Holy Roman Empire

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A book about Austria’s recovery to mightiness!!!

A history about House of Habsburg’s struggles and successes!!!

The Holy Roman Empire — which was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire — now came back!!!

Associated Names
One entry per line
Đế Quốc La Mã Thần Thánh
神圣罗马帝国
Related Series
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Recommendation Lists
  1. Protagonists I like~
  2. Bring in Modern Earth Knowledge
  3. Novel Supremacy - LONG LIVE THE NOVELS! (Part 2)
  4. top list(10)
  5. Reincarnation in the past

Latest Release

Date Group Release
06/14/25 Novel World Translations c827
06/13/25 Novel World Translations c826
06/12/25 Novel World Translations c825
06/11/25 Novel World Translations c824
06/10/25 Novel World Translations c823
06/09/25 Novel World Translations c822
06/09/25 Novel World Translations c821
06/08/25 Novel World Translations c820
06/07/25 Novel World Translations c819
06/06/25 Novel World Translations c818
06/05/25 Novel World Translations c817
06/04/25 Novel World Translations c816
06/03/25 Novel World Translations c815
06/02/25 Novel World Translations c814
06/01/25 Novel World Translations c813
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16 Reviews sorted by


Invadingcat47
Invadingcat47 rated it
September 28, 2023
Status: c60
I don't get how people can rate this so high considering the political and economic building of the setting operates on magic and authorial fiats.

Let us then list the s*upidity that I saw that should have held back the Austrian Empire that the protagonist seems to think would make them a great power.

1. Keeping the whole agriculture industry primitive, that should have held back a lot of free hands that would help industrializing, the army and other industry. But somehow the economy does not stagnate with such policy and instead... more>> stonk goes up. Why? Because author say the main character is super smart.

2. Military enlistment based voting. I don't know how the protagonist even been able to pushed that law! Other group of interest beside the military would have Epstein's him if he tried to implement such policy that hurt a lot of group interest. And let's not even get started how such policy would have turn the whole society unto militarism like Japan, and we all know what happened to Japan. But through authorial fiats the protagonist magically still hold control of the government firmly instead of turning him into a rubber stamp by the junta.

3. F*cking over the whole private economy and free market by plunging straight into command economy. How in the cavernous backside can*l is he still able to uplift his economy with the amount of private people he had screwed over because of his Chinese socialist political leaning? I can't even count the amount of times I've face palmed because of the author unconvincingly trying to show that State Owned Enterprise as somehow capable of competing with the free market and more well run than privately owned enterprises, the fact that the author try to show that somehow an Enterprise subsidized by the government and held by political environment instead of trying to maximize profit is healthy for the economy, instead of hurting the private economy trying to compete with an Enterprise getting unlimited funds from the government.

4. Infamy, the whole series involves a lot of genocides through mass ethnic expulsion to push for a German ethnostate. But somehow despite keeping on doing that with the Hungarians, Romanians, Croatians, Bosnians, Albanians, other more Balkan groups, Greeks, Turks and other Islamic ethnic group, there is zero consequences with such horrific actions.

5. Don't get me even started with America, this also ties to infamy. Somehow the protagonist has magic power to convince most of Europe to support the s*ave state with him in the American civil war and even the magic power to convince the southern union to abandon s*avery, the whole reason they're going to war against the North. There is even zero consequences of a European catholic monarch supporting a s*ave state. Despite the North part of America would never accept the south going independence because that would leave them being Sandwiched by British Canada on the North and a new hostile state in the south, they just magically accept surrender and letting the south go independence.

The whole world building relies magic and author constantly telling you it all just works because the protagonist is a smart person <<less
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Mogroka
Mogroka rated it
June 3, 2020
Status: c902
5/5, the best nation-building/political novel on this site.

An excellent historical novel, yes, it's a reincarnation story ((You do not get to hear or learn about who he was before that much, I hardly recall what his name was because he became Franz)). Still, honestly, the MC rarely uses any, and the gain is not that great because the historical facts start to diverge quickly from real history. Furthermore, the MC does not bring modern technology and breaks the historical immersion; he is not a scientist. The MC is not... more>> a brute; you're not going to see him fight, nor shall he lead armies he leaves that to real generals and marshals of his Empire i. You're going to hear war and see the war-room tactics and some combat snippets, but overall you won't see it from a soldier's perspective but from a generals eye-view.

