With the aftermath underway, the enfeoffment of meritorious contributors was placed firmly on the agenda. Those below were already growing impatient. If Franz had not enjoyed such high prestige and an impeccable reputation, unrest would have broken out long ago. It was not that the military bureaucracy was inefficient. The real issue was the sheer number of people to be rewarded this time, and the enormous amount of coordination and negotiation required. In principle, the process was supposed to be voluntary and respectful of individual preferences. In practice, that was simply impossible. Everyone rushed to claim the desirable lands, while the barren territories attracted no interest at all. In many cases, several decorated figures set their sights on the same tract of land, forcing the General Staff to step in and mediate. The past few months were largely spent in endless wrangling. To persuade more meritorious recipients to accept assignments in the Americas and Australia, the General Staff had exhausted every possible approach. After months of effort, a plan was finally produced that the majority could accept. The basic principle remained unchanged. The better the land, the smaller the area granted. Conversely, the poorer the land, the larger the estate awarded. To further encourage frontier development, Franz personally allocated a special fund to provide direct financial assistance to lords assigned to remote inland regions. This assistance was mainly directed toward infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, and water conservancy works. Those who met the criteria could simply submit project proposals for approval. In addition, there were dedicated policy based low interest loans, ensuring that recipients had sufficient capital to develop their fiefs. Compared with the early nobles who pioneered colonial development and had to rely entirely on their own resources, this new generation of military industrial nobles lived far more comfortably. These preferential policy loans were not limited to the nobility. Ordinary soldiers who received land as a reward for military merit were equally eligible to apply for construction loans. Had he not been enjoying the dividends of hegemony, Franz would never have dared to spend money on this scale. After all, this was still the era of the gold standard, and government coffers were not limitless. But being the world’s hegemon changed everything. The Guilder had replaced the pound as the sole international currency. Countries that once held pounds were now compelled to convert their foreign exchange reserves into guilders. The market expanded overnight. The amount of guilders previously in circulation was no longer sufficient, making the issuance of additional currency inevitable. As for gold reserves, that was no longer a concern. With the credibility bonus that came from being the world’s hegemon, as long as the issuance was not reckless or indiscriminate, there was no need to worry about bank runs. Slightly raising the leverage ratio posed no real problem. One of the key reasons the Holy Roman government was able to emerge so quickly from its postwar fiscal difficulties was precisely its expansion of the guilder’s circulation. With money in hand, everything became easier. Domestically, it could placate meritorious contributors. Externally, it could continue to project strength. Granting titles to several thousand nobles was by no means an easy task. Individual ennoblement ceremonies were clearly impossible. Not only did Franz lack the time, but no one could afford to wait that long. Even when handled in groups, almost like mass production, the necessary rituals could not be omitted. For many, this was the most glorious moment of their lives, and it demanded sufficient exposure and ceremony. To achieve full coverage from every angle, photographers rushed about incessantly, while the reporters’ cameras clicked without pause. As one of the central figures, Franz himself was pushed to the brink of exhaustion. Fortunately, he endured it. Otherwise, it would have turned into a spectacle of a very different kind. This was something Franz never wanted to experience a second time. Time spared no one. In the blink of an eye, he was already approaching eighty. It was no longer possible to deny age. Abdication. Abdication. Abdication. At this moment, Franz’s resolve to abdicate was exceptionally strong. If the constituent states had already been established, he would have issued an abdication edict on the spot. … At the Vienna Palace, the direct members of the Habsburg dynasty had gathered in full. The moment that would determine their future fate had arrived. As the head of the family, Franz surveyed the high spirited younger generation before him and asked solemnly, “Are you all prepared? Once you take this step, everything that follows will depend on your own efforts. The world outside is by no means a pleasant place. The difficulties you will face in the future will be many times, even dozens of times, greater than anything before. All manner of schemes and calculations, all the darkness of human nature, will be directed at you. If you lack the ability to face these things, it is not too late to withdraw now. Do not think it shameful. True wisdom lies in knowing oneself. Clear self awareness is essential if one wishes to become a qualified ruler. If you go out only to be driven back, or worse, to be sent to the scaffold, that would be the true disgrace.” Whether intentionally or not, everyone’s gaze shifted in unison toward Maximilian I. As the family’s cautionary example, Maximilian I had lived a difficult life in recent years. Had it not been for his determination to restore his throne, his spirit might have collapsed long ago. Regarding this, Franz could only feel regret. He truly had not meant it personally. Yet in order to warn the younger generation, he had no choice but to speak with a heavy hand. As for wounding his younger brother’s pride, that was overthinking it. Over the years, in the course of raising funds for restoration, Maximilian I had endured every kind of cold look and mockery imaginable. This was nothing new to him. Idealists possessed this particular strength. As long as their ideals could be realized, they could endure any hardship and swallow any humiliation. This grand enfeoffment was, in essence, meant to disperse risk and enhance the family’s chances of survival. Assisting Maximilian I in restoring his position was therefore only natural. The difference was that the one to carry out this plan would no longer be Maximilian I himself, but his son, who would directly succeed as Emperor of Mexico. Most of the parties involved had already been consulted. After suffering a harsh round of social reality, the Mexican power brokers had all turned into royalists and were now openly inviting Maximilian I to return and preside over the situation. Franz, however, did not trust Maximilian I’s abilities. To avoid being dragged in again to clean up another mess, he directly blocked the plan on the pretext of concern for his unfortunate brother’s health. The excuse was entirely reasonable. A sea voyage from Vienna to Mexico would take months, with rough seas along the way. Even young men would be exhausted by such a journey, let alone a man in his seventies. As a good elder brother, Franz naturally had to prevent a tragedy. Since the restoration effort could not proceed without Franz’s support, Maximilian I was forced to accept reality. Sensing his brother’s awkward position, Franz decisively changed the subject, “If no one wishes to withdraw, then I will