Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 569 The Republic of Hungary

Why was Carlo willing to help the Austro-Hungarian Empire break out of its predicament? On the one hand, it was because of the marriage alliance between the Spanish and Austrian royal families, and on the other hand, it was to target Russia.

Of course, whether Russia could be linked to Hungarian independence depended on the choice of Soviet Russia itself.

As long as Soviet Russia participated in Hungarian independence, it would be impossible for them to keep the news a secret. This would amplify the threat posed by Soviet Russia to an unlimited extent, prompting European countries to commit more troops to the intervention war and severely restricting the development of Soviet Russia.

The trade of sacrificing a small Hungary in exchange for Soviet Russia being feared by all of Europe was clearly a very worthwhile deal.

With the support of the old Emperor Franz Joseph I, the related arrangements naturally became much easier.

The day after the massive workers' and peasants' demonstrations erupted in Hungary, the demonstrations had become inextricably linked to Soviet Russia.

Spanish intelligence uncovered several Soviet Russian spies in Hungary who had contacted political parties within Hungary and orchestrated the large-scale demonstration.

As Carlo had predicted, once the demonstrations in Soviet Russia and Hungary became linked, it was no longer something they could simply explain away to clear their names.

European countries, led by Spain, France, and the United Kingdom, strongly condemned Soviet Russia's interference in their internal affairs after the news broke.

This led to Soviet Russia's reputation becoming completely tarnished, with all of Europe condemning such blatant interference in the internal affairs of other countries and worrying whether Soviet Russia's influence would spread to more distant regions.

With all of Europe deeply wary of Soviet Russia, the League of Nations' intervention in the Russian Civil War became all the more noteworthy.

After discussions within the League of Nations, it was unanimously decided to increase the number of troops sent to Russia and to use strong measures to punish Soviet Russia for its blatant interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

So far, Carlo's plans for Hungary can be considered a complete success. The protests in Hungary did not spread to other parts of Austria, and Soviet Russia successfully became involved, becoming a terrifying force that everyone in Europe feared.

European governments feared Soviet Russia as much as they had feared the Black Death. Just as the Black Death could destroy a country, so too could Soviet Russia.

As European nations grew increasingly wary of Soviet Russia, the international coalition's intervention in the Russian Civil War became easier.

In just half a month, the international coalition forces successively captured several key towns in the Russian-Ukrainian region, driving Soviet Russia out of the land west of the Dnieper River.

Although there are still a small number of workers and members of workers' union parties in Kyiv who support Soviet Russia, these people are clearly no longer able to make any waves.

This also means that the intervention war has achieved initial success. Once Soviet Russia is completely driven out of the land east of the Dnieper River, the basic objectives of the intervention war will be largely achieved.

The smooth progress of the intervention war was good news for the League of Nations. The success of the war greatly enhanced the prestige of the League of Nations and also greatly increased the importance that European countries attached to the League of Nations.

Unless it is a superpower or a coalition of multiple powers, no country can withstand the intervention of the League of Nations.

Although Soviet Russia was only a part of Russia, it is undeniable that its overall strength ranked among the top in Europe.

Even if it wasn't a great power, it was at least among the stronger ones below the great powers. Especially in terms of development potential, the land currently controlled by Soviet Russia was enough to support the country to become a great power, or at least a medium-sized power.

If even a Soviet Russia like this could not withstand the intervention of the League of Nations, let alone other European countries.

Although Soviet Russia was fighting against both the international coalition and the army of Tsarist Russia, the League of Nations did not exert its full strength.

Each of the four major powers only deployed a little over 100,000 troops, a mere drop in the ocean for them.

If the four great powers were to each mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops, not to mention Soviet Russia, which hadn't even occupied half of its territory, even a unified Russia would be completely overwhelmed.

After confirming that the intervention war was progressing quite smoothly, Carlo stopped paying attention to the development of the internal war in Russia.

Ultimately, the situation in Russia is completely different from what it was in the past. Historically, intervention wars were wars in which European countries, led by Britain, were forced to intervene in Russia under pressure after Soviet Russia had essentially occupied Russian territory.

At that time, due to the devastation of the World War, all European countries except Britain had suffered heavy losses, and intervention was doomed to failure from the very beginning.

The current global situation regarding Russia remains largely dominated by Tsarist Russia. Although Soviet Russia has unleashed tremendous potential, most of the Russian territories outside Eastern Europe remain under Tsarist rule. Only in the region from Moscow to Kiev in Ukraine, with its relatively developed industrial base, are there large numbers of people who support the workers' union and the Soviet regime.

