Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.
"Archduke Franz, believe me, I sympathize deeply with those poor souls who have been enslaved. But we are Austrians, and those people are Mexicans—or Americans, or whatever else they may be. In any case, they are beyond the reach of the Austrian Empire."
Rauscher explained.
"Does that mean we can simply ignore them?" Franz asked in return.
"But our reach is limited."
"If I turn a cold eye today, then when disaster strikes me tomorrow, no one will raise a banner and shout for me." Franz casually quoted a famous saying.
Archbishop Rauscher felt rather helpless. He knew he could not stop the Archduke, so he decided to trust this "saint born among men."
"The Church's power is limited, but I'll find a way to help those poor people. I think my old friend, Pope Gregory XVI, may have a solution."
The Pope! Rauscher had given Franz a reminder.
Since the Catholic Church was so powerful in both Austria and Mexico, Franz had forgotten who ought to speak up first.
"His Holiness the Pope only needs to issue a decree condemning the slave traders in Mexico."
Rauscher was no fool. He understood that this would bring the Church nothing but benefits, and would also help it improve relations with the Mexican Church.
As for Pope Gregory XVI, that hypocritical, greedy man, all it would take was to explain the advantages and disadvantages, then give him a sum of money. Even excommunicating the people of Texas would be no problem.
Those Protestants might not recognize Gregory XVI as their Pope, but that did not matter. It was enough for the Mexicans to believe they were in the right.
Franz was not so short-sighted. He wanted the Battle of Texas to become a matter of international attention, and public opinion to swing decisively toward Mexico, in order to prevent anything from going wrong.
After all, in history, Santa Anna's main force had been routed by the militia led by Houston in just eighteen minutes.
Although Franz had already pressured Count Latour through Rauscher to send two experienced generals to Mexico, sold a batch of weapons at a low price, and even drawn up a battle plan for him, who could guarantee that Santa Anna would follow it?
After all, if Santa Anna cared to investigate, it would be easy to learn that Archduke Franz Karl was not particularly bright.
Rome, the Holy See.
Pope Gregory XVI issued a decree condemning slave traders because they treated enslaved people "like unclean animals," and forbade Catholics from taking part in the trade. Anyone who engaged in it would be excommunicated.
The decree immediately caused an uproar, because by this time most European and American countries had outlawed the slave trade.
Britain in 1806, the United States in 1807, France in 1794, Sweden in 1813, the Netherlands in 1814, Portugal in 1815, Austria in 1820, and Mexico in 1824.
American immigrants had bought large numbers of enslaved Black people on Mexican soil to establish plantations. This violated Mexican law, as well as American law.
After all, in 1807 the United States had passed a law banning the slave trade in every form. But the enormous profits made the law difficult to enforce, and the trade remained rampant.
The Battle of Texas once again put the United States in the spotlight, leading all of Europe to question whether it was truly a civilized country.
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