Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 053
Chapter Title: Inheriting the Throne
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Europe's geopolitical landscape had undergone a complete transformation by 1732.
The peaceful atmosphere that had lingered until the previous year vanished like a lie, and a palpable sense of impending war began to hang over the entire continent.
Intelligence reports spread that some sort of agreement had been reached between Austria, Prussia, and Russia, prompting France to throw all its efforts into securing allies.
The partners France had set its sights on were Spain and Sardinia.
Spain was part of the same Bourbon royal family as France, and the current king, Philip V, was actually the grandson of Louis XIV.
By blood, Louis XV was something like Philip V's nephew, which made negotiations straightforward.
Additionally, the Kingdom of Sardinia, centered on the island of Sardinia in the western Italian peninsula, had its eyes covetously on Mantua and Milan.
France was confident it could pull these two nations in and began its persuasion efforts.
As expected, the Kingdom of Sardinia quickly grasped the hand France extended.
For Sardinia, which sought to expand its influence on the Italian peninsula, nothing could be more desirable than Austria's withdrawal from northern Italy.
Spain was no different.
Chevalier de Mongon, the right-hand man of Cardinal Fleury, personally visited the Spanish court to plead his case, finally eliciting a positive response.
"Then, we can take it that France approves of Spain occupying southern Italy?"
"Of course. As long as you join us in the fight to aid our side, we will actively work to guarantee your rights."
"Our nation's aspiration is to secure southern Italy. We have no objections if that's assured—provided we don't push beyond the Italian peninsula into Austria proper. Our goal is solely to secure Naples and Sicily."
"Naturally. That would be perfectly fine with us."
If Sardinia and Spain attacked the Italian peninsula, Austria would inevitably have to dispatch defensive forces southward.
That would allow France to easily breach the Rhine defensive line, and if things unfolded that way, Prussia wouldn't dare intervene rashly either.
"Then let's formalize the agreement as quickly as possible."
"Of course. Heh heh heh."
Jose Patiño, Spain's top diplomat who enjoyed the undivided trust of the king and queen, wrapped up the negotiations at near-lightspeed and sought an audience with the queen.
"We've smoothly aligned our views with France."
"Well done. What did they say?"
"It concluded exactly as we anticipated, without a single deviation."
Everyone knew that while Philip V was Spain's current king, his mental health issues meant his wife, Isabella, effectively led the government.
For her, an Italian native, talk of Bourbon family ties meant nothing.
All that mattered was Spain gaining as much influence as possible in Italy.
And so.
"Now we can join hands with Austria without any reservations."
She didn't care whether France or Austria won, as long as Spain came out ahead.
"Yes. In our negotiations with France, we confirmed it's fine to insert a clause stating 'Our nation may withdraw from the war immediately upon achieving its objectives.'"
"Excellent work. And honestly, we're not really lying, are we? We never expected things to play out this way—talk about good fortune."
"As they say, seizing luck is a skill in itself. It's because His Majesty the King and Your Majesty the Queen are so wise that you've grasped this opportunity."
Isabella nodded with a pleased smile.
In truth, they had no intention of betraying France.
On the contrary, they were fully committed to honoring the agreement with France.
They simply intended to honor their promise to Austria in the exact same way.
"Austria's terms are that we occupy Naples and Sicily the moment war breaks out, and in exchange, they get Parma and Piacenza. That's correct, right?"
"Yes. On top of that, they've added conditions adjusting the price of platinum mined in the New World and granting Austria a larger share."
"We'll have to endure that. Trading Naples and Sicily for Parma and Piacenza makes it a small price to pay."
"Of course. That was precisely what France promised us. In the end, we've achieved our goals without spilling a single drop of blood."
In fact, before France even made contact, Franz Stefan von Lothringen of the Habsburgs had already reached out to the Spanish royal family.
Nominally, it was about adjusting the price of platinum ore imported from South America, but the real substance was this very matter.
It was a secret pact on how the two nations would respond if war erupted over the Polish throne, and Spain had agreed to Franz's wishes.
For Spain, it was a deal with nothing but upsides, so there was no reason to hesitate.
France had declared that if Spain joined them, it would support Spain extending its reach into southern Italy.
Austria had proposed that if Spain withdrew at the outbreak of war, it would exchange Sicily and Naples for Spanish territory.
In other words, declare war alongside France and then immediately start peace talks.
Franz had even advised them to accept a similar offer from France, swap territories, and pull out.
"But why would Austria make such an offer? Parma and Piacenza can't compare to Naples or Sicily... I'm a bit worried there might be a trap."
"No, that's not the case. Franz Stefan made an utterly realistic and cold judgment. Naples and Sicily have large populations and strong productivity, but their location in southern Italy makes them too difficult for Austria to control effectively.
Parma and Piacenza, on the other hand, are in northern Italy, relatively close to Austrian-held Milan. So Austria aims to link its northern Italian cities for greater administrative efficiency."
In the end, Austria had made a strategic compromise, but those territories would be hard to hold if Spain got involved anyway.
So excluding Spain from the war and focusing solely on France was undoubtedly their intent.
"...I see. It's a cool-headed yet bold decision. And they even accurately foresaw France's response... He's no ordinary man. What's your take?"
