Chapter 26: Chapter 25: The Austrian Remilitarization

Pilsen, Bohemia. Austrian Empire

A long line of Austrian troops is standing at attention inside the military base. The Austrian officers are standing in front of their men, wearing their new crisp and snappy pastel gray military uniforms. Every man is equipped with their new needle guns and combat equipment. They’re all excited for someone would arrive at their base to inspect their entire unit, he is the one who gave them the new and modern weaponries and equipment so that they could stand proudly side by side with other European powers’ armies.

For decades, the Austrian Army is armed one generation behind the other European power armies. The Austrian officers and soldiers feel that they are abandoned and given less priority by the Austrian Empire Government but their dissatisfaction didn’t expand because they were also thankful that the state didn’t wage wars and conflicts for decades.

But for those who are true soldiers, the chance that there is someone who is giving them attention and prioritizing their development is a breath of fresh air for the army. The time the army started training with the new needle guns they experienced a new sensation in their weapons. The speed of their firing exponentially increases and the soldiers realized that if they were still armed with the outdated weapons they had, they would be annihilated by an enemy armed with these weapons. This weapon gives them the opportunity to survive and fight back on equal grounds against the enemy. It also made them feel that the Empire still cares for the well-being and development of the military.

The flag standards and banners of every regiment, battalion, and division of the 2^nd Austrian Army and part of the Austrian Imperial Guard are waving because of the blow of the wind. There are even twenty howitzers in the formation with their crews standing at attention.

Duke Kristoph of Wurttemburg again reviews and checks the entire formation, and is satisfied with the performance and discipline of the soldiers. For days, they trained and prepared because the Crown Prince of Austria, Archduke Karl Franz Justinian would arrive today from Berlin, German Empire.

The Duke wants to show the Crown Prince that all his investments are used properly to create a well-trained and well-equipped army. Seeing the determined faces of his men, he is happy that he is able to produce the result that the Crown Prince wants him to accomplish.

This is just a small step for Austria, I believe that the Crown Prince would succeed in his plans, Duke Kristoph thought. He knows that days ago the Austrian Army officially break the demilitarization treaty that is enforced in the Austrian Empire and started to accept military applicants throughout the entire empire.

In just a few days about six hundred thousand military applications are submitted and the military planned to raise fifty divisions and five imperial guard divisions before the end of next year, reaching more than a million troops in active duty. It is still not enough to face an estimated of about two and a half million Ottoman soldiers that they might be facing. But it is better than the 250,000 military personnel that they had previously.

It is estimated that more Austrian citizens would enlist in the military because even if the Austrian Empire has a low number of unemployed men in the empire. It is still about two to three million men from the total population of ninety million. These unemployed young men would be willing to join the military in order to be employed and earn salaries.

It is a monumental undertaking and a large number of funds are used to make it possible. Fortunately, there is a large number of funds and budget for the entire Austrian Empire to make this happen. It is projected that the Austrian Empire can maintain at least two million amount of men in peacetime with its stable economy and financial capacity and can maintain more in times of conflict or emergency.

Also due to the remilitarization announcement of the Austrian Empire, a large number of foreign and domestic capitalists started to invest in infrastructures and industries that supported and related to the military. A lot of steel plants and weapon manufacturing buildings are started to rise even though the announcement is just newly announced. They have seen the prospect of large profits to be earned in the empire.

But the capitalists and businessmen are shocked that large factories and industries should be built in locations away from the city and other important sites like water supplies and rivers. Also, there are a lot of environmental laws that are implemented and passed, like proper waste disposal and segregation. Those industries and factories are encouraged to leave the city and start anew in an industrial zone assigned by the empire and in order to quench their dissatisfaction a lot of tax cuts and benefits are given. Even with such harsh rules and regulations, they just think that the Austrian Emperor want to make the citizens happy and comfortable away from noisy and polluted factories and industries. for he is known as the emperor for the masses of his policies that are good for the people.

All the citizens in the Austrian Empire also rejoiced in the imperial edict Emperor Franz Joseph had declared. For years, the people only kept the dissatisfaction with the treatment they received from other European powers. After the Russo-Prussian war, the Austrian Empire almost lost its bearing and influence on the world stage, making the citizens of Austria treated unfairly by people from other European nations, discriminating and treating the Austrian people as second-rate people.

Without a powerful political and military power, the Austrian citizens are treated as second-rate people even if their standard of living is better than that of those of other nations. What is the use of a strong economic power if you can’t even stand and protect yourself from your neighbors?

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Overall, most of the people inside the Austrian Empire sees the new laws and edict as positive. But not all see this as good news, especially for foreign neighboring states like the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire.

They had sent telegrams of protest against violating the demilitarization treaty impose on the Austrian Empire. They send threats and warnings to sever diplomatic ties with Austria. But the Austrians turn deaf ears to the protest and threat they sent. Austria is going to commit everything to it.

There are also other nations rejoicing with such development. The Russian Empire after they learned about such developments in the Austrian Empire, also broke the demilitarization that is sanctioned by the other European powers on the Russian Empire. The tsar of Russia, Tsar Nikolai III Romanov, praised the Austrians for such brave action they had undertaken. He even stated that the Russian is willing to mend the relationship between the two countries which deteriorate after their loss in the Russo-Prussian war of 1832.

But the most shocking is the responses of other European powers, France, Great Britain, and Germany. Aside from the protest of the German Crown Prince, the government of these nations didn’t release any statement regarding the Austrian militarization. It made the public wonder why these powers would let such development occur. France even indirectly praised the policy change of the Austrians and encourage better bilateral relations between the two.

There are even hearsays that why the French are not against the Austrian militarization because of the rumor of marriage between the French Princess Charlotte Bonaparte and Austrian Crown Prince Karl Franz Justinian von Habsburg. But most people have already correctly deduced that the militarization is due to the rising threat of the German Empire and especially the worrying massive military expansion of the Ottomans.

There are a lot of people who feel the threat of the large military expansion of the Ottomans. The Ottomans had already an estimated two million active military personnel including the Ottoman Janissaries and they were planning to add a million more. A lot of countries are speculating about who the Ottomans would attack with the large military expansion they are embarking on, with most of them that think the Ottomans are planning to destroy Austria.

For centuries, these two nations are fighting for different reasons – religion, land, glory, and many more, so there are a lot of hatred and grudges between the two. There are even a lot of small skirmishes that occurred at the border between the two.

And now, the Ottomans think the large disparity of military forces between them and Austria would be the optimal time to end this centuries-old conflict between the two. Even if there are a lot of internal rebellions and conflicts inside the Ottoman Empire, the Ottomans are still willing to gamble to finally destroy Austria.

Duke Kristoph of Wurttemberg is even shocked knowing that this year alone more than ten million people are killed inside the Ottoman Empire due to internal problems. The Serbs, Arabs, Persians, Armenians, and many minorities in the empire are persecuted and killed. There were even a lot of news that the Ottoman Empire’s population had decreased to sixty-five million people due to constant internal strife and conflict. The only reason that the Ottomans are still standing strong is due to the support and investment of the German Empire in the Ottoman sultan.

Duke Kristoph is positive that even if the war against the Ottomans would be rocky and arduous it is possible to win in protracted warfare. He can see in the eyes of his men that the morale is high after the militarization of the Austrian Empire is implemented. The Austrian soldiers feel proud and honored in serving the country and Emperor, and their newfound confidence in themselves.

Then he sees a convoy of vehicles approaching the camp.

“The Crown Prince is here.”

An Austrian soldier announced loudly, and everyone immediately stands at attention and salute the incoming guests. The person everyone is waiting for has arrived.

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