This novel mostly involves nation-building, diplomacy, intrigue, politics - "A LOT", and the economy.

The MC is smart, cautious, and cunning. He does not transform his nation into a superpower overnight, in fact, his nation is already in of the top 4 (Historically accurate) the balance is kept between the top four (UK, France, Austria and Russia) he does though bring back his nation from going into a decaying spiral back into striving for the top power.

Also, none of the nonsense about bringing liberal ideas from the future, he does not do that, in fact, he does the opposite and goes with current lifestyle, the MC really immerses himself into who he is currently.

His enemies are really smart, there are no stumbling idiots here plus his enemies sometimes become his allies the current era is the manifestation of "We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual." You do get to see the perspective of all the governments and most of their plans, some secrets are kept out of the picture until there is reveal.

It is excellently written the author has the correct facts and seems to know a lot about the current era.

The MTL is fine, but the translation is excellent, and I wish there were more! <<less
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mzgydedangel
mzgydedangel rated it
July 25, 2021
Status: Completed
MTL to the end and I was not disappointed. It was a wonderful portrayal of the 19th century and very informative about history, economy and politics. It spurred me to read up on various things while going through the novel and I can confidently say that I'm no longer so clueless when it comes to matters of economics and some government policies. Weirdly enough something so educational can be so entertaining. Don't expect MC to be OP. He can't even describe the operation of a refrigerator beyond the concept of... more>> "it keeps food cold" so don't expect him to be bringing in modern technology and breaking the technology tree. At most the emergence of certain technology is advanced by a few decades because he provides direction.

It's a testament to the author's talent that this is kept entertaining and interesting.

5/5 would read again (if not so long!) <<less
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NovelsAreLife
NovelsAreLife rated it
May 6, 2020
Status: c894
It was a bit boring at first due to the info dumps (or execution of it I guess?) in the beginning but once you get past that, its all good and it becomes enjoyable to read. It's not perfect but it's by far the best kingdom building novel that I have ever read so I'm giving it five stars. I really like the pov changes that give us insights to the thoughts and decisions of each government and ordinary people in response to the changes done by MC.

While the MC... more>> is a bit too hyper competent in statesmanship (Semi-plausible so I'll just think that the reincarnated MC is a genius historian with high EQ and considerable experience with management as it is shown with his actions in the novel and how he interacts with people), he still feels human with his own distinctive personality and hobbies. At the very least he's doesn't have the skills of a war god, wikipedia scientist/engineer tech god, doesn't think with his lower head unlike most novels in this genre. What he is good at is delegation, taking advantage of his future knowledge and getting people to do what he wants them to do (combined carrot/stick approach and timing).

My favorite interactions in the novel is with his own family and his ministers (especially with his sons Frederick and Peter). Edit: I can also vouch that MTL is of good quality. The translated chapters are still better but the quality of MTL for this novel is still amazing. I was very pleasantly surprised. It's easy to understand and not the usual brain bleach I encounter there with other novels.

The minor translating issues that stand out to me the most is that China is sometimes mentioned instead of the actual country being addressed. The same goes with Russia and Prussia. Prussia is often translated as Russia. <<less
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Depthphoenix
Depthphoenix rated it
March 9, 2021
Status: c1165
Absolutely marvellous and I am not talking about the story. Don't get me wrong the story is good. But a good story differs from person to person.

Why I think it's marvellous is because of how educational it is. It involves a lot of real world politics and policies that are hidden from the public. National goals and objectives that are followed no matter the government change.

How two seemingly best allies work behind the scenes to pit one another. How important the foreign ministry is which is somewhat overlooked by the... more>> general public. How businessmen and government clash. Why first world countries help third world countries develope?

