Holy Roman Empire

Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Sardinia and other countries have all taken action to expel the French from the border areas.

According to preliminary estimates, the anti-French alliance has reached an agreement to carve up France.Most of the current deportation is to prepare for the next territorial annexation.

Because the French army took similar actions in the German region before, the anti-French alliance is going to retaliate now, and we are not morally condemned. "

The Madonna is not popular these days, and blood debt is the mainstream of the times.The European Continental War was a war of aggression initiated by the French, and it was only natural for the Anti-French Alliance to retaliate.

Of course, the more important thing is that the anti-French alliance is too strong by the "billion" point.The vast majority of European countries are members of the anti-French alliance, and a few neutral countries also followed suit.

Continental Europe has the same stand, and Britain's transcendent status naturally no longer exists.Standing directly on the opposite side of the anti-French alliance, the London government also counseled.

Upon receiving this bad news, Gladstone frowned even tighter: "Find out the content of the treaty at all costs, and don't rush to express your position before that.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued to communicate with Russia and the West. Austria, which was too powerful, was not in their interests, and encouraged them to come out to fight for the spoils. "

This is an overt conspiracy. Every major European country has a dream of hegemony over the continent, and Russia and the West are no exception.

Austria has become the biggest stumbling block on their way to supremacy, and if given the chance, they definitely wouldn't mind kicking it away.

George shook his head: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, this is impossible. Spain has already fallen, and now it is busy counterattacking the Philippines. It is the time when Austria's support is needed, and it is impossible to turn around.

The Russians are indeed ambitious, but their way to the west has been blocked, and they will not turn against Austria if they are not sure enough. "

"Potential" competitors are only "potential".Spain is too weak to compete for hegemony; the Russians are powerful, but the tsarist government is not stupid.

It is easy to compete for loot, the problem is to eat it.Whether it is to carve up the mainland of France or to compete for overseas colonies, a powerful navy is needed to back it up.

This is exactly what the Russian Empire did not have.Turning faces with allies for something you can't get can only happen if your brain is flooded.

Gladstone slammed the table: "If we can't do it, we have to do it, the anti-French alliance is too strong, we can't directly compete with them, we can only disintegrate from within.

If Russia and Spain cannot be persuaded to oppose Austria, then find a way to join the alliance.In short, Britain cannot be isolated from the European world. "

Join if you can't do it, this is a traditional British skill.Back then, France and Austria were all allies, but after Britain joined, the two countries soon became strangers.

If there are international relations scholars who study this period of history, they will find that there is an obvious turning point in the relationship between France and Austria.

Before the establishment of the Triple Alliance, the two countries were in a honeymoon period; after the establishment of the Triple Alliance, the contradictions between the two countries continued to intensify, which directly led to the disintegration of the alliance.

From this point of view, Britain also played a disgraceful role in this European war, but it miscalculated the strength of both sides, which led to the collapse of the game in the later stage.

Chapter 228 Tangled......

It is not only the international situation that worries the British government, but also the accompanying economic problems.

If nothing else, most of the markets that the French withdrew from were replaced by Austrian industrial and commercial products, and Britain could only pick up some leftovers.

The law of "the strong get stronger" also applies here.Austria itself is an industrial overlord, and now it has seized the French market. Domestic industry and commerce will definitely develop further.

A little bit of common sense knows that the more industrial and commercial products are produced, the lower the cost and the stronger the market competitiveness.

The market is so big, and the further development of Austria's industry and commerce is bound to compete with Britain.

Not to mention other regions, at least Britain's market share in Europe will definitely be squeezed.

As the market shrinks, the profits of enterprises will decrease, and the money invested in product development and promotion will also decrease. This is a vicious circle.

Of course, these are long-term issues. Britain has the richest colony in the world, and it can sustain it in a short period of time.

The big deal is to slowly transform the economy, abandon the low-profit manufacturing industry, and vigorously develop the financial and service industries.The original time and space have done this, so it is naturally possible now.

