Bitter Compromises
I collapsed onto the bed after the Augsleich banquet, utterly exhausted.
Haa— so tiring.
Banquets really aren't my thing.
And I have to do this every time the kids attend one?
Nightmarish.
"Our Regensburg Treaty called for universal suffrage, right?"
"That's right."
Franz Joseph let out a deep sigh.
He rarely showed his emotions so openly.
"Planning to compromise?"
"I have to."
War was out of the question.
The South German states were secretly reporting to us from the front lines, but France's blunders mirrored our empire's harsh realities all too well.
Prussia had only one target now: the presidency of the German Confederation that we held.
I fiddled with Franz Joseph's beard.
He had finally admitted that it was time to relinquish our hegemony in Germany.
For a man with such strong pride...
"But you'll make them suffer as much as possible before we go, right?"
"Of course."
We still had plenty we could do.
For example...
"Let's tell the German principalities to grant Hungary the level of autonomy it's demanding."
In other words, we'd go out with a bang on our way out.
It was actually a chance to decentralize the German Confederation—which had constrained us—and dump it on Prussia.
"I'm curious what choice Prussia will make."
Bismarck probably dreamed of a German Empire, but what now?
If he tried to 'annex' the South German states, the great powers wouldn't stand by idly.
"I still don't know if this is the right move..."
"You're an Austrian emperor before you're a King of the Germans."
"Bismarck wanted to make him emperor, but alas."
"Wilhelm still sees himself as King of Prussia."
I'd heard that from Aunt Sophie.
He wasn't thrilled about unification; he saw it merely as an inevitable step for Prussia's revival.
Franz Joseph felt the same, and most nationalists were pushed into it by the rabble-rousers below.
The problem was that the rabble was starting to boil over.
For us, with the embers of revolution still smoldering, we couldn't just ignore it—so Franz Joseph had no choice but to respond to their demands.
How many bureaucrats must have begged and pleaded all this time.
For the blood, sweat, and tears of those bureaucrats—and Franz Joseph's own—we couldn't let the Hohenzollerns become emperors.
Deutscherland Augsleich.
That's why order matters.
The moment the order gets jumbled, everything unravels.
Bismarck and we had both played our best hands from our respective positions.
If I can't have it, I'll smash it.
"You're putting that on the agenda?"
Ludwig and I were strolling and chatting.
"His Majesty seems to think it's impossible to stop Prussia from leading the unification."
"...We've reached the same conclusion."
Ludwig, who dreamed of absolute monarchy and a third Germany, couldn't ignore his ministers' calls for unification.
Or so Sophie learned through Otto.
Nothing beats family for reliable insider info. Is that why the Habsburgs marry so strategically?
"Do what you want. His Majesty has realized Austria can no longer be the protector, so he's granting autonomy this time."
"Sissi, thank you."
"I'm a Habsburg, but Wittelsbach is my homeland. I don't want to see my family trampled under Prussian boots. His Majesty considered me too."
Bavaria, leader of the South Germans, must have been on edge at the thought of becoming a backwater in a unified Germany.
"Just have Bavaria make the proposal."
If we did it, it'd look like sour grapes from the losers.
"You won't back out later, will you?"
"We just had Otto's engagement party, remember?"
"How about rushing the wedding too?"
Marriage... isn't that too soon?
"I'll discuss it."
Even rushed, she'd have to be at least sixteen.
"By the way, I hear you're building a new Hohenschwangau Castle?"
Ludwig's face twisted in distaste.
"There's a reason."
"Who am I to judge?"
I'm not a Bavarian citizen or official; no need to nag Ludwig.
"Once it's done, I plan to visit."
"As expected, Sissi understands."
Ludwig paused for a moment.
"I can't tell if the Königsbau pledges loyalty to me or to Berlin."
If even Bavaria's like that, the other South German kings must be under even more pressure.
"But up on those high rocky mountains, it'll be different. I just want to preserve a place where sacred kingship and medieval chivalry still breathe—a castle where Wagner's music echoes, where I alone am king."
"A castle on a cliffside mountaintop where Wagner's music resounds... Sounds ecstatic just imagining it."
Ludwig smiled radiantly like a child.
"Right? I'll definitely invite you."
"What's the name?"
"Huh?"
"A castle that magnificent needs a name."
"For now, it's the new Hohenschwangau Castle..."
"Is this the Ludwig I know? Your sense of romance seems lacking."
