Holy Roman Empire

No matter how restrained they are, the number of Russian troops on the Russian-Prussian battlefield will not decrease.Unless the Swedes do it, the tsarist government is limited by the supply of materials and cannot maintain the huge force on the front line.

This is determined by the geographical location. Whether it is Central Asia or the Far East, the transportation of strategic materials is all to the east; while the strategic materials needed by Sweden and the Russian-Prussian front line partially overlap.

For the Berlin government, other allies are the same thing, and the only ones who can make an immediate difference are the Swedes.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg analyzed: "This may be difficult, the Swedish government has no sign of participating in the war, and the British cannot give more bargaining chips.

All the promised benefits were taken from the Russians.The London government has played too much of this empty-handed white-wolf trick, and it simply cannot play its due role.

The Kingdom of Prussia was even worse. They wanted to win over Sweden, but they couldn't even give them chips.

Karl XV asked the Prussians to withdraw from the Kingdom of Denmark, and the Berlin government agreed to only give up the Jutland peninsula. They did not dare to let go of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. "

The duchies of Schleswig and Holstein are now crucial to the Kingdom of Prussia. Only by holding high the national flag can Austria not fall to the Russians in the war.

With the righteousness recognized by the Germans, there are people who donate money and materials to them, and volunteers who bring their own dry food come to work hard.

Volunteers, including Austria, went to support the Kingdom of Prussia. It is not humane to know whether this has anything to do with the Vienna government.

In short, the German National Unity Committee, the German Folk Art Exchange Committee... and many other social groups committed to the unification of the German region are strongly supporting the Prussians in their fight against the Russians.

If the two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein are abandoned, these supports will no longer exist, and Austria's absolute neutral position in diplomacy may change.

Chapter 93 Immediate benefits vs long-term benefits

In St. Petersburg, Alexander II couldn't bear the continuous bad news.The decadence of the Russian Empire is fully evident, and the prestige established in the Near East War is being worn away.

The international situation is only a small problem, and the biggest trouble is still inside.From the very beginning, Alexander II was using war to divert internal conflicts, attempting to plunder interests through military expansion and quell domestic disputes.

As the situation on the battlefield deteriorated, so did the situation at home.This time it is not a battle between conservatives and reformers, but the people at the bottom are about to lose their hold.

With the blockade of sea passages, the supply of living materials in St. Petersburg is seriously insufficient, and the prices of goods continue to rise.This is true for the capital, not to mention the surrounding cities.

In the Winter Palace, Alexander II said murderously: "I don't care what method you use, you must calm down prices as soon as possible and ensure the supply of materials in St. Petersburg. If you can't do it, I will replace someone who can do it.

Now is a critical period for the Russian Empire. Regardless of any individual or interest group, as long as they stand on the opposite side of the empire, they will be severely punished! "

Alexander II is not easy to fool, it is a fact that the supply of materials is insufficient, but the rising prices are absolutely abnormal.

At least the price of grain, it is impossible to be so perverted.As the capital of the Russian Empire, how could St. Petersburg have no food stocks?

The capitalists are good people. As early as when the Polish uprising broke out, everyone tacitly began to hoard food.

The tsarist government was not completely unprepared. There was an interval of more than two months between the Pudan War and the Prussian War. During this period, they also stocked up a lot of supplies.

In addition to the original grain stock in the capital, it is absolutely impossible to run out so quickly.What's more, St. Petersburg itself is also one of Russia's grain producing areas, and its grain self-sufficiency rate is already very high.

St. Petersburg would not be short of food if no one was doing things.As long as the food supply is guaranteed, other issues will be easy to handle.

For example: Coal is available around St. Petersburg.

In this era, the Russian Empire was basically self-sufficient except for importing some machinery and equipment, as evidenced by its trade surplus.

Minister of the Interior Mikhail said bravely: "Your Majesty, the ice and snow in many areas have melted and the roads are muddy, which has seriously affected traffic. There is a shortage of supplies in a short period of time, and it will be fine in a month or two."