issue the letters of appointment. This will be your final opportunity to accumulate strength. Once the constituent states are established, it will be far more difficult to obtain support from the central government. I trust you all understand what needs to be done. If you cannot even handle matters of this scale, then withdraw now and spare yourselves the embarrassment. You may draw upon the family’s resources, but the family does not belong to any one individual. It belongs to all of us. The family will support you in going out to establish yourselves, but the resources each person can obtain are limited. I expect you to use them with care.” When there were many people, there were inevitably many complications. In recent years, the Habsburgs had been thriving in numbers. Influenced by Franz’s unexpected intervention in history, several of his younger brothers were still alive. These old men were naturally in no position to go out and build new realms themselves, but their descendants could take part. As long as they proved their ability, Franz was willing to give them opportunities. In any case, the newly acquired territories were vast enough. Granting a few more constituent states posed no real problem. Splitting them up could even reduce the risk of future trouble. That said, sons and nephews were ultimately not the same. The resources they could draw from the family might be equal, but the support they could obtain directly from him as Emperor differed greatly. If nothing else, the Emperor’s sons were all Archdukes. Nephews, by contrast, could at best receive the title of Count, and not all of them were even eligible for that. The gap between the two was by no means minor. Since the rules of the game had been set, even the Emperor himself had to abide by them. Franz could ennoble his sons and brothers as Archdukes and support them in founding constituent states, but he could not allow a group of nephews to do the same. Otherwise, with so many Counts in the Holy Roman Empire, would that not mean everyone could establish a county of their own? When these nephews went out to seek their fortunes, they did so under their fathers’ banners, nominally acting on behalf of their elders to administer fiefs. Whether they would ultimately obtain the status of a constituent state remained an open question. At the very least, Franz would not use his own authority to forcibly push such outcomes. Not only the nephews, but even Franz’s grandsons faced immense obstacles if they wished to establish a constituent state. Apart from issues of status, the most critical problem was the lack of merit to the state. Under the military merit system, merit was a core pillar of the Holy Roman Empire. It was not that Franz had failed to arrange opportunities for them to be gilded with experience. They were simply too young. Even the oldest was barely in his early twenties, far from capable of handling important posts. His sons, by contrast, were a different matter. They had been assigned overseas early on as governors, and during the world war each had served as a commander in his own right. Although their military achievements alone were not sufficient to justify a fully substantive title of Archduke, when combined with the bonus of being imperial princes, no one could reasonably object. The nephews had also been given arrangements, but the resources Franz invested in them were clearly far more limited. Lacking exceptional military talent, they ultimately played only minor supporting roles. The resources they were receiving now were already unequal, and the gap would only widen in the future. Unless they fought their own way forward and achieved truly outstanding results, they would ultimately remain nothing more than landed nobles of high status. Naturally, Franz would never say such things out loud. For the Habsburg family, even one more overseas landed noble still represented an expansion of family strength. The stronger the family became, the more secure imperial authority would be. Even if Franz were to lose in future power struggles, political opponents would not dare to act too recklessly. … On September 18, 1905, Franz issued an imperial edict. His second son, Peter, was enfeoffed as Archduke of Latin America, with the Austrian Central American colonies as his fief. His third son, William, was enfeoffed as Archduke of Southeast Asia, with the islands south of Malacca as his fief. His fourth son, George, was enfeoffed as Archduke of the Maple Leaf, with Canada as his fief. The creation of new Archdukes was not news in itself. What truly drew attention was the sheer size of their fiefs, all of which were extraordinarily vast. Public discussion followed, but no real unrest emerged. The fiefs were large, yes, but much of the land within them already had owners. After deducting the lands previously granted to military merit nobles and the military land allotments given to soldiers, only the remaining territory constituted their actual personal holdings. Most of the best land had long since been claimed. What remained was largely undeveloped wilderness. In the short term, aside from the impressive titles, there was little land of genuine value. Considering their status as imperial princes, such treatment was hardly surprising. As for the matter of establishing constituent states, it was for the moment only circulating within elite circles. This was an open stratagem. On the surface, the Emperor’s enfeoffments fully complied with established procedures, leaving no grounds for objection. The government simply had no legitimate reason to oppose them. Landed nobles were, in essence, equivalent to regional lords. Apart from lacking seats in the Imperial Diet, their political powers were largely comparable to those of constituent states. If these men wished to gain greater political influence in the future, they had only two paths. Either they pushed for integration, or they applied to the Emperor for the establishment of constituent states. There was little doubt that the Holy Roman government lacked the capacity to integrate so much territory. Establishing constituent states thus became the natural outcome. The political signal was unmistakable to anyone paying attention. Yet faced with a strong Emperor employing an open and lawful strategy, even opponents had no clear way to resist. While public attention was focused on the newly created three Archduchies, Franz swiftly issued further personnel appointments, assigning several nephews and grandsons to positions within the Colonial Ministry. Once the colonial transfers were completed, they would depart in the capacity of regional colonial governors to take up posts in New Zealand, Australia, Austrian South America, the Malacca Peninsula, and other regions. The establishment of constituent states was not something that could be achieved overnight, quite apart from domestic reactions. Without a loyal administrative core of their own, even if Franz issued formal edicts of enfeoffment, they would lack the ability to govern locally. For now, all that could be done was to pave the way for them. The final outcome would still depend on how future circumstances unfolded. In the short term, only these three Archduchies could be firmly established. Any more than that, and even Franz might not be able to withstand the pressure. The main concern was public perception. It could not be allowed to appear that, after enduring the hardships of a world war, all the benefits had ultimately been carved up by the nobility, the imperial family, and the soldiers alone.
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