Chapter Summaries

Franz spent time with Princess Helen and Empress Sisi while considering their royal futures, then discussed the Battle of Bulgaria with his ministers. Austria decided not to help destroy the French expeditionary force, hoping instead to keep Britain, France, and Russia committed to the war and exhaust one another.

• Franz spent time with Princess Helen and Empress Sisi, whose court education and restricted lives weighed heavily on Sisi.
• Prime Minister Felix reported that Russia had defeated the Ottomans in Bulgaria and that France had rapidly sent reinforcements.
• Marshal Radetzky described the French expeditionary force as elite but said it had suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Razgrad.
• Franz considered that Napoleon III might be using battlefield losses to weaken troops loyal to the former regime and replace them with his own supporters.
• Felix and Radetzky concluded that destroying the French force would not greatly weaken France, so Austria chose to leave it for the Russians and keep Britain and France engaged in the war.

Franz sought to prolong the Russo-Turkish war by encouraging Russia to reinforce without Austrian troops, preserving Austria’s interests while straining Russia’s logistics. In London, Palmerston’s larger troop commitment exposed Britain’s shortage of soldiers, and War Minister Maxim pressed the government to expand the Army.

• Metternich told Franz that Russia wanted Austria to supply more war materiel, and Franz agreed to sell supplies while asking Radetzky to assess the forces and logistics on the Balkan Peninsula.
• Radetzky estimated that Russia’s troop strength would remain limited by supply lines and Ottoman resistance, while Franz hoped the protracted war would tighten Russo-Austrian relations and ordered Austria to push Britain toward sending troops.
• Palmerston defended increasing Britain’s commitment from twenty thousand troops to eighty thousand, angering Maxim with his remarks about the Army’s vulnerability.
• John Russell asked Maxim when the Army could deploy, and Maxim proposed expanding it by one hundred and twenty thousand men.
• John Russell said the expansion required Parliament’s approval, leaving Maxim to face the difficulty of persuading it.

Franz faced a dilemma after the Ottomans pulled troops out of Serbia: Austria risked appearing suspicious if it did not occupy the territory, but taking more Balkan land could alarm the European powers. He summoned the cabinet and Marshal Radetzky to discuss Austria’s response.

• Britain approved an 80,000-troop expansion, while Napoleon III rapidly enlarged the French Army and sent reinforcements abroad.
• The Russian Balkan Expeditionary Army split over whether to capture Sofia first or march directly toward Edirne and Constantinople.
• Prince Windisch-Grätz told Franz that the Ottomans had withdrawn from Serbia and reduced the Belgrade garrison to 20,000 troops.
• Franz asked whether the Ottomans had abandoned Belgrade, then called Jenny to summon the cabinet and Marshal Radetzky to a meeting.
• Franz weighed the risks of occupying more Serbian territory against the suspicion Austria would invite by leaving it undefended.

Abdulmejid I struggled to prepare the Allies for the next Russian offensive while Britain and France fought over command. In Turin, Cavour sought to bring the Kingdom of Sardinia into the war against Russia, but Vittorio Emanuele II agreed only if Austria did not oppose it.

• Abdulmejid I abandoned Serbia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina and concentrated Ottoman forces against Russia while retreating troops damaged roads and bridges and destroyed supplies.
• Abdulmejid I learned that Britain and France still had not chosen an Allied commander and proposed either a joint command or separate commands coordinated between the forces.
• Cavour proposed that the Kingdom of Sardinia declare war on Russia to gain British and French support and escape its economic crisis.
• Vittorio Emanuele II challenged the plan, citing Sardinia's devastated economy, depleted army, and fear of Austria.
• Cavour promised to resolve Austria's objections and abandon the plan if Austria firmly opposed it, and Vittorio Emanuele II tacitly approved.

Franz and his advisers debated how Austria should respond to the Ottoman retreat and the devastation left behind in the Balkans. The chapter ended with Franz rejecting an independent Serbia or Romania, insisting Austria must preserve its strategic position and contain nationalism.

