Recaps

Franz named his newborn heir Friedrich, and Austria’s first ironclad, also called Friedrich, began sea trials the next day. In London, British leaders reacted to Austria’s naval breakthrough and considered pressuring Vienna to prevent expansion against the Ottoman Empire.

• Franz and the family voted on names for the newborn heir, choosing Friedrich after Peter was eliminated.
• Naval Minister Filkos announced that Austria’s first ironclad was complete, and Franz named the ship Friedrich.
• On December 12, 1856, the Friedrich departed Venice Port for sea trials, carrying a new advantage over sailing warships.
• Prime Minister Granville demanded that Britain announce an ironclad program after learning that Austria had built the world’s largest and most powerful warship.
• Foreign Secretary Thomas warned Granville that Austria’s naval advantage could threaten the Ottoman Empire, and proposed joining France to pressure Vienna.

Franz rejected Persia’s request to mediate the Central Asian War and considered Austria’s options for expanding its influence in the Mediterranean and Africa. He favored cautiously pursuing Corfu and negotiating with the Ottomans over Crete, Cyprus, and Libya, while rejecting a costly expedition to the Far East.

• Persia sought help from France and Austria after American support proved ineffective and the British continued defeating the Persian army.
• Metternich presented Persia’s diplomatic note, and Franz refused to mediate because Austria wanted Britain and Russia to keep fighting and saw little profit in Persia.
• Filkos urged Austria to pursue Corfu, and Franz directed the Foreign Ministry to ask Britain whether it would sell the island and to consider supporting a local uprising if needed.
• Metternich and Felix warned that Austria had to avoid provoking Britain and France, while Filkos identified Crete as a valuable Mediterranean foothold.
• Franz proposed negotiating with the Ottomans to purchase or lease Crete and Cyprus and acquire suzerainty over Libya.
• Archduke Louis suggested joining Britain and France’s planned Far Eastern operation, but Franz rejected it in favor of concentrating on African colonies and interests Austria could retain.

Franz oversaw the Habsburg family’s gradual liquidation of industries to prepare for an impending economic crisis, while managing risks at the Royal Bank. He ordered colonial gold brought home and left the bank’s lending restrictions to John-Steva’s existing plan.

• Franz reviewed John-Steva’s report on the sale of railway stocks and factories, which was expected to raise about 66.8 million Divine Shields.
• Franz ordered the Royal Bank to tighten its money supply, scrutinize borrowers, and stop accepting stocks or bonds as collateral.
• John-Steva warned that tighter lending could unsettle the market and explained that the Royal Bank held fifty-eight tons of gold reserves.
• Franz accepted John-Steva’s plan and ordered him to bring colonial gold back home before the economic crisis began.

The Vienna Government’s infrastructure bonds sold rapidly in London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Vienna, while Franz recognized Frankfurt’s financial influence and rewarded its support with a place in the navy’s ironclad program. He ordered officials to begin the funded projects promptly and enforce their contracts, leaving the government prepared for the economic crisis he expected.

• Finance Minister Karl reported that the London bonds had sold out and that Paris, Frankfurt, and Vienna were also seeing strong sales.
• Karl explained that Frankfurt’s financial consortiums had bought bonds before reselling them, and Franz recognized their effort to gain political standing.
• Franz added an ironclad named Frankfurt to the navy’s shipbuilding program, and Naval Minister Filkos accepted the order.
• Franz instructed the government to start the contracted infrastructure projects and directed the Ministry of Finance, local governments, and anti-corruption bureau to oversee them.

After news of the Indian uprising reached Vienna, Franz informed Saint Petersburg and agreed to visit the Ottoman Empire while considering Austria’s colonial expansion. The government continued promoting plantations and immigration to reduce labor shortages and conflict in its African colonies.

• Franz notified the Saint Petersburg Government of the Indian uprising, and Prime Minister Felix urged a state visit to the Ottoman Empire while Britain was distracted.
• Franz approved Josip Jelačić’s call to expand Austria’s African presence but decided to wait for the Tekrur Kingdom’s conflict in Nigeria to weaken its rivals before intervening.
• Franz described Nigeria’s agricultural potential and the government’s efforts to attract settlers and plantation investors to the colonies.
• The royal family’s planned plantations covered more than 1.5 million hectares, but only a little over 15,000 hectares had been developed because of labor shortages and difficult conditions.
• The Vienna Government encouraged homeland settlers to move to the colonies and arranged agreements allowing other countries to recruit indigenous immigrants for the Americas.
• Austria offered a reward of 2 Divine Shields for every ten local immigrants removed from its colonies, and more than a hundred thousand Black immigrants left each year.

