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

From December 1867 to January 12, after working hard, the whole country finally had a long holiday, and they could go out and stimulate consumption. If we didn't spend the money this year, the country would have no money. Well, this long holiday is just to repay the Prussian financial department.

Prussia has invested hugely in military industry this year. If things go as normal and there is no war, Prussia will need at least two or three years of photosynthesis to fully restore its health. This is just an estimate. The actual situation depends on the economic situation. .

Therefore, it is not unreasonable to say that when the cannon is fired, gold is worth ten thousand taels. In order to prepare for this war, Prussia mobilized the whole country and worked hard to give the French a resounding New Year's gift. Now the Prussian army has been trained to a complete state. , weapons, equipment and logistics are all ready, just waiting to declare war.

But August still upheld the fine tradition and handed over the initiative to declare war to the other party. August planned to respect history and start with Spain.

As the former base camp of the Habsburgs, Spain, a European country, is very powerful. It once occupied the Iberian Peninsula for a long time. The terrain here can be said to be dangerous. It is separated from France by the Pyrenees Mountains. The French It is difficult to defeat Spain. To the south is the Strait of Gibraltar. Although it was occupied by the British, the Strait of Gibraltar occupied by the British is very small, and most of the strait is actually still in Spanish hands.

Located in such a dangerous location, it stands to reason that it must be much more peaceful than other countries in Europe, and it is indeed peaceful. Over the years, basically no country has attacked Spain, except for those who looked around the world to see who was unhappy. Outside of France, the Spanish mainland has really never been beaten by anyone.

Relying on its excellent terrain and environment, Spain also became the first empire in human history to plant flags all over the world. However, its colonial methods were not clever. Wherever it went, not a blade of grass grew. The localities were suddenly divided. In the end, the conflicts with the local ethnic groups caused Spain to fail to make good use of the resources in the occupied areas. The ethnic conflicts were extremely acute, and Spain fell behind in the wave of the Industrial Revolution.

Coupled with the rise of European powers, the independence of Portugal, Spain's glorious years have just passed by in a flash. Now the country is also in chaos. The Spanish royal family is in chaos and people's lives are unstable, which has led to the rise of many ideological trends. The country's political landscape can be as chaotic as Spain's, but here you are really the leader of your regiment. The government changes every year, and you don't know who will be there one day.

From 1843 to 1868, Spain had 25 different governments in just 34 years. Queen Isabel II herself was also dissolute. To be honest, it was not Isabel II’s turn to take the throne of Spain, just because of the French Bourbon dynasty. After conquering Spain in the 18th century, they brought the French Salic Code to Spain and quoted the regulations on succession to the throne to replace the original Spanish succession law.

Otherwise, according to Spain's inheritance law, Isabel II, as a woman, could not be the queen, so this inheritance law also caused dissatisfaction among many people. The Carlists launched a civil war for the royal power and lost in the end, but this was not over yet. It's not dead yet, and it will definitely come back to trouble you when the time comes.

The reformist Prim had launched a coup to oust Isabella II a year ago. Although it failed, he learned some experience from it. He was soon ready to launch a second revolution. The otl world line is earlier. Isabella II was defeated, went into exile in France, and the queen ran away. The question now is who should inherit the throne?

A prince of Prussia was included in the list. Although he was called a prince, in Prussia under the rule of August, these princes and princes had little power. Most of them were rich and had small towns. , similar to the governor and mayor, but the taxes that should be paid still have to be paid.

This caused dissatisfaction in France again. What if the prince of Prussia succeeded to the throne and attacked him with Prussia? Spain is not a small, unpopular country. Although it is not strong now, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. If they form a Pyrenean guerrilla group to fight against you, France will be fighting this war just because of its head. Don't worry about it.

A heavy blow was necessary. Napoleon III brought Spain's problems to the forefront. He used a very tough attitude to demand that Prussia was not allowed to interfere in Spain's internal affairs and would never interfere in Spain's affairs in the future.

Napoleon III attaches great importance to the fight for the Spanish throne, and he also has candidates who may be suitable. He wants his people to participate in the fight for the Spanish throne and win. If France possesses Spain, France's strength will be improved. The wave will skyrocket, and you will truly be invincible by then.

But in fact, Napoleon III was very unwise here, because Spain gave the list of heirs. Can the prince of Prussia really be ranked? Spain also has a lot of people with more orthodox claims, such as the Italian prince Amadeo de Savoy, and Isabel II’s son, Alfonso XII, the orthodox heir of the Bourbon dynasty. There are a lot of people to choose from. , you may not be able to choose the prince of Prussia.

Napoleon III's speech was obviously aimed at Prussia, inciting hatred to the other side, and also reduced other countries' favor towards France, but it didn't really matter. After all, France had room to maneuver.

Napoleon III believed that most people in Prussia were on vacation now, so he might as well take advantage of the moment to provoke Prussia. He directly used the "Franco-German Treaty of Versailles" signed that year as an issue. They believed that Prussia's breach of the contract and not giving the Rhineland was a violation of the contract. In a disrespectful spirit, he also demanded that Prussia not interfere in Spain's internal affairs and not allow Prussians to inherit the Spanish throne.

European countries shook their heads after hearing this. All of Europe can say this, but you, Napoleon III, cannot say this. What did you say when you recognized Belgium's independence? What did you do when you went to Belgium? What contract did you have? Feeling energetic? You can't keep the promise yourself and now you want others to stick to the promise. Isn't that funny?

August and Tina received the telegram almost at the same time. Napoleon III's words were shocking and scolded Prussia. But Tina couldn't bear it anymore. This guy actually scolded August. I was so angry. also.

Mao Qi said that this kid is so arrogant, let’s see if I don’t catch him and take him back to Berlin!