Upon hearing this, Queen Mary immediately turned to Archbishop Brienne, “My brother is currently troubled by illness, and such events are unfolding in the Southern Netherlands. I believe we should help him deal with the rebellion.”
She folded her hands in contemplation, “The Dutch should have significant influence over the Southern Netherlands, and we have been supporting the Dutch Patriot Party all along. It is time for them to reciprocate.”
Archbishop Brienne immediately nodded, “Of course, Your Majesty, but in fact, I think His Majesty Joseph II could easily suppress the few thousand rioters in Brabant.”
Joseph recalled the information about the Brabant uprising, but his brow furrowed.
This was not a rebellion Austria could easily resolve!
In history, England, Prussia, and the Netherlands all intervened quickly in this chaos, and later the eastern part of the Southern Netherlands, Liege, also erupted in rebellion. The rebel army from the Southern Netherlands alone numbered over twenty thousand, coupled with the intervention forces of Prussia and the substantial funds provided by the Netherlands, their fighting capacity was formidable.
The reality was that the Austrian army, dispatched to quell the rebellion, encountered fierce resistance upon entering the Southern Netherlands and nearly got annihilated by the Prussian-Dutch allied forces.
The Austrian commander had no choice but to withdraw to Luxembourg to set up defenses and urgently request reinforcements from Vienna.
At that time, Joseph II had just passed away, and the newly ascended Leopold II, seeing the unfavorable situation, had to revoke his brother Joseph II’s reform measures in order to stabilize the situation with the South Netherlanders and domestically.
Afterwards, Leopold II also conveyed considerable benefits to the Hungarians under his rule, including the complete withdrawal of reform measures there, ultimately securing the support of the Hungarian nobility.
Before long, Austria had assembled almost its entire military strength from within Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, and Galicia, a grand army of one hundred and eighty thousand, along with the forces of over ten thousand from the Duke of Bavaria, and they marched majestically to the Southern Netherlands.
On the Prussian side, King William II handed over more than one hundred thousand Prussian troops to the Duke of Brunswick and rallied Saxon, Mainz, Hesse, and other states to form an allied force of one hundred and fifty thousand men, determined to intervene in the situation in the Southern Netherlands.
William II even demanded that the newly allied Poland send troops to reinforce the Southern Netherlands. Prince Poniatowski prepared thirty thousand troops, but due to not wanting to offend Austria, he hesitated and did not send them.
Even so, the number of the South Netherlands insurgent army combined with the Prussian allied forces was not inferior to the Austrian army.
By the end of 1790, large-scale fierce battles broke out between the two sides, and the European countries at that time believed this would be the start of another Seven Years’ War.
However, just as the war was escalating, the conservative and liberal factions within the South Netherlands insurgent army began infighting.
Ultimately, the liberal Vandernoot successfully seized power, and the conservative Weng Ke fled abroad, plunging the insurgent army into chaos.
The Austrian army took this opportunity to launch an attack, quickly taking key towns such as Liege and Brussels, and the Prussian Army at one point retreated into the territory of the Netherlands.
Just as William II was preparing to amass more troops for a counterattack, the great turmoil in France escalated, drawing the attention of both Prussia and Austria.
Then came the beheading of Louis XVI, and the two countries immediately suspended hostilities, issued the “Declaration of Pillnitz,” and formed the First Anti-French Alliance. And the forces of both parties on the Southern Netherlands front gathered together to become the power that intervened in France.
It could be said that Louis XVI selflessly used his own head to dispel what might have become the “Second Seven Years’ War.”
Joseph’s fingers lightly tapped the armrest of his chair; now that he had pressed down the great turmoil in France, the conflict aroused by the Brabant uprising was likely to continue to expand.
In this great war, how could France minimize its expenditure and maximize its interests?
At the head of the conference table, Queen Mary said with a firm tone, “It would be good to give my poor brother a break. Saying hello to the Dutch won’t be any loss for us and would earn Austria’s gratitude. Let’s do that.”
Joseph shook his head secretly, noting that Austria’s main focus at the moment was on Prussia, but this didn’t mean they had any profound friendship with France.
On the contrary, Austria wanted to become the master of the European continent, and France was the biggest obstacle. They always considered France their greatest hypothetical enemy.
The rapid emergence of the Anti-French Alliance in history was only ostensibly about “avenging Louis XVI and his wife.” The core reason was that Austria, Prussia, and England wanted to take advantage of France’s chaos and weakness during the Revolution to solve the problem of France— a thorn in their side—once and for all!
If it weren’t for Napoleon emerging on the scene later on, France in the 19th century might very well have been beaten to a pulp by the Anti-French Allied Forces and even split into a bunch of small states.
Never mind that my own mother was an Austrian Princess; that really doesn’t mean anything. Austria wouldn’t hesitate to act when they wanted to. As for family, every European Royal Family is related to each other, but whenever interests clashed over the past few centuries, they could instantly fight like dogs.
So between nations, there’s no need to talk about feelings—there are only interests!
Only by developing France into an exceptionally strong nation can we achieve true security amidst the powerful nations on the European continent.
Joseph quickly recalled the historical trajectories of Austria, Prussia, and others in his mind, gradually sketching out a general framework for profiting France by leveraging the Brabant Uprising.
He looked at Queen Mary, “Your Majesty, we really should help Austria.”
He saw the Queen’s smile and immediately continued, “But perhaps we can also seize this opportunity to get the Walloon Region, which you know is very important to France.”
The Walloon Region is a large part of the Southern Netherlands where almost everyone speaks French and is naturally very close to France.
And what is more important is that it has one of the largest coal mines in Europe!
Coal is the lifeblood of the Industrial Revolution, and it’s even more precious for France, which naturally lacks coal.
The Saar Region — which is Alsace and Lorraine — can supply France with the minimum amount of coal needed, but its reserves are insufficient for taking off during the Industrial Revolution.
This is also a crucial reason why France, desperate as it was, could not surpass Britain and Germany during the First Industrial Revolution.
One could say that obtaining the coal from the Walloon Region and iron from Luxembourg would lay the foundation for France’s industrial revolution to take off.
Of course, France’s current desire for the Walloon Region is primarily due to its French-speaking population of over 1.5 million and the Rhine River within close reach.
Queen Mary fell silent upon hearing these words. She hadn’t expected her son to point out France’s interests so calmly, whereas she had only thought of helping her ailing brother just a moment ago.
She nodded slightly, affirming the Crown Prince’s points.
Although she was Joseph II’s sister, she was foremost the Queen of France, and for her, the interests of France must come first!