"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Just when Francisco Anna and his wife were chatting happily, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!"
After Francisco said a word, a servant opened the door and came in.
The servant said politely: "Dear Duke, Mr. Mataro from Catalonia requests to meet you."
"Take him into my study. I'll go see him later."
"Okay, Your Majesty the Duke!"
Anna asked Francisco after the servant left.
"Dear, Mataro is the separatist from Catalonia, Spain. Are you here to ask for money?"
Anna knew that her husband Francisco and son Tangning had been funding the Galician Portuguese in Spain as well as the separatists of Catalans, Basques, and even Andalucians.
The intention is very obvious, which is to strengthen the separatist forces in Spain, hoping to split Spain one day.
"Oh, yes. That Mataro is a Catalan separatist or a Grand Aragonist. He should also be asking for money this time."
Switzerland is a free place where all kinds of forces in Europe gather. Now it is also Francisco's main activity place, which is intended to facilitate the expansion of power.
"Last week, a Navarra Basque came, and today a Aragonese Catalan came. Now you, almost all the Spanish separatists are looking for you. They are treating you like a big sheep." ah!"
Faced with his wife's teasing, Francisco also smiled.
"Indeed, everyone is trying to take advantage of me. But I am not without conditions. I have sent people to participate. If there are no results, I will not pay.
If you want to steal my money, you have to show some skills. At the very least, you have to give the Spanish government some eye drops to get my money. "
As a simple Portuguese, Francisco had no good impression of Spain.
Portugal's first fall was caused by the merger of Spain. During its 60-year rule, Portugal, the first colonial empire, almost collapsed.
When the Kingdom of Portugal was first established, it fought several wars with the Kingdom of Castile and later Spain. It lost once at the end of the 16th century, which was a disaster for Portugal.
In 1582, the fleet commanded by the Marquis of Santa Cruz of Spain defeated the combined fleet of France, England, and the Netherlands, which supported Antonio, the heir to the Portuguese throne, at the Battle of Ponta Delgada, allowing Portugal to be integrated for the first and last time. Incorporated into Spain.
"Spain is a patchwork country, made up of Castile, Navarre, Aragon, and finally conquered Andalusia. This country should not exist."
After hearing what her husband Francisco said, Anna said in a somewhat unhappy tone: "Dear, Austria-Hungary is also a platter country, so should my motherland be separated too?"
"Well, well, Austria-Hungary and Spain are two different things. Anyway, I didn't mean that."
Francisco thought for a while, but he really didn't know how to answer, so he just stalled.
"Honey, I see you're nervous."
Anna sighed and said: "I know how Europeans view my motherland, Austria-Hungary, as a patchwork rag doll empire.
The German Parliament excluded us not only to facilitate unification, but also because Austria has too many ethnic groups, which will affect the development of the country.
In addition to Hungarians, we in Austria also had Czechs, Slovaks, Romanians, Poles, Ukrainians, Serbs, Bosnians, Croats, and Slovenians.
With so many ethnic groups, we Austrian Germans don’t even have 40% of them. Even I feel worried about such a patchwork country.
Fortunately, our Austrian ruling nobles are smart and have made preparations long ago.
We united the highly schizophrenic Yugoslav race with the Hungarians and Romanians to form Transletania, letting the Hungarians manage it, while the Czechs in Bohemia, who were deeply assimilated, and the Slovenians who were deeply favored by us The Carniola region, the Ukrainian and Polish Galician regions formed Neletania.
Even if one day we are unfortunate and the country is really divided, we in Austria can still control half of the country, and we will still be a powerful country in Europe. "
It's not that the Austrian nobles did nothing. They also saw the bad aspects of Brother Oh's combined empire and took precautions early.
It's a pity that Anna didn't know that after World War I, Netalonia, the core region of Austria, would also be split up, the Czechs and Slovaks would also become independent, and Galicia would also be taken by Poland.
After a sudden operation by the Allies, only 1/4 of Austria was left. In order to prevent the merger of Germany, the Allies also set up various conditions.
The reason why the Allies did this was that Habsburg's operational methods were too terrifying. If they were not dismantled in detail, Austria would make a comeback.
"Dear Anna, Austria is indeed more troublesome than Italy. The outside world says that Austria is another Ottoman. I really don't want Austria to split.
After all, I have deep feelings for Austria, and I don’t want such a long-standing place to disappear. Austria and Spain are not the same thing. Austria’s expansion brings more liberation, but now those nations are ungrateful and want to be independent.
Those bastards who are clamoring for independence don't even think about it. If Austria didn't exist, they would still be under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
Anna, I believe that most people are grateful, and Austria should continue to exist. "
Regarding Austria, Francisco saw the country's inevitable tendency to break up, but he really didn't want it to break up.
Anna said in a sad tone: "Oh, I hope so!"
"My dear, I'm going to meet you first. I can't keep Mr. Mataro waiting any longer. It's very rude."
Anna, as virtuous as ever, nodded in agreement.
"Oh, go quickly, we can't let the guests feel our indifference.
Although these Spanish separatists are not good things, they are indeed good for us Portugal, and we cannot let them feel our discrimination and arrogance towards them. "
Francisco's study.
"Dear Mr. Mataro, how can I help you?"
After Francisco opened the door, he looked at Mataro who was waiting anxiously with a smile and said a very heartwarming word.
After hearing the Duke's words, Mataro's somewhat uneasy and worried mind calmed down. He knew that he should still be able to get the money this time.
"Oh, dear Duke, I need some money, and my friends are in great need of help."
