Holy Roman Empire

Neither side wanted to go to war, but the situation in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies made it impossible for the two countries to step down. Everyone wanted to save face, and whoever made concessions first meant admitting defeat.

Although there is no real loss in this kind of surrender, it must be a gamble. In this context, Prime Minister Carlo Ferangeli acted.

Foreign Minister Uldinov looked at the evidence in his hand and questioned: "Your Excellency, just such a few documents are too unconvincing. I am afraid that the French and Austrian ministers will not believe it."

His heart is broken, even if it is framed, he must be more professional!Just take a bunch of documents as evidence, and any printing shop on the street can wholesale them, which is not convincing at all.

Prime Minister Carlo Ferangeli smiled and said: "It's okay, you don't need to convince them. After seeing these things, do you think of anything?"

Urdinov nodded, he heard the meaning behind Prime Minister Carlo Ferangeli's words.If it is said that the Americans provoked the conflict between France and Austria, few people would believe it.

The federal government has neither the strength nor the courage, and more importantly, it does not have enough interests to allow them to do so.

It's almost the same if you change to the British.John Bull has many records of instigating relations between the two countries and was discovered by the two countries. As a repeat offender, he is naturally the main object of suspicion.

This excuse has an explanation both internally and externally.It is useless for the London government to deny it; Paris and Vienna will simply believe it.

The relationship between France and Austria has not been further developed. The main reason is that the British obstructed it, otherwise the two countries might have formed an alliance a few years ago.

The joint plan to carve up Europe proposed by Franz was actually the source of Napoleon III's ambitions. After annexing the Kingdom of Sardinia, it became even more out of control.

In the Fawhim Treaty, there is a plan to drive the British out of the Mediterranean, and it has already begun to be implemented.

Whether it is Greece, the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, or North Africa, the expansion of the British has not been smooth in recent years.

Being stumbled by two local snakes together, the London government is naturally upset.It's just that these are small tricks in secret, and everyone is still good-neighborly and friendly on the surface.

The unhappy John Bull naturally took revenge, and provoking relations between the two countries was one of them.Many of the methods of the British are conspiracy. Even if they are exposed, they still affect the relationship between France and Austria.

Otherwise, France and Austria are still happily carve up the European continent, how could it be possible to get to this point?

Soon, the evidence prepared by the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was passed on to Paris and Vienna, but the protagonist was replaced by the British.

Prime Minister Carlo Ferangeli did not dare to provoke the British, but France and Austria were different. The two sides tacitly put the shit bowl on the British.

This is not wronged. London newspapers have already exposed the truth of the civil war in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and have used a lot of pen and ink to describe the secret hands of France and Austria.

Due to the lack of sufficient film and television materials, the words were unsubstantiated, and these news were naturally denied by the Paris and Vienna governments.

However, under the impetus of the British, the news quickly began to spread in the European continent, which made the people who eat melons watch the excitement.

There are many people who want the two countries to fight. For example, Prussia and Russia are at war. They want to see someone accompany them to be unlucky.

Only when war breaks out between France and Austria, who are watching the excitement, will everyone's strength be pulled to the same level again.Whether they want to admit it or not, both Prussia and Russia have fallen behind.

Alexander II has the most right to speak. He witnessed the Russian Empire from prosperity to decline. Now it is only a nominal European hegemon, and its actual strength has fallen behind France and Austria.

This is not just a question of money, but an overall backwardness in overall national strength.An agricultural country cannot beat an industrial country, and the gap between the times cannot be made up by the number of people.

Vienna

Foreign Minister Weisenberg suggested: "Your Majesty, this French-Austrian conflict must stop, and if it continues, the British will benefit.

Now is not the time for a decisive battle between France and Austria, we need time to prepare. "

War is not a child's play, especially a war between two great powers.The world war in the original time and space is an example. Both sides have made sufficient preparations before the war started.

Now Austria is not prepared for anything, what will it take for a decisive battle?

Chancellor of the Exchequer Karl objected: "This incident was provoked by the French, so let's forget it, where will we save our face?"

