Charlotte's Breakdown
You mustn't think of Hungary as just another colony from the imperialist era. Calling us oppressors now? When the Ottomans had been trampling the Hungarian plains for 150 years, who spilled their blood to take the land back? It was Vienna's armies.
On the flip side, what about northern Italy? Newly acquired after the Napoleonic Wars, it became the spark for Italian unification—rebellions in 1848, another in 1859... If anyone had a right to cry "oppressors," it might've made sense for them.
It was just a clash of interests: Hungary wanting to preserve medieval feudalism on ethnic lines, while Austria pushed for modernization like Britain or France.
They call it absolutism, reactionism—but the truth is, without it, we would've stayed a feudal backwater, never mind modernizing.
It can't be simplified that easily... but that's what most Hungarian nobles really want.
Preserving magnate privileges by riding the nationalist wave.
That was my verdict on Hungary.
Regrettably, Andrássy, Deák, and Kálmán Tisza genuinely love their country, but even they can't ignore the influence of the other magnates.
That's why Hungary's compromise proposals were always half-baked.
Wait, didn't France have a revolution because of stuff like this? Haven't the Hungarian nobles learned anything from that?
Mother-in-law isn't entirely wrong.
In a situation where imperial authority is weak, absolutism is necessary for reform. That's the right view.
Morally, it's a zero... but there are plenty of success stories.
France did it, Prussia will soon follow, and countless independent nations in the 20th century achieved economic growth the same way.
"Awake?"
"It was time to get up anyway."
Franz Joseph came over to my side and glanced at the documents I was preparing.
"Poorhouses?"
"The war's over."
"The nobles will oppose it."
"Pardon?"
Isn't it obvious we have to do it...?
"Mother and the Dowager Empress are already doing it."
"Even the two of them together have the treasury critics up in arms about waste."
"But we have to."
We can't just let the poor starve to death.
"You're not telling me to stop playing the empress role... are you?"
"No, no. That's not what I mean."
Is it that shocking?
"They say strong denial means strong affirmation."
I wanted to tease him a bit more, make him squirm.
"...A list of charitable activities."
Tch.
"I'm planning to stay in Vienna for a while."
"Really?"
"Count Andrássy is in Vienna too."
Franz Joseph looked like he had plenty to say but was holding back.
Just think of it as a light punishment.
"I'm thinking of building poorhouses in Hungary too."
"What good will poorhouses do?"
For ordinary poorhouses, sure.
"I've amassed quite a bit of capital from the cotton business."
Even supplying it cheaply, the price had nearly quintupled by world market standards.
"You're not planning to start a business with that, are you?"
"Of course not. No matter how much they say I'm unfit for the imperial family, I know that rule."
Franz Joseph's expression darkened a little.
I gently took his hand.
"I want to establish a nursing training school for widows. Would that be alright?"
"Just for widows?"
"Yes. Women who lost husbands in the war. Many have children."
"Lately, reports on cholera haven't stopped coming in."
He knew well about the nursing schools popping up in Britain and agreed readily without objection.
"If we leave them be, they become paupers and cause security issues anyway."
"If only the nobles understood that."
Population theory is taken as gospel these days.
Hence, the Malthusian trap.
Poorhouses just encourage idleness.
Idleness breeds more paupers.
More paupers mean endless treasury drain.
They see it as a vicious cycle.
Damn Prussians... If cholera hit, just stop your army! No need to drag it to Brünn and dump it on Vienna!
In the deep early dawn, a knock came, and a maid entered to whisper quietly to Franz Joseph, not me.
The maid left, and he apologized to me.
"Grüne, I think I need to go first."
"Shall I come too?"
"No, stay here."
"...Alright. Be careful."
I didn't know what it was, but something had gone wrong. I'd have to ask the maid later.
At the Hofburg, Franz Joseph met someone he hadn't seen in a long time.
"...Empress Charlotte."
Why had Empress Charlotte—who should be with Maximilian—rushed to the Hofburg like a fugitive? He couldn't even guess.
"At least some tea—"
"No!"
Franz Joseph was startled by her neurotic reaction.
"S-send the army first, please."
"What are you saying? You should ask Napoleon that."
Charlotte was sitting in the chair, but barely. Her hands fidgeted restlessly, opening and closing, her gaze darting unfixed around the room.
It was so strange compared to the Charlotte before leaving for Mexico as empress.
"Napoleon withdrew his troops. He promised to see it through, but told me to just pray for him...!"
But Austria couldn't help either, given the circumstances.
"Empress, Austria cannot assist."
The war had just ended.
We lacked France's ability to project forces across oceans or Britain's global navy.
"Maximilian is Your Majesty's brother!"
"...I know."
Franz Joseph continued carefully to calm her.
"But I didn't place the Mexican crown on his head. And Austria cannot bear the consequences of that choice."
"Don't make excuses!"
Charlotte shouted.
"You've wanted Max to fail from the start! Forcing him to sign that renunciation of succession!"
"That was imperial law."
"You just couldn't stand your brilliant little brother becoming a greater emperor than you. So you pushed him into the fire!"
Charlotte staggered to her feet.
"This is all planned, isn't it? Napoleon pulls out, you refuse support..."
"Empress, calm down."
"Napoleon's spies are trying to kill me. You're in on it too, aren't you? Once Max is dead, the Habsburg headache vanishes—so kill me to seal my lips? Why else won't anyone help?"
"Archduchess Charlotte! Have you lost your mind?"
Charlotte shook off Franz Joseph as he tried to grab her.
"I'm empress! Not archduchess—empress!"
Franz Joseph was speechless at the sight.
The elegant, ambitious daughter of Belgium's King Leopold had completely crumbled.
His Holiness the Pope... maybe the Pope will help.
"Grüne, escort the Archduchess."
Charlotte thrashed, batting away the attendants' hands. They hesitated to use force on royalty.
"That's an order. Take her somewhere safe."
Only then did they subdue Charlotte and move her.
"Grüne, send a letter to Paris. Express our regret that the troop withdrawal gravely impacts the safety of the Mexican Empire and imperial couple."
Days passed, and Charlotte touched no food. In the end, to save her, they sent her to the Vatican as she wished.
Watching such a Charlotte, Archduchess Sophie felt pity but took no action.
From the moment he chose to be emperor, even Max cannot be spared.
Even if Mexico failed, it couldn't jeopardize the entire Habsburg house.
"Franz, when will you bring Elisabeth back?"
"Soon. When the palace quiets down."
"In times like these, the imperial family must show unwavering resolve."
Franz Joseph understood Sophie's call to summon the empress with his head, but his heart wasn't settled.
"Bringing the empress might make it more dangerous."
Among liberals, there were still intellectuals criticizing the empress for championing other ethnicities and losing German dominance.
"That's a minority view. Look at the empire."
Sophie leaned toward Greater Germanism, but only because she judged it necessary for Habsburg survival.
"We didn't lose dominance because of the empress."
"...I know."
"Don't think of dragging along the incompetents too. Self-justifiers contribute nothing to the empire."
Power is structural; defeat comes from poor preparation.
Scapegoating is for losers. Sophie disliked attacks on the imperial family.
"We haven't lost yet. And yet they act like we have."
In the German Confederation, factions still pushed their claims.
Austria and the mid-sized German states, plus Bohemia, demanding votes for Bohemians in the Confederation; Prussia and northern Germans insisting Bohemia be excluded.
If Bohemia was out for ethnic reasons, shouldn't Prussia's Polish-heavy eastern provinces be too? Prussia couldn't rebut that.
"I'm back."
Sissi returned to the Hofburg amid the chaos.