War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Ottoman, Istanbul.

The Grand Zaraquilio Palace, also known as the "Cannon Gate", feels really majestic. It's just that the Ottoman national power now makes Metternich no longer afraid in his heart.

Europeans once regarded the Ottoman Empire as the "scourge of God", and because of the brutality of successive sultans, every ambassador who came here would leave a will first.

There is a mural called "Disasters from God" in Graz Cathedral in Austria, which vividly illustrates that for the people under the Habsburg rule at that time, the Ottoman attack was as big a disaster as the Black Death and the passage of locusts. .

It's just that this ancient empire that captured Constantinople and besieged Vienna twice, when its defenders saw Metternich, their eyes were filled with fear.

Although the Ottomans often gave Europeans nicknames to humiliate them, due to the appearance of the Russians, a deep fear was rooted in the hearts of the Ottomans. Even the officials responsible for receiving Metternich could not help but tremble in their arms. .

This fear came directly from the Austrian fleet anchored in the port. In order to show off for Metternich, Austria brought over all the huge battleships that had exceeded their service life.

The pier was already crowded with people looking for something to do. This was a huge fleet that they had never seen before. In addition to the giant sail ships, there were also many strange ships without sail oars.

At this time, the Ottoman Navy only had a few light gunboats left for show, and did not dare to block the Austrian fleet.

Metternich should be regarded as the highest-ranking Western official who visited Istanbul.

Magid was a little surprised by Metternich's visit to the Grand Salaquilio Palace.

The previous five-nation meeting did not reach an agreement, but only drafted a proposal and handed it to the Ottoman government, asking them to stop peace talks with Egypt.

Magid felt that Britain had been forced to take action and his goal had been achieved, so there was no need to continue talking with the Egyptians.

So the Egyptian envoy who was halfway through the journey hurried back again.

Magid was a man addicted to pleasure. He felt that the external crisis had been resolved, so he began to have fun in the flower hall with his concubines.

He felt very unhappy at being disturbed. The young Sultan seemed to be planning to put the Austrian envoy to dry in order to kill his spirit.

The newly appointed Grand Vizier by Meguid was Mustafa Rest. He was once a diplomat, and of course he knew what level Metternich was, so he hurriedly reminded him.

"The great Sultan, Metternich was Prime Minister of Austria."

"So what?" Magid said with some disdain. In his heart, he had blind confidence in Britain's strength.

"This Prime Minister Metternich is known as the Prime Minister of Europe. He established a structure to maintain peace for decades. And he has not left Austria for a long time. You, Sultan, need to meet such a powerful person."

"It's really disappointing. Let him come in the afternoon. I'll take a nap first."

When Mustafa Rest saw the Sultan's attitude, it was really difficult to connect the arrogant and pleasure-obsessed young man in front of him with the monarch who was determined to reform a few days ago.

In fact, it is true that Magid wants reform, and it is also true that he is addicted to pleasure.

In his heart, he felt that the Ottoman Empire, with its successive wise kings, was far superior to the West, but it was only the people who were too stupid that they lagged behind the West.

Especially after the imperial edict of Huating, the praises he received from those Westerners made him look down on those stupid Westerners. It's really ridiculous that I just used a little trick to deceive those Westerners.

Although Magid felt that the British had nothing to worry about when they sent troops, Mustafa Rest knew very well that the so-called five-nation proposal was simply a piece of waste paper.

The interests of the great powers were hugely divergent and they could not reach an agreement. The British were preparing to hold another five-nation meeting in London, but France did not receive the invitation, and the Austrian Prime Minister actually appeared in Istanbul. In addition, the Russian envoy repeatedly reiterated Russian monopoly over the strait.

Mustafa Rest was worried about the prospects of the London Conference. In fact, his worries were correct. Palmerston tried to ignore the French and enlisted Prussia, Austria, and Russia to sanction Egypt first.

After all, it is not easy for Russia to send troops to the Sinai Peninsula, and the newly-appointed Sudan has an obvious pro-British attitude. It is only a matter of time before the Ottomans are induced to tear up the agreement with Russia.

The most important thing is that Russia will not compete with Britain for business, but the French are different. They have industrial capabilities and trade volume second only to Britain.

Moreover, Egypt's interests are highly tied to France, so even if Britain wants to instigate rebellion, it will be unable to do so.

Historically, Palmerston was dissatisfied with the outcome of the Congress of Vienna and convened another five-nation conference in London. This time he left France aside, voided the previous agreement reached at the Congress of Vienna, directly threatened Egypt with force, and even led Russia to , the Austrian fleet went to deter Egypt. Afterwards, Egypt had to accept "peace" and Britain won a great victory.

But this time the five-nation agreement was not reached at all, and the French did not receive an invitation. The Russians were still worried about Britain's opposition to their Strait hegemony, and after reaching an agreement with Austria, they were not prepared to betray the British.

Austria also considered its own interests and did not choose to be Palmerston's younger brother. Instead, it planned to fight for its own interests. There was no reason to accept Palmerston's order to attend any London conference, let alone send a fleet to replace the British. fight.

The multinational fleet did not appear, only a lone British fleet. Historically, it was the emergence of multinational fleets that made Ali give up his crazy plan because he could not make an enemy of the entire Western world.

But at this time, a British fleet with only eight warships dared to bombard Beirut. Ali immediately dispatched his powerful fleet with 28 capital ships.

He believed that no British ship would be able to leave the coast of Beirut under the attack of shore batteries and a powerful fleet.

Attacking the British fleet was just a bad idea in Muhammad Ali's mind. What he most hoped for was peace talks with the Ottomans.

At first, news of Mahmoud II's death reached Egypt, causing Muhammad Ali to be ecstatic and shout "Allah has eyes."

Because in his mind, the Ottoman Empire has been retreating steadily since the beginning of the war. The navy built with a lot of money has mutinied, and the new army with high hopes has been dispersed. Now even the Sultan himself is dead, and the Ottomans seem to have no choice but to surrender.

However, the expected collapse did not occur, nor did a large number of Ottomans surrender in response to Ali's call for a "Greater Arab Empire."

Later, the newly appointed Sultan was even more confused and even proposed any reforms at this time. But the development of things once again surprised Ali. Ottoman civilians enthusiastically joined the army, and even Britain and Russia, which had been standing still, began to take action.

This forced Ali to make a desperate move. He knew very well that if these powers were not beaten painfully, they would not listen to him.