. August, are you interested in this?"

(End of this chapter)