Part 4: Chapter IV: There's Always A Greater Power...(1850-1858)

Chapter IV: There's Always A Greater Power...(1850-1858)

Ah, Monsieur le Baron! Here to admire the Manet exhibition? We are always delighted to see citizens of your mighty kingdom in Munich. Since Manet established his Salon des Refusés here and all the works deemed too risqué for France wound up in Bavaria, more and more of your countrymen have made their way over to see us. Perhaps if the House of Orleans had had the foresight to be the patrons of radical new styles that the House of Wittelsbach had, I would be visiting you in Paris?





Oh, do not be annoyed! You know, numerous composers have read the works and seen the paintings coming out of Munich these days and swear that some sort of musical movement that would capture the spirit of Impressionism is the holy grail of music. Such a style still does not exist. Maybe the founder of that musical style will be Parisian...though I rather think not, given the funding His Majesty Maximilian has put behind the Munich orchestra and the regular efforts to "discover" young composers. It's no exaggeration to say that right now that the King has men patrolling the streets of Munich prepared to offer fame and glory to any half-decent street musician with a novel twist to his work.

Ah, but your companion is a Russian, and a Count at that! And I know you, Monsieur le Baron, wouldn't be interested in art if your massive Crédit Mobilier account didn't permit you to buy it en masse. Well, then, if you wish to talk business and diplomacy, let us! After coffee with this tedious American in Munich named Walt Whitman (encouraging us to take this horribly dull poetry collection named Leaves of Grass...well, it wouldn't do any good to have the latest and greatest published anywhere other than Munich), I am in the mood for talk of business and the affairs of the day! You say it has been eight years since you've visited Munich? Well, we can catch you up quite quickly. Let's start with the factories.





Ah, but we were in debt in those days. Not like now...today we have debt because we are confident enough to make investments based on next month's profits. Then we were in debt because we were participating in public-private ventures by launching furniture factories and lumber mills a tenth at a time. His Imperial Majesty the Tsar would understand about a lazy industrial class that does little by itself and requires state subsidies, but we aren't as rich as Russia, so it's more of a hardship on us. By the way, Monsieur le Baron, let me assure you every penny we have taken from Crédit Mobilier will be repaid with interest.




Even before we became one of the world's great powers, we discovered that Austria simply didn't have the ability to evade our tariffs any more, and for the first time our barriers were bringing in significant amounts of revenue.



Our King, a bleeding-heart, announced that he would never fire on people in the streets protesting for their rights, but events in the new Kingdom of Argentina have led him to question the wisdom of that policy.







The United States of America continued its relentless push south. As you may have heard, the Emperor Maximilian was shot almost immediately upon reaching the New World. Odd story, that. When he arrived, the chamber was rabidly pro-monarchy, as if he had wandered into Russia (no offense, my friend! We hold our Majesty's friend the Tsar in the highest regard here). Describing this fanatical pro-clerical, pro-aristocratic, pro-monarchical chamber as the cámara intocable, Maximilian dissolved it and hoped for a more rational government. The aristocratic faction in Mexico executed him and appointed one of their own as Emperor in his place.



Affairs in the east were of equal interest. My dear Count, is it true that His Imperial Majesty intends to build a railway all the way out to Vladivostok? What a project! I am in awe of how the Tsar managed to negotiate such a vast stretch of land from Beijing without firing a shot.




Our military slowly strengthened, but our penury prevented us from building more than the most basic fortresses. By the way, Monsieur le Baron, let me assure you that even though Kaiserslauten borders Alsace, our fortifications are solely aimed north, in fear of the beast of Berlin. I know you understand.



The question, you might remember, was whether Spain or the Turks would lose their seat at the Concert of Europe to make way for the Bavarians. The years-long waiting period was a joke in Munich...Everyone agreed that Bavaria was the country of tomorrow, but none could agree on who the country of yesterday was. The debate went on until events conspired to manufacture an answer that pleased both those in Madrid and Constantinople, even though it left a few dismayed faces in Vienna.



Ah ha! But you smile, my dear Baron, and your grin is irrepressible, Count! I hear you led the Tsar's men in a cavalry charge in Galicia in the late war? Please do correct me if my account of the war is incorrect. As I understand it, an official in Pondicherry uncovered documents suggesting that the late Tipu Sultan willed his kingdom to France on his deathbed, a vow rendered moot by Seringapatam a half-century ago. Looking to this document, the French foreign ministry plotted an ambitious scheme to seize one of the three presidencies of the British East India Company, and with Moscow's participation, launched the largest war since 1815.








