Hofburg Palace, located in the heart of Vienna, is to Austria what the White House is to the United States. We’re inside, touring rooms where the Habsburg’s managed their dynasty in the 19th century. And what a time that was. Come on along.
Revolution Was in the Air
Near the end of the 18th century, British colonists in the New World were fed up with Britain’s heavy hand. They staged a revolution and declared independence from Britain. The revolutionaries formed their own government and started governing themselves. What?! Impossible! No. Possible!
Europe took notice. The French were the next ones to say they’d had enough. They had their own revolution, and that was the end of the French aristocracy.
Then Italian-speaking people throughout Italy’s boot united. They kicked the Austrians out of the north, the Spanish out of the south, and created today’s Italy. Germany followed suit.
At the time, Franz Joseph I was the ruling Habsburg. His titles were Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and ruler of a handful of smaller states. Our tour takes us through his living and working spaces.
Europe had independence fever. Now that Austria had been driven out of northern Italy, Franz Joseph had to know that his family’s long-standing empire was at risk of being decimated.
The Balkans – Always Interesting
The land south of Austria and Hungary all the way to the Black Sea – the Balkans – had been under Turk control for hundreds of years. But now the Turks had been driven out, leaving a power vacuum. The entire region was up for grabs.
A large number of Serbian people in the region, like their European neighbors, caught independence fever, too. They said to themselves, “Everyone who speaks a Serb language ought to be part of one country – OUR country! And it should have its own government. Is no-brainer!”
But when France, Britain, Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy got wind of that, they all got together and said, “Oh no you don’t!”
Each one of these countries wanted a piece, (or perhaps all), of that region for itself. They stepped in and said to the Serbs, (who actually lived in the region), “We’ll take care of this. Just leave it to us.”
Enter Mother Russia
Russia had long been a key player in the region. Russian and Serbian relations went way back. They shared the Eastern Orthodox religion. Russia had helped drive Ottoman Turks out of the Balkans. Now Russia wanted a hefty chunk of the region to be annexed to Russia.
For years, Russia had sought an easy way to get passage to “The West.” The best way by far was by having easy access to the Mediterranean Sea.
Just Guessing Here…
There might have been a wise old Russian Tsar who explained it to his son, the future Tsar, this way…
Wise Old Tsar: “Son, always be remembering – the Mother Russia must have free and easy access to the Mediterranean Sea. That’s why we always get ourselves into that nasty mess in the Balkans.”
Young Tsar-to-Be: “But why, comrade papa? Even I know how our soldiers hate to go over there, only to feel the slash of the Turk mameluke.”
Wise Old Tsar: “Nyet, nyet, nyet. Think of it this way, comrade my son: For Mother Russia, not having easy access to the Mediterranean Sea is like living in house without front door.”
He continued… “To get out of the house now, you have to deal with Poles, Czechs, Tribes of German speakers, Turks, on and on. Otherwise you have to go out the back door. And the back door doesn’t lead to anyplace you want to go.”
Young Tsar-to-Be: “I now start to understand what you mean, comrade papa.”
For that reason, Russia had always wanted to get that front door installed.
As for the British, Britain was far from the Balkan region. Why were they in the mix? For one reason only – they wanted Russia to NOT have easy access to the West.
So the major powers in Europe at the time got together to decide the fate of people living in the Balkan Peninsula. I wonder how that worked out?
To be continued…
