Holy Roman Empire

Looking in the direction of Frederick III's finger, Leo von Caprivi couldn't help but blurted out: "India!"

After speaking, Leo von Caprivi seemed to realize that he had made a slip of the tongue, and he fell into silence, with only one concept in his mind: the Austrians made a move.

The scary thing about Yangmou lies in this. Anyone can see it clearly, but they can't help the temptation of benefits.

As early as during the first Near East War, the Russians were cheated by Austria, but even if they were cheated, the relationship between Russia and Austria remained unaffected.

The reason is very simple. The Russians got the benefits promised by the Vienna government, and they were willing to be cheated.

No matter how heavy the loss is, can it compare to Constantinople?

As long as the benefits are in place, the losses are nothing at all.In essence, the potential strength of the Russian Empire has also grown, but it will take time before it can be transformed into national strength.

If you know it, you know it, but the Berlin government didn't mean to remind the British.Some time ago, they just put the British together, and the relationship between Britain and Prussia is not so harmonious.

……

The Berlin government has analyzed it, and the London government can also analyze it. Of course, the positions of the two are different, and the conclusions drawn are also different.

The Berlin government suspected that Austria would encourage the Russians to annex India, while the London government believed that Austria was eyeing India.

After all, this is the richest colony in the world, richer than the rest of the colonies combined. There is no reason why the Vienna government should not be ambitious.

While supporting the Ottoman Empire, Gladstone also abandoned his own policy of "glorious isolation".

Here are the six principles he laid out before taking the Prime Ministership:

1. Establish good government in the country;

2. To maintain peace abroad;

3. To keep the great powers of Europe in harmony;

4. Not to ally with other countries;

5. Recognition of the equal rights of all nations;

6. Empathize with freedom.

There are two basic points of these six principles: one is to coordinate and mediate among the countries of the European continent to establish a so-called "coordinated Europe";

The second is to avoid alliances with other European countries in order to maintain their own freedom of action and achieve "glorious isolation".

However, the plan did not change quickly, and before these policies of Gladstone could be realized, the international situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

If before the outbreak of the Near East War, the glorious isolation policy was still the best choice for the London government, then after the outbreak of the Paris Revolution and the establishment of the Anti-Turkish Alliance, it was no longer feasible.

Facing the increasingly severe international situation, the British urgently needed allies to contain Austria in the European continent to ensure India's security.

Looking at the whole world, there are only three pitiful countries capable of containing Austria. Apart from Britain itself, there are only France and Russia that are not in a good state.

Putting his hands together on the table, Gladstone said solemnly, "Everyone, it's time for multiple-choice questions.

Britain needs a powerful ally to deal with the upcoming international changes. Now let's choose one from France, Russia and Austria! "

There is nothing wrong with it, and Austria is also one of the options.In the British dictionary, friend and foe can be switched.

When a country is too strong to suppress and cannot be an enemy, turning the enemy into a friend is also one of the options.

Foreign Secretary George was the first to answer: "Prime Minister, this is a multiple-choice question, we have no choice at all.

With the fall of France and Russia, the situation on the European continent has become clear, and Austria, which is not visible, has become our biggest threat right now.

Of course, it is not ruled out that the Austrian Empire is also paper.

It's just that this possibility is very small. Austria has not been in chaos during the Great Revolution that has spread to the whole of Europe. I don't think there will be problems within them in a short time.

At this time, our alliance with Austria will undoubtedly further fuel their arrogance.

The Russians are also not a good choice. The interests of Russia and Austria are too closely linked. Before the power is restored, it is difficult for the Tsarist government to stand on the opposite side of Austria.

What's more, the credit of the Russians is too bad, we don't have the ability to use force to collect debts, and giving them blood transfusions means nothing.

In fact, we are left with only one option - France.

The ambitious French were also not a good ally in my personal sense.

Supporting them requires taking great risks, and the possibility of backlash is very high. We must grasp this degree. "

Not only wanting to attract allies, but also worrying that the allies will take the opportunity to grow bigger, and the London government is also worried about balancing the European continent.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Hugh Childers objected: "Isn't it good to encourage the arrogance of the Austrians?

You must know that this is a different enemy from the past. After the civil strife broke out in France, Austria has become the de facto hegemony of continental Europe.