The long-term problem is the next one, or the next one, Gladstone can't afford to worry about them, the current troubles are enough for him to have a headache.

As the world's largest financial empire, usury is naturally indispensable.Everyone knows that those who play in finance are the masters of boldness and integrity.

As long as the benefits are big enough, no matter how big the risks are, someone will do it.

In Britain, which advocates a free economy, the government does not interfere with private lending.Naturally, these speculators were indispensable in the European war.

Some people make blood, and some people lose blood.With the continental war over, the financial groups that bet on the French government are now locked in.

If the consortium's money was locked up, Gladstone would just open champagne to celebrate, and would not care about the life and death of these vampires at all.

It's a pity that the vampires are very shrewd and have carefully planned the script long ago. The profits are their own, and the losses are raised from the folks.

From the end of the European War to the present, more than [-] financial institutions in Britain have declared bankruptcy, directly throwing the mess to the government.

It is impossible to collect debts. Judging from the current situation, even if the French government has money, it has been scoured by the anti-French alliance.It is estimated that it will be impossible to fulfill this debt within decades.

Before the bad debts of the French could be dealt with, the German Federation broke its debt default again, which once again dealt a blow to the London government.

This time it is not just private loans, many of which are backed by the British government.

No way, the German Federal Government declared bankruptcy.In order to save money and expenses, they even abolished the embassy in London and entrusted the business to the Austrian embassy in London.

It's not that the German Federal Government deliberately "repudiated the debt", they really have no money now.The following states did not pay taxes, the Central Region was smashed again, the government lost all income, and even the salaries of public officials had to be advanced by Austria, let alone repay the money.

As the settlement nears the end of the year, the government can't afford to pay off its debts, so it can only choose to go bankrupt and default.

In fact, the German Confederation was not the only one that went bankrupt.The Belgian government, whose hometown was sacked, also declared bankruptcy at this time.

If you have no money, you have no money, and you don’t pretend to be poor.They didn't target Britain alone, but defaulted on all the debts together.It's just that Britain has lent the most and has become the biggest victim.

"Have the governments of the two countries given an explanation?"

The French government, Gladstone, simply ignored it. Obviously, he didn't think he could get money from the anti-French alliance.

It was a well-known fact that the governments of Beetle and Germany had no money, and Gladstone did not expect them to come up with it anytime soon.

It doesn't matter if you don't have money, Britain has a professional financial team.As long as you can come up with enough collateral, you can borrow another loan without any problem.

The key lies in the attitude to solve the problem, whether to "suspend payment" because of lack of money, or to "repudiate the debt".

"The proposal given by the Belgian government is to defer the payment for five years and use the war indemnity paid by the French as a guarantee. After five years, the war indemnity paid by the French will be paid to us first.

The plan given by the German Federal Government is to transfer the creditor's rights, directly deducting the corresponding amount from the war reparations, and the French will bear the debt.

Theoretically speaking, the plans of the two governments of Belarus and Germany are acceptable.The only question is whether the French will be able to pay. "

It's not that George is merciful, it's because the situation is special now.Now Belgium is a poor ghost, the national treasury does not need to be closed, and there is no oil at all.

The situation in the German Federation seems to be better, but this government is too weak and may close at any time.

If the debt problem is not dealt with quickly, when Austria announces the restoration of the Holy Roman Empire and the dissolution of the illegal organization of the German Confederation, even the creditors will be wiped out.

No country will pay for an illegal government established by a rebellious party, unless Britain can make Austria recognize the legitimacy of the German Federal Government.

This is obviously impossible.Recognition of the legitimacy of the German Federal Government means the division of the empire. Vienna was able to withstand the pressure 30 years ago, let alone now.

"Trouble!"

"Judging from the current situation, the Anti-French Alliance will definitely hit the French hard, and the war reparations may not be a billion pounds.

The sacrifices made by Belgium in this war were very large, and Austria had to appease it both emotionally and rationally, and the proportion of compensation should not be low.

