Chapter 1536 Artuzov's Plan
Without the Soviet Union, the current political order of the Austro-Hungarian Empire could actually still be stable, but the Soviet Union obviously did not intend to let go of Austria-Hungary, Germany's powerful ally.
In a private house in Vienna, Artuzov of the Soviet Union was collecting various intelligence on the Austro-Hungarian Empire with his subordinates. Half a year had passed since Artuzov arrived in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
This backbone of the Soviet intelligence department was born in the early 1990s. His father was Italian and his mother was Russian. Therefore, he was very good at this kind of foreign intelligence work.
"Now, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is in a fragile balance. The entire Austro-Hungarian Empire has become the most unstable factor in Europe. We need to provide various ethnic groups and grassroots people within the Austro-Hungarian Empire with an opportunity to decide their own destiny." Artuzov said as he paced in the room.
"However, after long-term observation, I believe that Austria is not suitable as a fuse to ignite gunpowder. Instead, highly industrialized regions such as Bohemia are more suitable for the development of social movements."
The reason why Artuzov made this judgment was related to the national conditions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the division of industries was very clear.
Hungary is responsible for agriculture, the Czech Republic develops industry, and Austria is particularly developed in the tertiary industry. In areas such as finance, catering, and culture, Austria has done very well.
The entire Austro-Hungarian Empire was actually very good in terms of industrial design. Each region had its own tasks, which formed a complete industrial chain and a large self-circulating market for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This was the economic foundation for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to maintain its position as a European power.
Of course, the people of all ethnic groups in the Austro-Hungarian Empire were not actually very satisfied with this arrangement of the Habsburgs. They all believed that they were the ones who suffered losses, and many believed that they could develop better if they were free from the control of the Habsburgs and the Austrians.
In the absence of a dominant ethnic group, the disadvantage of disunity among ethnic groups and regions within the empire was the most fatal to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Artuzov saw this and planned to take advantage of it to plunge this Central European power into chaos and turmoil.
He said: "It is not feasible to establish a unified workers' power in Austria-Hungary, nor is this our primary goal."
"This time we came to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, our minimum goal is to weaken the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Compared with building a unified workers' regime, it is more feasible to dismember the Austro-Hungarian Empire."
"In the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire, the most feasible one is Bohemia. Bohemia has a higher level of industrialization and a strong worker base. At the same time, there are many Czechs in Bohemia, which naturally creates a gap between them and the Austrians."
“Therefore, the focus of our work this time should be on the Bohemian industrial zone, and through the Bohemian workers’ movement, we should detonate the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire.”
"In comparison, although Austria's economy is also very good, the scale of industry here is not as large as that of Bohemia. In Austria, the majority of people are small middle-class citizens, and they are not worth winning over."
Austria's position in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was equivalent to the United States' position in the world in the previous life. It controlled the three major weapons of finance, military and culture, and siphoned the wealth within the entire empire.
Therefore, even though Austria's industrial scale and strength were far inferior to Bohemia, Austrians could still live a comfortable life. Of course, this was only relative to other regions within the empire.
However, this kind of "unfairness" is actually the best result for the people of the entire empire. Under the unified empire, no matter how greedy Austria is, it is impossible for it to be so stingy as to feed back the economic development of other regions in the empire.
In the past, after the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I, until the 21st century, the divided countries within the former empire's territory, the rich remained rich, and the poor remained poor, which is very telling.
Moreover, within the framework of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, even people in relatively economically backward regions could enjoy the welfare benefits of citizens of a great power. This was also very important. For example, Hungarian businessmen could avoid many troubles by investing overseas under the banner of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
At the same time, the integrity of their territory can be effectively maintained within the framework of the empire without having to worry about threats from foreign enemies.
In short, the Austro-Hungarian Empire played a huge role in maintaining regional stability and promoting local economic development.
But this is what the neighboring countries do not want to see. A powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire will only make its neighbors feel uneasy, especially the Soviet Union.
Artuzov said: "Austria-Hungary is the weakest link in the Allied camp, and the Allied camp is the biggest threat to the Soviet Union. Therefore, weakening and dividing the Allied camp is particularly important for the Soviet Union."
