Germany is young, a lot younger that Hungary thought he would feel like. He’s like a boy who grew up too fast, large shoulders and strong limbs that move awkwardly, unaware of their own strength. He doesn’t inspire her as much disgust as Austria or Prussia, mainly because he doesn’t seem to fully grasp everything that’s happening around him. It’s endearing, really. He has the same blond hair as Saxony, the slow pronunciation of Bavaria, the large built of Westphalia and the same way of holding himself proudly as Prussia. He’s as ridiculously German as Austria isn’t, riding a horse with the assurance of a nation made to wage wars, watching his host play Wagner with childish wonder. Austria hates Wagner, but Prussia likes torturing him in that new, subtle way that the modern times have taught him. He plays mechanically and badly, but Hungary is the only one who catches it, the way his hands aren’t really putting the right amount of emotion into the piece, skipping beats by a small instant.
And yet there’s something left, something that’s not quite new in the way Germany doesn’t talk about himself directly, listening to Prussia’s words as if they were the words of God. Austria’s glance avoids him as if he were some kind of eyesore, which he obviously isn’t, and Hungary wonders if it’s out of jealousy or out of hurt. She hopes that it’s both.
They’ve retreated to Schönbrunn before Germany’s arrival, on her own impulsion. The Hofburg doesn’t have a park large enough for her to avoid Austria and Prussia, and spring has come back to Vienna, giving her an excuse to escape its small streets and court gossip for a bit. Elizabeth is gone again and she feels a bit alone, but it doesn’t really matter. She walks in the park of the palace, plays her role, pretends to love Austria in front of their guests, even though it’s only Germany who actually believes in the lie. Prussia doesn’t seem to make a move to change his mind, and maybe it’s better this way for now. It doesn’t change the fact that Hungary wants to crub her skin off whenever Austria kisses her hand with a charming bow.
“Vienna is beautiful,” Germany says simply as they stroll through the gardens. It’s a surprisingly warm day, with the sun shining bright in the sky. Austria and Prussia are busy with politics, and neither Hungary or Germany have any real power in that kind of decision making.
“Yes, very,” she lies, easily. He’s not bad intentioned, just a bit new to how everything works here, and she can’t really blame him for that. “My husband and I like to leave the city a bit during the warmer months, to come here and profit from the parks and the gardens.” “A bit like Sanssouci...”
Germany smiles a bit, and Hungary doesn’t really know what to do of this. There’s an aura of complete sincerity about him, a boy in the body of a man. He doesn’t seem to realise how many times she fought Prussia, how both her and Austria loathe his beloved brother for diverse yet valid reasons. He doesn’t get that the reason why they’re receiving them like this is not because they want to be friends, but because they’re forced to. Germany knows nothing of the world but the lights of victory in Versailles, the careful words exchanged between his brothers in front of Prussia and the celebrations of an Empire that has just been born.
“I guess it’s a bit like that, yes.”
She nods and they keep on walking, under the moving shadows of the trees, with the sound of leaves that rustle with the wind. They don’t need to speak any more than that, and Hungary observes the sky through the branches for a moment, and can’t help but to think about how easy it would be to catch a boat on the Danube from here and be in Budapest to see spring in the city and hear the sound of her own language on the streets. She knows that it won’t happen. Germany is still but a boy and already he has the whole world in front of him, an empire to himself and the whole of Europe to conquer. It doesn’t fit him, somehow, because he doesn’t have this subtle lust for power Prussia and Austria have.
Germany's low voice drags her out of her reflections. He seems somehow uneasy, as if it's an important question and he believes that she'll answer honestly. He probably does, given his age and obvious naivety.
"Of course." "Is it normal..." He takes a deep breath. "Prussia and Austria's dealings ?"
Had Hungary not been used to hide her emotions carefully, she would have laughed at the way Germany seems uncomfortable with Austria's ways. He's good at what he does, Hungary can't deny him that, the subtle movements of the hand that make Prussia go insane with lust. If Hungary didn't hate him the way she did, for the scars on her back and the way he twisted words to make her submit to him, maybe she would have felt the same way as Prussia does. Austria represents everything Prussia will never truly have, and maybe that's the only reason why he can't help but to push him against the mattress and have his way as Austria silently complies.