Under such circumstances, as long as Tsarist Russia held on and did not collapse rapidly, the situation in Russia could not disintegrate instantly.

The overall strength of modern Soviet Russia is clearly far inferior to that of Soviet Russia during historical interventionist wars. Furthermore, with the World War now over and Spain and Britain having preserved most of their strength, the international coalition forces intervening in the Russian Civil War are also stronger in both morale and combat effectiveness compared to their historical counterparts.

After two rounds of troop reinforcements, the number of troops sent to Russia by the League of Nations has gradually increased from the original 50 to nearly one million.

The growing international coalition forces made Soviet Russia realize that it was utterly impossible for one country to resist the whole world.

European countries were so wary of Soviet Russia for two reasons: firstly, because of the news reports of Soviet Russia interfering in Hungary's internal affairs; and secondly, because of the peace decrees issued by Soviet Russia.

The decree stated that the cause of peace and the cause of freeing the exploited working masses from all slavery and exploitation should be carried out effectively to the end, and called on workers throughout Europe to actively participate in the revolutionary cause.

Such a statement is clearly overstepping its bounds and is completely unacceptable to countries like Spain and the United Kingdom.

Whether Soviet Russia wanted to incite workers across Europe or not, they were now unable to do so.

After essentially driving Soviet Russia out of Ukraine, the international coalition was nearing its withdrawal from Russia. While this would give Soviet Russia a much-needed respite, losing Ukraine would make it far more difficult for Soviet Russia to confront Tsarist Russia.

This is arguably the limit that Carlo could achieve for Tsarist Russia in today's world.

If Tsarist Russia still cannot gain the upper hand in the civil war after this intervention war, then Carlo can only sigh that he is hopeless and then try to restrict the development of Soviet Russia in other ways.

Compared to the massive intervention war, the nationwide demonstrations instigated in Hungary were actually not as sensational.

Aside from the initial revelation of Soviet Russian involvement, which garnered attention across Europe, the nationwide demonstrations in Hungary did not attract much attention from other European countries for a long period afterward.

Even the Austrian government, at the request of Emperor Franz Joseph I, has gradually relaxed its attention to Hungary.

Hungary is now only one step away from complete independence, which is a formal declaration. The Austrian and Hungarian governments have severed ties, and the Hungarian prime minister is no longer invited to Austrian cabinet meetings. In effect, the two sides are like strangers.

Even the Austrian army is gradually withdrawing from Hungary. With the size of the Austrian army strictly limited, the Austrian government is unwilling to waste its troops in Hungary.

Now that the higher-ups have decided to abandon Hungary, Austria really has no need to start a civil war with Hungary at this time.

On December 16, 1915, István Tsá, the then Prime Minister of Hungary, officially announced that Hungary would break away from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and establish a parliamentary republic with a president leading the country and a prime minister leading the government, based on the existing parliament.

As the current Prime Minister of Hungary, István Tsá naturally assumed the role of the first President of the newly formed Republic of Hungary.

Because Hungary is in a period of turmoil, in order to improve the efficiency of the government, István Tissa temporarily assumed the role of Prime Minister of Hungary until the turmoil ends and a new Prime Minister is elected.

Because the actions were carried out so quickly, Tissa István had already led the Hungarian government to complete the reorganization before the nationwide workers' demonstrations could even react.

This series of actions completely stunned the Hungarian political parties that had instigated the protests. They hadn't expected Austria to abandon Hungary so easily, nor had they anticipated that Hungarian Prime Minister István Tisza would act so swiftly, completing the government reshuffle without the support of these parties who had spearheaded the workers' demonstrations.

In this way, the political parties that instigated the workers' demonstrations have become the clowns. What was their purpose in promoting these demonstrations? Wasn't it simply to reach a compromise with the government, gain more rights, and even become the ruling party in Hungary?
Hungary has now become a republic and even has its first president. So what's the point of having these political parties? They can't exactly run for Prime Minister of Hungary, can they?
Although Thissa István, who has become the President of Hungary, has repeatedly stated that he will oversee the election of the Hungarian Prime Minister to ensure that the election process is fair, open and just.

But only a clown would actually believe that. The election process may be fair, open, and just, but that's only from the perspective of those who participate in the election.

Do ordinary people really have the right to participate in elections? Perhaps there is still a sliver of hope if this march evolves into an armed uprising and is victorious.

However, since the political parties that promoted the march did not participate in the reorganization of the Hungarian government at all, the so-called Hungarian prime minister election was, in reality, just an internal appointment by President Tsá István.

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(End of this chapter)