"Even judging by this one move alone, it's not hard to gauge Franz Stefan's capabilities. We already have a good relationship with Austria, so wouldn't it be best to maintain it?"
"Let France and Austria slug it out while we preserve the status quo. I agree."
Based on this secret pact alone, it was fair to interpret that the Habsburgs had no interest in southern Italy or South America.
In simple terms, their spheres wouldn't overlap.
Spain had drawn a floral hand where it wouldn't lose no matter if France or Austria won.
Deep down, they hoped for a brutal clash that would leave both France and Austria sprawled on the ground.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Before igniting the fire in earnest, let's tally all the cards I've prepared.
First, Spain, which I've recently successfully brought on board.
In my past life, when war broke out, Spain and Sardinia poured over 60,000 troops into the Italian peninsula.
Spain alone mobilized more than 40,000, forcing us to abandon Naples and Milan.
But now, Spain will use negotiations as an excuse to withdraw from the front lines the moment war begins, so no such worry.
One might wonder why not just demand Spain stay neutral—but then France might not declare war at all.
France calculates that with Sardinia and Spain, it can take on Prussia even if it joins.
Besides, no matter that Friedrich Wilhelm I married off his daughter here, he's fundamentally a thoroughly calculating man.
If the war turns unfavorable, he's likely to pull back slyly, so France needs to project overwhelming strength from the very start.
That's exactly why I tempted Spain with such favorable terms.
"But, Franz?"
Maria Theresa tilted her head as she looked over the materials spread out in my room.
"What's up? Something bothering you?"
"I can see now just how meticulously you've planned this. It's chilling how you set all this up years in advance—I'm truly amazed. Which makes me even more curious."
She pointed squarely at Berlin, Prussia's capital.
"Here. Why are you treating Brandenburg-Prussia's participation as a foregone conclusion? Like you said, the Elector of Brandenburg is a very pragmatic man."
"Mm-hmm. True enough."
"According to Princess Wilhelmina, he just... beats people on whims? Doesn't spare son, daughter, or wife if they disobey. She called him a real piece of trash."
Apparently, she'd heard all sorts of stories from their recent meeting.
As fellow women, Wilhelmina must have had plenty to vent to Maria Theresa about—but spilling such raw family secrets?
"...Yeah, I think the same. Friedrich Wilhelm would ditch an alliance—or even his daughter's in-laws—if it looked disadvantageous. His nation comes first, always."
"Then why?"
"Originally, I had several more contingency plans to solidly pull Brandenburg in..."
"Had?"
Meaning it's looking less necessary by the day?
The problem is explaining this to Maria Theresa is... well, not a little difficult, but a lot.
Even if she's grown a fair bit, showing a girl not yet fifteen the harsh realities of realpolitik feels a bit much.
I've taught her some sneaky tricks and loopholes so far, but this might be crossing a line.
"...There's a reason. Anyway, Brandenburg will join for sure."
"Hmm... Did you promise them that much in compensation? Did Father allow it?"
"Yep. If His Majesty hadn't approved, the plan wouldn't have even gotten off the ground."
This plan's core is securing Austria's dominance in northern Italy and Lorraine permanently, thereby elevating the emperor's authority.
No need to utterly crush France.
Once we've seized the advantage, even a pretense of pushing forward will bring Britain and the Netherlands rushing in as mediators.
"What about Poland?"
"Just leave Poland to Russia."
France can't physically send armies all the way to Poland anyway, no reason for overinvestment.
The War of the Polish Succession is oddly named—over 90% of the fighting happens outside Poland.
Main theaters: the Rhine front and northern Italian peninsula.
So France must advance north.
That way, we can devour them in turn and extract compensation several times what we give Spain.
For now, then.
Shall I instill just a bit more confidence in those fools?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 1732 passed all too swiftly amid tension as thin as paper-thin ice.
France, believing it had secured reliable allies in Spain and Sardinia, grew ever bolder in its support for Stanislaus.
In response, Britain and the Netherlands clearly stated that Poland's situation had nothing to do with them and they had no intention of meddling.
"Everyone must strive for peace to avoid needless bloodshed..."
"Poland is a sovereign nation, so we must respect the will of its nobility..."
Those two powers didn't truly expect their arguments to be taken seriously.
They were merely laying down guidelines: fight if you must, but don't escalate too far.
Amid all this, news that ratcheted continental tension even higher spread across Europe.
-The marriage between Karl Alexander of Lorraine and Wilhelmina of Hohenzollern will be postponed due to circumstances on both sides. This is absolutely not a broken engagement but an unavoidable decision due to internal affairs.
Of course, postponements after setting a wedding date weren't unheard of—but rarity didn't make it insignificant.
Especially now, when Prussia and Austria needed to align; the proper move was to hasten the wedding to demonstrate the solidity of their alliance.
A delay was bad news for imperial unity, no matter how you sliced it.
"Did negotiations fall through or something?"
"Did one side get greedy at the last minute?"
"Rumor has it Prussia requested the delay?"
"Really? Does that mean the talk of Prussia bowing out of the Polish crisis is true?"
Amid a flurry of speculations and inferences.
On the first day of February 1733.
Augustus II, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, passed away.
A massive boulder finally plunged into Europe's precarious cup, brimming to overflow.