So if you find (some will say its a fanfic boring) then read it to get a realistic behind the scenes look to modern politics. <<less
8 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
llltiagolll
llltiagolll rated it
July 26, 2020
Status: c1049
Its not perfect but its close enough (a little bit too much plot armor but who cares). Just the fact people are willing to read its MTL says a lot about its quality. The best Kingdom building and historical novel for me so far, not only interesting but enlightening, the XIX century is so well and deeply portrayed, that I can say that one can learn more history/economy/sociology with this novel than with a normal class in a university.
7 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
pipen53
pipen53 rated it
April 18, 2020
Status: c819
Thus is a pretty good kingdom building novel. Its has a believable plot and the MTL is of a very good quality.
7 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
FelixJones
FelixJones rated it
May 9, 2021
Status: c200
Great novel. One of my favorite alt-history/political reads. It's a pity it isn't translated past ch 60. (MTL gives me an aneurysm) : (
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
flyerton99
flyerton99 rated it
March 21, 2025
Status: Completed
I would like to say that while the author’s understanding and insight into 18th and 19th century politics and diplomacy is mostly well-founded, there are definitely blind spots that exist within the story.

As someone born into one of Europe’s longest reigning monarchs, Franz Joseph I of Austria, the story of him trying to guide the ailing empire through the 18th and 19th century almost certainly requires an understand of the time period.

The author’s rather dry writing style does not lend itself well to getting one emotional. There are vignettes showing... more>> the daily life of certain people underneath the conditions, but there is no continuity between these vignettes, which is somewhat disappointing. A development showing the growth of various groups over time would be much more interesting than one-off characters who are shown once and forgotten again.

There is also the problem that the author seems to run out of phrases at certain points. Lord Palmerston’s most famous speech in 1848 of ‘We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.’ is one you will be intimately familiar with over the course of the story, getting somewhat repetitive as time goes on.

There is also a rather abrupt and short ending, and some of the closure is missed this way, but overall the rest of the novel is relatively concrete and interesting.

The novel is rather long, it is almost certainly heavy on exposition and dry, but if you are open to reading about the time period, the intricacies of international politics, or just like nation building stories, it is a decent read if you have the time.

I normally would not engage in such a thing, but it genuinely irritates me that people are posting ignorant and, in some cases, blatantly false reviews, only for them to get liked by clueless people.

Antisemitism was not an authorial intent, Europe was simply just antisemitic at the time. You can see this by simply looking up the Second French Empire’s opposition to Jewish Finance Aristocrats, the Third French Republic’s famous Dreyfus Affair, the various Russian pogroms, the May Laws enacted by the Russian Tsar, this period was not friendly to the Jews.

It is not ‘Military enlistment based voting’, there is no voting system. The people with military exploits are feoffed, whereupon the meritous individual is elevated into landed nobility. Landed nobility being the conservative class whom the Emperor belongs to, and the class of people whom support him the most, especially after they conducted a violent counterrevolution to help the Habsburg dynasty.

The private economy part genuinely just baffles me in its portrayal by the reviewer. The main character is stalling the development of agricultural productivity like chemical fertilizers because of a market crisis. In the period of the Great depression of British agriculture, holding back productivity temporarily so that the country isn’t flooded by the unemployed (which suggests a problem with ‘free hands’ didn’t exist) is a temporary measure designed to improve national stability, a key policy.

