The Battle of the Alamo

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

"Archduke Franz Karl, believe me, I also sympathize deeply with those poor people being enslaved. But we are Austrians, and those people are Mexicans, or Americans, or whoever they may be; they are simply outside the control of the Austrian Empire."

Archbishop Rauscher explained.

"Does that mean we can just ignore it?" Franz countered.

"But it is beyond our reach."

"If I stand by and watch today, when disaster eventually befalls me, there will be no one left to speak up for me." Franz casually quoted a famous master.

Archbishop Rauscher felt somewhat helpless. He knew he could not stop this Archduke, so he chose to believe in this "born saint."

"The power of the Catholic Church is limited, but I will find a way to help those poor souls. I think my old friend, Pope Gregory XVI, might have a way."

The Pope! Archbishop Rauscher had reminded Franz.

Because the Catholic Church held such immense power in both the Austrian Empire and Mexico, Franz had forgotten the very person who should have been the first to speak out.

"His Holiness the Pope only needs to issue a decree condemning the slave traders within Mexico."

Archbishop Rauscher was no fool; he understood that this would be entirely beneficial for the Catholic Church and could be used as an opportunity to improve relations with the Mexican Catholic Church.

As for Pope Gregory XVI, that hypocritical and greedy fellow, as long as the stakes were made clear and he was offered a sum of money, it wouldn't even be a problem to have him excommunicate those people in Texas.

Although those Protestants might not even recognize Pope Gregory XVI as their Pope, it didn't matter; as long as the Mexicans believed they were on the side of justice, that was enough.

Franz was not so shallow. He wanted to make the war in Texas a global issue and shift public opinion entirely toward Mexico to prevent any unexpected developments.

After all, in history, the main force of Santa Anna was crushed in just 18 minutes by the militia led by Houston.

Although Franz had already pressured Count Latour through Archbishop Rauscher to send two experienced generals to Mexico and had sold them a batch of weapons at a low price—even drafting the battle plans for them—who could guarantee that Santa Anna would execute them as planned?

After all, if Santa Anna had a mind to, it would be easy for him to find out that Archduke Franz Karl was actually not very bright.

Rome, Holy See.

Pope Gregory XVI issued a decree condemning slave traders for treating slaves "like unclean animals" and prohibited Catholics from participating in such trade. Those who engaged in this trade would be excommunicated.

The release of this decree immediately caused a massive uproar, as the vast majority of European and American countries had already declared the slave trade illegal by this time.

Britain in 1806, the United States in 1807, France in 1794, Sweden in 1813, the Netherlands in 1814, Portugal in 1815, the Austrian Empire in 1820, and Mexico in 1824.

American immigrants on Mexican soil were purchasing large numbers of black slaves to establish plantations, which violated both Mexican and American law.

It should be noted that in 1807, the United States had enacted a law prohibiting the slave trade, banning it in any form. However, due to the enormous commercial interests involved, the law was difficult to enforce, and the slave trade remained rampant.

This war in Texas once again pushed the United States into the spotlight, causing all of Europe to question whether the United States was truly a civilized nation.