Chapter Summaries

Thomas proposed that Britain and France use a European coalition to limit Austria’s expansion and break up the Russo-Austrian Alliance. Napoleon III resisted Britain’s effort to manipulate France into opposing Austria, but agreed to advance a joint plan while warning that Prussia’s response could undo it.

• Thomas urged Napoleon III to lure Austria away from Russia by offering support for its expansion in the German lands, and threatened intervention if Austria refused.
• Napoleon III rejected the offer, fearing that a stronger Austria could later ally with Russia and threaten France.
• Thomas proposed dividing the German lands and claimed Britain could assemble a coalition to pressure Austria, while France focused on restraining its growth.
• Napoleon III recognized Britain’s plan to make France and Austria rivals, but agreed to present the proposal jointly after Thomas described the coalition’s promised rewards and possible blockade.
• Napoleon III and Thomas warned that Russia’s and Prussia’s knowledge of the plan could derail it or let both Austria and Prussia grow stronger.

Thomas tried to enlist Prussia in Britain’s proposed intervention coalition, while Napoleon III and Metternich assessed the plan and its risks. France decided it could benefit from Austria’s attack on Prussia, and Metternich continued gathering intelligence as Thomas pressed on with his diplomatic campaign.

• Arnaud warned Napoleon III that Austria might attack Prussia or launch a surprise assault on Paris before the coalition assembled.
• Persigny argued that Britain’s plan relied on intimidating Austria, and Napoleon III decided France could encourage Austria to attack Prussia and accept a partition of Prussian lands.
• Thomas urged Rotrouf to join the intervention coalition, but Rotrouf said he would await the Berlin Government’s decision.
• Metternich gathered reports on Thomas’s meetings and doubted that Switzerland would join an intervention against Austria.

At the Paris Conference, Thomas tried to weaken the Russo-Austrian Alliance and pressure Austria to surrender its gains, while Metternich resisted by exposing the coalition's internal divisions. After receiving a telegram in Saint Petersburg, Franz proposed that Austria, France, and Russia threaten to divide Prussia, leaving Austria's next move unresolved.

• At a Paris banquet, Thomas warned Karl-Wessel that Austria's growing power could threaten Russia, but Karl-Wessel rejected the British attempt to undermine their alliance and left.
• At the conference, Thomas threatened sanctions over Austria's plan to establish the Holy Roman Empire, and Metternich retorted that Austria could simply establish the New Holy Roman Empire.
• After the conference, Thomas demanded that Austria abandon its alliance with Russia, return its gains, or face nine nations, while Metternich challenged the coalition's ability to act together and stressed France's unwillingness to concede in the Near East War.
• In Saint Petersburg, Franz read a telegram about the Paris Conference and decided Austria should discuss with France and Russia the possibility of dividing Prussia among them.
• Franz considered Austria's potential gains around Berlin and the danger of a prolonged, bloody war with Prussia.

Austria's threat pushed Prussia toward withdrawing from the intervention coalition, forcing Britain to revise its plan for Germany. At renewed talks in Paris, the powers considered creating a buffer state, but Prussia rejected giving up the Rhineland.

• Frederick William IV and his ministers debated Austria's threat, and Andrea warned that Britain could not protect Prussia while suggesting an alliance with Austria as an alternative.
• Britain's leaders learned that Prussia was preparing to withdraw, and Prime Minister George Hamilton Gordon ordered Thomas to activate the second plan.
• Thomas proposed forming a new state from German territories to create buffers between the great powers, and the French representative Auvergne supported the proposal.
• Metternich said Austria needed to consider the plan because it affected Baden and Bavaria's Palatinate Province.
• Prussian representative Rotrouf objected that Prussia could not give up the Rhineland, its most important industrial region.

Franz accepted Austria’s territorial gains at the Paris Conference while keeping pressure on Prussia to surrender the Rhineland, and the German Federal Empire was formed from the remaining German states. The chapter ended with Franz publicly condemning Germany’s division and urging people to endure until unification became possible.

