Author: Seven Years Period

In fact, Switzerland is a magical country. There are not only pro-French, pro-Austrian and papal factions, but also pro-Spanish, pro-Sardinian, pro-Dutch and even pro-Venetian factions.

Looking at the factional relations within Switzerland, Franz's head hurt even more. Some people say that the Swiss are just Frenchmen who don't want to be French, Germans who don't want to be Germans, plus a group of Italians who don't want to be Italians.

But now they look like a group of poor people who want to be foreigners but can't.

But the Swiss were really resolute in exercising their right to asylum. They took in a large number of German, French, Italian, British, Hungarian, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, and even Ottoman people to take refuge in this country.

In addition, the Polish Restoration Army also had a hand in it, and even almost joined forces with Mazzini to declare war on monarchies across Europe.

Although he cannot be impartial or absolutely neutral to anyone, he can be regarded as a moral model of this era.

They even refused to hand over Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon).

Of course, it also depends on the specific state. For example, the state of Lucerne has long used one-fifth of its income to support the lives of exiles.

Some states also stipulate that these exiles must pay refugee taxes, and violators will be driven out of their place.

Theoretically speaking, Switzerland is not allowed to admit foreign troops, but they have a very flexible bottom line. For example, the rebel teams in northern Italy, and the Sequoia Army led by Garibaldi who fled into Switzerland after the failure of the uprising in history.

The reason is that the number is too small, so it is not an army.

Although Switzerland enacted a law in 1512 to stop sending mercenaries to France, Louis Philippe actually had a Swiss guard around him at this time.

There is also a sizable Swiss mercenary army in the Netherlands. Even after Switzerland completely banned mercenaries in 1874, the Swiss mercenaries never disappeared.

In addition, Franz felt that it was horribly stupid to hand over leadership to clergy. Obviously, at this time, Switzerland's "Independent League" or "Catholic League" needed capable people, not a priest.

Pastor Belit's appeal for help in France was unsuccessful, so he could only turn to another powerful neighbor in the east for help. This neighbor was naturally Austria.

However, the high-level officials of the Austrian Empire hated Switzerland very much. Metternich felt that they harbored criminals, Count Korolaf felt that they were middlemen and hateful second-rate dealers, and Count Latour felt that Switzerland was a rebel camp.

And everyone was dissatisfied with Belit's decision to go to France first and then to Austria.

Belit's explanation was that he lived in western Switzerland, closer to France. This explanation obviously did not satisfy everyone, and no one wanted to hear his explanation.

Of course, no one hopes that a civil war will really break out in Switzerland. After all, from the Austrian side, this is a destruction of the Vienna System.

However, if Switzerland is allowed to carry out "religious persecution", Austria, the guardian of the faith, will lose face.

The result was that Austria issued an ultimatum directly regarding the possible civil war in Switzerland.

“The inviolability of the neutrality of the Swiss Confederation will only be respected if the Treaty of 1815 is not violated.”

(The treaty of 1815 refers to the Peace of Vienna.)

"If the Swiss Confederation cannot strictly abide by the content of the treaty, Austria will have the right to withdraw its previous commitments."

In fact, what Metternich did was simply apply pressure. He didn't want the Swiss to revolt, which would set a bad example for the Austrians.

Moreover, Metternich also hoped to deport those exiles, after all, those people were always a threat to European security.

Of course Metternich was not a fool, he knew how to force people to submit. Metternich deliberately delayed sending Austria's credentials and instead sent a note to Prussia and Russia. The credentials of the three countries arrived at the same time, which represented the attitude of the Holy Alliance.

In this way, even if the Swiss really want to fight a civil war, they still have to consider the consequences of being intervened by foreign powers.

In fact, the supporters behind the Swiss Protestant Union are the British. Of course, without such a troublemaker, no one would be able to unite so many factions in Switzerland.

But it is a pity that water from afar cannot quench the thirst nearby, and the British overseas cannot help Switzerland in the center of the land.

However, it was the French who responded most quickly to Austria's credentials. They immediately issued a credentials requesting Switzerland to stop civil war and possible public disorder.

Faced with the pressure of two powerful neighboring groups, the flames of the Swiss Civil War were temporarily suppressed, but Franz knew very well that this was only temporary.

As the situation changes, the interests of all parties are also constantly changing.

Too many colonies and alliances in this life have distracted France's energy, but if it is unified and integrated, it will definitely be more terrifying than in history.

By that time, France will not be so restrained, and may even actively seek to break the Vienna System. Of course, Franz will not let that happen.

As for the Swiss Civil War, it is good news for Austria, or anything that can increase the population is good news.

If everything wants to develop according to Franz's plan, the leadership of the Independent Alliance must be changed. What a group of bad guys can do is cheat food and drink and cheat money.

The name also had to be changed, and the name of the Independent Alliance was very passive. Franz planned to change it to the Orthodox Alliance. Yes, the legal source was Switzerland's original Permanent Alliance Covenant.

The Perpetual Alliance Covenant is the foundation of the Swiss Confederation. If the other party wants to continue the civil war, it must overturn this covenant.

However, once this covenant was overturned, the basis for the existence of the Swiss Confederation would disappear. At the same time, because the civil war destroyed the Vienna System, it was convenient for Austria to intervene to sanction "saboteurs."

Of course, if possible, Franz did not want Austria to directly participate in the Swiss Civil War. Because if that time came, many powers would choose sides, and a war would be inevitable.

Unless Franz can solve the problem directly at the negotiating table and satisfy all parties, as he did in the Luxembourg crisis, that is almost impossible.

However, there are still some difficult problems in the Swiss Civil War, that is, the distribution of the seven cantons of the Orthodox Union is a little weird.

Especially the state of Friborg is actually directly surrounded by the enemy free states. Although several other states are gathered together, they are also surrounded by free states.

The only difference between the two is the size of the encirclement. What's even more frightening is that these Orthodox states are not bordering the surrounding countries.

If the war started, even if Franz wanted to send supplies and weapons, he would not be able to find a way to do it.

In addition, when it comes to religious wars, Archbishop Rauscher is no longer sleepy and even opens up the situation.

He assured Franz that one or two states could be won to join the Orthodox Union. At this time, the balance of power between the free states and the orthodox states was 13 to 7, and three states remained neutral.

If it is true as Archbishop Rauscher said, as long as he can persuade one or two states to join the Orthodox Union, the gap between the two sides will be further narrowed.

In this way, Franz's operating space will be larger.
Chapter completed!