Austria always silently complies, with Prussia, with Spain, long ago, with France and with Russia, buying his way out of wars with delicate hands and a skilled mouth. He's always been so dreadful at these war games anyway.
"It's normal for my husband," she answers simply, and it's not exactly false.
Germany stops walking and Hungary only realise a few seconds later, turning around to look at him strangely. He seems shocked to learn that Austria wages his war badly but loses beautifully. He takes a few moments to think, unmoving. When he speaks once again, there's this sort of misguided compassion in his voice. He doesn't understand that Hungary has never cared much for Austria's well-being and dignity since the start of the last century.
"I, em, I'm sorry."
He apologise as if it's his fault Prussia is the way he is, and Hungary walks up to him, places her hand on his large shoulders, smile with a gesture she stole from Austria, chasing away some invisible dust from the shoulder of Germany's obviously new coat. He flinchs at the gesture first, as if it was the first time a woman ever touched him. Maybe it is. Germany has been raised by weapons and men.
It's a bit sad because Germany can't really see the blind mix of adoration and hate that mixes itself in Austria's eyes every time he looks at him. Hungary does, and relishes in it, the pain that shows in small little ways under Austria's fair skin. He's too much like the Empire, before Europe took a shift toward this new era of science and reason for Austria not to feel that stir inside him, and yet he's too much like Prussia for Austria to ever forget that the Empire, his empire, is dead. Maybe Hungary should help him understand what's happening right now. She feels like she has to.
"Don't be sorry. That's the way it has always been."
They don't say more, walk in silence, Hungary looking at the sun that announces a nice summer over Vienna. Germany seems to be engrossed in profound reflections, as if Hungary's words were the most undecipherable hieroglyphs. They head back to Schönbrunn after a while, and Germany's steps grow more military as they approach the castle, knowing that he'll be facing his brother once again. The same nauseating obedience to Prussia flows from his pores once again. He can't see how sick it makes Hungary, but once again, it's most probably a good thing for his to be a tiny little bit ignorant of whatever his happening backstage.
They eat together as hosts and guests should, With the four of them over the table, Austria seems remarkably easy between Germany and Prussia, even though Hungary knows from the way he moves his neck that Prussia left traces of his passage over his body. He still avoids to look at Germany, still makes small, fancy talk in that singing accent of him that could have been endearing if Hungary hadn't been so sick of hearing it. German still feel strange on her lips when she adds little bits to the conversation. Prussia isn't mannered, has never been, but it's mainly because it pisses Austria so much that he does that.
"How is Bavaria ?" Austria dares to ask, and Prussia gives him an empty look, It's Germany that answers the question swiftly, with that blind, trusting ignorance that characterise him.
"He's been a bit sick, but he'll be better soon enough. Munich is always pretty at this time of the year."
Austria makes a spiritual comment about Bavaria's ever-changing mood and affections, and Prussia snorts very loudly. He doesn't say anything vulgar, though, and that alone surprises Hungary very much.
"Maybe we'll go visit him on the way back, won't we Germany ?"
Germany nods a powerful, convinced nod, and it's in that kind of moments that it shows the most, how ridiculously young he is. It always takes a century to truly understand the ways of humans and their games of war and peace.
They don't talk about how Prussia now wants to take over the world and how Austria would give everything to have Germany dead and the Empire back. There's nothing positive that could ever come out of something like this, and Prussia seems to want to keep Germany in that blissful ignorance he's in. Austria and Hungary aren't in the mood or a position to object. Germany talks a bit about Paris and the rest under Prussia's request, and it makes Austria's eyes shine with a thin shade of anger.
Sometimes, Prussia's hand lingers a bit too long under the table and Hungary tries not to show her amusement on her face. Austria's glances do the work to keep her from rising from her seat and head to her rooms as fast as she can. It's all too amusing, and there's this revengeful warmth in his chest that spreads to her whole body as she thinks of Austria breaking under Prussia's touch. It's not much but he suffers, and it's the best she'll get.
