Thus, Talleyrand’s agents either made direct contact with the upper echelons of Austria or spread rumors, causing the news that “Austrian and French forces will join hands to retake Silesia” to buzz everywhere.
Nobody would pursue the French for instigating trouble because reclaiming Silesia and washing away decades of humiliation was the current political correctness for all Austrians.
If anyone dared to say the French were wrong, Austrians by their side were ready to give them a beating.
Schonbrunn Palace.
The bedroom of Joseph II.
Because His Majesty the Emperor’s health had been deteriorating over the past year, court meetings had been held here.
The core topic of this meeting was naturally the war with Prussia, and as such, in addition to a dozen or so ministers, nearly all the military high command were present.
“Crown Prince” Leopold II first briefed everyone on the situation and then turned to Joseph II, bowing and saying, “Your Majesty, that’s roughly the situation. The French propose that the allied forces press directly into Silesia, forcing the Prussians to withdraw from the Southern Netherlands.”
Seated on the bed, Joseph II summoned his strength and scanned the room of officers and ministers: “What are your opinions on this matter?”
Marshal Laudon was the first to speak out: “Your Majesty, this is a great opportunity to reclaim our territory! I am willing to lead the troops myself and teach those Prussian bastards a lesson!”
Joseph II, seeing the old marshal’s body wasn’t much better than his own, quickly signaled for him not to get excited and consoled him, “Your experience and courage are precious assets to Austria, let the younger men handle the frontlines.”
Marshal Lacy and several other senior military officers also promptly stood up; they had not only been in contact with French diplomats but had also connected with each other numerous times and had long reached a consensus about deploying troops to Silesia.
“Your Majesty, with France as a strong reinforcement, now is a great opportunity to recover Silesia!”
“Your Majesty, I also believe we have a high chance of winning this battle!”
“Your Majesty, the Prussians are presently focused on the Southern Netherlands; we must deploy our troops quickly for a surprise attack…”
“I too agree with deploying the troops quickly…”
Count Kaunitz, the State Minister and leading figure of Austria’s pro-French faction, stepped forward excitedly, “Your Majesty, as long as Austria and France unite closely, it’s possible we may not only reclaim Silesia, but we could also take the opportunity to defeat Saxony, and even aim towards Brunswick is not impossible!
“If we achieve this step, Your Majesty’s prestige would shake the whole of Germany, and the radiance of the Holy Roman Empire could be expected to be restored very soon!”
Upon his declaration, regardless of what the others truly thought, they immediately echoed in unison, “Restoring the radiance of the Holy Roman Empire!”
However, as the shouting died down, the Minister of the Interior, Earl Voltaire, furrowed his brow, “I feel what the French really want is likely more than just their stance on Piedmont. After all, they’ll be involved in a very brutal war; such a small interest seems too little for them. They must have other plans…”
If Joseph had heard him, he surely would have complimented him with “You’re right.” But it’s Austria and Prussia that are in for a brutal time, while France is so far away, their involvement is entirely a matter of their own mood. And now that Vienna had rallied significantly in favor of an offensive push into Silesia, who would care what the French were thinking?
Count Kaunitz immediately looked at the Minister of the Interior with a smile, “Earl Voltaire, you might not be aware of the importance France places on trade agreements.
“I often go to Paris, and I’m very familiar with the situation there. The French Government has converted a large portion of its banking debt into an ‘Industrial Development Fund,’ possibly amounting to hundreds of millions of florins.
“That is to say, in the coming decades, France must ensure good sales conditions for its products in order for the fund to be profitable, which is to say, to keep the French finances from collapsing.
“For this purpose, they must expand their market, and in the absence of colonies, they can only try to sell as much as possible to the Rhine River basin. This requires our help in getting them into the market of Southern Germany.”
Immediately, two ministers expressed their agreement with Kaunitz’s statement and made further detailed supplements.
In fact, these two people were “insiders” cultivated by Talleyrand. More than half a month earlier, through his subordinates, he had channeled benefits to these two, spending tens of thousands of livres in the process.
Joseph knew that when it came to bribery and corruption, Archbishop Talleyrand was the most skilled, although historically the XYZ Affair had been a setback, purely because the Americans had not played along, and hence he had entrusted this important task to him[Note 1].
Of course, the intelligence agency’s personnel were also secretly watching Talleyrand to ensure that the money would end up in the right places.
As it turned out, the cripple’s bribery skills, including the ability to select the right targets for bribery, were completely trustworthy. The two Austrian officials who had taken the money began to lobby for France according to the “script” laid out by the French.
“Earl Voltaire, in fact, on the matter of weakening Prussia, France’s stance is very consistent with ours. Prussia is England’s spokesperson for interests on the European continent, and you must have also heard of the things the British are doing to France in North Africa,”
“Moreover, in terms of influence over the Netherlands, France and Prussia are also in fierce competition. Especially this time, the Dutch in the Brabant rebellion did not consider France’s position at all and sided with the Prussians, which infuriated the French people…”
As the two men passionately spelled out the interests at stake, including Earl Voltaire, the skeptics finally fell silent.
Joseph II, however, was very calm, turning his head to Leopold II and speaking in a low voice, “Do you think it’s worth giving up our interests on the western side of Italy?”
As the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the latter was most familiar with the situation in Italy. If they recognized France’s claims to Piedmont, then Austria’s Lombardy and Tuscany would be faced directly with France, and even Venice could not be assured.
Yet he did not hesitate, “Your Majesty, if it can be exchanged for Silesia, it would be acceptable. Discover more content at empire
“After all, if the French are too aggressive in Italy, we can always bring in British power to restrain them.”
Joseph II fell silent again for a long time, once more looking around at his ministers with their resolute gazes, and finally nodded heavily, “Then, let’s move on to discussing the deployment of forces and specific plans of operation.”
[Note 1]XYZ Affair: At the end of the 18th century, the Americans, in the interest of making money, restored diplomatic relations with the British and stated their opposition to the Great Command of France. As retaliation, France decided to take revenge on the Americans, seizing and plundering a large number of American merchant ships, causing heavy losses for the United States.
The then President Adams sent a delegation to France to negotiate and appease France’s anger. Talleyrand, at the time serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs, took the opportunity to order three of his subordinates to demand huge bribes from the Americans. Furious, the Americans declared war on France.
The three individuals involved in demanding bribes were referred to as X, Y, and Z in the diplomatic documents, which is how the incident got its name.