What is the reason for the skyrocketing prices, Mikhail is very clear.However, the interest groups involved are too powerful, and this layer of window paper is not easy to pierce.

Alexander II sneered and said, "Really? If that's the case, then the government should supply the supplies uniformly. Presumably, patriots will support it!"

Support, how is it possible!This is cutting everyone's flesh. I don't know how many people want to make a fortune from it. Now if the government takes over, what else will they earn?

Minister of the Interior Mikhail said in fear: "Your Majesty, this involves too much, and the government's overall supply of supplies may cause a big mess."

Cutting off people's wealth is like killing one's parents.

If something like this happened, the tsar might not be able to do anything, and they, the specific executors, would be dead.

Alexander II laughed and said: "This is the last resort, if the price does not subside, we have only this way.

If someone dares to make trouble, it depends on whether our knives are sharp enough.

The Fourth Division and the Seventh Division will arrive in St. Petersburg in three days. If the price does not subside within three days, the army will be responsible for coordinating the supply of materials. "

Obviously, Alexander II was smart enough to not count on the city defense army of St. Petersburg, and directly mobilized the troops that had just been withdrawn from the battlefield to rest.

These frontier troops are obviously not something that capitalists and bureaucrats in St. Petersburg can influence. They only obey the orders of the tsar.

If the capitalists know the current affairs, then hello, hello, hello, everyone, Alexander II is not willing to break the rules of the game.

Otherwise, I'm sorry.The tsarist government could not solve the problem of skyrocketing prices, so it could only start from the source and eliminate those who drove up prices.

Home raiding is almost a compulsory course for every hero.All the famous monarchs in history have searched their homes.

Usually such an emperor kills more people.Generally, the people who create problems are eliminated, and the world will be brought into order.

The situation in Europe is special. Generally, nobles are not killed. This does not mean that nobles cannot be killed.

Alexander II was not easy to bully. If he couldn't make sense, he would use his fists. Once his face was torn, he didn't mind killing him.

To some extent, Franz was responsible for this.There has never been a bloodless reform, and the Austrian reform was also poured out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood.

It's just that under the cover of the Great Revolution, many diehards were eliminated by the revolution, and the subsequent reforms were able to be implemented smoothly.

Alexander II was also aware of this. The Russian reforms he promoted were resisted by interest groups and progressed very poorly.Now Alexander II needs to make an example to others, and it depends on who will become the chicken.

Mikhail's face changed drastically. He was still very smart politically, and he knew that the Tsar was dissatisfied with his work.Hastily replied: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

Minister of the Interior Mikhail decided to kill the fellow Taoists and not the poor ones.Within the scope of the rules of the game, it seems that there is no problem for the capitalists to play this way, and it is even safer with the cover of the noble bureaucrats.

However, when the czar was about to turn the tables, things changed.Would a bureaucrat like Mikhail go against the Tsar for a bribe?

Obviously, this is impossible.Their power comes from the tsar. As long as they are still in position, money can be earned slowly, so why take risks?

Perhaps many people have the triple status of nobleman, bureaucrat, and capitalist at the same time, but for them, the most important thing is to keep their status first.

Money can be earned slowly, but there is only one life!The tsar who raised the butcher's knife must never be provoked, and if one is not good, he will be chopped down.

Foreign Minister Clarence Ivanov opened his mouth and said: "Your Majesty, the conflict between France and Austria is over, and the two countries are currently conducting secret negotiations.

Based on the intelligence that came from the preliminary analysis, this negotiation may involve the deep-seated strategies of the two countries, and even affect our war with the Kingdom of Prussia.

Austrian Foreign Minister Weisenberg has arrived in Milan, and it is said that he is strengthening communication with the Kingdom of Lombardy, which should be a smoke bomb.

At the same time, French Foreign Minister Abraham also arrived in the Kingdom of Sardinia, officially on vacation.