• Prince Windisch-Grätz showed the Austrian Government that the Ottomans had abandoned much of the Balkans, and Metternich suggested the retreat reflected Ottoman panic and political infighting.
• Felix proposed sending Austrian reservists to occupy the abandoned territories, but Karl warned that Ottoman scorched-earth tactics would make occupation costly and difficult.
• Prince Windisch-Grätz argued that Austria should not allow an independent local regime to block its future expansion through the Balkans.
• Radetzky stressed that controlling Belgrade was vital to the defense of the Pannonian Plain, and Franz agreed that leaving the city to a new Balkan state would be dangerous.
• Franz declared that Austria would not permit Serbia or Romania to become independent because their nationalism could destabilize the multiethnic empire.

Austria occupied Serbian territory and encouraged locals to take Austrian citizenship while managing the aftermath of Ottoman withdrawal. The chapter leaves Belgrade under siege, with Austrian forces preparing a flood attack as Austria reshaped the region through relief work, language instruction, and land redemption.

• Austria let Russia recruit laborers from the Danube principalities while offering Austrian citizenship to locals seeking protection from recruitment.
• Aisalas Pasha remained in Belgrade under orders to defend the city, while Austrian forces surrounded it without launching an attack.
• Wasim proposed flooding Belgrade or driving civilians against its walls, and Feslav chose to request waterworks experts for a flood assault.
• Feslav rejected using civilians as cannon fodder, and Austrian relief grain and work-for-relief programs helped stabilize Serbia.
• Local serfs and other residents rushed to seek Austrian citizenship, which required learning Austrian language and offered a path to free status and official positions.
• Austrian officials forcibly redeemed land and treated absent owners' property as ownerless, extending Austria's influence without formally acquiring sovereignty.

John Russell welcomed Sardinia’s offer to join the war and agreed to fund its troops under British command, while Franz saw Sardinia’s entry as politically significant but militarily weak. After Austria tacitly approved Sardinia’s move, the Kingdom of Sardinia declared war on Russia, widening the Near East War.

• John Russell agreed to Sardinia’s demands for purchases and postponed loan repayment, and accepted its offer to send twenty thousand troops if Britain supplied equipment and paid the costs.
• John Russell insisted that Britain obtain command authority over the Sardinian troops and planned to use them to make up allied numbers.
• Metternich told Franz that Sardinia was considering declaring war on Russia, and Franz instructed him to hint that Austria had no objections.
• Franz judged that Sardinia and other allied forces were weak, while Russia might defeat its enemies one by one if it crushed France.
• On July 1, 1852, the Kingdom of Sardinia declared war on the Russian Empire.

After failing to break through Ottoman defenses in the Caucasus, Russia prepared a major Balkan offensive, with Menshikov planning to strike Britain and France before the war drained Russia’s finances. Russian forces readied their supplies and re-equipment while the divided allied command remained unaware of the impending attack.

• Nicholas I ordered Russian troops to teach the Sardinians that Russia was not to be insulted after Sardinia declared war.
• The Russian offensive in the Caucasus stalled after more than seventy thousand casualties, so Russia shifted its focus back to the Balkans.
• Menshikov confirmed that supplies could sustain the Russian army for three months and outlined a plan to destroy the main British and French forces and advance toward Edirne.
• FitzRoy Somerset urged Menshikov to target the Ottomans first, but Menshikov argued that Russia had to inflict severe losses on Britain and France to end the war quickly.
• Russian forces began preparing for the offensive while the British-French-Ottoman command remained divided and uninformed.

Franz arranged covert arms support for Bulgarian militias so they could delay Allied raids while the Russians continued fighting. At Allied headquarters, the commanders debated the Russian offensive and divided their forces into three armies to defend Sofia, Sliven, and the remaining territory.

