Holy Roman Empire

During the Ossa War, the capitalists and nobles who supported the Sardinian government suffered heavy losses, and the ruling foundation of the Sardinian government had long been shaken.

Later, they were burdened with huge debts. Now the French are mainly adopting political wooing, supplemented by military threats.

The influence of the Napoleon family in Italy is not weak, and many Italians are proud of Napoleon. I have reason to believe that the local power faction in the Kingdom of Sardinia will take refuge in the French.

With the cooperation of these people, the local rule of the French can be established soon.

However, the calm is only temporary.It is impossible for the French to win over everyone, and they must suppress some of those in power and cultivate cronies to take power.

These people will not resign themselves to failure, and they dare not do anything in the short term due to the threat of force from the French.

We only need a short-term peace in the Kingdom of Sardinia, which can give Napoleon III the illusion of destiny.

We can also control some media, sing praises to him, and deepen his awareness.

Once Napoleon III believed that the Italians would support his rule, the ambition to annex Italian regions could not be suppressed.

But Italian nationalism has awakened. Once the French army is reduced or withdrawn, these guys who are not reconciled to the failure of the political struggle will definitely jump out.

For example: encouraging patriotic youths to rise up against the rule of the French, funding revolutionaries, and so on.

Rebellion is also contagious. If the Italian region is in chaos, France will not be stable.Without decades of self-cultivation, the French cannot digest the Italian region.

If done well, the French Empire itself would collapse.

Of course, if this is to be achieved, the ambitions of the French will be further stimulated, and only by allowing them to annex more land will they be exhausted. "

Franz was overjoyed that the Vienna government finally had a careerist with a high strategic vision!Even these operations are somewhat idealistic.

But life is very nonsense, if you dare not even think about it, how can you succeed?

Chapter 61 Caught off guard by the world strategy

The wheel of history is rolling. After Alexander II succeeded to the throne, the tsarist government once again opened the prelude to reform.

However, Alexander II did not have the prestige of Nicholas the Great, and could not suppress the nobles in the country, and the scene was a bit embarrassing.

This is the aftermath of the failure of Nicholas I's reform. Everyone is very wary of the tsar's new tricks, and there is really nothing he can do about the group of nobles Alexander II.

Of course, the Russian history books will definitely not say that Nicholas the Great's reforms failed, but only that he died too early and failed to complete the reforms.

Having captured Constantinople, Nicholas I has been sent to the altar and has become the greatest tsar of the Russian Empire.

The successful man will not be blamed, everyone will find reasons to defend him, and all the pressure for reform will fall on the shoulders of Alexander II.

The internal strife in the tsarist government intensified, and the Russians had no energy to continue looking for the bad luck of the British.

On March 1860, 3, Britain and Russia signed the "India Memorandum".The British paid 26 million pounds in low-interest loans in exchange for the Russians' recognition of his sovereignty in India.

In other words, the Indian rebels were sold off by the tsarist government.Although this is not a good price, Alexander II can't care so much anymore.

Reform also requires funds. Unless the reform is carried out by means of violence, compensation for groups whose interests have been damaged is indispensable.

Seeing the bitter Alexander II fighting with the domestic aristocratic group, Franz couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The infighting Russian Empire needs a stable international environment, and the Russia-Austria alliance has become crucial.

This is exactly what Franz needs. At the last moment of completing the industrial revolution, Austria needs a stable international situation.

The British are still busy suppressing the Indian rebellion and have no time to do things; the French are also at the last moment of the industrial revolution and need a stable international environment.

The four major powers all need stability, and naturally no one will do things in the European continent.This is not necessarily the case in other regions. The Second Opium War has already broken out, and the American Civil War has also emerged.

Overseas affairs have little to do with the Vienna government. So far, Austria's sphere of influence, that is, the Mediterranean and the African continent, has not been able to reach further areas.

But soon there was a relationship. Looking at the "Austrian World Strategic Plan" submitted by the Colonial Department, Franz could only feel that ambition is a good thing.

Regardless of whether it can be realized in the end, the plan must first be beautiful.Almost every colonial empire has a world strategy, and the Austrian Colonial Ministry has only come up with a plan now, which is already too late.

After careful study, Franz had to admit that the person who prepared the plan had a good strategic vision, and theoretically all the above strategies could be realized.

In full accordance with Franz's strategic thinking, try to avoid violent conflicts with the major colonial empires before the colonies are divided.

"There is no problem with the expansion plan of the African continent. It is not difficult to connect our colonies together. The main difficulty is the harsh natural conditions.

It is not difficult to penetrate into the Arabian Peninsula and gradually control this area. Once the Suez Canal is opened, we can control these areas.

However, the Asian strategy and the American strategy are more problematic.