"No inspiration yet. It's a castle that whispers Lohengrin's song..."
He's pondering an even cooler name, huh?
"Knight of the Swan, so how about Swan Castle?"
"Neuschwanstein Castle..."
Ludwig rolled it around in his mouth a few times, then nodded.
"Perfect."
I've cheered up Ludwig too. Now just waiting for Franz Joseph to bring Hungarian news.
'We are the leaders of Germany.'
That flimsy claim had been the Vienna German elites' greatest weapon, allowing them to lord arrogantly over the empire's myriad other ethnicities.
They checked Prussia and maintained their position as president of the German Confederation, united in pride as the Germanic center.
But the moment Napoleon III raised the white flag at Sedan and Prussia seized complete military hegemony over unified Germany, the tables turned.
Schmerling and his ilk have been mute as clams since Sedan news broke. Their cherished Greater German solution fell into Berlin's hands...
Right now.
Power abhors a vacuum. With German power ebbing away like the tide, we had to strike before they were fully ousted or reorganized under a new logic.
"Summon Deák."
If not now, we'd never compromise with Hungary.
Moments later, Deák arrived to see Franz Joseph.
"You summoned me, Your Majesty."
Franz Joseph didn't look up from his papers, setting down his pen before speaking.
"Sit, Deák. You've heard about Sedan."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I've heard Germany's hegemony is being reshaped. Vienna's bureaucrats must be disheartened. Now is the time for Your Majesty to become the true master of the empire's east, along the Danube."
A polite jab with teeth. 'Kicked out of Germany? Time to split the empire equally with Hungary.'
"You see me as a routed soldier fleeing Prussian boots to the Danube banks."
"Perish the thought. I merely mean that for the empire's stability, Hungary requires full autonomy and restoration of the 1848 constitution. We seek complete equality with Austria."
A brief silence fell.
"Including diplomacy and the military?"
Deák didn't yield an inch.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Hungary is a kingdom, not a province. Restoring our pre-1848 constitutional status is the bare minimum."
"Your 'minimum' sounds like empire dissolution to me."
"If you refuse to recognize Hungary as equal, the empire will crumble from within."
Franz Joseph lit a cigar.
"Have you come to threaten me?"
"No, Your Majesty. To state reality."
Deák met his gaze unflinchingly.
"If Your Majesty grants limited autonomy, I can persuade the moderates. But if Vienna monopolizes the military and diplomacy, I cannot restrain the radicals."
"The moment Hungary has an army, Croatia will demand one, then Bohemia. Romanians, Serbs, Italians will follow. Can you handle that?"
"That's why I demand not full separation, but equal kingdoms. We recognize Your Majesty as King of Hungary. But the Hungarian army must answer to the Hungarian parliament—though we can accept unified command in joint wars."
Franz Joseph closed his eyes, deep in thought.
No, too dangerous. Can't cede diplomacy or military.
"Independent Hungarian diplomacy means splitting the empire. A joint committee today becomes separate treaties tomorrow, non-interference pacts the day after."
"Your Majesty, Hungary seeks the right to defend itself."
"From whom? Russia? Ottomans? Or Vienna?"
A short silence stretched between them.
"We need guarantees that Vienna won't oppress Hungary."
Franz Joseph nodded.
"I'll cede much of internal affairs, education, judiciary, and finance to you. As king, I'll hold a coronation and honor the symbols of 1848."
"Parliament seems omitted."
"You'll participate in Vienna's standing ministerial council alongside Bohemia and Lombardy."
"Grant veto power."
"Consultative rights are assured."
"To what extent is Hungarian autonomy guaranteed?"
"Status quo."
"Croatia, Transylvania, Military Frontier, Banat..."
He folded his fingers one by one.
"Do you mean the state where Vienna carved up lands soaked in Hungarian blood—for administrative convenience—into buffers for other ethnicities?"
Franz Joseph said nothing.
"Your Majesty, Hungary is a kingdom. A kingdom needs borders. Even with parliament or education rights, it all means nothing without land."
"You're saying reintegrate Croatia under Hungary."
"Not Croatia, but the status of Croatia-Slavonia under Hungarian law."
"Impossible. You know as well as I: even considering Hungary's ethnic issues, I can't yield on that."
"Which is why Hungary needs its kingdom all the more. If Your Majesty rules directly, it becomes an imperial problem. But as Hungary's problem, Hungary takes responsibility."
"I've seen too much of where that 'responsibility' leads. You know that well, Deák."