After Austria seized Crete and demanded Ottoman territories, Abdulmejid I asked Britain and France to mediate, unaware that Britain was distracted by the Indian rebellion. In London, British ministers debated how Austria and Russia might exploit the uprising and concluded they needed to stall for time and keep France and Austria from financing Russia.

• Fuad told Abdulmejid I that Austria had landed on Crete and demanded sovereignty over several Ottoman territories, prompting the Sultan to call for mediation and protest.
• Granville and other British ministers discussed the leaked news of the Indian rebellion and how it might embolden European rivals.
• Thomas argued that Britain should use negotiations to delay Austria while suppressing the rebellion quickly.
• John Russell warned that Russia might support the Indian rebels, and the ministers considered whether France or Austria could fund Russia.
• Thomas said Austria was unlikely to help Russia annex India and urged Britain to use its influence in France to prevent French-Russian rapprochement.

Austria advanced its colonial foothold in Nigeria while using the Ottoman Empire’s financial crisis to pressure its government over Crete. The Antalya negotiations ended with a one-week pause for the Ottomans to verify Austria’s claim of twenty-eight million Divine Shields in debt.

• Colonel Nikos warned Abate not to underestimate the Tekrur Kingdom and ordered him to alert the navy after its army camped within range of naval guns.
• Nikos watched the Tekrur army arrive more than a month later and prepared to use the warships for target practice.
• Johannes defended Austria’s presence in Crete as a proposed transaction and threatened to consult the Holy Land Government if the Sultan Government rejected negotiations.
• Johannes presented Fuad with a claim for twenty-eight million Divine Shields, explaining that Austria had purchased defaulted Ottoman debts from their creditors.
• Nigel persuaded the delegates to adjourn for a week so Fuad could verify the debt, while Johannes warned that late fees were accumulating.

The Ottoman government struggled to answer Austria’s debt claim and pressure to sell territory while Abdulmejid I weighed delaying negotiations against raising money to fight domestic rebels. In Saint Petersburg, Nicholas I’s ministers debated exploiting the Indian rebellion, but the Tsarist government’s lack of funds and logistical difficulties checked plans for war.

• Abdulmejid I learned that Austria had secured British distraction by the Indian rebellion and French consent, then ordered Fuad to delay negotiations and demand cash if Ottoman territory had to be sold.
• Abdulmejid I considered the islands and Libya expendable, but he wanted to avoid appearing to sell out the empire while seeking funds to suppress domestic rebels.
• Nicholas I convened his ministers after hearing of the Indian rebellion, and Arestanlirod proposed arming the rebels while Karl-Wessel urged a direct campaign to seize India through Afghanistan and Persia.
• Arestanlirod argued that the Russian Empire could not finance a major war, and Nicholas I ended the ministers’ dispute as he recognized that money and logistics made an invasion of India impractical.

The economic crisis that began in the United States spread to Britain and threatened Austria, while the American downturn sharpened the conflict between Northern industrialists and Southern plantation owners. Franz’s government prepared a financial firewall, but by early 1858 the crisis had reached Austria and most of Europe.

• British dumping of goods triggered bankruptcies in American industries, a stock-market collapse, bank failures, and a financial panic in 1857.
• The American crisis intensified the dispute between Northern industrialists seeking tariffs and Southern plantation owners who demanded low tariffs, driving the South to call for independence.
• Prime Minister Felix warned Franz that British capital withdrawals could bring a crisis to Austria, and Franz ordered advance declarations for large capital movements while preparing to restrict suspicious funds.
• Franz’s government relied on its existing financial preparations and avoided wider intervention, as officials viewed overcapacity as an unavoidable cause of recurring crises.
• By the end of 1857 the crisis had spread to France, and by early 1858 it had reached Belgium, Austria, and Germany, leaving most of Europe suffering heavy losses.

Franz responded to Austria’s worsening economic crisis by ordering the government to resume stalled construction, rescue railway projects through public investment, and expand colonial immigration. The chapter left the Vienna Government preparing to send unemployed Germans to its African colonies while extending its reach in Nigeria and the Congo.

• Prime Minister Felix reported widespread bankruptcies, collapsing railway shares, falling industrial output, and nearly a million unemployed people in Austria.
• Franz ordered the government to take over unfinished projects, compel stalled railway companies to resume construction or accept public investment, and accelerate colonial expansion in Nigeria and the Congo.
• Josip Jelačić outlined two immigration options: government-sponsored five-year farm labor contracts with higher wages, or free settlement with a subsidy covering half the passage.
• Franz approved the immigration plan as a way to ease unemployment and develop colonial farms, plantations, and lands for future grants to meritorious subjects.
• The Vienna Government publicized the fertility and prosperity of its African colonies to encourage migration from the German region.

