Reform was never easy. Even when reformers had no selfish motives and proceeded with the utmost care, they could hardly avoid infringing on someone's interests.
Before Franz's reforms in Spain had even begun to show their benefits, they had already sparked countless rebellions. Some regions that had only just surrendered to Austria switched sides and rebelled against Spain again.
The Austrian Empire had barely gotten its hands on those territories before smoke and flames erupted across them.
There was no such thing as democracy in Spain at the time. The people might be numerous, but they had no way to control their own destinies. Real power rested in the hands of a few who ruled.
That included both the right to make war or peace and the power to make their voices heard.
The Church had always been the Austrian Empire's mouthpiece, and the local strongmen knew it. So they smeared the Church—or simply exposed the truth. After all, the Church of that era had plenty of dirt of its own.
They had the people attack churches, seize their property, and slaughter priests, making them accomplices.
The local strongmen had a good plan, but the Spanish Church had survived for so many years for a reason. As soon as they caught wind of what was happening, they fled to areas under Austrian control.
The Spanish Church had still been considering whether to continue cooperating with the Austrian Empire. After all, Austria demanded that the Church also surrender its land for the poor to farm, which would have been a huge loss for the Church.
Though doctrine required priests to take only a tenth of their followers' income, the Church often handed its land over to stewards, then collected tithes from the faithful. That let them sidestep the doctrine entirely.
Now,