Yesterday, Weisenberg and Abraham met once in the border area between Sardinia and Lombardy, and the two had a five-hour meeting.

The content of their conversation was highly confidential, and all the attendants were sent away, only the two parties knew. "

This information was acquired by Clarence Ivanov at a high price, mainly to prove that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not really incompetent.

Recently, the tsarist government has suffered frequent diplomatic failures. Although there are special reasons that cannot be blamed on them, the voices of criticism against them within the tsarist government are still getting louder.

Clarence Ivanov naturally had to make achievements, and the conflict between France and Austria was an opportunity in his eyes.The fact that the two countries did not really fight each other made him both disappointed and pleasantly surprised.

This kind of complicated mood is not only shared by Clarence Ivanov, but also by most people in the tsarist government.

On the one hand, they want France and Austria to break out of war and consume each other's strength in order to maintain the European hegemony of the Russian Empire.

On the other hand, they didn't want to see Faol fight.Once Austria is involved in the war, their logistics supply system will collapse.

The Franco-Austrian War broke out, and Austria naturally had no ability to continue exporting strategic materials to them.This gap needs to be filled.

Unfortunately, this gap cannot be filled at all.There are only a few industrial powers in the world, and the British are left with the ability to fill the vacancy after Fao starts fighting.

Such an unrealistic fantasy, the tsarist government dared not even dream of.Counting on the British to provide them with logistics, isn't this just nonsense?

Alexander II thought for a while and said: "Contact with the Austrians first, test whether their position has changed, and make appropriate concessions if necessary.

We can promise not to seek the land of the German area, and the division of the Kingdom of Prussia is limited to the Polish area. "

Despite the bleeding in his heart, Alexander II gritted his teeth and made this decision.Now that the war has progressed to this point, it is no longer appropriate to think about expanding to Central Europe.

This world speaks with strength, how strong the strength is, you can share as much cake, if you eat too much, you will choke to death.

"Strength" refers to comprehensive strength, not just military strength.Whether you admit it or not, the current comprehensive strength of the Russian Empire has fallen behind the four major powers.

Foreign Secretary Clarence Ivanov replied: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

After a pause, he added: "Now the Prussians and the British are wooing Sweden. In order to avoid the worst situation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggests making appropriate concessions to Sweden.

We can support Karl XV's plan for the unification of the three Nordic countries. Once Denmark merges with Sweden and Norway, they will be dragged into the Pudan War. "

This is a very clever strategy to break the situation. The Kingdom of Denmark can support the unification of the three Nordic countries in exchange for Sweden to send troops.

Long before the outbreak of the war, the three countries were negotiating for the establishment of a joint country. Sweden and Norway are now co-kings. The two countries have basically reached an agreement, but the Kingdom of Denmark has not made up its mind.

This hesitation caused the Pudan War to break out.It is not without reason that the Junker nobles wanted to start this war last year.

In case the three Nordic countries are really merged, it will be difficult to take back the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.

Alexander II hesitated, and the unification of the three Nordic countries was indeed beneficial to the Russian Empire in a short period of time, but the emergence of a unified Northern Europe would also pose a threat to the Russian Empire in the future.

Denmark + Norway + Sweden add up to another Kingdom of Prussia.Perhaps the Nordic region is limited by the climatic conditions, and the population growth rate is too slow, which will be inferior to that of the Kingdom of Prussia. The gap will definitely not be too big.

Ambition is always stimulated by strength. Will they be so peaceful after the unification of the three Nordic countries?For example: the attention of Finland, or the idea of ​​playing the three Baltic countries.

There is no doubt that this scenario is very likely to happen.The Nordic barbarians have also been awesome in history. Once the great nationalism is stimulated, the northern border of the Russian Empire will be lively in the future.

……

Chapter 94 The Arms Race

The situation in Europe is chaotic, how could Britain be missing?The contradiction between France and Austria was not provoked, and the London government was very disappointed.