The weird argument against ‘command economy’ is also baffling. State-owned enterprises were either a development of temporary measures to combat a market panic especially considering the era had numerous panics and crashes or they weren’t state-owned enterprises at all. Royally-owned enterprises are a different thing to state-owned enterprises, as seen by the way that modern royalty still own assets that are separate to the state treasury. The understanding of economics by this reviewer is frankly, infantile and ignorant. <<less
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avidnovelreader95
avidnovelreader95 rated it
September 15, 2021
Status: Completed
first of all i've read this novel as well as another novel by this author which has pretty much the exact same development, also I really appreciate these kinds of novels where the characters are competent it shows that they aren't just random cardboard cut outs. However after studying parts of history (which is my hobby) you start to feel how unrealistic this is. So for example the story like I said has competent characters however this is precisely the problem when you look back at it in history you... more>> can tell that for a fact a lot of those people in high positions were definitely not competent. This would also explain why there were numerous situations in history that were just fiascos, for example the Crimean war. Also the downplay of technology in this also doesn't make much sense. I get that the MC is portrayed as someone who knows history well but isn't a tech geek but if you know history well you would definitely know the general trend of upgrades for example say the improvement from matchlocks to flintlocks. Also I'm not saying that they should know the tech but that they know the general trend of development so my point is even if he doesn't know how to physically upgrade the gun he could simply find a reputable gun smith and point them in the right direction this would save immense amount of time and research. You have to know in research a big reason why funds are swallowed like crazy is because generally speaking the researchers don't exactly know the outcome, or the general trend of development thats why they are experimenting to figure it out. So if *cough* someone who traveled from the future comes along that knows this and points these researchers in that direction its gonna get discovered faster and cheaper.

anyways I still really appreciate the indept study into historical information and the competent characters however the non dues ex machina makes this unrealistic as it doesn't do justice as to how big the actual advantage the MC has by being a traverser. <<less
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Monomololo
Monomololo rated it
February 3, 2021
Status: --
Rating this based on having read the MTL to a certain point, the quality of the writing would probably be quite high if translated well, the understanding of history is quite in depth as well.

The reason for the bad rating is the unfortunate issue of historical revisionism.

For the first 300 or so chapters the story focuses on Europe, and it's obvious that the author has a decent understanding of the political and economic situation of the time period, even with his understanding having a certain bias to it, it all... more>> makes sense and fits.

Unfortunately, then the American Civil War happens.

Spoiler

Have you ever heard about "Lost Cause" revisionism? Where people claim that the main reason for the American Civil War wasn't the use of humans as chattel? Yeah, the author subscribes to that theory wholeheartedly, and the main character somehow magically convinces all of Europe that they should openly support the South (political su*cide, given the prevailing popular opinion, and the fact that he was a monarch who ruled a country that had abolished s*avery in all of it's lands and territories, even colonies) and that they could convince the South to abolish their "Peculiar Institution" afterwards.

[collapse]

It was at this point that all historical realism died, for reasons that I can only assume are somehow linked to the author's real life biases or political views.

Past that point I couldn't read anymore and had to drop the story. The only reason the rating is as high as it is despite not being translated and being biased and revisionist is because of how well the story is put together and the level of historical detail that obviously went into writing it. <<less
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Sosseres
Sosseres rated it
July 19, 2020
Status: c1026
I like this novel a lot. The premise of a modern person becoming crown prince in the era of decline of monarchies in Europe is surprisingly strong. The author takes some advantage of setting a person with historical interest in the era as the reincarnated to twist things in a better direction. At least prior to the butterfly effect going out of control.

I especially like that he does not know how to make an air plane or a state of the art electrical generator. His skill set is history, while... more>> knowing about the hit technologies by being from a future time. This is already a great advantage when you are in an advantageous starting point. Something as simple as knowing that compulsory educations pays for itself multiple times over isn't obvious prior to it being implemented for two generations. Or knowing that oil is a strategic resource that caused multiple wars in the future, grab it while it is cheap. ;) What I don't like is a bit harder to define. Perhaps pushing the premise of the story too far in some cases. Focusing on strong nations and the things they can eat. The interests overriding everything else. These things are true but not to the degree pushed in some early stages of the novel. Later on this is much more nuanced with nation opinion forcing some actions. Could also be me being from a much more peaceful and structured era.

As for the MTL, it is decent. A lot of problems with it but nothing that really hinders reading it. Three common errors was that any time that a homeland of some type was refereed to it was translated as China, a list of things often has the last one repeating and that Prussia is often translated as Russia. The last one becomes especially interesting as they share a border and thus are often discussed in potential politics.

Updated opinion around chapter 1000. The novel is now overstaying its welcome.
Spoiler

There is no global tension remaining for the MC. We are basically just following the alternative history forward with no goal in place. I guess it ends with his death instead of becoming a unified HRE which the title is focused on. I won't know since I have lost interest in the story after the big climax has been reached and things keep going (just as in real life).