• Franz ordered Austrian troops to remain on standby and disguise themselves as Balkan guerrillas if the Allies broke through.
• Radetzky proposed arming Bulgarian militias, and Franz arranged for quartermasters to sell used and captured weapons to arms dealers.
• Aimable Jean Jacques Pélissier and Montes rebuked Most Pasha for failing to detect the Russian offensive.
• Most Pasha identified Sliven and Sofia as the Russian army's likely targets and explained their strategic importance.
• Montes argued that Sofia must be reinforced, and Most Pasha supported his proposal despite Pélissier's preference to avoid holding every territory.
• Pélissier divided the Allied forces into Left, Central, and Right Armies, assigning Montes to Sofia, himself to Sliven, and Most Pasha to the remaining areas.

At Hordas Arsenal, Holman-Sterling’s new breech-loading rifle passed testing, and Hordas proposed sending it to Montenegro for combat trials. Franz struggled through a shooting practice at Schönbrunn while Russian arms manufacturers debated how to respond to Austria’s growing control of wartime supplies.

• Holman-Sterling tested a new rifle at Hordas Arsenal, and Hordas suggested trialing it with Montenegro’s forces; Holman-Sterling agreed to lead the team to the battlefield.
• Franz missed badly at the palace shooting range, while Elizabeth, Sophie, and Archduke Charles teased him about his marksmanship.
• Franz avoided Archduke Charles’s offer to teach the family shooting by claiming he had urgent business.
• At a meeting in Saint Petersburg, Kuls reassured Russian arms manufacturers that their domestic market would recover after the war.
• Kuls and the other manufacturers agreed to consider buying Austrian production lines to compete in the domestic arms market.

Russian logistics failures and British supply bureaucracy disrupted the armies as the Battle of Sofia began. The delayed Sardinian reinforcements arrived after the Russians had seized the surrounding strongholds, and Mantua talked his way out of blame.

• Preston accepted useless infantry supplies for his artillery regiment after a logistics officer insisted he sign for them.
• FitzRoy Somerset revised Russian supply procedures after recognizing that outdated orders and fixed delivery points were causing confusion.
• Montes ordered his forces to delay the Russians and hold key strongpoints until reinforcements arrived.
• Aonzo and Arturo complained about British rations, then planned to improve their meal with potatoes and vegetables.
• Sardinian soldiers slowed their march by foraging, arriving two days late as the Russian Army captured the surrounding strongholds.
• Mantua falsely blamed guerrilla attacks for the delay, and Montes scolded the Sardinian commanders without invoking military law.

Franz approved selling Russia weapons production lines and negotiated limits on loans, aiming to profit from Russian demand while managing Austria’s overheating wartime economy. Russia and Austria then concluded a major arms deal, leaving Russia dependent on Austrian equipment and future upgrades.

• Metternich told Franz that Russia wanted to buy a wide range of Austrian weapons production lines, and Franz agreed to sell them because Russian-made weapons would remain inferior and the trade would fund Austrian military upgrades.
• Metternich reported that Russo-Austrian trade had surged and Russia had requested more loans, while Franz instructed him to keep lending limited, delay repayment, and help Russia issue government bonds.
• Franz explained that foreign investment had flooded Austria and that Russian bonds could help cool the overheated market as the economy faced a difficult postwar transition.
• Metternich suggested requiring gold and silver payments, but Franz said Austria already had sufficient reserves and should let Russian money continue flowing in.
• Russia and Austria quietly completed a major deal for Austrian weapons production lines and manufacturing technology, which delighted the Austrian Government and positioned Austrian firms to provide future upgrades.

Montenegro mobilized its people against the Ottomans while Holman-Steiren observed the country’s front-line logistics and tested Austria’s new rifles in battle. The rifle showed promise but consumed too much ammunition for Montenegro to afford, and Lasrich rejected an offer to join the Austrian testing team, choosing to remain with his homeland.

