Saxony was once the most powerful state in North Germany, allied with France and united Poland and Austria to fight against each other.

However, during the Thirty Years' War, Saxony joined the French-led Protestant League, only to be vulnerable to Wallenstein's army.

Wallenstein's mercenaries are not good people, coupled with the religious contradictions of the church's propaganda, the war in Saxon has never stopped, and the first powerful state has been directly scorched to the ground for more than 20 years.

After that, although Saxony avoided the War for the Spanish Throne, the Duke of Saxony at this time also served as the king of Poland, and as a result, he was inexplicably involved in the Great Northern War (February 22, 1700 ~ September 10, 1721).

And coincidentally, their opponent, Karl XII, the greatest commander of the Kingdom of Sweden after Gu Erye, the Possa coalition army was defeated repeatedly, and finally had to choose to rebel.

As a result, the great commander suddenly wanted to go on an expedition to Russia.

Saxony had just caught his breath when he saw that Prussia next door was in the war for the Austrian throne (December 16, 1740 - October 18, 1748) and wanted to get a piece of the pie, only to be beaten by the Hungarians who had been buffed by the queen.

As for the discipline of the nomads, everyone understands it.

Then, during the ensuing Seven Years' War (1756-1763), the Saxons were the first targets of Prussia, who happened to be commanded by Frederick II.

As a result, Saxony was defeated in just one month, and Frederick the Great directly and unceremoniously took 86% of Saxony's annual income, and then integrated all the surrendered Saxon troops into the Prussian army.

Then Saxony, as a puppet army, was beaten by Austria, France, and Russia in turn

Finally, during the Napoleonic Wars, Saxony saw that the two big brothers next door (Austria and Prussia) were cleaned up by the French barbarians, so if they couldn't fight, they naturally had to join.

Napoleon's expedition to Russia in 1812

Although the kingdom of Saxony is no longer what it once was, marriage is still a viable option.

Although Saxony is no longer a military power, its strategic position is still important. In addition, thanks to the establishment of the German Customs Union, Saxony's economy has been climbing in recent years.

At the same time, as a transit point between North and South Germany, its voice and status in the German Confederation are also rising.

South Germany was basically the same standard gauge as Austria, while North Germany was largely broad-gauge under Prussian influence.

Most countries chose to take sides, with only Saxony building half broad gauge and half standard gauge.

What seemed stupid at the time was actually a huge benefit.

Regarding the gauge, the standard gauge is 1435mm, below which is the narrow gauge railway, and above the broad gauge railway.

In the early nineteenth century, the railways were mainly ruler-gauge railways (600mm), meter-gauge railways (1000mm), and English railways (1435mm).

In fact, the freight pressure at that time was not so great, and the most needed railways were often mines and industrial cities, so it was easy to turn around, and the ruler-gauge railways with a small footprint were popular.

Don't underestimate the problem of turning, especially on the mountain road, which is already limited, if the railway is too wide, it is not only a matter of floor space, but even a section of viaduct needs to be connected, then the additional cost will be astronomical.

In addition, in order to ensure the passage of wider and heavier carriages, the cost of bridges and tunnels will also rise sharply, which is more painful than the cost of construction and maintenance.

And the Austrian Empire, as a mountainous and river-rich country, was clearly not suitable for broad-gauge railways.

However, the ambitious engineers of the Austrian Empire proposed a 1500mm gauge, because in addition to a slight increase in capacity, the main thing was to reflect the demeanor of a great power, because the widest railway at that time was the British 1435mm.

Franz obviously wouldn't do that kind of thing that would cause a real disaster, but after doing a lot of research, it was found that 6.5 cm would not have much of an impact, and it would also be good for standardized production, as well as a slight increase in capacity and stability.

Franz's decision, made after much deliberation and a great deal of research, would make him a choke in the future.

In later generations, there were not many countries that adopted broad-gauge railways, and even fewer powerful countries did. The most famous of these is the Indian Railways, but its capacity is not as bad as that of Spain.

Historically, the Americans have also used broad-gauge railroads for a period of time, but they soon discovered that no matter how wide the railroad is, it is not as good as increasing the speed of the locomotive power.

As for the so-called more and more space, it is just a matter of adding an extra car. And the so-called safety is just like that, whether there is an accident or not depends mainly on management and maintenance.

Russia, Spain, and Portugal adopted broad-gauge railways mainly for military defense reasons.

The 1600mm railway adopted by Prussia at the instigation of Friedrich Liszt was also for national security reasons.

After all, the Austrian Empire was stronger than Prussia at this time.

To put it bluntly, Saxony was still very pro-Austrian in this era, especially since the Queen of Saxony and Madame Sophie were still twins, and King Friedrich August II was not very careful.

However, Franz did not marry the children of Madame Sophie's sisters, but the daughter of the next King of Saxony, John I, because Friedrich August II had no children.

John I had many daughters, the eldest of whom was married; The second daughter, Princess Elizabeth, was not married, but there was a lot of rumor about her, which was unacceptable to the Habsburgs.

Of the remaining four princesses, three of them were not in good health, and only Princess Stephanie was still healthy (born in 1836).

The marriage of Austria and Saxony was basically not opposed by any of the great powers except Prussia, and Prussia's opposition was practically useless.

At this time, John I was not yet a king, and he would be more than happy to make decisions for his daughter if he married.

As a princess of the same age as her sister, Franz is basically familiar with it, after all, little Maria likes to talk about her children when she has nothing to do.

Princess Stephanie does not have a strong personality, she does not like to read books or play around, she only likes to be alone and quiet, and she is a competent vase.

The biggest resistance came from Franz's mother, Madame Sophie, who felt that John's family was too poor to give birth to a healthy baby.

Although Mrs. Sophie had four sons, she was well aware of the importance of an heir.

This was mainly due to the level of medical care at the time, and it was normal for the heir to have an accident, such as the Roman king, who was "well cared for".

Therefore, in the traditional concept, whether a monarchy can be strong and sustainable mainly depends on whether it can be born.

In addition to better relations with Saxony, Saxony also had a strong desire for revenge against Prussia.

(End of chapter)