Malaysia, New Guinea and Kalimantan in Asia are too far away from us, how much power can we invest?

Even if it is not valued by all countries, the surrounding areas are all spheres of influence of the Netherlands, Spain and the British.It is not difficult for us to occupy these areas, but what about ruling these areas in the future?

The problems in the Americas are even bigger. Regardless of how weak these independent countries are, they don’t even have the qualifications to survive on the European continent. But in the Americas thousands of miles away, we may not be able to be their opponents.

War requires costs, and we must consider the issue of revenue and expenditure.As for the plan to dig a canal in Central America, stop immediately, and there is no need to make wedding dresses for others if you can't keep it.

It is not a big problem to establish a colonial stronghold on the Patagonian plateau, there are not many people there. "

There are also several islands that Franz did not comment on.He didn't know where it was, and he couldn't comment if he wanted to.

These little unknown places could not be found on the globes of later generations, so he naturally had no impression.

Governor Josip Jeracic explained: "Your Majesty, these plans of ours have been thoroughly analyzed and studied, and they are all feasible.

For example: The Nicobar Islands are the legacy of the Austrian East India Company, and are now ruled by our private merchants.

There is also Kalimantan Island, which already has our colonial stronghold.In the Malaysia region, we have achieved most-favored-nation status.

Most of these are the achievements of civilian colonial teams, not government organizations.Not long ago, the British occupied the whole of Australia, which aroused their worries and asked the Colonial Department for help.

Considering that the British are still busy suppressing the Indian rebellion and have no energy to compete with us for territory in a short period of time, the Colonial Department agreed to this plan.

As for the American colonization plan, what we are preparing is economic colonization, infiltration in Central America by economic means, and the opening of a canal in Panama was proposed by capitalists.

This plan is retained mainly for future considerations.This canal will be necessary if we can control the countries of Central America.

Your Majesty, the countries in Central America are very weak, with almost no industry, and all weapons and ammunition are imported.

The total population is only over 200 million, and each country has an average of more than 30 people. Three-fifths of them are Indians, one-fifth are mixed races, and less than one-fifth are whites. "

Franz had nothing to say. No wonder the Colonial Department would pay attention to Central America. It is so weak that it is no wonder that people will not be peeped at.

Economic colonization first, and then immigration slowly. When the number of immigrants is large enough, the local government will be overthrown.

However, there is no difficulty, which is the sequelae of the small population.As long as the Vienna government is willing to invest, it is really not difficult to colonize these areas.

Thinking of this, Franz can only complain about the Spaniard's prodigal.It seems that the split of the Habsburg dynasty left them with too rich a legacy, and they didn't know how to cherish it at all.

But as long as the government has a little courage, it will not allow these regions to become independent.If it really doesn't work, you can still build a self-governing dominion and build an economic community, which is better than not being able to get a single hair now.

"Okay, you convinced me. But the canal plan is still put on hold. Before dividing the United States, I don't want a canal to improve transportation in the Americas."

……

Since reading the "Austria Global Strategic Plan", Franz has begun to pay attention to collecting information from various countries.

If you don't check, you don't know. If you check, you will be shocked.If it wasn't for the limited geographical location, he wouldn't even bother to develop the African continent, and just colonize South America directly.

Just look at the populations of South American countries:

Peru has a territorial area of ​​129 million square kilometers and a population of about 200 million;

Paraguay has a territory of about 41 square kilometers and a population of about 50;

Bolivia has a territorial area of ​​110 million square kilometers and a population of about 125 million;

Ecuador has a territorial area of ​​28 square kilometers and a population of about 80;

Brazil has a territorial area of ​​851 million square kilometers and a population of about 730 million;

……

With such a small population, there are still serious racial contradictions in the country. As the ruling class, the whites are only a minority, and the Indians and black slaves are more.

Come to think of it, Portugal and Spain are neither populous countries, but they have so many colonies. Where can they get so many immigrants?

Without enough immigrants, the development of the local area will naturally fail.The local development level is low, which reduces everyone's desire to immigrate.

After falling into a vicious circle, South American countries have slowly missed opportunities for development.After the United States developed, they were suppressed again, and they had no chance to develop.

This has something to do with the weak governments of South American countries, but as long as the governments do better, a small strong is not a problem at all.

Chapter 62 World Cruise

It has to be said that the Colonial Department chose a good time. The competition between Britain and the United States around Central America could last until ten years ago, because no one took advantage of each other because they held each other back and stabbed each other.

In order to fully suppress the Indian rebellion, the British carried out limited strategic contraction overseas. In 1859 the London government made concessions and gave up its sphere of influence in Central America.

Originally, the radicals in the southern United States planned to incorporate Central America as a slave state, but this was opposed by the northern business owners.

