Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 366: Abandoning Principles

In a manor on the island of Sicily, a meeting was held between Garibaldi and local revolutionaries.

Mr. Garibaldi, our strength has been severely depleted since the last uprising, and we are currently unable to launch another armed rebellion, objected the local revolutionary leader, Dreikurs.

The revolutionary organization in Sicily has a long history, with the January Uprising of 1848 marking the beginning of the 1848 revolutions.

However, its influence in Europe was limited, and it was quickly suppressed after a short period, with the outside world defaulting to the February Revolution in France as the true starting point of the great revolutions.

In 1860, Sicilian revolutionaries launched another armed uprising. Upon hearing the news, Garibaldi organized the famous Redshirts to enter Sicily, ushering in the revolution of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

However, due to changes in this alternate timeline, the Kingdom of Sardinia fell into the hands of the French in 1860, making it impossible for Garibaldi to organize the Redshirts.

Without a capable fighting force, the armed uprising in Sicily was once again suppressed, resulting in heavy losses for the local revolutionary organization.

Dreikurs opposition to launching the uprising now is also out of necessity. In recent years, the government of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies has been closely monitoring the revolutionaries, forcing them to operate clandestinely and preventing them from expanding their forces.

Garibaldi calmly reassured him, Mr. Dreikurs, this opportunity is very rare. Revolutionary organizations across Europe will launch uprisings in January, allowing us to minimize the chances of intervention by the great powers.

If we miss this opportunity, we will not only face the government of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, but also intervention from the three countries of Austria, France, and Spain.

To say something disheartening, faced with intervention from the three major powers, even if our strength were ten or a hundred times greater, I do not think we would have any hope of victory.

The risk of launching an uprising now is lower than facing intervention from the three major powers. If we miss this opportunity, we may not see a successful revolution in our lifetimes.

Everyone is indeed launching uprisings together, but how effective it will be is hard to say. Whether the three major powers will intervene is completely unknown.

Garibaldi was also unsure in his heart, which is why he chose Sicily as the first stop of the revolution. The great powers are not philanthropists; they would not help without substantial benefit.

Unless it is certain that there is no way to suppress the rebellion, the government of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies will do its utmost to suppress it themselves and will not easily seek outside aid.

This presents an opportunity. As long as the most difficult period is overcome, even if the major powers intervene later, they will have amassed a bit of strength and wont be easily defeated upon intervention.

Dreikurs hesitated; intervention by the major powers has always been their foremost concern. Some have even suggested retaining the king to mitigate this risk.

Mr. Garibaldi, we can coordinate with your actions, but I can only organize a hundred or so people to participate in the uprising.

This meant that Dreikurs gave up the leading role in the revolution. Its not that he doesnt want to contend for it, but rather, there is no way to do so. While there are many revolutionaries in Sicily, there are few who can participate in the uprising.

Not everyone can sacrifice their heads and shed their blood for the revolution. Most people support the revolution only to the extent of doing some revolutionary propaganda and providing some financial support. As for risking their lives, forget about it.

Whether in terms of strength or reputation, Dreikurs could not compare with Garibaldi. Giving up the leading role was inevitable.

On January 5, 1865, the Italian National Salvation Army, led by Garibaldi, launched an armed uprising in Corleone, becoming known as the Redshirts due to the insurgents wearing red shirts as their symbol.

The prelude to revolution was set, and three days later, the Spanish Revolutionary Party initiated an uprising in Elda.

Queen Isabella II led a scandalous life, with a notorious reputation among the populace. Due to her fathers early demise and a lack of proper education for a monarch, her political performance was considered inept.

Faced with incessant revolutions and palace conspiracies, she resorted to frequent changes in government to cope. Over her 25-year reign, Spain saw 34 different governments and seven constitutions enacted.

If it were not for Spains solid foundation, it would have been torn apart long ago. Such circumstances created favorable conditions for revolutions.

However, as a stronghold of conservatives, traditional forces in Spain were formidable. Though they disliked the incompetent and corrupt Isabella II, they detested the rule-breaking revolutionaries even more.

With the assistance of the conservatives, Isabella II managed to barely maintain her rule. However, this support was not unconditional, and by the later stages, the conservatives could no longer tolerate her. In 1868, the Glorious Revolution erupted, forcing Isabella II into exile in France.

In Venice, after some persuasion, Stephen and others finally organized a revolutionary force. Although most of the people were unaware that they had been recruited into the revolutionary party.

The Hungarian independence organization fragmented, and under the guise of English, French, and Austrian colonial companies, they recruited a large number of Italians in the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Papal States, Lombardy, and Venetia, providing them with basic military training.

They went through the whole charade; these colonial companies were indeed real entities, and Stephen and others utilized American influence to register them in England and France.