That night, she writes to Poland, a long letter of longing, and she remembers the better days, the colour of his blond hair in the sun. There aren't enough pretty words in German to make him understand the extent of her feelings, how she wishes that Russia's hands and Austria's words hadn't broken her into submission. There aren't enough words in German but Poland has never learned Hungarian, probably never will. There's the sound of ink against paper and she realises that she should have gotten herself a room closer to Austria's, only to hear his muffled breathing as Prussia uses him as a victor does, the way Austria never got himself to use her, leaving bruises of words over her body.
Maybe she's terrible for thinking those things. Maybe things could have been different and choices right, and now she could be free, had Austria chosen the right words or Russia hadn't beaten rebellion out of her senseless. Poland doesn't need to know about the demons hiding into the corners of her soul. Only Austria ever sees those, because she can't help it, really, and he brings out the worst out of her, even more than Prussia or Turkey or any of the others. That's how they work, nowadays, and the Empress still doesn't eat and the Emperor still has this underlying hardness in his eyes whenever he speaks to Hungary.
When she wets her fingers and pinches the candle on her small wooden desk off, she can't help but to think of Germany and of the terrible things are waiting for him when he'll finally wake up and see things for what they are. France is a time bomb waiting to blow up, even Hungary, who doesn't take care of diplomacy, knows it. Prussia will break his beloved brother just as how he broke every weapon he ever used, at one point or another. Hungary can feel it in her gut that when he does, it'll somehow be Austria's fault.
I've got an epilogue for this planned out, I'll write it down at one point or another, I think... Also I can't find my old fics nowhere, sorry for last time's anon.
I did research on the Anschluss recently, and one of the lines comes back to when reading this fic. Something about how the Austrians had always belonged to some greater entity and thought that's the way it should be, but the more the Germans talked about Greater Germany and German this German that, the more the Austrians didn't feel like they were part of it.
Yes ! Yes, exactly ! Oh god, I'm so happy that reading this made you reflect and research a bit on history and everything :D !
It's mainly subtext and I didn't feel like pulling a Victor Hugo and write a complete Author Tract (It's fanfiction, so yeah, not a place to write an essay...) but I wanted to contrast the vision Bismarck's Prussia (I know he's not Kaiser, but he's the mastermind here, sorry House of Hohenzollern.) and Franz-Joseph's Austria-Hungary had of what should be a country. On one side, you have the German Empire led by Prussia, Bismarck's "Kleindeutschland" centered around protestant Prussia that comprises people that more or less share the same language and culture. On the other side, you've got the multicultural danubian Monarchy, that's centered around a common monarch (sexy, sexy neo-absolutism) that got its ass kicked out of the German nation in the Austro-Prussian War because it liked the idea of a "Großdeutschland" ressembling the Holy Roman Empire. (Also Bismarck. Never forget Bismarck.)
So right now, they're in 1871-1872, the German Empire just got proclaimed after kicking France's ass, Prussia sort of wants to rub it in Austria's face that he's on the top of the world right now and Austria sort of still feels angry about having to share his power with Hungary and marry her. But Realpolitik; Prussia's new nemesis isn't Austria, it's France, and he won't do the usual "I kicked your ass, give me everything now" people do, chosing instead to be a bit more subtle in making him his bitch (as in having him as an ally or neutral in case the German Empire gets in a war, with France, most probably). Austria accepts the idea of a German Empire without him passively, becomes Prussia's ally in the Triplice later on, turns toward the Balkans because he can't go West anymore. The thing is that the idea of "one nation = one country" is kind of terrible for the Hapsburgs (and Austria), given that they have a lot of nations in one political entity. The worst part is that, since the marriage sort of gave Hungary a bit of freedom on smaller matters, the other nationalities want the same. Also, Hungary's growing influence in the empire makes her a bit bossy around the other nationalities, to which she imposes her own culture and political system the same way Austria did before that.
Then stuff happens and WWI and YEAH I'M RAMBLING. Anyway, A!A is ridiculously happy right now that someone got a bit of the historical subtext and hopes that the story is still enjoyable without having to search Wikipedia for history stuff or anything. (I'm a total nerd for 19th century politics, but I understand how most people find it really boring.)
