Welcome to 19th-century Europe, where strength reigns supreme

When Napoleon III issued an ultimatum to Belgium, the Prussian Congress was also in an uproar, especially Tina. She had already had a premonition of this matter, but she did not expect that Napoleon III would be stuck at this critical point in time.

Doesn’t Tina know the importance of Belgium? Of course she knew that this was the barrier between France and Prussia. If Belgium were lost, France could easily threaten the hinterland of Prussia. When she gave Belgium to France, Tina did not expect that France would actually attack Belgium.

Now Tina can only find a way to force France to make concessions through diplomatic protests, but who can free up their hands to beat France at this time?

Tina looked around and over on the map, and there seemed to be no country that could help Belgium... There seemed to be none. The UK was currently in civil strife and could not spare any effort. The other powers were at a disadvantage against Belgium, so they couldn't afford to help. Belgium has a bad relationship with France.

Tina wanted to ask August what he thought, but when she opened the regent's office, she found that August was not in the office, and neither was Valentina, so Tina knew where they had gone. .

Auguste returned to the Palace of Sanssouci. She was going to receive a very important guest, the King of Belgium, Leopold I. When Auguste met Leopold I in Prussia, she discovered that The old king looked very bad, as if he was about to die.

Even in the sun, his face could not be illuminated. Leopold I came to ask August for help. If there is one country on the European continent that can confront France head-on, it may only be Prussia. If If you can get August's help, you may be able to force France to make concessions.

"Prussia lost a lot of weapons in the Austro-Prussian War, and we are not ready to fight France now. I'm afraid we can't provide any help." August responded, which made Leopold I He became even more desperate, but later August gave another plan, which shocked Leopold I.

That plan may be able to save Belgium, but in any case, such a thing cannot be decided so quickly. Leopold I could only return to Belgium with regrets. He must first seek the opinions of the people before making such a decision.

When Tina rushed to Sanssouci Palace, she happened to meet the Belgian King Leopold I who had a deep look on his face. He didn't seem to see Tina, and of course Tina didn't come to see her.

Tina found August in the garden. She tasted afternoon tea elegantly, "Isn't this Tina? Don't you have work today?"

"I have assigned the work in advance, no problem. I just saw Leopold I. He should be talking to you about Belgium, right?"

"Well, he came to ask for help from Prussia. He hoped that Prussia could put pressure on France and force France to retreat. However, with Prussia's current national strength, forcing France to retreat would be a fantasy. Napoleon III was betting on Britain. They completely captured Belgium before they recovered. Although the Netherlands and Belgium are buffer areas between Britain and France, to be honest, Britain was actually mentally prepared for France to annex Belgium. When they assigned the Rhineland to Prussia, they were also I decided this because I thought France could take back the Rhineland."

Tina didn't quite understand, "But if France annexes Belgium, our most important Rhine industrial area will be exposed to French bayonets. The situation is very dangerous!"

"I know, so we have just been exploring another possibility. If France wants to annex Belgium, wouldn't it be great to find a country to annex Belgium first?"

"Ah?" Tina was very puzzled by this idea, "What's the difference between that and being annexed by France?"

Auguste replied, "I wrote in "The Rise of the Empire" that when Adolf's Germany launched an attack on France and had already captured Paris, what were the thoughts of the French war faction?"

"Union with the British...keep fighting?"

"That's right, because even if France merges with Britain, it can become independent again after the war. The premise is that the strength of the two countries is about the same. If Belgium is annexed by France, do you think it is possible for Belgium to regain its independence through its own power? But If it merges with another weaker country that France cannot annex, wouldn't France be at its wits end?"

"Are you planning to merge Belgium with the Netherlands?" Tina seems to have discovered August's idea. To be honest, the national strength of the Netherlands is about the same as that of Belgium, but it is obviously more important. If France only annexes Belgium, then in fact Everyone should just condemn and let it go, but if France wants to annex the Netherlands, the situation will be completely different, which means that France is likely to return to the era of the Napoleonic Empire.

Even the United Kingdom, which is deeply involved in partisan struggles, would not agree to such a thing, let alone countries like Italy and Tsarist Russia that were beaten half to death by the emperor. Especially Tsarist Russia, how badly they were beaten by the emperor. It was so miserable that Moscow was lost, so it was absolutely impossible for Napoleon III to annex the Netherlands. He definitely didn't want to fight a second Napoleonic War with the entire Europe.

"Yes, the Congress of Vienna in 1815 decided to annex Belgium to the Netherlands. The artificial unity produced religious, cultural and linguistic antagonisms. Later, the Belgians staged multiple uprisings, and finally succeeded in becoming independent from the Netherlands in 1830. After forming a new constitutional monarchy, Prussia will acquiesce to France's attack on Belgium, but according to the requirements of the treaty, France is not allowed to attack the Netherlands again. This is a good strategy to get the best of both worlds, isn't it?"

August said with a smile, of course Tina must know that this kind of thing is simply to force the Belgian people to choose a less bad guy between France and the Netherlands. From a nationalist perspective, whether it is annexed by France or followed by France, The merger of the Netherlands is a humiliation and a betrayal of the ideals of our forefathers who sacrificed their lives and blood for national independence.

"What if the Belgian people don't agree? What if they don't want to subjugate their country even if they die?"

"Belgium will still perish anyway, it's just a matter of choosing whose hands it will perish..." August looked at Tina, "Why do you think we want to unify Germany, why do we want to become one A big country?"

"This......"

"This is a very simple matter. This is all to give the Prussians the right to choose. If we unify the entire Germany, we can get more people and stronger national strength. No one in the entire Europe will dare to bully a completely unified country at will. With a strong empire, we can choose our diplomatic strategy and our national policy.

Why doesn’t Belgium have the right to choose? Because it is very weak in itself. If there was no backer behind it, it would be like this. If Belgium fights, it may be able to resist it more, but what's the use? Can Belgium beat France? This was a war that was hopeless from the start, and were the Belgians at fault? Of course they didn't do anything wrong, but after all, this world is not a world of right and wrong. This world belongs to the strong. "

August looked into the distance, "Belgium can only survive in this way. This is the tragedy of a small country. We must become a big country no matter what. This is your and my historical mission. At least we must leave a good life for the Germans." s future."