On June 25, 1852, Austria once again sent troops to attack the Ottoman Empire. Within a month, they had fought across hundreds of li through Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, liberated more than a million people enslaved by the Ottoman Empire, and carried the dawn of civilization to the Balkan Peninsula...
—Excerpt from the Austrian Government's annual report
In reality, the Austrian Army had merely taken over local defense and maintained social order after the Ottoman Army withdrew.
Serbia was still easy enough to govern in those days. The serfs in the countryside were docile, and though mobs had emerged in the cities, they were still no more than street thugs.
Beneath Austria's iron fist, these remnants of the Ottoman Empire vanished into smoke in an instant. Those left behind all looked like obedient children—though that also had much to do with the Ottomans taking away large numbers of able-bodied young men when they withdrew.
This was not out of Ottoman goodwill, nor had they done anything foolish. War required vast numbers of cannon fodder and laborers. Leaving those able-bodied men behind would have been feeding the enemy.
The two principalities in the Danube basin were an example. By now, the Russian Army had recruited at least 150,000 laborers from there. When necessary, these laborers could also become soldiers.
Without their contribution, the Russians could only have transferred laborers from within their own country. The Tsarist Government was no fool; it naturally knew how to answer such a multiple-choice question.
Pulling too many able-bodied young men from Russia would affect production, but recruiting laborers from the two principalities did not matter. This was Austrian territory; no matter how grievous the losses, the Russians would not feel a shred of pain.
The Russians did not care, and neither did Franz. Without