With five years as a buffer, the French should have recovered a bit of their strength. Even if the indemnity cannot be paid in full, the part allocated to Belgium every year is enough to pay our debts.Even if there is a deficiency, the Belgians can make up for it.

The German Federal Government's proposal is troublesome. We seem to have no loss in the transfer of creditor's rights, but in fact we need to bear a very large risk.

Not only to worry about the ability of the French to pay, but also to consider the political risks.If Russia and Austria play tricks and let the French deliberately delay, or pay off the transferred debts at the end, it is estimated that by the end of this century, we will not see the money. "

If Gladstone wasn't worried, Britannia had used similar means before, and now that Feng Shui had turned, it was their turn to be passive.

Accepting the transfer of creditor's rights from the German Federation means high risk; rejecting the transfer of creditor's rights does not even have the opportunity to take risks.

The current German Federal Government is like a limited liability company that is about to go bankrupt with huge debts, and it is still the one with the lowest registered capital.

Anyway, everyone is only responsible within the scope of the registered capital. Both the legal person and the shareholders have chosen to stop losses in time, and have no intention of saving the company.

As a creditor, Britain is a tragedy, either to collect the company's bad debts outside, or to wait for bankruptcy and liquidation.

Foreign Minister George added: "Not only us, but other creditors of the German Federation are also treated in the same way, including the Royal Bank of Austria.

Now George I has thanked the guests behind closed doors and has thrown everything to the German Federal Government. The Kingdom of Hanover and the German Federal Government have completed the separation.

In order to stop the loss, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposed to use the colony to pay off the debt, but they refused.Aivar is still clamoring that as long as they dare to touch their colony, they will go to war with us. "

It's not a fuel-efficient lamp, even Britain's own son is now rebellious.No matter how good the relationship was in the past, in short, they will not bear the debt.

Even if they know that they offend Britain in this way, they are fearless now.Anyway, the revived Holy Roman Empire is the overlord of the European continent, and the central government will support the British if they want to make trouble, so there is no need to coax them.

……

It is not only the British government that is also struggling, but the Japanese government far away in Tokyo is not feeling well now.Even the Japanese occupation of the Philippine Islands did not make Emperor Meiji feel relieved.

There's no way, plans don't change fast.I originally planned to speculate after the situation became clear, but unfortunately, due to inconvenient communication, the news from the Japanese government was delayed for a few days.

However, in just a few days, the French surrendered.So much so that the gauntlet prepared by the Japanese government could not be sent out.

Even if you want to forcibly touch porcelain.The French Indochina Peninsula was preempted by the British, and several French islands in the Nanyang region fell into the hands of Austria, none of which they dared to provoke.

The failure of speculation has put Japan in a very awkward position. The international situation is not friendly to them, especially the upcoming Vienna Peace Conference.

Spain is a European country and a member of the anti-French alliance. It is clear at a glance who everyone will support at the Vienna Peace Conference.

Without the recognition of all countries, the Philippine Islands they occupy are rootless and may be snatched away at any time.

In the days that followed, they not only had to worry about the Spaniards' counterattack, but also be wary of the black hands of Britain and Austria against them.

Before Spain was able to defend the Philippine Islands, it was not only because of its strength. It was purely based on strength. Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal were not qualified to defend the colonies in their hands, and it was more due to political factors.

Now that the situation in Europe has changed drastically, and the Philippine Islands have fallen into the hands of the Japanese, the original political factors are no longer applicable at this time.

Having missed the speculative opportunity, if the Japanese government wants to defend the Philippine Islands, it can only speak with its strength.

"Prime Minister, what is the position of the European countries?"

Ito Hirobumi's expression tightened, and he said with some embarrassment: "The situation is not optimistic. I personally visited the ministers of various countries, and even if the empire made concessions, it did not get any clear support from any country.

Among the great powers, the British were vague, as if they cared nothing about our occupation of the Philippines; the Russians were also more inclined to Spain, and had no guarantees from them after the imperial concessions.