This is also one of the problems. Someone must be responsible for this conflict, and it must not be Austria. The Vienna government must find face.

Prime Minister Felix said fiercely: "Whoever provoked this dispute will be responsible for this incident. Since Francesco II has led wolves into the house, he is not qualified to continue to be the king of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Francesco II has many brothers. We can completely replace him with a pro-Austrian king. His younger brother, Count Trani, is a good choice. "

Francesco II's actions constituted a betrayal in Vienna's view, and the traitor would naturally have to pay the price.It's just that he is the king, Vienna can't kill him, but it's still possible to abolish the throne.

This is Francesco II's own death. It was very unpopular to make a mess of the country, but he also foolishly asked Napoleon III for help, which made many people in the Bourbon family very dissatisfied with him.

In this context, the Vienna government asked Francesco II to abdicate, and he had few supporters at all.

As for the French?Forget it, Napoleon III was not doing charity.The price to be paid to keep Francesco II is too great, but the benefits are far less than the payment.

Count Trani's full name: Luigi Maria, the half-brother of Francesco II, was born on August 1838, 8 and is 1 years old now.

This is not the point, what is important is that Luigi Maria is the son of the Austrian Grand Duchess Maria Theresa Isabella, and his grandfather, the Austrian military god Archduke Karl, has the blood of the Habsburg family.

Francesco II was able to inherit the throne not because of how strong his supporters were, but because of European inheritance laws.

As great nobles, whether it is the Bourbon family or the Habsburg family, they are the defenders of the rules and follow the rules completely.

Therefore, Francesco II can grow up safely and inherit the throne, and there is no so-called bloody plot in the middle.

Everything is treated according to the standards of the crown prince, stepmother abuse, it does not exist at all.Grand Duchess Isabella is a well-bred person and would not do such tasteless things.

Because of the loss of his mother since childhood, everyone sympathized with Francesco II very much. He has always been a love of the whole family since he was a child.Compared with his younger brothers who were strictly required since childhood, he was brought up with a happy education.

It is not a good thing for a king to have no setbacks since he was a child, which is one of the reasons why Francesco II did stupid things.

The world will not revolve around one, and now Francesco II is in tragedy.The conflict between France and Austria needs an explanation, and Austria's face needs to be maintained.

As the culprit, Francesco II cannot shirk the blame, and abdication is the only option.

It was none of Franz's business, and Count Trani had no friendship with him.It's not that Grand Duke Karl doesn't have a son, so the legacy will never fall on his grandson.It's just that the current events coincided, and the Vienna government just pushed the boat along.

Franz sneered and said, "Then Francesco II will abdicate, but the French cannot be spared like this. If you dare to stretch out your hand, you must pay the price.

Our strategy against the French can be implemented. Napoleon III is still too busy, so we must keep them busy. "

……

Chapter 92 The Diplomatic Skills of the British

Since both parties do not want to fight, they can only negotiate. On May 1866, 5, representatives of Austria and France held secret talks in Naples.

The interests of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies are just an appetizer, and the most important thing is the great strategy of the two countries to carve up the European continent.

There is no overnight hatred in the face of interests. The military conflict between France and Austria, the two sides tacitly shifted the responsibility to the British.

Anyway, the British are not there, so they can't justify it. It is good for everyone to let them take the blame.

Compared with the contradiction between France and Austria, the contradiction between Britain and France is actually much deeper.In Franz's view, the contradiction between Britain and Austria is deeper than that between France and Austria.

The small actions of the British on the African continent have seriously affected Austria's African strategy. For Franz, who is interested in the localization of Africa, this cannot be compromised.

In contrast, the contradiction between France and Austria is easy to handle. Before the European continent is divided up, the two countries still have a series of interests that can be exchanged.

Under the common interests, the contradictions between the two sides can still be suppressed.

On the contrary, the conflict between the Anglo-Austrian African colonies is difficult to resolve. With John Bull's style of stirring up shit, it would be strange if he could just sit back and watch Franz complete his strategic layout!