"Now, Adolf has come to power in Germany. This is a very dangerous signal because Adolf and his National Party are a group of extreme militants and nationalists."
"In the future, Germany will inevitably return to the path of expanding its armaments and invading the Soviet Union. Germany is the leader of the Allied camp, so we must clip Germany's wings as much as possible."
Germany's wing is naturally the Austro-Hungarian Empire. World War I has proved that the combination of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is enough to challenge the whole of Europe, which is what the Soviet Union does not want to see.
Therefore, the Soviet Union was willing to try any method that could disintegrate and weaken the alliance, even if it meant dismembering the Austro-Hungarian Empire and breaking it into pieces.
Artuzov's deputy Sergei also expressed his support for Artuzov's judgment: "Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are the biggest obstacles to the world workers' movement and a solid fortress of feudalism and capitalism on the European continent."
"Over the years, the relationship between the Soviet Union and Germany and Austria has determined that there is no possibility of peaceful coexistence between the two countries. After Germany's economy recovers, it will inevitably launch a war against the Soviet Union."
"Therefore, we must weaken the strength of Germany and its allies as much as possible. I think we should not only work within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but also introduce countries that have bad relations with the Austro-Hungarian Empire to contain the possibility of the Austro-Hungarian Empire surviving this crisis."
The Austro-Hungarian Empire had many victims, especially Poland, Serbia and Italy. They had direct territorial conflicts with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and deep historical grudges.
Sergei said: "Poland is Germany's running dog, and Austria-Hungary is Germany's ally. If the two countries conflict, no matter which country Germany favors, it will inevitably offend the other country, which will cause divisions within the Allies."
"Similarly, Romania, Bulgaria, and Western Ukraine also have superficial relationships with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is only because of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's strength that they have kept to themselves."
"But as long as there is a problem with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, I think they will be eager to join the feast and reap more benefits."
Sergei's words made Artuzov's eyes light up. He said, "Your idea is very good. If we want to successfully dismember the Austro-Hungarian Empire, we still have the risk of being suppressed by the Habsburgs if we only rely on internal turmoil. If we can successfully provoke conflicts between the countries surrounding the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire at this time, then there is no doubt that our chances of winning will be greatly increased."
"However, in this case, we will have to make changes to our plans, and we will also have to contact comrades in neighboring countries to help us achieve this."
"At the same time, I think Italy should be a key focus of our plan. Among the neighbors of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy is second only to Germany in strength, and it has deep conflicts with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They have always wanted to recover the territories of Eastern Lombardy and Venice."
"And Benito, the leader of Italy's National Party, was also ambitious and even wanted to build a new Roman Empire."
"If we can make good use of Benito and Italy, we may be able to deal a fatal blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the very least, we must split off the vast territory in the southwest of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and greatly weaken its strength."
The conflict between Italy and Austria-Hungary has a long history, but before Benito came to power, the Italian government basically did not dare to provoke Austria-Hungary. But Benito was obviously different. He had been preparing to recover Eastern Lombardy and Venice.
As the Soviet Union's intelligence chief in Europe, Artuzov was naturally very clear about all kinds of intelligence about Benito and other European politicians.
He said: "Benito is different from ordinary Italians. He is like Adolf in Germany, an ambitious, extremist and warmongerer."
"Benito was able to remain stable during the Hungarian coup because his rule in Italy was not stable at the time and power was not completely centralized."
"At the same time, before Benito came to power, Italy's foundation was too weak to go to war with Austria-Hungary at the time."
"In recent years, Italy has developed quite well, especially in the military and industrial fields, where it has made considerable progress. Italy has a population of nearly 40 million, and it has the potential to become a major European power. It is now considered a semi-power in Europe."
"Therefore, I think if civil unrest breaks out in the Austro-Hungarian Empire this time, Benito will most likely take advantage of the situation, or even start a war, to recover the two regions of Eastern Lombardy and Venice."