[collapse]
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WuBU
WuBU rated it
December 17, 2023
Status: c67
I made an earnest attempt to enjoy this novel, truly, but the experience has proven to be a relentless grind. Each chapter unfolds as an unending stream of exposition, lacking character development or even engaging interactions between the characters. The cast merely speak in the author's voice without truly acting through the writing, only to be followed by exhaustive exposition outlining and rehashing the events and their intricacies to remove you from any immersion you might have clung to.

Battles and political intrigues are meticulously explained, yet they are completely undetailed... more>> and without any satisfying payoff. Major plot points are buried in the background without any narrative development or climax, such things are simply meant to be dryly exposited and moved on from.

It would be more rewarding to read a middle-school history textbook. It provides the same meticulous recounting without any real impact or detail, you can also avoid subjecting yourself to the author's lackluster characterizations. Or, to try and salvage something from the novel you could make accompanying finger-puppets to try and inject some level of animation into the novel. <<less
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ObisidianRevenger
ObisidianRevenger rated it
April 9, 2023
Status: c459
Man oh man. What a book. I won't talk about stuff like plot armor and all.

This book is truly engaging. It describes the environment of that time well. It's so easy to draw a picture in my head about the overall political atmosphere during those times when I read this. I managed to pass 400 chapters without even thinking of stopping. That's how much engaging it is. Not to mention how much I managed to learn from this. FFS if they taught history in school like this then most of... more>> us would be having to satisfy from reading stuff like this or scouraging on Wiki.

Truly recommend a read. <<less
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Nightwing
Nightwing rated it
October 20, 2022
Status: Completed
This book does a great job of creating an alternate 1800s where Austria comes back as a great power. There is a ton of realism, and you can see the author's passion for economics and history.

There's also quite a bit of humor as well. The turns of phrase and metaphors land even through the language barrier.

... more>>
Spoiler

A couple issues: It's written by a Chinese author so the worldview is tinted through that lense. Predictably, Japan is in for bad luck and China is untouched. The American Civil War apparently has no racial motivations, and black s*aves fight for the Confederates. Also if you're African or Middle Eastern - tough. You are genocided and there are no reprecussions. Both regioms have basically no native survivors. And then an uncomfortable amount of antisemitism is also scattered around. So don't expect to enjoy the read if you can't gloss over those parts.

Another complaint is that some simulations are basically put on easy mode to smooth the path for the HRE. In the few wars that take place, Austria is basically in a perfect situation. Almost to an unrealistic point where the other side wouldn't even want to fight. Both France and Britain decide that they can fight a much larger and more powerful version of WW1 Germany alone. For example, despite being historically anti-war at this point in time, a much weaker version of the US decides to join the much weaker Britain's side and proceeds to get whooped. Presumably so the author could find a way to further split the US.

For perspective, the final war with Britain would be the equivalent of modern day Russia declaring war on all of NATO and thinking they would win.

[collapse]

Spoiler

The US is also incredibly weak in the final war. Historically during WWI, the US economy was something like 2-3x the size of the British economy with a population of about 100 million. So even weakened by losing the Civil War, it's surprising how weak they are. A half or even 1/3 strength US is still a force to be reckoned with in early 1900s. Instead of nerfing them into the ground, something like a second Civil War or permanent isolationism would've been a more realistic move.

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Another issue is lack of characters. Not character development, but characters at all. It can make the story incredibly dry.

Essentially you are reading a Paradox Victoria campaign. <<less
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Alex Woods
Alex Woods rated it
October 3, 2023
Status: --
Very interesting read. The author really knows how to write a good historical fiction. The authors describes the political, economical and social situation. So it makes the decision made by the MC more impactful. The characters are not s*upid, they have their own motives. They are wrong sometimes but it makes sense according to their times.

I love how the MC doesn't introduce new technology. I am sick and tired of the stuff. MC is not a super mastermind and doesn't know about every aspect of the country. He takes advice... more>> of many people before taking decisions.

This is political drama done right <<less
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