Chapter 289: Between Nations, It's All About Interests
Queen Marie immediately turned to Archbishop Brienne upon hearing the news. "My brother is already suffering from illness, and now this unrest in the Southern Netherlands. I believe we should help him deal with the rebellion."
She clasped her hands together, pondering. "The Dutch must have significant influence over the Southern Netherlands, and we have been supporting the Dutch Patriot Party for some time now. It's time they repaid the favor."
Archbishop Brienne nodded immediately. "Of course, Your Majesty. But in fact, I believe Emperor Joseph II will be able to easily suppress the Brabant rebels."
Joseph frowned as he recalled the details of the Brabant Revolution. This was not a rebellion that Austria could easily handle!
In history, Britain, Prussia, and the Netherlands quickly became involved in this conflict. The eastern region of the Southern Netherlands, Liège, also erupted in rebellion. The Southern Netherlands alone had over 20,000 rebels, and with the intervention of Prussian forces and substantial funding from the Dutch, their combat power was formidable.
In reality, the Austrian army sent to quell the rebellion encountered fierce resistance as soon as they entered the Southern Netherlands, eventually nearly being annihilated by the Prussian-Dutch coalition forces. The Austrian commander had no choice but to retreat to Luxembourg and fortify the position, urgently requesting reinforcements from Vienna.
At that time, Emperor Joseph II passed away. His successor, Leopold II, seeing the deteriorating situation, had no choice but to revoke Joseph II's reforms to stabilize both the Southern Netherlands and domestic affairs.
Leopold II also had to placate the Hungarians under his rule by offering them various concessions, including rolling back reforms there, ultimately gaining the support of the Hungarian nobility.
Not long after, Austria gathered nearly all its forces from Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, and Galicia, totaling 180,000 troops, along with over 10,000 troops from the Grand Duke of Bavaria, to march on the Southern Netherlands.
Meanwhile, in Prussia, King Frederick William II entrusted over 100,000 Prussian troops to Duke Brunswick, and formed a coalition with Saxony, Mainz, Hesse, and other states, totaling 150,000 men, determined to intervene in the Southern Netherlands.
Frederick William II even requested that Poland, a recent ally, send troops to support the Southern Netherlands. Prince Poniatowski prepared 30,000 soldiers, but hesitated to act, not wanting to offend Austria.
Even so, the combined forces of the Southern Netherlands rebels and the Prussian coalition were nearly equal in number to the Austrian army.
By the end of 1790, a massive battle broke out, and the countries of Europe saw this as the beginning of another Seven Years' War.
However, just as the conflict intensified, infighting broke out among the Brabant rebels between the conservative and liberal factions. In the end, the liberal leader, Vandernoot, successfully took control, forcing the conservative Vonck to flee abroad, plunging the rebel forces into chaos.
Austria seized the opportunity to strike, quickly capturing Liège and Brussels, while the Prussian army retreated into Dutch territory.
Just as Frederick William II was preparing to muster more troops for a counterattack, the French Revolution began to escalate, drawing the attention of both Prussia and Austria.
Soon after, with Louis XVI's execution, the two nations halted their conflict, issuing the Declaration of Pillnitz and forming the First Coalition against France. The armies from the Southern Netherlands front combined to intervene in France.
In a way, Louis XVI's self-sacrifice helped to avert what could have been a "Second Seven Years' War."
Joseph tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair. Now that he had prevented the French Revolution, the conflict sparked by the Brabant Revolution could escalate further.
The question was, how could France maximize its interests in this looming war with minimal cost?
At the head of the table, Queen Marie spoke with determination. "If it can give my poor brother some relief, that's good enough. We'll reach out to the Dutch; it won't cost us anything and will earn Austria's gratitude. Let's do that."
Joseph shook his head silently. Austria might be focused on Prussia at the moment, but that didn't mean they had any deep friendship with France.
On the contrary, Austria's ambition to become the dominant power in Europe made France its greatest obstacle. They still considered France their biggest adversary.
The quick formation of the First Coalition against France after the Revolution was not about avenging Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, as was claimed. The real reason was that Austria, Prussia, and Britain wanted to take advantage of France's chaos and weakness to eliminate a long-standing threat.
Had Napoleon not emerged, France in the 19th century might have been torn apart and divided into a bunch of small states by the Coalition.
Marie Antoinette's Austrian heritage meant little in the grand scheme of things. When Austria decided to strike, they wouldn't hesitate. In fact, all the European royal families were related, but that never stopped them from going to war over conflicting interests.
In international relations, there's no room for sentiment—only interests matter!
Only by developing France into a nation of unrivaled strength could it truly secure its place on a continent full of powerful rivals.
Joseph quickly reviewed the historical trajectories of Austria, Prussia, and other nations in his mind, gradually sketching out a plan to leverage the Brabant Revolution for France's benefit.
He turned to Queen Marie. "Your Majesty, we should indeed help Austria."
Seeing the Queen smile, he quickly added, "But we might also seize this opportunity to acquire Wallonia. You know how important that region is to France."
Wallonia, in the southern part of the Southern Netherlands, was populated almost entirely by French speakers who were naturally inclined toward France.
More importantly, it was home to some of the richest coal mines in Europe!
Coal was the lifeblood of the Industrial Revolution, and for France, which was relatively poor in coal, it was especially valuable.
The Saar region—Alsace and Lorraine—could barely supply France's basic coal needs, but to truly thrive in the Industrial Revolution, more coal was essential.
This was one of the main reasons why France struggled to compete with Britain and Germany during the Industrial Revolution.
Securing Wallonia's coal and Luxembourg's iron would lay the foundation for France's industrial boom.
For now, France's interest in Wallonia was mostly about the 1.5 million French-speaking people living there and its proximity to the Rhine River.
Queen Marie fell silent. She hadn't expected her son to so calmly point out France's true interests, while she had been thinking only of helping her sick brother.
She nodded slightly, acknowledging the wisdom of the Crown Prince's words.
Though she was Joseph II's sister, she was first and foremost the Queen of France. For her, France's interests had to come first!
(End of Chapter)
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