Being adept at acting, they quickly adapted to their roles. It was common for colonial companies to hire armed personnel to establish overseas colonies, even in Austria.

However, Austrian colonial teams rarely hired Italians, and even if they did, they were mostly employed as sailors or laborers, rarely seeing combat.

Romantic Italians were not suited for combat; this was the conclusion drawn from many years of experience.

Of course, there would always be those who refused to believe it. Despite doubts about Italian combat capabilities, they were hard to resist due to their cost-effectiveness!

Although the overall combat strength of Italians was considered low, occasionally there were still a few exceptions, right? If they were lucky and carefully screened the candidates, it was still possible to hire ferocious Italian fighters.

Seeing the amassed large force at his disposal, Stephen was torn. He even entertained the idea of attempting a genuine armed uprising perhaps it could succeed?

However, he quickly dismissed the thought. With thousands of armed personnel converging in Venetia, how could they not attract the attention of the local government?

If it werent for contacting the Austrian intelligence organization in advance, they would likely have been suppressed long ago. Even now, the situation wasnt much better. If Austria wasnt intent on purging dissidents, they wouldnt have had much room to maneuver.

Lombardy-Venetia had always been the most unstable region under Austrian rule, although this instability didnt mean there were uprisings every day. In fact, since the revolutions, there hadnt been an uprising involving more than a hundred people here.

The awakening of nationalism in the Italian region had primarily fueled the instability, with many Italian intellectuals, some capitalists, and declining nobility harboring desires for independence.

These individuals had been clandestinely networking for some time but hadnt taken any substantive action. As a legalistic state, Austria couldnt simply convict them for their potential independence leanings.

This is where the role of Stephen and others came into play. Now, under the guise of colonial company merchants, they were constantly visiting the prominent figures here.

In a manor outside the city of Milan, members of the Hungarian independence organization gathered in small groups. Prudence complained, Im exhausted. Finally, the task is complete, but I dont know if what were doing is right or wrong.

Mariut scoffed, Since the decision has been made, theres no room for regret. Once we finish this act, well be free.

Once someone abandons their principles, theres nothing they wont do. To erase their names from the list of Austrian political prisoners, they had to choose to cooperate with them.

Stephen cautioned, Enough, now that these people have been targeted, even if we dont act, other revolutionary organizations will still approach them.

Anyway, theyre doomed sooner or later, so we might as well make use of them to get ourselves out of trouble.

Weve visited everyone in Lombardy and Venetia. The next step is Hungary, but to avoid complications, we wont go there ourselves.

Pass the list to the people below and let them rally these members to initiate armed uprisings. Everyone, go and make your own arrangements!

Be sure to remind them not to lose the list. Its of great importance and represents the results of our independence organizations years of effort.

Looking at Stephens serious expression, the others couldnt be bothered to make any sarcastic remarks. Indeed, it was the result of many years of effort. The list was provided by the Austrian intelligence organization, and their task was simply to coordinate.

No, it should not be called coordination, but rather dragging these people into the water.

Currently, the internal situation in Austria is stable, and there is no future in rebellion. Those influenced by nationalism and desiring independence dare not cause trouble.

But their secret propagation of nationalism is something Franz cannot tolerate. The most difficult adversaries are always the ones operating in the shadows.

Following the principle of striking first, since these people wanted independence, Franz decided to give them an opportunity. Conveniently, the Hungarian independence organization came knocking, so Franz decided to have them join the organization.

Even if they arent Hungarians, they can collaborate with the Hungarian independence organization. In any case, Franz will not provide these people the chance to develop and grow.

Stephen and others now have their own families and businesses and are not interested in continuing the revolution. He also needs to provide an explanation to the Americans, proving that these years of taking money werent in vain. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

These thousands of Italian mercenaries are just a bunch of unlucky people. They originally had nothing to do with them, but theyve now been unwittingly dragged into the situation.

Involving a large number of rebels in one go, how could this not be a major case? And they are the instigators of this, with thousands of armed personnel launching a rebellion, enough to ensnare all those involved.

Mariut nodded in agreement, Mr. Stephen is right. Both the Spanish Revolutionary Party and the Italian Revolutionary Party have initiated uprisings. Now its our turn for revolution.

A revolution is indeed taking place, however, the intended target has been altered. Theyve gone through the whole charade and have fabricated numerous letters from important figures.

Now they are just one step away from the end. According to the script, they will encounter an accident, forcing them to launch an uprising prematurely, followed by brutal suppression and ultimately exile abroad.

Since its an accident, theres naturally no time to destroy these letters. When the time comes, these letters, along with the secret meetings before the outbreak of the rebellion, will serve as evidence that these people supported the rebellion.

Stephen said with feigned seriousness, Now, everyone go and prepare! According to the agreed time, we will launch the armed uprising precisely at 4:30 a.m. on February 15, 1865. Make sure to notify everyone of the news.