• Franz instructed Vienna to make discreet concessions while continuing to press Prussia over the Rhineland territorial exchange.
• Frederick William IV and his ministers debated whether to exchange the Rhineland or join Austria in dividing Germany, but chose to wait for another opportunity.
• Metternich won support from several states and powers while German rulers publicly lamented the Confederation’s dissolution.
• The Paris Conference ended on October 1, 1853, with Austria annexing Bavaria, Saxony, Württemberg, Frankfurt, Hesse-Darmstadt, and other regions, while the remaining German states formed the German Federal Empire.
• Prussia’s territorial exchange negotiations stalled amid government opposition and public protests against Prussian embassies.
• Franz published “Dark Days,” calling for resilience and eventual German unification, and Vienna canceled its planned celebrations.

Franz returned to Vienna and faced the question of finding the Bavarian royal family a throne, along with the naming and governance of Austria’s new territories. The council considered making Maximilian II King of Lombardy under Austrian control, while Franz argued that economic dependence would keep the region tied to the empire.

• After leaving Russia, Franz wrote two doggerel poems on his journey back to Vienna, while German writers mocked the new German Federal Empire as the “Comedy Empire.”
• In Bremen, Fitra condemned the division of Germany, while Kolbes voiced his anger at the unpopular empire and the pressure that foreign intervention had placed on German nationalists and businesses.
• Frederick William IV considered reform as Prussia’s economy worsened under rising military spending, trade barriers, and competition from British and Austrian goods.
• Back in Vienna, Franz raised the Bavarian royal family’s future at a state council meeting, where Prime Minister Felix proposed restoring the Palatinate and Metternich warned against breaking promises to them.
• Franz proposed restoring the Kingdom of Lombardy for Maximilian II while retaining Austrian control of its officials and finances; Finance Minister Karl accepted the cost, and Metternich warned that foreign powers could encourage independence.
• Franz argued that Austrian control of food supplies and markets would keep Lombardy dependent on the empire even if its people sought independence.

Empress Dowager Sophie accepted the Wittelsbach Family’s move from Bavaria to Lombardy, while Napoleon III abandoned his failed royal marriage plans and chose Eugenie de Montijo. Franz was crowned Emperor of the New Holy Roman Empire in a deliberately modest ceremony and urged its members to keep working toward German unity.

• Empress Dowager Sophie felt relieved when Franz exchanged the Wittelsbach Family’s claim to Bavaria for the throne of Lombardy, and Maximilian II left Munich with his family and several thousand followers.
• Napoleon III became angry after Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg rejected his proposal, then decided to marry Eugenie de Montijo instead.
• Franz rejected plans for a grand coronation, explaining that a modest ceremony would avoid angering people who resented the division of the German lands.
• On December 22, 1853, Franz was crowned Emperor of the New Holy Roman Empire at Vienna Palace in a small ceremony attended by representatives of its member states.
• Franz addressed the national assembly, mocked the empire’s limitations, and called on its members to keep advancing toward German unity.

Franz reorganized the new Holy Roman Empire, reviewed the costs and shortcomings of Austria’s military mobilization, and approved plans to strengthen Austrian control in the Balkans. Meanwhile, British forces drove the Greeks back toward their homeland, leaving Otto I to weigh Russian demands for Greece to join the alliance against the danger of provoking Britain and France.

• Franz kept most governing powers with the states while reserving military command and foreign affairs for the central government, and postponed settling revenue shares until the constitution was drafted.
• Prime Minister Felix reported that Austria had demobilized its reserves and spent 211 million shield coins on its Western Advance Strategy, while exposing serious logistical and coordination problems.
• Felix proposed granting Balkan fiefs to meritorious subjects and encouraging quasi-military nobles to settle there; Franz approved the plan and warned that Britain, France, or Russia might challenge Austria’s gains.
• British, Sardinian, and Ottoman troops defeated the Greek militias and drove them from Thrace toward Veria, threatening to push them back into Greece.
• Otto I learned that General Menshikov would rescue Greece only if it openly joined the alliance and declared war on Britain and France, then asked whether disarming retreating Greek troops might preserve neutrality.