However, this overlord is different from the previous European overlords. The Austrians dominated European affairs through the Vienna system, and they did not have the habit of extending their hands indiscriminately. They held back including the civil strife in France.

This behavior of restraint has given the Austrians a good international image in front of European countries, and they even maintain good relations with every European country.

Facing such an enemy, besieging is the worst option. No one knows how many allies they can pull out. The best option is to let them make their own mistakes. "

"Praise and kill" is the option with the lowest cost, but the prerequisite is that it must be able to kill, otherwise there will only be "praise" left, and the loss will be great.

After hesitating for a moment, Gladstone shook his head: "The success rate is too low, we can't rely on the Austrians to make mistakes.

If they don't make a mistake, we will unleash a monster with our own hands, and finally eat back at ourselves.

No, Austria is already a man-eating monster, and one that is good at camouflage.

We have been deceived by their disguise before, so that we are only now aware of their threat. "

……

Chapter 21 放纵模式2.0

Forming an alliance is a complicated matter that needs to be considered in all aspects. It is not that there are no contradictions between Britain and France. On the contrary, the two countries are competitors in many places.

Austria put enough pressure on the British, but not enough on the French, at least the Paris government didn't feel deeply about the Austrian threat.

Don't look at the recent civil war that hurt France, and it won't take a few years to recover. This is just the opinion of the outside world. Most French people still feel good about themselves.

Conceptual cognition cannot be changed overnight. The bigger the country, the more stubborn it is in this regard. Self-confidence is often accompanied by arrogance.

What's more, what the French lost was only the economy, and basically no military power was lost. They are still the most terrifying man-eating beasts in the European world.

In the temporary royal palace in Paris, Napoleon IV still has not recovered from the hatred of destroying his family. He changed his previous tolerance for revolutionaries and ushered in the era of white terror.

This is an inevitable result. No ruler can tolerate the existence of a chaotic party. The previous tolerance was for the sake of the overall situation. Now that the situation is stable, it is natural to settle accounts after the fall.

If the rebels go unpunished, wouldn't everyone be encouraged to rebel?

For Napoleon IV, the most urgent task is to restore the lost majesty of the monarch and rebuild the glory of the monarch.

The haggard Napoleon IV asked in a deep voice, "How much do you think the British alliance proposal is true?"

Suspicion is necessary. The relationship between Britain and France is very bad most of the time. There are too many times of being tricked, and it is difficult not to learn a lesson.

Foreign Secretary Terrence Bulkin analyzed: "Integrating all factors, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thinks it has five points at most.

Recently, we have been busy with domestic affairs, and the international situation has undergone earth-shaking changes.

Without our check, Austria exposed its ambitions.

Judging from the current situation, as long as we don't intervene, the demise of the Ottoman Empire will become a foregone conclusion.

A Persia could not stop the pace of Austria's expansion, and the British felt a personal threat, so they rushed to win over their allies to share the pressure.

However, Ottoman's demise did not hurt the European world, and the people still applauded. The British wanted to use international pressure to force Austria to stop, but they couldn't do it at all.

In this respect, we are their only choice.However, the contradiction between us and the British is not small.

What happened in China not long ago has the shadow of the British. These accounts have not been settled with them. Why do the British think that we will stand with them?

I am afraid that it is not enough to put aside the conflict between the two countries based on the threat of Austria alone.

Unless the London government is willing to pay a price to make up for our losses, I have sufficient reasons to suspect that this is because the British are worried about our revenge and deliberately divert our attention. "

There is no way, the French have been tossed miserably recently. Although many countries in Europe have done black hands, the biggest black hand is still Britain.

First, the financial shorting of the franc, followed by commodity dumping and support for the Revolutionary Party, and even conflicts broke out in overseas colonies.

Don't think that the French government will be grateful to them when the London government stopped and gave them a hand at the last moment.

This is impossible, the human's vengeance attribute is far stronger than the gratitude attribute.If it were not busy with internal affairs, the French government would have been considering how to retaliate.

"There is no eternal enemy between countries, only eternal interests."

That statement is nice, but not entirely accurate.A country may not hold grudges, but people do.

As the beneficiaries of the French civil strife, the British naturally do not have hatred; but as the victims of the French, it is difficult for the French to let people forget their hatred immediately and rationally weigh the pros and cons.