It cannot be in conflict with two major powers at the same time. This Austrian national policy, for the sake of safety, now has to take the French into the gutter.

This strategic negotiation to carve up the European continent was designed to fool Napoleon III. As long as the French take the first step, they will be isolated!

It's not the current level of isolation, and the vigilance of small countries is not worth mentioning at all.Only the hostility of the great powers can make the French truly uncomfortable.

In a way, Franz didn't mind the success of the French strategy.Only at that step can we truly engage in the Trans-French Empire.

Just think about it, a France + three-quarters of Italy + Belgium + the entire territory west of the Rhine in Germany. With the emergence of such a giant, is there any other option besides the anti-French alliance?

But this pit is the strategic plan of the French original time and space.No, Napoleon III in the original time and space planned to swallow Italy, but with the rise of Austria, it has now shrunk.

The French-Austrian War was part of their strategy to annex Italy, but Napoleon III's game crashed when he actually operated it.

In order to annex Luxembourg and Belgium, a European crisis even broke out, which was suppressed by the joint efforts of Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria.

The strategy that Franz proposed to carve up Europe was almost a replica of the French strategy, and was used to fool Napoleon III.

It's just that France's military strength was insufficient more than a decade ago. Napoleon III had just succeeded to the throne and coincided with the Near East War, so he didn't dare to take risks at all.

Now that France's military strength has developed, and the Russians have been weakened, they are unable to intervene in European affairs in a short period of time. Napoleon III's ambitions are naturally untenable.

Reaching out to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies is to test Austria's reaction, and now that the results are out, it is naturally time to wrangle.

If Austria can't get enough benefits, even if he is fooling Napoleon III, he would not dare to directly promote this crazy strategy.

Only when both sides have common interests and everyone takes action at the same time can Napoleon III be assured.

There are too many exchanges of interests involved, involving all aspects, and this negotiation is destined to be protracted.Telling Francesco II to go is nothing by comparison.

At the same time as the French-Austrian negotiations, the Russo-Prussian War broke out again. The British were still strong this time. Although they did not find allies for the Russians in Europe, they still achieved results in Central Asia.

Under the planning of the British, at the end of April 1866, the Samarkands broke out an anti-Russian uprising, which kicked off a wave of resistance against the tsarist rule in Central Asia.

The British not only sponsored the weapons of the rebel army, but also formed a volunteer army—8000 Gurkha mercenaries to help the people of Central Asia get rid of the rule of the tsarist government.

Gurkha mercenaries are the top three mercenaries in the world. They once defeated 1.2 British troops with 3 people with outdated weapons and equipment, won the recognition of the British, and have since entered the world stage.

If it weren't for the small population, it would be a military power.It is estimated that there is nothing wrong with India, they are invincible all over South Asia.

The Khanates of Central Asia, which had not yet been conquered by the Russians, were also forced into battle by the British, including Afghanistan.In a short period of time, 10,000+ anti-Russian armed forces appeared in Central Asia.

By mid-May, Tashkent, the largest city in Central Asia, was captured, and the Russian rule in Central Asia was in jeopardy.

In response to the crisis in Central Asia, the Tsarist government was forced to transfer troops from the Caucasus to reinforce the Central Asian theater.

Looking at the battle map, Franz knew that the Russians were in big trouble.A bad operation in Central Asia in recent years will be in vain.

If it were not for the fact that the tsarist army attacked the Central Asian Khanate, the situation would have been better.Under normal circumstances, these countries would not dare to provoke the Russians.

However, the situation is no longer normal.Everyone knows the ambitions of the Russians, and there is no possibility of compromise. In order to protect themselves, they have to rely on the British.

Now that the boss wants to go to the battlefield, these Khanates can only bite the bullet.If they offend the British again, they are really finished.

Franz asked: "The Russians have mobilized troops in the Caucasus region, and the Ottomans have an opportunity. Do you think the British can persuade the Sudanese government to make things worse?"

Prime Minister Felix replied: "It's hard to be sure. Although the voices of the main fighters in the Ottoman Empire are loud, the Sudanese government is still shrouded in the shadow of defeat in the Near East War and dare not challenge the Russians.

