War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Heinrich Heine was a famous German poet and writer. However, he was always known for his bitter satire and had a very poor impression of his motherland, whether it was the Hamburg government or the nominal German Confederation.

Because in the 19th century, anti-Semitic riots were commonplace, especially for people like Heine who came from a merchant family.

"Burn those Jewish vampires!"

A group of people shouted slogans and rushed into Jewish shops, smashed the windows, pried open the doors, frantically snatched the belongings, and even burned down the Jewish churches.

The police and gendarmes who were supposed to maintain order acted as if their business had nothing to do with them. Unless the shopkeeper paid enough money, they would symbolically drive the crowd away.

In fact, the "mob" does not patronize shops guarded by police. Their targets are more small traders who will be engaged in open-air trading of goods.

Anti-Semitic riots always proceed in this orderly manner, and the government does not bother to intervene. After all, they always end "peacefully".

Historically, Heine was supposed to return to Hamburg in October 1843, but due to too many major events in Europe during this period, his trip was delayed.

When the German poet, who had been in exile in France for twelve years, returned to Hamburg, he found that everything had changed except for greed and corruption, which had not changed and were getting worse.

Looking at the past, it was full of corrupt officials and nobles, and people were greedy, stupid and artificial. As he passed through Prussian customs, the agents rummaged through his carry-on luggage again and again.

Even if he got nothing, he was still enjoying it. It wasn't until Heine's friend handed over a handful of broken copper coins (Groschen) that the customs officer smiled and saluted and let him go.

As soon as Heinrich Heine got off the train, he received a "gift" from his uncle, a luxurious letter sprinkled with top-quality perfume, which read:

"To the man who discovered that the best thing about me was his last name."

Heine once worked as an apprentice in his uncle's bank, and who was his uncle?

Although Solomon Heine was a Jew, he had a palace-like villa in Hamburg, and many big shots were eager to invite him.

Even people like the former Prussian Field Marshal Blücher and Finance Minister Heinrich Friedrich Karl would take time out of their busy schedules to attend the appointment.

When he was young, Heine had a natural energy and once rebuked his uncle in anger, "The best thing about you is that you bear my surname."

Now he has become a famous poet, and his uncle Solomon has also changed from a rich man with millions of thalers to a super rich man with tens of millions of thalers today.

Although there is still a gap between the Rothschild family and the Rothschild family, he can still be regarded as a respectable rich man in the entire German Confederation.

However, the rich man still did not forget to mock his nephew who had no money.

Solomon Heine was actually very tolerant of his nephew. Most of the latter's living and travel expenses are sponsored by the former.

In fact, this was also the last joke between the rich man and his nephew, because Solomon Heine was already seriously ill and passed away soon.

But Heinrich Heine did not know this. He was still just obsessed with his own creation, and soon the long poem "Germany, a Winter's Fairy Tale" was published.

All this had nothing to do with Austria, but due to changes in history, Austria joined the German Customs Union and occupied a dominant position.

As a result, Heine's main target of attack changed from Prussia to Austria. After all, whether it was the power of the government or the influence of the church, the latter was stronger than the former.

If you want to criticize, of course you have to criticize the biggest one, so naturally Austria is lying on its back.

However, although he criticized Austria, its core content still involved the Prussian issue. For example, "I think the new uniforms of the cavalry are good. I must praise them, especially the helmet with the sword pointing to the sky."

This is obviously an allusion to the Prussian army's new cavalry helmet, because the Austrian army's M42 pot helmet is also nicknamed the pot helmet because it looks too much like a rice cooker, and soldiers often use it to cook.

In fact, the Austrian War Department made several improvements based on this feature, and finally linked the skill of cooking with the helmet.

But in any case, the great poet Heinrich Heine could be said to have hit both ends of the spectrum, criticizing Austria and ridiculing Prussia.

But because he lived in Paris for a long time, he inadvertently picked up some bad habits.

At that time, the Gallic roosters had their eyes higher than the top and believed that the whole of Europe was only worthy of crawling under their feet. Therefore, it was inevitable that they had the illusion that all the beauty in the world was their own.

Moreover, Heine did not go to Austria for actual inspection, and he did not know how the southern brother was developing at this time, so he easily believed the propaganda in the Paris newspapers, the story of stupid barbarians attacking the brave French border guards.

Regarding the "friction" between the German Confederation and the French army during the Luxembourg crisis, the Paris Journal reported this:

The young General Jean Doude was attacked by the German Confederate troops crossing the French border!

The brave and fearless French frontier army defeated the German barbarian coalition! From the Flanders Plains to the Ardennes Highlands, we won ten battles and penetrated 130 kilometers into the enemy's territory in one day and one night!

The star fell, the Battle of Namur, Jean Dourde failed to continue his myth.

Naturally, if you read too much of this kind of report, it will inevitably be biased to a certain extent. This would not be a problem, but by coincidence, he caught up with the tide of German nationalism.

So one stone stirred up a thousand waves, and Heine's poem immediately aroused a great discussion throughout the German Confederation.

However, it was not as the greatest poet in German history imagined that the people rose up to overthrow the king and capitalists, but the nobles and capitalists' literati verbally criticized them in newspapers.

In fact, Heinrich Heine's attack was a bit broad. Although he was correct from a historical perspective, the capitalists and aristocratic bureaucrats at that time were still in their prime, and in fact, the Austrian royal enterprise was not as described. consistent.

In particular, the Austrian Royal Overseas Development Company was simply the largest welfare institution in Europe at this time.

Moreover, in several crises and customs unions, the people have received tangible benefits. They do not feel that this is plundering them, but instead feel that it is an obligation that citizens should fulfill.

And constant victory can easily overwhelm people's rationality, especially when people become a crowd and are more likely to be infected by emotions instead of thinking calmly.

As a result, a large number of famous people challenged Heinrich Heine to duels. The latter was an idealist and was not afraid of death, so he accepted all the duels in the newspapers.

Then a scene destined to go down in history appeared. Duelists from various German states lined up in a long queue in front of the Heine family's villa.

Fortunately, Heine suffered a sudden "epilepsy" and the duel could only be postponed. Then the people sent by Franz sent him out of the German Confederation overnight. This is the only thing the latter can do at this time, after all, there is hope only if you are alive.

When Heinrich Heine was woken up by a gust of cold wind in a Paris hotel, he only felt that he had had a dream. In the dream, the Germans were no longer divided, but united, working hard for the same thing and the same goal.