Austria simply wasn't prepared for an assault by Italians, Swiss, and Frenchmen on the one side and Russians on the other.



Us? Strict neutrality...though, of course, we didn't give the Austrians access.



Wars elsewhere were irrelevant.




You were on the first wave into Dover? An audacious scheme indeed, my dear Baron! Without their little stream, the British are helpless against continental army discipline.






All were helpless in the face of your arms. It was quite inspiring. Our own troops learned a thing or two from studying the Dutch siege of London.



Of course, driving the Austrians out of Milan has been a desired goal by every lover of Verdi this century. The Kingdom of Lombardy is a rather pitiful prospect, to be sure, but the world is such a more...Romantic place now that Austrian soldiers no longer eat at the cafes of Milan.





We spent the war modernizing our economy and our military. You laugh...you know we failed, but that's to get ahead of the story! At the time no one could have anticipated Berlin's perfidy.






Who would have guessed before the war that Britain and Austria were such paper tigers?



As you know, we pay no heed of election returns here.




It was neither Spain nor the Turks that were kicked out of Prince von Metternich's club, it was Metternich's own nation!



It was at that time that we realized that a full-fledged modernization of our economy and our diplomatic corps was in order if we would be able to lead a united South Germany. No, cease your laughter. The ambition will happen someday.





My dear Count, are the rumors that a young American named Seward is sounding you out about buying you out in the Pacific? If so, do not take the offer...it would be foolhardy in the extreme to waste such beautiful timber country.



The Americas never cease their wars, do they?



The most prestigious club in the world.



No one can disagree with Swiss engineering.










Our technology continued to develop.



As did our industry.



Debtor's prisons ended.




As did our diplomatic prowess, though not without wreaking havoc on our economy. The sudden influx of cheap Austrian industrial goods threatened Bavarian bankruptcy, leading many to anticipate the day when Austria was too big to hold onto again.



Pride goeth before the fall and so forth.




It was utterly impossible that we win this war on our own, though we certainly attempted to.



Our army performed adequately.



Our conscripts...didn't.





We surrendered, offering domination of all of south Germany to Berlin. Austria rebelled against the peace deal, rejecting domination by Berlin, and we secretly began attempting to bring them back into our sphere, while building up our army to prevent such a humiliation from occurring again. These were the darkest days of Bavaria, and I'm not afraid to tell you gentlemen that we had no idea what to do next. Our redemption was, of course, that the Beast of Berlin was also subject to pride coming before the fall.




Britain released New Zealand and Johore, we scoured our poorest for wanted criminals.




Too late, we discovered the miracle of breech-loaded rifles and set out to learn new governing techniques.






The successors of the Mexican Habsburgs are truly clueless.





The successors to Muhammad Ali Pasha are truly clueless.






Some say that Bavaria should play the colonial game, His Majesty reminds them of our landlocked nature and that others play the colonial game far better.



Have you heard about these nuts yet? I'm sure they're present in your country too.



Railroads are nice. Capitalists with the money to build railroads on their own without state investment would be nicer.



Or Capitalists who know that expanding successful factories rather than building Cement Plants everywhere is a winning strategy.



Isn't Cato Street in London?




Now we come to recent events. You all recall...Romanians demanded a separate state in Transylvania. Upon people pointing out that they had not one but two states already, they demanded one all the more. We couldn't not defend our protected friends in Vienna, and Berlin arrogantly thought that it could force a free puppet Romania and humiliate us even more.



Little did Berlin realize their one flaw: everyone hates a North German.




Especially the Tsar. Rather than turn to Paris, we chose to make an offer to London to get them on our side. Knowing your country, Monsieur le Baron, was already well-disposed to us, we figured that gaining the British would help seal the isolation of Berlin. It worked like a charm.



King Maximilian had no stomach for war and took the peace offer. In retrospect we should have invaded. Nevertheless, we have cemented the beginnings of an important pact. Every other great power loathes the North Germans, and they are all quite fond of us.



Austria is about to retake its seat as a Great Power, but Bavarian greatness has just begun. With your people's help, my dear Baron, and your Tsar's might, my dear Count, I have no fear that the day will come when Berlin will not bully Munich, but the two shall be equals, heads of two great confederations.

Bavaria




The world, 1858