Table of contents:
- Sparkling zones and Russian-Austrian compromises
- Paris and the idea of uniting the Danube principalities
- Failed election trick
- New Romania and the Russian-French blow to the Austrian back
Video: How Russia saved Austria, why she received black ingratitude and how she took revenge on the Habsburgs
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
In 1849, with a stroke of a military pen, the Russian Empire saved the Habsburgs from collapse under the pressure of rebellious Hungary. Very soon, during the Crimean War, the Austrian Empire "repaid" with ingratitude. Although a number of historians argue that at that time she had her own indisputable reasons for betraying the Russian tsar. Be that as it may, the king did not forgive treason. With Russian assistance, the Habsburgs lost Italy and Romania, which brought their dynasty closer to a future fall.
Sparkling zones and Russian-Austrian compromises
After the Napoleonic military campaign, the Russian Empire pursued a coordinated policy with Austria and Prussia. Nicholas I was more than loyal to his partners. When a serious uprising broke out in the Hungarian Republic, the Russians by military intervention in the literal sense of the word saved the Habsburgs. True, this gesture had another side: the Russian emperor hardly wanted to allow Hungary, hostile to Russia, to be fixed in Central Europe. Despite the temporary commonwealth, sparks sparked between the Romanovs and the Habsburgs.
The Balkans were the conflict zone, but the sides adhered to compromise views. Serbia was more focused on the Austrians, and the Danube principalities were actually the Russian parish. But with the beginning of the Crimean War, Austria unpleasantly surprised by refusing to enter into a coalition with Russia and demanding that it immediately withdraw its troops from Danube territory under the threat of a new front. As a result, the Russian Empire was forced to keep a huge army in Bessarabia in case of Austrian aggression, suffering losses in the Crimea. Then it seemed to everyone that the results of the Crimean War had knocked the Russian Empire out of the ranks of great powers for a long time. But Russia, as the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gorchakov put it, was only concentrating.
Paris and the idea of uniting the Danube principalities
Under the Paris post-war treaty, Russia was deprived of special rights over the Danube principalities, which were henceforth collectively sponsored by significant European states. Moldavia and Wallachia found themselves face to face with new opportunities. The Romanian democrats who settled in Paris informed the French public that the Balkan people readily share the vectors of Western civilization, love France and want to be useful to her. The new French ruler Napoleon III became interested in this idea, who was looking for a suitable ally against Austria, Russia and Turkey at the same time. Romanian reformers focused on uniting Wallachia and Moldavia into one state, the common forces of which will be directed towards internal modernization and the struggle for the long-awaited independence.
This idea was voiced at the highest level by Valevsky, the French Foreign Minister. Piedmont and Prussia, themselves pondering the consolidation projects of Italy and Germany, supported the idea. Russia unexpectedly came out as the fourth supporter of unification. It would seem that the owner of a part of the Romanian lands should condemn the formation of a single state in place of two weak principalities, which over time has a chance to gain weight. But the Russian ruler clearly intended to get even with the Austrian traitor, deciding to play the Romanian card against him. Turkey and Austria, as expected, came out categorically against the united Romania. Great Britain echoed them, proceeding from allied obligations to Turkey. But avoiding open confrontation, the parties came to a decision to organize a plebiscite regarding the unification.
Failed election trick
The so-called elections were not direct. The population was not allowed to cast their votes, but only to elect deputies to the divans (provisional parliaments) of the principalities, which will already make decisions. The Austrians and the Turks hoped to organize everything in such a way as to prevent unification. But the Russian-French alliance deprived them of this opportunity. Local agents brought up all violations and fraud for discussion, which was instantly trumpeted by the French press throughout the international information field. As a result, the Turks failed to bring their own vassals to power with the support of the Habsburgs, and the elections ended in victory for the supporters of unification. After the victory in both principalities of one candidate - Alexander Ioan Cuza, his appointment had to be approved in Istanbul. The Sultan warned that he was ready to use military force to break the union, and the Austrians sided with him. It was here that not the best surprise awaited them in the form of a secret agreement between Russia and the unexpected alliance of Paris and Piedmont.
New Romania and the Russian-French blow to the Austrian back
Under the agreements of the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815), Austria owned the Italian territories - Lombardy and Venice. Piedmont, as already mentioned, set out to unite Italy under its own command. In the summer of 1858, behind the backs of the Austrians between France and Piedmont, a secret Plombier agreement was concluded on military assistance in exchange for Nice and Savoy. In parallel, the French, after negotiations with yesterday's enemy Russia, agreed with the latter about neutrality in the upcoming war with Austria. Enlisting the support of Paris, Piedmont went to a military conflict with Austria. The Allies decisively defeated the Austrian troops in battles, after which the Austrians withdrew from Lombardy and Solferino.
After the defeat of the Habsburg troops, Piedmont received less than expected. Austria lost only Lombardy, Venice remained under Austrian rule. Under a treaty with Piedmont, Savoy and Nice ceded to France, and Italy was given a start to unification. In the near future, the Austrians will finally be driven out of the Apennines. As for the Danube principalities, the support of Paris and St. Petersburg led to the adoption of a constitution for a unified Romania. At the same time, the Turks and Austrians were simply presented with a fact.
By the way, in the end, the Habsburgs were not destroyed by defeats in wars. A multiple dynastic marriages, which led to the end of one of the most influential families in European history.
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