Talking about Wikipedia, some more stuff, if anybody is interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_question http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magyarisation
Thank you Anon for another great part of the fill :) You put out a very cute young Germany. Don't worry, I was getting the references about the Prussia-Austria dynamics. I did learn in school about how Prussia and Austria were kinda initially competing as who would be able to make a united Germany, but then the Habsburgs wanted to keep their other nationalities, and how then Prussia managed to exclude the Austrians from Germany.
About the so called "magyarization", it is a bit of a more complex problem, and just the article you linked is not showing all the sides to it. Laws were in place to protect nationalities, but they were not acted on the same way at different places, and often the differences were due to the different views and cultures of the nationalities. For example the croatians were part of the Hungarian kingdom as a partly autonomous kingdom since around the 1100s or something, and quite different to almost all other nationalities in the kingdom, the croations had their own nobles and intellectuals. In other nationalities, like slovaks and romanians, they were almost exclusively low-social status people to begin with (to better understand it as well, a lot of different nationalities moved into the Hungarian kingdom after certain wars decreased the population on certain areas, but people moving in were mainly very common, low-born people, so they were not bringing nobles etc with them), and had little say in politics. With time, they began to get intellectuals who could speak up for them, but quite critically, politics at the time were controlled by nobles, and with little to none representation from certain nationalities, their issues were harder to represent. I mean back then, the parliament was almost entirely composed of nobles, at least the high, decision making class of them, so nationalities without them would be sorely under-represented.
Also as I think there were differences in attitude as well. Like the german and jewish nationalities inside Hungary were willing to identify with being part of a Hungarian nation, and working with the system, instead of going against it. On the other hand, Romanians for example had a much more negative attitude towards Hungarian national identity, and felt that it threatened their own national identity, and as the more they reflected their negative attitude, the more the system pushed down on them. Also there are some post-trianon political considerations as to why some nations try to enlarge those Austro-Hungarian times policies, and may want to show them in a skewed light. The Slovaks are a pretty extreme example, where they even argue that they were physically aggressively oppressed even, citing events that are not very realistic representations (like the massacre, where the shooting was ordered by ethnic slovaks). It's a very complicated problem, that is not necessarily properly represented even or especially on wikipedia. There are cases when wikipedia is not necessarily the best to trust. Oh well, I need to get back to studying!
Wow. I... wow. This is excellent- your characters are so believable, and I actually really love this time period a lot, and I just. Wow. (Also, your Germany hurts my soul (in a good way!)- he's so naive and earnest and you know the (first half of the) coming century is just going to beat it out of him really brutally and just ouch.)
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Der Totentanz der Mächtigen (3a/3)
(Anonymous) 2013-05-13 10:36 am (UTC)(link)And yet there’s something left, something that’s not quite new in the way Germany doesn’t talk about himself directly, listening to Prussia’s words as if they were the words of God. Austria’s glance avoids him as if he were some kind of eyesore, which he obviously isn’t, and Hungary wonders if it’s out of jealousy or out of hurt. She hopes that it’s both.
They’ve retreated to Schönbrunn before Germany’s arrival, on her own impulsion. The Hofburg doesn’t have a park large enough for her to avoid Austria and Prussia, and spring has come back to Vienna, giving her an excuse to escape its small streets and court gossip for a bit. Elizabeth is gone again and she feels a bit alone, but it doesn’t really matter. She walks in the park of the palace, plays her role, pretends to love Austria in front of their guests, even though it’s only Germany who actually believes in the lie. Prussia doesn’t seem to make a move to change his mind, and maybe it’s better this way for now. It doesn’t change the fact that Hungary wants to crub her skin off whenever Austria kisses her hand with a charming bow.
“Vienna is beautiful,” Germany says simply as they stroll through the gardens. It’s a surprisingly warm day, with the sun shining bright in the sky. Austria and Prussia are busy with politics, and neither Hungary or Germany have any real power in that kind of decision making.
“Yes, very,” she lies, easily. He’s not bad intentioned, just a bit new to how everything works here, and she can’t really blame him for that. “My husband and I like to leave the city a bit during the warmer months, to come here and profit from the parks and the gardens.”