The conflict between the North and the South started with the Mexican-American War. The conflict between the North and the South was detonated because of the seizure of a large area of ​​Mexico.

The planters in the south wanted to make these areas slave states, and the industrial owners in the north wanted to make them free states.

The dispute over interests failed to reach an agreement, and the conflict between the North and the South became public.

The economic crisis of 1857 exacerbated this contradiction.Northern capitalists demanded higher tariffs to protect the market, and southern planters demanded lower tariffs so that agricultural products could be exported.

Don't get me wrong, northern capitalists didn't just want to raise tariffs on imports of industrial and commercial goods. They also demanded higher tariffs on agricultural exports so they could get cheap raw materials.

Cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents.Naturally, the planters in the south couldn't bear it anymore. This was directly cutting their flesh to exploit agriculture and deny industry.

As for the abolition of slavery, it was actually just an excuse for the outbreak of war.If it is only for the abolition of slavery, as long as the government is willing to pay a compensation, most slave owners can still accept it.

Anyway, the cost of contracting labor is not much higher than that of slaves.At present, there are many labor export companies active in the United States, and they can still easily obtain enough cheap labor.

Obviously, the capitalists in the north have spent so much effort, not just to free the slaves, everyone's moral cultivation is not so high.

Their ultimate goal is to turn the South into a place of origin of raw materials and dumping of industrial and commercial products.

Because both parties knew that there was no way to relax, after the failure of political struggles in history, the southern planters directly chose to strike first.

Now that both the North and the South are working hard for the general election, they are already in trouble, and they have no energy to take into account the Central American region.

Against this backdrop, Austria has pushed its tentacles deeper.Of course, this movement range is very small, and it still stays in commercial activities.

If the American Civil War does not break out, there is no doubt that the unstable Austrian forces will not be able to do anything to the Americans, and the Colonial Department can be regarded as a gamble.

Unlike Britain and France, Austria has no foothold in the Americas. If it wants to intervene in the American Civil War, it must prepare in advance.

The army can wait, but the navy must not be absent.

The southern planters are absolutely unwilling to surrender to the northern capitalists. As long as the sea transportation channel is kept and the planters see European countries standing behind them, they will not surrender easily.

Although the strength gap between the North and the South is huge, this gap can also be narrowed.With European countries providing logistics, they can gain the upper hand in terms of weapons and equipment.

To put it bluntly, it is now the age of great voyages.A ship can transport thousands of tons at a time, and it only takes a few months to go back and forth to North America.

As long as it has the support of the major European powers, it will not be a problem to replenish tens of thousands of tons of weapons and ammunition every month.

The current United States is not the American emperor of later generations, it is just a dick.They don't have the ability to produce tens of thousands of tons of ammunition every month.

If European countries block the supplies of the northern government, the only advantage left by the northern government is manpower.

The manpower advantage is not unsolvable. The southern government has money. They can use cotton and tobacco as collateral for loans and recruit mercenaries in Europe.

If everyone is shameless, first pretend to be the southern navy, destroy the northern navy, and then sneak attack the northern coastal cities from time to time.

There is no need to land, as long as dozens of tons of shells are fired into the city every day, it will not be long before the northern economy is over.

What will happen to the final result? Franz is not a prophet and cannot be sure.Anyway, the longer the war lasts and the wider the scope it affects, the harder it will be for the United States to recover after the war.

The power of hatred should never be underestimated. When the north and the south are covered in blood, even if they are barely unified, they will not be stable.

Franz asked: "How long will it take for the newly built Bavaria, Lombardy, Württemberg, Hessen, and Saxony to be ready for service?"

The Ministry of the Navy also sold the naming rights of these warships, and the governments of various states borne one-third of the shipbuilding funds before they obtained the naming rights.

Even Franz encouraged the governments of various states to build their own navies, but unfortunately everyone was not fooled.They are all landlubbers, and they don't even have an outlet to the sea. How can they arouse everyone's interest?

Willing to pay extra money to sponsor the navy is all for the sake of face.It can't be that other countries have it, but you don't have it?

It just so happens that the states of the New Holy Roman Empire are not poor, and 10,000+ Aegis can still be easily obtained.

Therefore, under the bewitching of the Ministry of the Navy, the governments of these states paid a sponsorship fee to make the size of the New Holy Roman Empire Navy even larger.

After these ironclad ships completed their service, Austria became the third naval power in the world after Britain and France.

The total tonnage of the navy has also crossed the [-]-ton mark, and it also has ten ironclad ships, becoming the country with the largest number of ironclad ships in the world.

Of course, this advantage will not last long.After a few months at most, it will be overtaken by the British; within a year or two, it will be overtaken by the French.

Naval arms race?Franz is not going to play any longer, and now these ships are built mainly for sale.