"However, we cannot rule out the possibility that Italy does not dare to do so. Therefore, we should intensify our public opinion offensive against Italy, provoke conflicts between the two countries, and cause the Benito government and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to completely tear each other apart."
"The next is Poland. The relationship between Poland and Austria-Hungary is also complicated. Moreover, Polish nationalists are also the most trouble-making and ignorant people in Europe."
Compared with the Poles, Italy led by Benito seems much more stable. Not to mention the Austro-Hungarian Empire, even Poland's current suzerain, Germany, sometimes feels speechless about Polish extremists.
In the eyes of the Poles, the Soviet Union, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are not good people. They should return the land to Poland, even East Prussia. The Poles also have their own ideas.
Of course, the Polish government does not dare to do such a thing, but the situation is completely different with regard to the civil violence organizations within Poland. In the past, some Polish extremist organizations even carried out terrorist attacks in Germany, trying to force Germany to withdraw from traditional Polish gathering areas, but they were all suppressed by Germany.
In the past, Artuzov had no good feelings towards the extreme nationalists in Poland. After all, they were also enemies of the Soviet Union. However, if he could make them fight against Germany and Austria-Hungary, Artuzov would be happy to see it happen.
He said: "To deal with Austria-Hungary now, we must act from both the inside and the outside. Internally, we must stir up class and ethnic conflicts within Austria-Hungary, and externally, we must stir up conflicts between Austria-Hungary and other countries."
"Then, we need to make these conflicts erupt at the same time, and completely make it impossible for the Habsburg family to recover."
The Habsburg family was the only bond that allowed the Austro-Hungarian Empire to survive. As long as the Habsburg family lost control of the empire, it basically meant that no other political force could glue the Austro-Hungarian Empire together again.
Of course, this is aimed at the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Artuzov and others are still unaware that the top leaders of the German National Party are now trying to establish a Greater German Empire. According to the design of the German National Party, the new version of the Greater German Empire will not only include Austria, but also the Czech Republic, Hungary and other regions.
As for the so-called ethnic conflicts, they will no longer be a problem after the merger of Germany and Austria. Just because Austria cannot suppress other ethnic groups does not mean that Germany, with a population of nearly 70 million, cannot do it.
Although Germany also has ethnic minorities, the proportion of Germans in Germany is over 70%, close to 80%, and close to 55 million people. The number of Germans in the Austro-Hungarian Empire itself exceeded 15 million (including Dalmatia). After the merger of the two countries, the proportion of Germans was close to 60%.
This also requires taking into account deeply Germanized nations such as the Czechs and Slovenes.
It is precisely because of this that the German National Party has formulated a more ambitious merger plan than in the past. In the early days of the German National Party, they were only satisfied with Austria and the Sudetenland and other German-distributed areas. Now that the conditions are met, they naturally hope to obtain more land and population.
By then, the territory of the Greater German Empire will directly exceed one million square kilometers, and its population will be close to that of the United States, that is, about 120 million, plus the powerful military industries of Germany and Austria.
The German National Party could not think of any other force in Europe that could pose a threat to the Greater German Empire. In the past, Germany was wary of the Soviet Union because of its population. After the merger of Germany and Austria, the population gap between the two countries would be greatly eliminated. In the eyes of the German National Party, the Soviet Union, without its population advantage, had almost lost its ability to compete with Germany.
Assuming that the Greater German Empire is established, unless major powers such as the United States and East Africa take action, no country in Europe can stop the Greater German Empire's military advance.
Moreover, the Greater German Empire would not necessarily be afraid of the United States or East Africa by then. After all, these two countries are extraterritorial countries, and the Greater German Empire would not be without allies in the future.
Of course, what was even more unexpected to Artuzov and other Soviet people about the German National Party’s crazy plan was that the German National Party intended to use the Labor Party to achieve this goal.
If Emperor Rudolf's rule was stable, then the German National Party's plan would not be possible to realize. But if Emperor Rudolf fell and the Labor Party exploded in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it would be easier for the German National Party to take over the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
After all, even the other national elites in the Austro-Hungarian Empire were more willing to accept the rule of the German National Party than the Labor Party.
(End of this chapter)
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