• Mirkov ordered Lasrich to escort Holman-Steiren’s weapons-testing party, explaining that a successful test could earn Montenegro five hundred rifles and ammunition.
• Holman-Steiren saw Montenegrins of all ages supporting the war effort and found women serving as soldiers near the front.
• The Montenegrin army attacked Ottoman positions, and Holman-Steiren observed that the new rifles reduced casualties by letting soldiers reload while prone.
• Lasrich warned Holman-Steiren that the rifles’ high rate of fire made them too costly for Montenegro to supply, and Holman-Steiren recorded the concern.
• Holman-Steiren invited Lasrich to join the testing team, but Lasrich declined because he wanted to fight the Ottomans for Montenegro.
• Holman-Steiren apologized and respected Lasrich’s commitment, and the two sides’ relationship improved.

Nicholas I approved buying Austrian arms-production lines and ordered a European bond plan after Austria could not provide Russia’s requested 200 million ruble loan. Meanwhile, Franz prepared low-interest Unity Bonds and used public debate over German unification to build support for Austria’s plans, leaving several competing visions in circulation.

• Nicholas I approved the arms-production contract and ordered the Ministry of Finance to devise a bond plan while seeking whatever Austrian loans it could obtain.
• Karl-Wessel told Nicholas I that Austria could not provide a 200 million ruble loan without major political concessions, and Nicholas accepted the need to sell bonds at higher interest.
• Franz prepared one-percent Unity Bonds to finance German unification and relied on patriotic support rather than high returns.
• At the University of Munich, Christian defended rebuilding the Holy Roman Empire as a gradual, nominal union that would preserve the states’ interests.
• Students argued over Greater Germany, Lesser Germany, a North-South division, and restoration of the Holy Roman Empire as Austria’s propaganda helped spread the competing ideas.

French commander Aimable Jean Jacques Pélissier chose to preserve his troops and hold the Sliven front while awaiting a breakthrough near Sofia, as Russian commander Menshikov ordered a costly assault. At Sofia, Montes continued a limited offensive, unaware that his use of Ottoman troops as cannon fodder was helping the Russians gain battle experience.

• Aimable Jean Jacques Pélissier received a dubious report of a French victory at eastern Sliven and ordered officers to confirm whether Major General Orehaton was alive.
• Aimable Jean Jacques Pélissier ordered the French troops to focus on defense and avoid a decisive battle until the Allies made progress near Sofia.
• Menshikov ordered the Russian troops to attack at all costs, arguing that heavy casualties were acceptable if they brought victory and Constantinople within reach.
• Lieutenant General Buld warned Menshikov that an intensified attack could expose the Russian line, but Menshikov dismissed his concerns.
• Montes continued to hope for a breakthrough at Sliven and used Ottoman troops in a limited offensive against the Russians near Sofia.
• Montes and FitzRoy Somerset failed to recognize that repeated fighting against the Ottomans was giving Russian troops valuable experience and confidence.

Franz and the Austrian General Staff assessed the Balkan campaign as a stalemate, while Austria prepared railway-based supply options for a possible conflict in the South German states. On the peninsula, Montenegrin victories and Bulgarian guerrilla attacks battered Ottoman forces and disrupted Allied logistics, leaving Montes demanding a decisive battle.

• Marshal Radetzky explained to Franz that the Montenegrin Army’s high combat rating reflected its training, weapons, and strong morale, while the French were temporarily weakened by low morale and officer changes.
• Metternich warned Franz that Greece was unlikely to attack British and French supply lines, and Franz chose to wait while Austria advanced railway preparations for future logistics.
• On October 1, 1852, the Montenegrin army captured Scutari Fortress and then swept across half of Albania.
• Bulgarian guerrillas disrupted Allied supply routes and broke through the Sardinian defense near Sofia before British troops crushed their advance.
• Montes ordered the Ottoman Government to suppress the guerrillas, but Aberon said the hastily assembled Ottoman troops were too weak to do so.
• Montes urged the French to fight a decisive battle against the Russians instead of prolonging the campaign.

