Kossuth could kick out the Austrian legal lecturer and other such people who had arrived with great fanfare, but he could do nothing to the Hungarians who had secretly sided with the Viennese government. The Hungarian revolution had been a peaceful change of regime, which meant that the supporters of the monarchy still held their high positions within Hungary.

It was not that Kossuth had not considered purging his enemies, but he was aware that despite being the Prime Minister, he had very little actual authority. The politics of the newly-created Hungarian Republic were intricate and complicated and they affected the entirety of the Hungarian government. The new regime was fragile and could not yet withstand great upheavals.

**********

Hofburg Palace, Vienna

After receiving the news that Hungary had expelled the representatives sent by them, the Cabinet realized that the countdown to war had begun since it was impossible for the Viennese government to allow Hungary to become independent.

"Minister-President, how are the preparations for the supply chain?"

Since the end of the era of cold weapons, firearms had become mainstream and ammunition had become the most important factor in war. Since Austria had to continue the war against Sardinia on the Italian front, logistics had become Franz's biggest worry.

Minister-President Schwarzenberg replied, "Your Imperial Highness, the Hungarian counterinsurgency campaign has not yet begun. At present, we are prioritizing the satisfaction of Marshal Radetzky's army. Therefore, if the size of the army deployed to Hungary exceeds 200,000, we won't be able to guarantee them complete logistical supplies."

It was not easy to ensure that the supplies could be delivered to the troops in need in time. The first major problem was transportation. In addition to supporting hundreds of thousands of troops, the Viennese government also had to consider the issue of refugee relief after the war which also required the transportation of a large amount of materials.

Since the establishment of the new cabinet, the Viennese government has been working hard. After the suppression of the Vienna rebellion, Austria entered the wartime economic system, and all government departments had begun preparing for the war.

Franz frowned and said, "We can't afford to wait any longer. The Hungarians have rejected our goodwill, so all eyes are on us. Even if we delay the military response, our political response cannot be delayed."

Historically, the Hungarian revolution for independence had only begun after the Austrian Lombardy-Venetia had been completely occupied, the revolutionaries had occupied Vienna, and the Austrian Empire had been mired into civil war.

At that time, everyone believed that the collapse of the Austrian Empire was imminent, so they took the lead to start a revolution and gain power for themselves. Nevertheless, they still held the Emperor as their monarch and explained the reason behind the revolution to leave a way out for themselves.

During this timeline, however, the war on the Italian front was still ongoing, the rebellion in Vienna had been easily suppressed, and the Viennese government still retained its authority. The nobles and capitalists were not that desperate for a revolution since it was a risky endeavor.

On the surface, it seemed like the Hungarian revolution had taken place through the efforts of Kossuth and his supporters who helped fan the flame of nationalism in Hungary. However, clever people were aware that the situation was simply too abnormal.

Compared to other regions, the response by the Viennese government in Hungary had been too slow. If they had even sent just a single advance division of the army to suppress the revolution, the Hungarian Republic would have never been born.

Austria originally had a standing army of 180,000 troops before the Viennese government had mobilized another 100,000 reserve forces, and stationed 30,000 soldiers within the various city defense forces. They had deployed 100,000 soldiers to the Italian front, 40,000 soldiers to Galicia, 50,000 soldiers to Bohemia and 20,000 soldiers to Slovenia.

In addition, there were still 120,000 Austrian soldiers already stationed within the Kingdom of Hungary throughout its four main regions: Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Transylvania. Even if some soldiers were affected by Hungarian nationalism, most still remained loyal to the Emperor. With so many soldiers, the Viennese government could've easily suppressed the revolution had it wanted.

Foreign Minister Metternich advised in a grim tone, "Your Imperial Highness, I think it is time to declare the Hungarian Diet illegal. At the same time, we should include Croatia, Transylvania, and Slovakia into Austria."

Since his time as the State Chancellor, Prince Metternich had wanted to split the Kingdom of Hungary, but he had never dared to use force without any justification. However, the perfect opportunity had presented itself. The Hungarians had rebelled, so it was only natural that they would be split. After all, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

The Austrian Empire is a multi-ethnic nation, and the Kingdom of Hungary is also a multi-ethnic nation. The Hungarians want independence, but that doesn't mean that the Croatians, Romanians, and Slovaks also want to follow them.

Finance Minister Bruck added, "Minister Metternich's suggestion is great. In addition to breaking up the Kingdom of Hungary, the "National Equality Bill" we have drafted can also be announced in advance.

Aren't the Hungarians advocating for a unified nationality? We can also take this opportunity to classify the serfs and civilians in Hungary as belonging to the Austrian nationality."

The Minister of Finance's proposal was that they artificially create a nationality to divide the nobles and civilians in Hungary. If you open a history book, you will find that the so-called nationalities were all artificially created to separate and classify people based on factors such as their language, culture, history and region.

If one believes that nationalities truly came from ancestry and bloodline, they would be wrong. Through the thousands of years of the history of mankind, people of all ethnicities and nationalities had come to share blood. Of course, the nobility would certainly not recognize that they share blood with the common rabble, just as the "Hungarians" don't recognize serfs as one of them.

Due to lacking education and a sense of cultural identity, most serfs in southern and eastern Europe during this era had no place to call home. Naturally, they had no nationality since no one had told them to which nationality their ancestors had belonged. In Franz's view, this was an opportunity to truly integrate Austria and unify its people.

"Minister Bruck, I don't see how this will benefit us. There are already many nationalities in Austria. Adding another nationality will only make ruling them more troublesome!" Archduke Louis frowned and replied.

He had understood Minister Bruck's implication. It was not just to create an Austrian nationality, but to integrate all nationalities within the Austrian nationality. However, this was not something Archduke Louis wished to see. After all, if all nationalities were integrated within the Austrian nationality, the Germans would be no exception. At that point, Austria and Germany would become two separate entities which was a disaster for the proponents of Großdeutschland ("Greater Germany") such as himself.

-TO BE CONTINUED-