Johannes negotiated Austria’s purchase of Libya and Aegean islands from the Ottoman Empire, then reached territorial agreements with Britain and France while making assurances about India. The Mediterranean treaties were signed, dividing influence among the powers and placing North Africa in France’s sphere.

• Johannes and Fuad bargained over the land price until agreeing that Austria would pay ten million Divine Shields in goods, offset Ottoman debts, and cover the cost of relocating residents.
• Johannes negotiated with Nigel to exchange Austrian Aegean islands for the Ionian Islands and promised that Austria would support Britain’s efforts to suppress the Indian rebellion.
• On March 12, 1858, the New Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire signed a treaty transferring Libya and more than three hundred islands, including Crete and Cyprus, to Austria.
• The next day, Johannes signed separate island-transaction and territorial-exchange treaties with Britain and France.
• Britain, France, and Austria settled their Mediterranean dispute, and North Africa was formally placed in France’s sphere of influence.

After signing the treaty with the Ottoman Empire, Franz used Austria’s surplus supplies to arrange the relocation of Ottoman residents and the settlement of immigrants in newly acquired territories. He left the Colonial Ministry racing to recruit and transport hundreds of thousands of settlers before the economic crisis passed.

• Franz ordered surplus agricultural goods sent to the Ottoman Empire and proposed moving Ottoman residents out of newly acquired regions in exchange for a year's rations.
• Franz instructed Christian to include residents of the Ionian Islands and Sinai Peninsula in the relocation, using bribes if necessary.
• Josip Jelačić warned Franz that the colonies and the Balkans needed far more immigrants than were currently willing to register, and that most applicants preferred the Balkans.
• Franz told Josip Jelačić to move immigrants as quickly as possible, sending them to the Balkans if overseas transport could not be arranged in time.
• The Vienna Government secured permission to recruit immigrants from German-speaking countries, including Switzerland and Belgium, while the economic crisis made people more willing to leave.

Franz assessed France’s plan to build the Suez Canal and Austria’s prospects for profiting from it while reviewing Prussia’s political instability. He ordered Tyrone to monitor the French, seek discreet canal investments, and prevent Bismarck from gaining influence.

• Tyrone reported that Britain and France had failed to agree on the Suez Canal and that France planned to excavate it alone.
• Franz ordered Tyrone to keep watch on France and considered secretly buying canal shares rather than relying on a government investment.
• Tyrone reported that Frederick William IV’s health and rule appeared to be failing as Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig became more active in Prussian politics.
• Franz concluded Prussia had lost its chance to unify Germany under the current balance of power.
• Franz ordered Tyrone to eliminate Bismarck if a natural opportunity arose, or otherwise discredit him and block his advancement.

Franz ordered his intelligence network to assassinate Bismarck in Saint Petersburg, hoping to prevent Prussia from repairing relations with Russia. Bismarck secured a promising meeting with Crown Prince Alexander, but was shot outside his home as the assassins escaped.

• Franz decided Bismarck posed a future threat and arranged to have him killed in Russia, where Austria could avoid direct blame.
• Bismarck traveled to Saint Petersburg to seek renewed ties with Russia and ordered preparations for a visit to Crown Prince Alexander.
• Andrei briefed Alexei and the other hired assassins, warning them to kill Bismarck and leave the city that night.
• Bismarck and Crown Prince Alexander had a successful conversation, and Alexander supported improving relations between Russia and Prussia.
• As Bismarck stepped out of his carriage at home, assassins shot him, then escaped before the embassy guards arrived.

After Bismarck died from his wounds, Russian officials blamed Polish independence activists and suggested a Prussian embassy mole had helped the assassins, seeking to escape responsibility. In Berlin, William Friedrich Ludwig rejected the Russian account, while Andrea feared that an internal conspiracy might actually have been involved.

• Nicholas I ordered a thorough investigation into Bismarck’s assassination, and Dumanov reported that Bismarck had been shot three times and was unlikely to survive.
• After Bismarck died and suspects were captured, Dumanov’s assistant identified them as Polish independence activists and cited handmade weapons and ammunition as evidence.
• Dumanov ordered officials to publicize the suspects’ alleged ties to the Polish independence organization and accuse a Prussian embassy mole of delaying Bismarck’s rescue.
• William Friedrich Ludwig received the Russian report and rejected its claim that a mole in the Prussian embassy had colluded with the assassins.
• Andrea urged William Friedrich Ludwig to investigate secretly, warning that someone in the Prussian government might have worked with the Polish independence organization to kill Bismarck.