Otto I considered ordering the defeated Greek army to scatter and flee as British forces threatened Greece. In Vienna, Franz became engaged to Princess Helen while using the marriage alliance to strengthen ties among the Empire’s royal houses and support stability.

• Otto I learned that Greek troops were deserting and considered ordering them to break into small groups and escape.
• The Prime Minister warned Otto I that a scattered retreat would cause heavy losses, but Otto I saw no alternative to defeat and British retaliation.
• Empress Dowager Sophie insisted that Franz marry, and Franz became engaged to Princess Helen of the House of Wittelsbach the day after Christmas in 1853.
• Empress Dowager Sophie restricted Franz’s private contact with Princess Helen to prevent an unwed pregnancy.
• Franz supported the marriage alliance to reassure Saxony, Hesse, and Württemberg and to strengthen House of Wittelsbach’s position in Lombardy.
• Franz considered how to encourage interethnic marriages as a way to integrate the Austrian Empire’s diverse population.

General FitzRoy Somerset confronted Russia’s supply crisis in Crimea as Franz and Marshal Radetzky considered how Russia might capture Constantinople. Franz left a bombardment plan for the Russians to consider, while judging that their poor logistics and military capacity could turn further offensives into disaster.

• General FitzRoy Somerset demanded that Saint Petersburg urgently send weapons and supplies, warning that Russia might have to retreat from Crimea if it could not support the army.
• Franz asked Marshal Radetzky whether Russia could capture Constantinople, and Radetzky proposed that the Russians use hundreds of heavy guns to bombard the city.
• Franz ordered the General Staff to prepare the bombardment plan and send it to the Tsarist government, hoping Menshikov would consider using it.
• Franz recognized that taking Constantinople would not give Russia control of the Dardanelles and that an attack on Gallipoli might open another costly front.
• Franz decided not to warn Russia about the risks, while worrying that its bureaucracy and weak logistics could make the proposed strategy disastrous.

Holst chose to lead dependents from his family estate to the Balkan Peninsula, hoping to earn a hereditary title and land as Austria encouraged nobles to settle the region. In Vienna, Franz reviewed the Balkan Peninsula Development Plan and questioned its trade assumptions, while Prime Minister Felix argued that Russian trade would remain possible and private capital should decide which industries to build.

• Holst told his father that he would accept the government's assignment to develop the Balkan Peninsula in exchange for the chance to become a hereditary knight and obtain an estate.
• Holst's father approved his decision and offered him a group of loyal dependents from the family estate to help him establish himself.
• Franz read the cabinet's Balkan Peninsula Development Plan and warned Prime Minister Felix that the Danube principalities' industries might rely too heavily on the Russian market.
• Prime Minister Felix said a Russian blockade was unlikely, described how trade with Britain and France continued through the Baltic, and left investment in light industries to private capitalists.
• Franz accepted Felix's assessment and considered the future rivalry between Austrian and Russian agricultural exports.

After Britain defeated the Greek civilian forces, Major General Oliver prepared to pursue them and pressure Greece, while Russian commander Menshikov faced mounting losses and desertions outside Constantinople. Menshikov finally requested Nicholas I’s approval for an Austrian heavy-artillery plan, leaving the costly decision to Saint Petersburg.

• Major General Oliver received orders to pursue the defeated Greek forces and use necessary measures if Greece sheltered them.
• Menshikov rejected the Austrian siege-artillery proposal as prohibitively expensive, but his officers argued it was the only apparent way to break Constantinople’s defenses.
• As Russian casualties and morale worsened, Joey and other soldiers planned an escape through the Balkan Mountains toward Austria’s occupation zone.
• Joey’s group escaped the camp, while another group of deserters was caught and sentenced under the usual procedure.
• Menshikov recognized that desertions signaled the army was nearing collapse and sent a telegram asking Saint Petersburg to decide whether to adopt the Austrian artillery plan.

