Whether they were Austrian soldiers or immigrants in the Imperial Territory, the idea of soldiers and civilians harvesting wheat together felt somewhat unreal.
At first, both sides felt ill at ease. In European society at the time, neither enjoyed a high status—or, to put it bluntly, both belonged to despised professions.
The farmers feared the soldiers would commit violence and loot them; the soldiers feared the farmers would suddenly turn on them. After all, according to the veterans' experience, it was common for peasants to attack armies. Sometimes they fought for the people, sometimes they turned to banditry, making them impossible to guard against.
In the farmers' eyes, fighting was merely a side job for soldiers. Looting was their real trade. They plundered enemy territory, then even robbed their own people, committing rape, pillage, and every other imaginable crime.
At the time, it was hard to say whether the Imperial Territory in Hungary counted as enemy territory or not.
Normally, such suspicions would have persisted for a long time and might even have sparked a series of conflicts. But fortunately, this was an age of nations.
Swept up in nationalism and victory, the trust that would normally have taken years—or even decades—to build was established in little more than ten days.
This was especially true of the veterans who had fought in both Alsace-Lorraine Wars. They no longer thought of themselves as marauding soldiers, or as rats crossing the street with everyone shouting for them to be beaten. They were warriors with honor and dignity.
The nationalist myths born during the Luxembourg Crisis and the two Alsace-Lorraine Wars had already reached the Imperial Territory.
Nothing could have inspired these German immigrants more. Every time the German Confederation, led by the Austrian Empire, defeated a powerful foe, their faith in nationalism