At long last, news of the great Indian uprising finally reached Vienna in July. Franz knew the British were in trouble.
At this time, 40,000 British troops and 230,000 Indian soldiers controlled the Indian Subcontinent. Since the beginning of 1857, reports of mutinies had continually emerged from the Indian regiments, though all had been suppressed by the British.
On May 10, three Indian regiments launched an uprising, seized the ancient capital of Delhi, and proclaimed the restoration of the Mughal Empire, sending shockwaves through India as the tide of rebellion swiftly spread across the country.
Without a word to spare, Franz fulfilled his duties as an ally and immediately notified the Saint Petersburg Government. As for what would happen next, no one knew.
If Anglo-Austrian negotiations went smoothly, the Vienna Government would remain very well-behaved in the future and do nothing; if the negotiations broke down, then supporting the Indian people's independence movement would not be out of the question.
Prime Minister Felix said murderously, "Your Majesty, the time is ripe.
"The war between the British and Persia has yet to end, and now the great Indian uprising has broken out. Saint Petersburg's ambitions toward India may no longer be containable.
"The London Government is too busy to look after itself. It is necessary for us to pay the Ottoman Empire a friendly state visit and deepen the friendship between our two sides."
Friendship? When had the House of Habsburg ever had friendship with the Ottoman Empire?
Open the family history, and it was a chronicle written in blood and tears with the Ottoman Empire. More than one ancestor had dreamed of knocking the Ottoman Empire flat.
By Franz's generation, they had finally seen the dawn. The Ottoman Empire had been driven out of the Balkan Peninsula, and the colossus