Napoleon III approved increasing the Suez Canal’s depth after Austria argued that future ships would require greater capacity, and France and Austria signed an agreement to share the project’s funding. The chapter left Britain concerned that the canal and warmer Franco-Austrian relations threatened its strategic position, though its ministers expected the two powers to clash eventually.

• Auvergne assured Napoleon III that Austria sincerely wanted to join the canal project and explained its demand for a deeper canal to accommodate larger ships.
• Dike supported the deeper design for strategic reasons, and Napoleon III agreed to increase the canal’s planned depth.
• France and Austria signed the Suez Canal Cooperation Agreement on May 10, 1858, with France holding 51 percent of the shares and Austria 49 percent.
• Franz ordered Metternich to urge the French to begin construction and directed the government to subscribe to half the investment, with the rest offered to the market.
• Granville questioned his ministers about the canal project and improving Franco-Austrian relations, while John Russell and Thomas argued that the two powers’ ambitions would eventually divide them.

Franz directed the royal enterprises to shift their investments toward strategic industries and secretly buy Suez Canal shares, dismissing Jung’s concerns about the project. As the canal shares prepared to list amid a depressed market, Vienna’s stock exchange manager ordered his staff to attract buyers.

• Franz halted further textile investments and ordered the royal enterprises to focus on metallurgy, shipbuilding, mineral resources, machinery, and other industries.
• Franz instructed his people to secretly acquire Suez Canal shares and explained to Jung that France and Austria would ensure the canal was built and that it would be profitable.
• Jung accepted Franz’s decision to invest in the canal despite the political and financial risks.
• At the nearly deserted Vienna Stock Exchange Center, Mark announced that Suez Canal shares would be listed in three days and ordered Jürgen and the brokers to notify major clients and encourage them to buy.
• Jürgen wondered why a government canal project was raising funds through the stock market, while the weak economy raised the risk that the shares would sell below their issue price.

Jürgen bought Suez Canal shares, but Franz’s quiet investment kept the stock price from rising. In Venice, Anthony hired Buck to recruit men and sailors for a secret expedition against the Kingdom of Benin.

• Jürgen noticed someone buying newly issued Suez Canal shares and secretly invested his savings, while Franz continued buying without selling or publicizing the project.
• The economic crisis reduced spending among sailors at Buck’s Venice tavern, until shipowner Anthony arrived and offered him a recruitment job.
• Anthony asked Buck to find a thousand fighters and three hundred sailors, offering one Divine Shield for each recruit and demanding they be gathered within three days.
• Buck said the deadline exceeded his abilities and warned that poaching crews from existing employers could provoke retaliation.
• Anthony explained that he planned to join partners in conquering the Kingdom of Benin and urged Buck to recruit from struggling small boat owners without revealing who the employer was.

After an assassination attempt on Napoleon III and his wife, European governments feared France would use it as a pretext for war. When France identified four Italian culprits and confirmed the emperor was unharmed, Franz expected Napoleon III to target the Kingdom of Sardinia and abandoned plans to prepare Austria’s troops for battle.

• Franz learned that Napoleon III and his wife might have been shot, and ordered Tyrone to find out whether they were harmed and who had been captured.
• Prussian officials worried that France might blame Prussia, so Prince William-Friedrich-Ludwig ordered troops on the Rhineland frontier to heighten their alert.
• On August 15, 1858, the French government announced that four Italians had carried out the attack; Napoleon III and his wife were unharmed, but three guards had been shot and one had died.
• Franz recognized the culprits as the same four Italians from history and expected France to punish the Kingdom of Sardinia.
• Franz decided not to ready Austria’s frontline troops, reasoning that a French attack on Austria could let him draw France into a larger coalition war.

After the assassination attempt on Napoleon III, Sardinia feared France would use the attackers’ ties to Italian nationalists as a pretext to annex the kingdom. Napoleon III chose to pressure Sardinia while Austria weighed the prospect of French expansion drawing Britain into conflict with France.

• Vittorio Emanuele asked Cavour about the French findings, which showed the four assassins were Italian radicals and citizens of the New Holy Roman Empire.
• Cavour urged Vittorio Emanuele to seek British and Austrian help, since Sardinia could no longer risk relying on France or Austria to restrain each other.
• Napoleon III learned that the assassins had obtained information from the missing Sobolev, and ordered Maupas to find him.
• Napoleon III rejected accusing Austria without evidence and directed the Foreign Ministry to demand that Sardinia take responsibility for the assassination.
• Persigny advised Napoleon III to present the assassins’ confessions and evidence of Sardinian funding for radical groups, while seeking international support.
• Persigny explained that Austria might tolerate French annexation of Sardinia because it could worsen relations between France and the United Kingdom.