“A bit like Sanssouci...”
Germany smiles a bit, and Hungary doesn’t really know what to do of this. There’s an aura of complete sincerity about him, a boy in the body of a man. He doesn’t seem to realise how many times she fought Prussia, how both her and Austria loathe his beloved brother for diverse yet valid reasons. He doesn’t get that the reason why they’re receiving them like this is not because they want to be friends, but because they’re forced to. Germany knows nothing of the world but the lights of victory in Versailles, the careful words exchanged between his brothers in front of Prussia and the celebrations of an Empire that has just been born.
“I guess it’s a bit like that, yes.”
She nods and they keep on walking, under the moving shadows of the trees, with the sound of leaves that rustle with the wind. They don’t need to speak any more than that, and Hungary observes the sky through the branches for a moment, and can’t help but to think about how easy it would be to catch a boat on the Danube from here and be in Budapest to see spring in the city and hear the sound of her own language on the streets. She knows that it won’t happen. Germany is still but a boy and already he has the whole world in front of him, an empire to himself and the whole of Europe to conquer. It doesn’t fit him, somehow, because he doesn’t have this subtle lust for power Prussia and Austria have.
“I... Can I ask you a question ?”
Der Totentanz der Mächtigen (3b/3)
(Anonymous) 2013-05-13 10:42 am (UTC)(link)"Of course."
"Is it normal..." He takes a deep breath. "Prussia and Austria's dealings ?"
Had Hungary not been used to hide her emotions carefully, she would have laughed at the way Germany seems uncomfortable with Austria's ways. He's good at what he does, Hungary can't deny him that, the subtle movements of the hand that make Prussia go insane with lust. If Hungary didn't hate him the way she did, for the scars on her back and the way he twisted words to make her submit to him, maybe she would have felt the same way as Prussia does. Austria represents everything Prussia will never truly have, and maybe that's the only reason why he can't help but to push him against the mattress and have his way as Austria silently complies.
Austria always silently complies, with Prussia, with Spain, long ago, with France and with Russia, buying his way out of wars with delicate hands and a skilled mouth. He's always been so dreadful at these war games anyway.
"It's normal for my husband," she answers simply, and it's not exactly false.
Germany stops walking and Hungary only realise a few seconds later, turning around to look at him strangely. He seems shocked to learn that Austria wages his war badly but loses beautifully. He takes a few moments to think, unmoving. When he speaks once again, there's this sort of misguided compassion in his voice. He doesn't understand that Hungary has never cared much for Austria's well-being and dignity since the start of the last century.
"I, em, I'm sorry."
He apologise as if it's his fault Prussia is the way he is, and Hungary walks up to him, places her hand on his large shoulders, smile with a gesture she stole from Austria, chasing away some invisible dust from the shoulder of Germany's obviously new coat. He flinchs at the gesture first, as if it was the first time a woman ever touched him. Maybe it is. Germany has been raised by weapons and men.
It's a bit sad because Germany can't really see the blind mix of adoration and hate that mixes itself in Austria's eyes every time he looks at him. Hungary does, and relishes in it, the pain that shows in small little ways under Austria's fair skin. He's too much like the Empire, before Europe took a shift toward this new era of science and reason for Austria not to feel that stir inside him, and yet he's too much like Prussia for Austria to ever forget that the Empire, his empire, is dead. Maybe Hungary should help him understand what's happening right now. She feels like she has to.
"Don't be sorry. That's the way it has always been."
They don't say more, walk in silence, Hungary looking at the sun that announces a nice summer over Vienna. Germany seems to be engrossed in profound reflections, as if Hungary's words were the most undecipherable hieroglyphs. They head back to Schönbrunn after a while, and Germany's steps grow more military as they approach the castle, knowing that he'll be facing his brother once again. The same nauseating obedience to Prussia flows from his pores once again. He can't see how sick it makes Hungary, but once again, it's most probably a good thing for his to be a tiny little bit ignorant of whatever his happening backstage.