But Prime Minister John Russell is not worried, there are two in one.No matter what excuses the French have, it is a fact that they have reached out to Austria's back garden.

The seeds of conflict between the two countries had been planted, and for the British, that was enough.Provoking the relationship between France and Austria, making them confront and contain each other, is the option that best suits the interests of the United Kingdom.

It would not be a good thing if they really got into a fight.In other words, the London government does not want to see any war that breaks the balance of Europe.

Especially at the time when the Russian Empire was about to decline, a war broke out between France and Austria, and whichever one won would be the new hegemon of the European continent.

Any European hegemon is the greatest enemy of the British. There is no need for any reason. The national policy of the London government has always been like this.

At No. 10 Downing Street, Foreign Minister Raistlin walked into the meeting room with a smile on his face. It could be seen that he was in a good mood.

John Russell said flatly: "Everyone is here, so the meeting begins. Sir Raistlin, what good news?"

Foreign Minister Raistling replied with a smile: "We have just received news that the Tsarist government intends to allow the three Nordic countries to unify."

This is something the London government has been trying to do in recent years, but has not done so.The unification of the three Nordic countries is definitely not a good thing for the Russian Empire.

As long as great powers are exported to them, the unified Northern Europe is destined to stand on the opposite side of the Russians. Who will let them have a glorious history?

Open the history books and see that large areas such as Finland and the Baltic Sea region were once their territory, but now they are occupied by the Russians. Can radicals still sit still?

Of course, the three Nordic countries have a small population, and they are still far from threatening the Russian Empire, but it is still possible to restrain part of the energy of the Russians.

This is why the British are willing to support them. Anyway, no matter how Northern Europe develops, it will not affect the interests of Britain.

Under normal circumstances, the Russians would not allow the unification of Northern Europe.Doing this now means that the Russians are about to be unable to support themselves and have to make compromises.

John Russell asked uncertainly: "Could it be that the Russians want to win over Sweden and Norway to start a war against the Prussians to reduce their pressure on the battlefield?"

Foreign Secretary Raistling replied: "This is the most ideal situation. In fact, the Tsarist government should be very clear that this situation is almost impossible.

The Berlin government had made concessions, promising to withdraw from the Jutland peninsula, limiting its territorial claims to Denmark to the two German duchies.

For Sweden, that's enough.If the two German states are also incorporated, Denmark's right to speak is too heavy, and they will not be able to take the lead.

The tsarist government now just wants to stabilize Sweden, otherwise they will really not be able to hold on if there is a resurgence in northern Xinjiang.It can be preliminarily judged that the Russians are now exhausted. "

The Russians are exhausted, and this is the greatest good news.After this wave, the Russians will not be able to cause them trouble for decades to come.

If the subsequent plan goes well, it may be possible to solve this threat once and for all.

Prime Minister John Russell did not hesitate at all, and directly made a decision: "Launch our greatest influence and give the Russians a fatal blow.

Increase assistance to Prussia, let the Ottoman Empire join the war as soon as possible, and the Far East should also be mobilized.

If Sweden can stab the Russians, the plan will be perfect. "

Apparently, John Russell had low expectations for Sweden's entry into the war.If the Russians continue to oppose the merger of the three Nordic countries, the possibility of the Swedes stabbing the Russians is very high.

It is almost impossible now, and the Swedish government must take into account the feelings of the Danes.Now Denmark and the Russians are allies, and their enemy is the Kingdom of Prussia, which determines that it is impossible for Sweden to join forces with the Prussians.

……

"Since the implementation of the two-power standard, the Royal Navy has been severely challenged. At present, our navy's military expenditure is seriously insufficient, and it is no longer possible to suppress France and Austria at the same time.

Not long ago, the Paris government allocated another 1.2 million francs for shipbuilding. The specific shipbuilding plan is still unclear. Obviously, this is aimed at our two-strong standard.

The Austrians have not responded yet, but according to past practice, the Vienna government will allocate [-] to [-]% of the French shipbuilding funds.