Abdulmejid I confronted Britain and France’s reluctance to bear the Ottoman Empire’s battlefield losses, while the British Cabinet debated how to break the Balkan stalemate. Britain approved Palmerston’s plan to open a second front on the Crimean Peninsula and prepare to seek French cooperation.

• Abdulmejid I ordered Fuad to urge Britain and France to commit more strength as Ottoman casualties mounted.
• Mudra advised Abdulmejid I to request more Allied troops, but Abdulmejid I warned that Britain and France could retreat toward the coast while the Ottoman Empire could not risk losing its Balkan lands.
• Palmerston blamed the stalemate on Russia’s preparations and Austria’s supplies, then proposed attacking Russian supply depots and opening a front on the Crimean coast.
• Henry John Temple objected that Britain would bear heavy costs, but Palmerston argued that pressure on three fronts could cripple Russia and possibly break up the empire.
• John Russell approved Palmerston’s proposal and instructed Palmerston to seek French agreement before Parliament voted.

Greece entered the war against the Ottoman Empire as Otto I tried to balance foreign offers and an increasingly radical public, while the Ottomans sought to secure a ceasefire with Austria. The chapter left Fuad responsible for negotiating territorial concessions as the Ottoman Empire faced pressure from both Greece and Russia.

• On November 12, 1852, Greek forces disguised as civilian volunteers attacked Thessaly and Epirus while the Greek Government denied involvement.
• Britain, France, and Russia offered terms to Otto I, but leaked negotiations prompted Greeks to demand an advance on Constantinople and restoration of the Byzantine Empire's former borders.
• Otto I rejected the public's demands, claimed the fighters were civilian militias, and sent more volunteers to the front to contain nationalist unrest.
• Abdulmejid I asked his advisers how to counter the Greek threat, and Mudra urged caution while proposing that Austria be steadied through negotiations.
• Fuad warned that Austria might demand the Danubian principalities and Serbia, so Abdulmejid I offered Moldavia for a ceasefire and set Wallachia as the minimum concession.

A scandal involving Palmerston delayed the British government’s plan to open a second front, giving the Russians an opportunity. In Bulgaria, Dimitar’s guerrillas debated attacking Plovdiv and settled on a plan to test the enemy at Zhalgik while preparing to intercept reinforcements.

• Palmerston was caught in the royal palace with a lady-in-waiting, and Prince Albert asked Prime Minister John Russell how to handle the scandal quietly.
• The scandal disrupted the London Government and delayed the opening of a second front.
• Dimitar told the Bulgarian guerrilla leaders that Ottoman troops had left Plovdiv and proposed destroying the supply station there.
• Seplos warned that Plovdiv might be a trap, while Hamir proposed attacking Zhalgik first to test the enemy response.
• Dimitar agreed to coordinate with Boris and other bands, have them attack Zhalgik, and intercept enemy forces moving from Plovdiv and Asenovgrad.

Franz prepared Austria’s rapid campaign to seize Bavaria and South Germany while studying the battlefield’s medical and logistical failures. Meanwhile, British and French naval attacks devastated Russia’s Black Sea coast, and Nicholas I ordered an investigation into the losses.

• Metternich brought Franz the Ottomans’ armistice proposal, and Franz ordered negotiations to proceed slowly while testing their bottom line.
• Franz reviewed the heavy casualties and inadequate battlefield care, then had Marshal Radetzky finalize a plan to take Munich within a week and control South Germany within two months.
• Napoleon III decided to send more troops as British, French, and Ottoman ships continued bombarding Russian coastal cities and drove hundreds of thousands of civilians inland.
• Nicholas I learned that the Black Sea Fleet had been destroyed and that coastal defenses had failed, while officials reported over three hundred thousand displaced civilians and losses exceeding two hundred million rubles.
• Nicholas I ordered a thorough investigation into the destruction of supplies and the coastal losses.