They eat together as hosts and guests should, With the four of them over the table, Austria seems remarkably easy between Germany and Prussia, even though Hungary knows from the way he moves his neck that Prussia left traces of his passage over his body. He still avoids to look at Germany, still makes small, fancy talk in that singing accent of him that could have been endearing if Hungary hadn't been so sick of hearing it. German still feel strange on her lips when she adds little bits to the conversation. Prussia isn't mannered, has never been, but it's mainly because it pisses Austria so much that he does that.
"How is Bavaria ?" Austria dares to ask, and Prussia gives him an empty look, It's Germany that answers the question swiftly, with that blind, trusting ignorance that characterise him.
Der Totentanz der Mächtigen (3c/3)
(Anonymous) 2013-05-13 10:43 am (UTC)(link)Austria makes a spiritual comment about Bavaria's ever-changing mood and affections, and Prussia snorts very loudly. He doesn't say anything vulgar, though, and that alone surprises Hungary very much.
"Maybe we'll go visit him on the way back, won't we Germany ?"
Germany nods a powerful, convinced nod, and it's in that kind of moments that it shows the most, how ridiculously young he is. It always takes a century to truly understand the ways of humans and their games of war and peace.
They don't talk about how Prussia now wants to take over the world and how Austria would give everything to have Germany dead and the Empire back. There's nothing positive that could ever come out of something like this, and Prussia seems to want to keep Germany in that blissful ignorance he's in. Austria and Hungary aren't in the mood or a position to object. Germany talks a bit about Paris and the rest under Prussia's request, and it makes Austria's eyes shine with a thin shade of anger.
Sometimes, Prussia's hand lingers a bit too long under the table and Hungary tries not to show her amusement on her face. Austria's glances do the work to keep her from rising from her seat and head to her rooms as fast as she can. It's all too amusing, and there's this revengeful warmth in his chest that spreads to her whole body as she thinks of Austria breaking under Prussia's touch. It's not much but he suffers, and it's the best she'll get.
That night, she writes to Poland, a long letter of longing, and she remembers the better days, the colour of his blond hair in the sun. There aren't enough pretty words in German to make him understand the extent of her feelings, how she wishes that Russia's hands and Austria's words hadn't broken her into submission. There aren't enough words in German but Poland has never learned Hungarian, probably never will. There's the sound of ink against paper and she realises that she should have gotten herself a room closer to Austria's, only to hear his muffled breathing as Prussia uses him as a victor does, the way Austria never got himself to use her, leaving bruises of words over her body.
Maybe she's terrible for thinking those things. Maybe things could have been different and choices right, and now she could be free, had Austria chosen the right words or Russia hadn't beaten rebellion out of her senseless. Poland doesn't need to know about the demons hiding into the corners of her soul. Only Austria ever sees those, because she can't help it, really, and he brings out the worst out of her, even more than Prussia or Turkey or any of the others. That's how they work, nowadays, and the Empress still doesn't eat and the Emperor still has this underlying hardness in his eyes whenever he speaks to Hungary.
When she wets her fingers and pinches the candle on her small wooden desk off, she can't help but to think of Germany and of the terrible things are waiting for him when he'll finally wake up and see things for what they are. France is a time bomb waiting to blow up, even Hungary, who doesn't take care of diplomacy, knows it. Prussia will break his beloved brother just as how he broke every weapon he ever used, at one point or another. Hungary can feel it in her gut that when he does, it'll somehow be Austria's fault.
Author note
(Anonymous) 2013-05-13 10:48 am (UTC)(link)Re: Der Totentanz der Mächtigen (3c/3)
(Anonymous) 2013-05-14 12:04 am (UTC)(link)Author here !
(Anonymous) 2013-05-14 02:13 pm (UTC)(link)It's mainly subtext and I didn't feel like pulling a Victor Hugo and write a complete Author Tract (It's fanfiction, so yeah, not a place to write an essay...) but I wanted to contrast the vision Bismarck's Prussia (I know he's not Kaiser, but he's the mastermind here, sorry House of Hohenzollern.) and Franz-Joseph's Austria-Hungary had of what should be a country. On one side, you have the German Empire led by Prussia, Bismarck's "Kleindeutschland" centered around protestant Prussia that comprises people that more or less share the same language and culture. On the other side, you've got the multicultural danubian Monarchy, that's centered around a common monarch (sexy, sexy neo-absolutism) that got its ass kicked out of the German nation in the Austro-Prussian War because it liked the idea of a "Großdeutschland" ressembling the Holy Roman Empire. (Also Bismarck. Never forget Bismarck.)