Nicholas I approved General Menshikov’s plan to bombard Constantinople despite its enormous cost, and ordered Russia to suspend its offensive in the Caucasus to free up money and troops. The Constantinople Demolition Team was formed, leaving Russia committed to taking the city while its finance minister searched for the remaining funds.

• Nicholas I consulted his ministers about Menshikov’s proposal to bombard Constantinople, and they agreed that capturing the city was essential despite the expected destruction and expense.
• Arestanlirod reported that the 1854 military budget could exceed 400 million rubles and leave a funding gap of 77 million rubles under ideal conditions.
• Arestanlirod ruled out foreign loans, and Nicholas I ordered the army to halt its offensive in the Caucasus and redeploy troops to the other fronts.
• Nicholas I told the Ministry of Finance to find the remaining money and approved Menshikov’s bombardment plan.
• The Tsarist Government officially established the Constantinople Demolition Team under General Menshikov, with orders to raze Constantinople.

Russia ordered heavy artillery from Austria for its campaign against Constantinople, while Greece faced British troops crossing its border. Otto I sought diplomatic help, and Franz decided to coordinate with France to prevent Britain from gaining control of Greece.

• The Tsarist government ordered heavy guns from Austria, but production delays and transport problems slowed Russia’s offensive under Menshikov.
• British forces crossed into Greece, and Otto I ordered local governments to hide returning soldiers while avoiding any pretext for further British action.
• Otto I directed his Foreign Ministry to negotiate secretly with Britain and seek diplomatic support from Russia, France, and Austria.
• Franz agreed to explore joint action with France, aiming to prevent Britain from dominating Greece without demanding Greek territory or financial commitments.
• Metternich and Franz viewed the Greek crisis as an opportunity to improve Franco-Austrian relations and balance British influence in the Mediterranean.

Napoleon III agreed to cooperate with Austria to prevent Britain from annexing Greece, while French officials worried Austria might join the overseas colonial race. On the Crimean Peninsula, disease and the Allied forces’ disastrous logistics caused more losses than combat, leaving both sides struggling with illness and inadequate care.

• Auvergne told Napoleon III that Austria had proposed joint action on Greece, and Napoleon agreed to coordinate with the Austrians against a British annexation.
• Persigny warned Napoleon III that Austria might abandon its old policy and begin pursuing overseas colonies, prompting Napoleon to weigh the strategic consequences.
• Franz’s plans for overseas expansion depended in part on easing relations with France and cooperating on a canal linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas.
• FitzRoy Somerset learned that illness had weakened the Allied forces, including an outbreak of syphilis, while Russian soldiers also suffered from disease and a shortage of doctors and medicine.
• The British army’s rigid bureaucracy left medicine and hospitals inaccessible, and the Pioneer’s rotting vegetable cargo was eventually stored and distributed to the troops.

The British Cabinet faced public outrage over disastrous conditions in Crimea and ordered medical improvements, while Russian artillery battered Constantinople and Aimable Jean Jacques Pélissier ordered troops to suppress the city's panicked civilians. The French commander prepared to hold the city until reinforcements arrived.

• George Hamilton Gordon acknowledged the public backlash and ordered the government to improve medical care for the expeditionary force and recruit medical personnel.
• The Russian army began a heavy artillery assault on Constantinople, inflicting severe damage and casualties on French defenses and the city.
• Aimable Jean Jacques Pélissier ordered soldiers to drive crowds out of the streets and authorized them to shoot people who ignored warnings.
• Anthony urged a counterattack with naval support, but General Tajik opposed it because the guns were weaker than Russia's and risked hitting French troops.
• Aimable Jean Jacques Pélissier said he had requested artillery reinforcements from France and ordered his officers to hold their positions.