Of course, if the benefits are large enough, it is also possible to temporarily forget the hatred.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Roy Vernon: "Whatever the real motives of the British, we need to engage with them.

Right now our task is to restore the economy, and we will not have enough energy to participate in international issues for a long time to come.

Not to mention that Austria has not yet destroyed Ottoman, even if it has annexed Ottoman, it is also a problem for the British. "

This is a common view of European countries. In most people's minds: Ottoman is a wild land, where a group of uncivilized barbarians live.

Especially after seeing the fierce resistance of the Ottomans, everyone was more relieved.It was all a piece of white ground, and there was no way to increase Austria's national strength.

Many people were ready to read jokes, and even some newspapers publicly ridiculed: Austria fought a war destined to lose money out of hatred.

There is nothing wrong with it, purely from an economic point of view, it is necessary for the Vienna government to lose money.

According to the news brought back by war reporters, the Ottomans are all soldiers, and every inch of mountains and rivers is truly bloody.

The land occupied by the Anti-Turkish Alliance is basically in ruins. Roads, bridges, and farmland have been destroyed, dams and rivers have been blown up, and only rubble remains in the city. Even the wells have been poisoned.

The small number of people are old and weak, women and children, and each of them has a hostile gaze, and they may turn into terrorists at any time.

Napoleon IV nodded: "The Foreign Office should talk to the British. The London government wants us to help restrict Austria, so let them help us restore the economy first.

Britain and Austria control the price of international coal transactions, and it is time to break it.As a sincerity of cooperation, let the British cut the export price of coal by half first. "

After the outbreak of the economic crisis, in order to gain an advantage in international competition, British and Austrian capital deliberately drove up the export price of coal.

French industry and commerce need to bear the energy cost twice as high as that of British and Austrian enterprises.For French industry and commerce, it is crucial to break this malicious monopoly.

……

The news that Britain and France are getting closer is not a secret. The greatest significance of the existence of this alliance itself lies in its deterrent effect, so it is natural to publicize it.

The first to bear the brunt is Austria. Whether Franz is willing to admit it or not, the Anglo-French alliance is still the most powerful combination these years.

At least in terms of influence, even now, more than 80.00% of people in the world still believe that Britain and France are the most powerful countries in the world.

For a long time after the Franco-Prussian War in the original time and space, the outside world generally believed that France was stronger than Germany, and the failure was just an accident. How can people make sense of this?

Foreign Minister Weisenberg: "Our alliance with Britain and France will expire in one year, and judging from the current situation, the possibility of renewal is almost zero.

Recently, we have put too much pressure on the British, and they can't wait to win over the French.

However, Britain and France are still full of contradictions, and it is difficult to reach an agreement in a short period of time. If we release a certain amount of goodwill, the Anglo-French alliance is likely to end without a problem. "

Standing up from his position and wandering around the room for a few steps, Franz said cautiously: "We must prevent England and France from approaching, this is a dangerous signal.

Austria is not afraid of any major power, but absolutely cannot tolerate the existence of a hostile alliance.

The alliance of two major powers is not as simple as 1+1=2, which means that the European world's tolerance for us is about to cross the line.

Napoleon is a lesson for us, and similar things must not happen to us.

There should be no alliance of great powers in the European world except the one we dominate.

In this regard, the British are worth learning. If the Anglo-French alliance cannot be split, then find a way to join it.

Britain, France and Austria are about to expire, isn't it still expired?

The British can buy the French, and so can we, even at a higher price.

Napoleon IV didn't want to surpass his father, so let's give them a chance to see if the French have such a good appetite. "

When it comes to the generosity of others, Franz has always been generous.The big picture and long-term interests are all floating clouds for him.

The nineteenth century and the twenty-first century are completely different concepts. The most valuable thing now does not mean that it will have the same value in the future.

After a pause, Franz continued: "Aren't the British planning to build North Germany? To help them, we pretended not to see anything."

Prime Minister Felix hastily objected: "Your Majesty, this is absolutely unacceptable, otherwise the road to German unification will be far away."

Franz waved his hand: "Our Prime Minister, please calm down first. It is easy to establish the North German Empire, but it is not easy to keep North Germany.

After this economic crisis, the French have realized the importance of energy, and the French government will definitely find a solution.