So right now, they're in 1871-1872, the German Empire just got proclaimed after kicking France's ass, Prussia sort of wants to rub it in Austria's face that he's on the top of the world right now and Austria sort of still feels angry about having to share his power with Hungary and marry her. But Realpolitik; Prussia's new nemesis isn't Austria, it's France, and he won't do the usual "I kicked your ass, give me everything now" people do, chosing instead to be a bit more subtle in making him his bitch (as in having him as an ally or neutral in case the German Empire gets in a war, with France, most probably). Austria accepts the idea of a German Empire without him passively, becomes Prussia's ally in the Triplice later on, turns toward the Balkans because he can't go West anymore. The thing is that the idea of "one nation = one country" is kind of terrible for the Hapsburgs (and Austria), given that they have a lot of nations in one political entity. The worst part is that, since the marriage sort of gave Hungary a bit of freedom on smaller matters, the other nationalities want the same. Also, Hungary's growing influence in the empire makes her a bit bossy around the other nationalities, to which she imposes her own culture and political system the same way Austria did before that.
Then stuff happens and WWI and YEAH I'M RAMBLING. Anyway, A!A is ridiculously happy right now that someone got a bit of the historical subtext and hopes that the story is still enjoyable without having to search Wikipedia for history stuff or anything. (I'm a total nerd for 19th century politics, but I understand how most people find it really boring.)
Talking about Wikipedia, some more stuff, if anybody is interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_question
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magyarisation
OP
(Anonymous) 2013-05-15 10:08 am (UTC)(link)About the so called "magyarization", it is a bit of a more complex problem, and just the article you linked is not showing all the sides to it. Laws were in place to protect nationalities, but they were not acted on the same way at different places, and often the differences were due to the different views and cultures of the nationalities. For example the croatians were part of the Hungarian kingdom as a partly autonomous kingdom since around the 1100s or something, and quite different to almost all other nationalities in the kingdom, the croations had their own nobles and intellectuals. In other nationalities, like slovaks and romanians, they were almost exclusively low-social status people to begin with (to better understand it as well, a lot of different nationalities moved into the Hungarian kingdom after certain wars decreased the population on certain areas, but people moving in were mainly very common, low-born people, so they were not bringing nobles etc with them), and had little say in politics. With time, they began to get intellectuals who could speak up for them, but quite critically, politics at the time were controlled by nobles, and with little to none representation from certain nationalities, their issues were harder to represent. I mean back then, the parliament was almost entirely composed of nobles, at least the high, decision making class of them, so nationalities without them would be sorely under-represented.
Also as I think there were differences in attitude as well. Like the german and jewish nationalities inside Hungary were willing to identify with being part of a Hungarian nation, and working with the system, instead of going against it. On the other hand, Romanians for example had a much more negative attitude towards Hungarian national identity, and felt that it threatened their own national identity, and as the more they reflected their negative attitude, the more the system pushed down on them. Also there are some post-trianon political considerations as to why some nations try to enlarge those Austro-Hungarian times policies, and may want to show them in a skewed light. The Slovaks are a pretty extreme example, where they even argue that they were physically aggressively oppressed even, citing events that are not very realistic representations (like the massacre, where the shooting was ordered by ethnic slovaks). It's a very complicated problem, that is not necessarily properly represented even or especially on wikipedia. There are cases when wikipedia is not necessarily the best to trust. Oh well, I need to get back to studying!
Re: Der Totentanz der Mächtigen (3c/3)
(Anonymous) 2013-05-15 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)I... wow.
This is excellent- your characters are so believable, and I actually really love this time period a lot, and I just. Wow.
(Also, your Germany hurts my soul (in a good way!)- he's so naive and earnest and you know the (first half of the) coming century is just going to beat it out of him really brutally and just ouch.)