The Paris Conference decided the fate of the Kingdom of Greece after Allied troops entered its territory, with Britain, France, and Austria negotiating over its government and resources. The resolution preserved Otto I’s throne but placed Greece under the three powers’ supervision and control of its finances and strategic rights.

• Skebata protested the Allied entry into Greece, while Thomas argued that Greece had tacitly consented and demanded it hand over Ottoman rebels.
• Mentenede urged the conference to address practical measures, and Auvergne proposed sanctions against the Greek Government.
• Thomas proposed abolishing the Greek Government and monarchy and placing Greece under British control, but Mentenede and Auvergne pushed for joint administration.
• After more than half a month of negotiations, Britain, France, and Austria signed a resolution that kept Otto I on the throne and forced the Greek cabinet to resign.
• The three powers established an International Supervisory Group and gained control over Greek finances, markets, ports, navigation, troop stationing, and key taxes and rights.

Austria debated whether to intervene in Japan and pursue a bolder colonial policy, but Franz chose to limit its demands and focus on surveying unclaimed lands. Filkos then revealed that Austria’s first ironclad was under construction, leaving the cabinet to consider its cost and the prospect of a naval arms race.

• Felix, Filkos, and Metternich debated Austria’s response to foreign powers forcing Japan to sign treaties, and Franz decided Austria would seek only a share of the benefits.
• Franz rejected aggressive colonial expansion and favored expeditions to survey unclaimed lands, while Filkos proposed long-distance naval voyages to build experience and display Austrian strength.
• Filkos announced that Austria had developed ironclad technology and expected its first ironclad to enter service within two years.
• Prince Windisch-Grätz questioned whether ironclads could float and move, and Filkos explained their armor, steam propulsion, and advantages against sailing warships.
• Karl asked about the ironclad’s cost, and Filkos estimated that the first vessel would cost three to four million Shield, prompting the cabinet to weigh the expense of a naval arms race.

Franz approved funding for the New Holy Roman Empire to build its first ironclad, while delaying broader naval plans until the Near East War ended. On the Balkan Peninsula, Lieutenant General Oliver advanced with British-Sardinian forces toward Montenegro, whose leaders debated how to defend their recent conquests.

• Franz approved funding to build the first ironclad, intending to gain prestige and establish a valuable brand for future arms sales.
• After the Great Powers settled the Greek question, Oliver led the British-Sardinian forces toward Albania and dismissed the Ottomans’ refusal to join the campaign.
• Danilo I told Montenegro’s leaders that their costly victories had exhausted the country and that they needed to consolidate their occupied territory.
• Claude de Rerich warned that Montenegro’s gains depended on a Russian victory and that defeat could expose the principality to retaliation.
• Mirkov reported that sixty-five thousand Anglo-Sardinian troops were approaching and predicted a major battle within a week.
• Danilo I asked about diplomacy, but Claude de Rerich said Britain and France demanded that Montenegro join the coalition against Russia and surrender most of its gains.

Franz and his ministers confronted a refugee crisis as hundreds of thousands, possibly over a million, gathered along Austria’s Balkan borders, joined by routed soldiers and beginning to attack the blockade. Franz ordered relief and the evacuation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s refugees, planning to repatriate them to the Ottoman Empire or send them to Africa, where Austria would establish colonial strongholds.

• Marshal Radetzky reported that refugees were gathering along the borders and attacking Austrian blockade lines after routed soldiers joined them.
• Franz learned that the refugee population might number over a million and that Austria lacked supplies to admit and feed them all.
• Prime Minister Felix proposed reinforcing the front and sending supplies, while Marshal Radetzky warned that Austria could not contain the refugees in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• Metternich reported that Greece had been overwhelmed by refugees and that its government was suppressing unrest.
• Franz ordered refugees in Bosnia and Herzegovina to head for the coast, where Austria could provide relief and arrange transport.
• Franz ordered the refugees and the people of Bosnia to be sent to the Ottoman Empire or, if it refused them, to Africa, and directed the navy to seize colonial strongholds.