Austria's position is the most unfavorable to us. Minister Antonio made it clear that he hopes that we will abandon the Philippine Islands and stop our expansion into the Southeast Asia.

The only good news is that Austria's position is not too firm, and there is no intention of military intervention.Oppose us to occupy the Philippine Islands, it should be because Spain is their ally.

According to news from Europe, the Spaniards have already begun to form an expeditionary fleet. At present, there are three new battleships and ten ironclad ships, all of which come from the French Navy. "

Saigo, Minister of the Navy, asked suspiciously: "Aren't all the warships of the French going to be auctioned? Why did they fall into the hands of the Spaniards?"

Ito Hirobumi explained helplessly: "The warships of the French are all spoils of the anti-French alliance, and Spain is a member of the anti-French alliance. It is no big deal to borrow them in advance before the auction.

Even if there is an auction, it is just a formality, and these warships will also fall into the hands of Spain.The warships that can really be bought by the outside world are the only ones left by the countries of the Anti-French Alliance. "

Opening the back door is nothing more than normal.As a member of the anti-French alliance, it would be a problem if there were no privileges.

Xixiang was silent from the road.The century-old navy is not a joke. Regardless of how badly Spain has declined, they still have a lot of naval heritage.As long as you have money and warships, you can quickly pull out a fleet.

The Japanese navy has a limited family background, and the most advanced battleships are only a few ironclad ships, or cruisers, and the most advanced battleships do not exist at all.

Warships are not ordinary weapons, and they cannot be bought with money.The warships that can be bought in the international market are all second- and third-rate warships, and there may even be simplified versions. The British are the most slick in this regard.

A pre-dreadnought ship of more than 1 tons faced a cruiser of several thousand tons. It was not so much a battle as a massacre.The navy does not rely on blood and courage, and the gap in technology cannot be made up by a few slogans.

No matter how confident he was, Xixiang Congdao did not think that the few broken ships of the Japanese Navy could be compared with the elite warships of the French Navy.

Seeing that the navy was terrified, General Da Shanyan hurriedly said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty. The Imperial Japanese Army is not afraid of any enemy's challenge. As long as we are here, we will definitely be able to defend the Philippine Islands."

Unlike the navy's worries, the army is full of confidence.In the previous offensive and defensive battles in the Philippine Islands, the Japanese army beat the Spaniards all the way.

Chapter 229 Central Asia Railway

Being able to counterattack from a rubber stamp to become a real emperor, Emperor Meiji is not easy to fool.The army's swearing "guarantee" not only did not reassure him, but made Emperor Meiji even more uncertain.

As a knowledgeable emperor, Meiji knew very well what the troops sent by European countries to overseas colonies were.Defeating a colonial army dominated by indigenous people is nothing at all.

Moreover, the protagonist of this war is not the army.What really determines the outcome is diplomacy, followed by the navy.

Ignoring Dashanyan's guarantee, Emperor Meiji said seriously: "There are only three months left before the Vienna Peace Conference, and it is time for us to make preparations.

Prime Minister, this time you will personally lead the team.It is not extravagant to ask Britain and Austria to support us, but at least let them remain neutral.

The rise and fall of empires in one stroke..."

Ito Hirobumi's face changed. Based on his knowledge of Emperor Meiji, he can be sure that Meiji's confidence has been hit.

Sending him to visit Europe is not just to attend the Vienna Peace Conference, but more importantly, to find a way out and prepare for the worst.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that participating in the Vienna Peace Conference is a joke.Based on Japan's current international status, it is not even qualified to be on the negotiating table.

From the contents of the invitation letter, it can be seen that the Anti-French Alliance only invited them to participate in the Warship Auction Conference.

It is not the Japanese government's turn to speak about the establishment of a new international order. After all the dust settles, they can just abide by it.

Because of the Philippine War, even this warship auction, the Japanese government can only play soy sauce.