Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 452: The Empire Destroys the Alliance
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honor to host this ball at the Palacio to celebrate the return of peace to Europe!"
On the evening of October 19, Philip and his Queen Elizabeth held a ball in the palace to entertain princes and nobles from all over Europe.
"Some of you present here today have been loyal allies of Spain for many years. Some are new friends we have made in recent years. Some are enemies we were fighting desperately a while ago. However, everyone gathered here today has only one name, the believers of the Lord. Seven years ago, when the Justice League was established, we issued an open call for Catholics and Protestants, and all factions within Protestants, to put aside their disputes, unite, and devote themselves to the cause of Christ!
Unfortunately, in the past three years, a large-scale religious war between Catholics and Protestants has still broken out in Central and Eastern Europe. The Justice League has been highly restrained at the beginning of the war, and has only been calling on everyone to maintain peace and friendly consultations. However, such calls have not received a positive response from the warring parties, so we have no choice but to use the army.
After three years of war, more than 100,000 soldiers were killed on all sides, and millions of civilians were harmed by the war. These are all believers of the Lord, and they are the power of Christ. While we were killing each other, Constantinople was still occupied by the Ottomans as the capital, and Jerusalem was still groaning under the iron hoofs of the pagans. Ladies and gentlemen, aren't we ashamed of this?
The past is past, and the future must be grasped well. I hope that from now on, the Lord's believers in Europe can unite and spread the glory of the Lord to the whole world! "
After a brief opening speech, Philip and his queen danced the first dance, and then everyone looked for a partner to enter. After the opening three dances, everyone automatically formed their own circles and started chatting.
"Your Majesty Gustav, it's nice to meet you. Oh, you are so majestic. I always thought Rudolf was tall enough, but in front of you, hahaha~"
"My Lord Philip, height is not everything. In fact, you can call me Adolf if you wish."
"Hahaha, Adolf is a great name."
"You are too kind, Your Majesty."
After Gustav took the initiative to give in, Philip breathed a sigh of relief: "Adolf, let's not talk about the past. Now, at least half of Europe has restored peace, not to mention the whole of Europe. What do you think about the future of Europe?"
If Gustav still had some reserve when he surrendered in the Battle of Riga and faced Rudolf, then along the way, especially when he boarded the train from Paris to Madrid, and especially when he arrived in Madrid and saw the forest of chimneys, that reserve had long since disappeared without a trace.
As a hero, he can be ruthless when necessary. He is also unambiguous when it comes to licking others' boots. Just look at Liu Bei in history and you will know what happened.
Therefore, at this moment, Gustav was very humble in front of Philip.
"Your Majesty, although Sweden is still an important country in Northern Europe, it is a little insufficient when it comes to the whole of Europe. Therefore, the future direction of Europe still needs your control."
"Hahaha, Adolf, when the Justice League was founded seven years ago, have you read the league's charter?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"So what do you think? If I form a new European Union based on the charter of the Justice League, would Sweden be willing to join?"
"With great pleasure, Your Majesty. Sweden will definitely be the most important fulcrum of the future European Union in Northern Europe."
Haha. Philip smiled: Although Gustav expressed his submission, he kept emphasizing one point - Sweden hopes that the EU or Spain can guarantee its dominance in Northern Europe.
"Adolf, your military talent has always been something that Rudolf and I admire. If a natural commander like you is confined to the ice and snow of Northern Europe, it would be a waste of God's gift."
"His Majesty?"
"After the European Union is established, we will strive to launch a large-scale, all-out war against the Ottoman Empire within three years. I would like to give you one of the fronts, an elite force of no less than 100,000 men equipped with breech-loading rifles, breech-loading cannons, and machine guns, to command. Is that okay?"
Can I say no? If I refuse, I am afraid that this elite front will turn around and head towards Sweden, right?
"It is an honor to serve you, Your Majesty."
"Hahaha, Adolf, I am very pleased with your answer. Please rest assured that Sweden will definitely be an important fulcrum for the EU in Northern Europe." After saying this, Philip wanted to reach out and pat Gustav on the shoulder, but soon gave up because of the other party's height, and changed his shoulder to pat his arm: "Thank you for your support for our common cause. Please believe that my goal is to unite all Christians and restore the glory of the Lord. Whether it is Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Calvinism in Protestantism, and Lutheranism, as long as they believe in the same God, I think we can join hands. In fact, I will visit Duke Wallenstein and Count Tilly in a while. They are both talented people. Their skills should not be used in the civil war of Christians, but to spread the glory of the Lord."
"Your heart is as broad as the sea, Your Majesty. In the future, please look forward to my performance on the battlefield."
…
On November 5, 1620, after repeated consultations and coordination, the whole of Europe, except for the countries in the Balkan Peninsula that were still under Ottoman rule, including Russia which had just recovered Moscow from the Poles, a total of 11 kingdoms, 48 principalities and hundreds of principalities and counties, signed the European Union Convention in Madrid.
The newly formed European Union is still similar to the previous Justice League in terms of economy: unified currency, unified tariffs. Politically, it still has a council, and each country has different voting weights according to its national strength. Spain's voting weight in the new European Union has dropped to 38%. However, as long as it can firmly control France and Italy, it can still easily obtain more than 50% of the voting weight.
In terms of culture, Latin and Latin are still promoted. Since 1613, Western Europe under the control of the Justice League has begun to implement this agreement. At present, the children of nobles under the age of ten and students in various schools under the age of fifteen in Western Europe are already able to use Latin more proficiently. In Philip's plan, it will take about 20 to 30 years of hard work for the entire European region to uniformly use Latin in official occasions of the European Union.
As for the goal of making Latin , Philip did not even hope for it.
Because Latin, Spanish, and English are all spellings. As long as the accent is different, the spelling will be different. This is not like Chinese characters, which are the same regardless of the pronunciation in different places.
As a scholar, Philip knew very well that his own civilization was doomed to lag behind Eastern civilization in this respect. All he could do was to hope that the entire European coalition would be able to fight in the same language and with the same writing system in the future. The writing system for actual communication on the battlefield was limited, and as long as everyone had a basic knowledge of Latin, it would not be difficult to achieve this goal.
Compared to the Justice League, apart from having more countries join, the biggest change is the treatment of the Holy Roman Empire, a hollow empire that is neither holy nor Roman.
After the European Union was officially established, the first thing to do was to vote on the status of the Holy Roman Empire.
At Philip's instruction, Charles, the British crown prince who had been following Spain closely for the past six or seven years, proposed a motion to abolish the Holy Roman Empire. When faced with this motion, Philip abstained from voting on the grounds that Spain and the Austrian Habsburg family were relatives and needed to avoid suspicion.
Such an obvious statement naturally made the Central European countries, which were already extremely unhappy with the Holy Roman Empire, cheer, and then everyone voted in favor.
Finally, with Spain abstaining from voting, the first completely buried the Holy Roman Empire with a vote of 40%:22%.
Not only that, due to the independence of the Czech Kingdom and Bavaria being incorporated into the direct jurisdiction of Spain, the Austrian Habsburg family was left with only the title of Archduke of Austria.
The burial of the Holy Roman Empire also led to the rapid decline of theocracy: there was no emperor in the secular world, so did the church still need a pope?
In short, no matter what, although the European Union still looks loose now, the framework has been set up anyway. Next, Philip is ready to start practicing with the Ottomans, the natural enemy of the European Union: through war, the European Union countries will be tied together more closely!
