End of the Near East War

Chapter 775: End of the Near East War

On July 12, 1883, the Russian Army captured Ankara, the Ottoman capital, and took Grand Vizier Midhat alive. The Ottoman Empire officially declared its demise.

From Vienna to Saint Petersburg, everyone was immersed in the joy of victory, with one celebration after another taking place.

To commemorate this great victory, even Franz, who disliked banquets, personally hosted a victory feast. For a time, he had even considered holding an ancestral rite.

After all, traditions were meant to be broken. The Holy See had declined by this era and no longer had the power to point fingers.

But the moment Franz thought of the Habsburg Family's traditional funerals, he abandoned the idea of honoring the ancestors.

After a member of the Habsburg dynasty died, their remains had to be buried in three separate places: the heart in Augustinian Church, the internal organs in St. Stephen's Cathedral, and the body in the royal tomb beneath Capuchin Church.

Putting everything else aside, choosing among the three churches alone was a problem. Each carried a different symbolic meaning, and selecting any one of them would inevitably invite political interpretations from the outside world.

Franz, who hated trouble, simply gave up on the plan.

Overall, the Near East War had gone smoothly. The only regret was that Abdul Hamid II had vanished without a trace, making the victory seem somewhat less than perfect.

Still, that was only a minor issue. Even if Abdul Hamid II had escaped disaster, he was powerless to turn things around. He would not even dare show himself in public.

Exile was not something every monarch could manage. The Ottoman Emperor was not merely a secular ruler, but also a religious leader.

Perhaps Franz, as a fellow monarch, found it difficult to wipe