They cannot ignore the position of the British. The Ottoman Empire cannot survive without the protection of European countries, and the British are the most important part of their diplomacy.

We have already stated our position in secret. As long as the French ask Ottoman to send troops again, the Sudanese government is likely to be forced to go to the battlefield.

At present, the Paris government is still hesitating, but as long as Napoleon III wants to implement the European strategy, then continuing to weaken the Russians is a must. "

In fact, it is not only the position of the French, if Austria can ask the Ottoman Empire to send troops on the surface, it will also put huge pressure on the Sudanese government.

The Russians' ambitions for the Ottoman Empire have never been extinguished. It can be said that the Sudanese government wants to see the Russians suffer the most.

The only problem is that those who have lived through the wars in the Near East have not yet been eliminated, and the younger generation does not dominate the government.

The old guys are afraid. In the recent "Turkish-Russian Wars", they all ended in failure and have lost confidence in defeating the Russians.

However, what is uncomfortable is that if they do not attack the Russians, the Russians will not let them go.If you read the history books, you will know that the 20-year "Turkish-Russian War" has become a part of everyone's life.

The next "Turkey-Russia War" is at most ten years away. This is a historical rule, and there has never been an exception in the past 200 years.

Without the support of European countries, the Sudanese government does not have the confidence to single out the Russians. Even if their social reforms have initially achieved results, the strength gap between the two sides is still huge.

In this context, the positions of Britain, France and Austria are of great importance to them.What's more, Britain and France are still their creditor countries and have mastered their domestic finances. When the London government sneezes, the Ottoman Empire's economy is in turmoil.

Historically, the French were able to use economic means to pull the Russians into the chariot, and now the influence of Britain and France on the Ottomans has gone even further.

Franz said with a smile: "So, the Prussians have to wait for God to bless Napoleon III to make up his mind earlier!"

He is very satisfied with the current situation.It was completely beyond his expectation that the British could make such a big commotion in Central Asia.

But it's normal to think about it. Rabbits will bite people when they are in a hurry. In order to protect themselves, the Central Asian Khanate must cooperate with the British at this time.

Everyone laughed, Central Asia is just a skin ringworm to the Russians, even if they are all lost, the Russian Empire is still the Russian Empire.

The Central Asian coalition forces formed by the British had many internal contradictions, and they were able to cooperate reluctantly under the pressure of the Russians. Once the threat of the Russians disappeared, internal fighting would occur.

If you want them to go all the way to the inland of the Russian Empire, you should go to sleep!If these people had this kind of ability, Franz would not be unimpressed.

Not to mention the Ottoman Empire, regaining the Caucasus region is enough for them to struggle for many years.To further threaten the Russians, they may have been able to do it in the last century.

Things that can weaken the strength of the Russians without killing the tsarist government have always been popular with the Vienna government.

Foreign Secretary Weisenberg said: "Your Majesty, the British have not only achieved results in Central Asia, but also made considerable progress in the Far East.

At their instigation, the Japanese drove out the Russian troops on Tsushima Island.In the ancient empire in the Far East, a dispute broke out between the coastal defense faction and the fortified defense faction. Currently, the fortified defense faction has the upper hand.

Perhaps they will also make some noise, but unfortunately the telegraph network has not been laid, and we don't know the current specific situation. "

Franz was startled, could it be that the historical event is going to be brought forward?This is not impossible. Now that the Russian Empire is at its weakest, it is obviously a good time to regain lost ground, and there may be unexpected gains.

After thinking about it for a while, Franz said nonchalantly: "The Far East is too far away to affect Europe, and even if the Russians lost the Far East, it would have little effect.

It was they themselves who decided the outcome of the Prussian-Prussian War, and the British would at best distract the Russians and consume the Tsar's wallet.

Unless the Swedes can be persuaded to do it, the Kingdom of Prussia still has to rely on itself.These potential allies cannot provide them with much help in essence. "

Although these actions contained a large number of Russian troops, the tsarist government had nothing else but a large number of troops.