Franz agreed to support France’s move against the Kingdom of Sardinia while ordering a sweeping crackdown on suspected radicals in Austria. In London, Granville weighed mediation as Britain feared that French demands could lead to war.

• Franz agreed to support France’s annexation of the Kingdom of Sardinia, provided France found a defensible pretext and preserved the Vienna System.
• Karl warned that Italian radicals could threaten Franz, and Franz ordered the Ministry of the Interior to investigate suspected plotters and their associates.
• Granville worried that French ambitions in Italy would grow after members of the Carbonari plotted to assassinate Napoleon III.
• Thomas urged the Kingdom of Sardinia to hand over the radicals, while John Russell warned that France also wanted territory or indemnities.
• Granville ordered the Foreign Office to mediate and hoped to enlist Austria to pressure France.

Franz learned that Austrian authorities had captured the assassins who tried to kill Napoleon III and planned to use them to support France against Sardinia. In Saint Petersburg, Nicholas I chose a European balance-of-power policy to contain French expansion while Russia recovered from the Near East War.

• Archduke Louis told Franz that the captured assassins claimed Napoleon III had ordered them to kill Franz, and Franz ordered that they be kept alive as useful evidence.
• Nicholas I and Foreign Minister Karl-Wessel agreed that the Carbonari should be punished but worried that France might expand into Italy.
• Karl-Wessel argued that Britain, Austria, and Prussia would resist any French advance into Central Europe.
• Finance Minister Arestanlirod urged Nicholas I to let France and Austria restrain each other while Russia adopted a balance-of-power policy.
• Nicholas I accepted the policy, recognizing that Russia lacked the strength and resources to continue expanding in Europe.

Cavour struggled to protect the Kingdom of Sardinia as France demanded concessions and reports suggested Austria might support its annexation. After Cavour warned British Foreign Minister Thomas of a possible Franco-Austrian deal, Thomas suspected that an unexplained change had occurred within the Austrian Government.

• Cavour and Clio failed to win French officials over, so Cavour ordered gifts sent to representatives from other countries.
• Clio warned Cavour that Austria's representative Maltic opposed Sardinia and that France and Austria might divide the kingdom between them.
• Cavour decided to alert Britain, whose financial interests tied it to the Kingdom of Sardinia.
• Maltic and French Foreign Minister Auvergne agreed on Austrian support for France's annexation plans in exchange for colonial port access and naval supplies.
• At the British embassy, Cavour told Thomas about the possible Franco-Austrian agreement, and Thomas questioned how Austria's policy could have shifted so quickly.

Thomas moved to counter the diplomatic pressure on Sardinia while Franz focused on his family and investigated Mexican Constitutionalists seeking a Catholic prince. Franz learned that Mexico’s deep political disorder made the throne a dangerous prospect for his brother Maximilian.

• Thomas abandoned his call for Sardinia to eliminate the Carbonari after judging that its government could not manage such a purge.
• Franz watched his young son Friedrich and considered how the Habsburg family’s demanding education would shape him and his younger brothers.
• Tyrone told Franz that Mexican Constitutionalists had arrived in Vienna to seek a Catholic prince for Mexico’s throne, and Franz ordered their contacts monitored.
• Franz requested information on Mexico and learned that, despite its population and resources, factional conflict had left it without industrial development.
• Franz concluded that Maximilian would struggle to rule Mexico without Habsburg support and that the country would require a sweeping purge to recover.

France and Austria accused the Kingdom of Sardinia of backing assassins who targeted Napoleon III and Franz, prompting the powers to agree to a joint investigation and military intervention. France secured permission to send a large force into Sardinia, while the other nations offered too few troops to restrain it.

• Auvergne accused the Sardinian Government of sheltering the Paris assassins, while Cavour denied any government connection to them.
• Maltic revealed evidence that the same organization had plotted to assassinate Franz in Vienna and alleged that Sardinia had funded the plot.
• Thomas declined to defend Sardinia after reviewing the documents, and Ivanov proposed a joint investigation team that would temporarily take over the Kingdom of Sardinia.
• Auvergne proposed sending eighty thousand French troops to protect the investigation, and Maltic agreed to send three thousand Austrian troops.
• Thomas offered five thousand British troops, and the other nations pledged small contingents, leaving the multinational force too weak to check France.