Holy Roman Empire

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In the Palace of Vienna, Franz asked with concern: "Have the British figured out their purpose?"

The major warring countries gathered in London, and the right to speak in diplomacy gradually tilted towards the British. The position of the London government was crucial to this negotiation.

To some extent, the British are also robbing Austria's interests.If the negotiations are separated, the negotiations on the Prussian-Russian War and the Turkish-Russian War must first obtain the approval of Vienna.

Now that negotiations are bundled, Austria's influence in Central Asia and the Far East is limited, and the right to speak in diplomacy has been pulled down.

Missing this opportunity to expand his diplomatic influence, Franz is not worried. It is not yet time to take the lead, and it may not be a good thing to increase international influence in advance.

However, it is still very important to understand the British plan. Being led by the nose is not what Franz wants to see.

The Russians, Prussians, and Ottomans, whose route Franz had already arranged, was suddenly interrupted by the British, and the future direction became blurred again.

The advantage of political foresight has now been used up, and Franz can only rely on his own strength to conduct political games.

Foreign Secretary Weisenberg replied: "The London government wants to completely interrupt the threat of the Russians to them. According to the preliminary judgment, they should do four things:

First, make Central Asia independent and remove the threat from India;

Second, support the Kingdom of Prussia to annex the Baltic Sea region, strengthen the strength of this chess piece, and allow them to have the ability to protect themselves;

Third, let Poland become an independent country and cause trouble for us;

Fourth, interrupt the expansion of the Russians in the Far East and ensure their dominance in the East. "

Among these four points, only the independence of Poland made Austria uncomfortable, and the others were within Franz's acceptance range.Austria's assimilation work has been going on for many years, and Poland's independence will have a certain impact, which is also within the controllable range.

Even if someone does something, the big deal is mass exile.It's not that Franz didn't do this kind of thing before. If the person is gone, the problem will be gone.

The troublesome thing is that Da Bobo's death attribute, it is estimated that it will not be long before he will make a territorial claim to Austria.

During the provisional government period, there was such a voice, but they were busy with the war with the Russians, and they temporarily suppressed this idea.

After contemplating for a moment, Franz made a decision.Polish independence cannot be prevented, and there is no need to interfere.

It doesn't matter if you shout slogans, Franz will ignore them anyway.If you are impatient, you can directly use force to resolve the conflict.

It is unlikely that an armed conflict will occur in a short period of time, and the strength gap between the two sides is serious. What the Polish interim government has accepted is a mess, and it has no courage to challenge Austria.

The future may be uncertain. After they solve their internal problems, if someone encourages them behind the scenes, they may do stupid things.

"If it's just these, we can acquiesce. The territory of Prussia and Poland can be larger. The more they get now, the stronger the tsarist government's desire for revenge in the future.

With the end of the war, Pubo conflicts should also occur, adding fuel to their fire.The Lithuanian region was once part of Greater Poland, allowing Polish nationalists to compete with Prussia. "

This is how international conflicts come about. You bury a nail in conflict, and I bury a nail in conflict. In the end, there are nails everywhere, and international disputes arise.

Now Russia, Prussia, and Poland are leaving hidden dangers of conflict. In the future, if they provoke the three countries, they will become sworn enemies.

The three countries fought each other, and the northern border of Austria was stable. No matter how the international situation changed, Franz could find at least one ally.

The only regret is that the Ottoman Empire did not perform well this time, and did not complete the script designed for them, otherwise Franz could go to the Holy Land to be crowned.

There is no shortage of a crown Franz, but the religious significance of Jerusalem is different!Recovering here, Franz is a saint in the world of Christendom, which will bring great prestige.

Now that the strength of the Ottoman Empire still exists, Franz will naturally not do anything.Jerusalem can't increase national strength, and spending hundreds of millions of military dollars for a false name is still too expensive.

We also need to consider the international influence. If the operation is not good, the peaches will be picked by others, which is completely worth the loss.

For example, in the Russo-Prussian War, the biggest victor was the British.They not only suppressed the rival Russian Empire, solved the land threat facing India, but also supported several new chess pieces.

The soon-to-be-established Nordic Federation, Poland, and several Khanates in Central Asia are all pawns made by the British.

And the price they pay is just the loan that needs to be repaid.To put it simply, the Prussians helped the British fight a war, and the military expenses had to be borne by themselves.

Because of debts, the future finances of the Kingdom of Prussia will inevitably fall under the control of the British. If the Kingdom of Prussia is managed properly, it will be difficult to get rid of the influence of the British.

The gains from the war ostensibly gave the Kingdom of Prussia a way to become a powerful country.However, the road is still rough, and Poland and the German Confederation must be united.

This is comparable to the original space-time Prussia's unification of the Little Germany area, and it is quite difficult.

It's not that there is no chance at all, at least the Russians are disabled, and they will be unable to interfere with their actions for more than ten or twenty years, so there is no need to find a way to appease the Russians.

As for France and Austria, it is still the same as the original time and space, and it is impossible to solve the problem without a fight.Neither Vienna nor Paris will watch the rise of a powerful Prussia.

Prime Minister Felix said: "Your Majesty, it is necessary for us to forcibly take back the Silesia region.

After this war, the strength of the Kingdom of Prussia will inevitably grow.In order to avoid the emergence of a strong Prussia, we must intervene.

If possible, it is best to take back even the Prussian Saxony area to weaken the strength of the Kingdom of Prussia. "

This is indeed a way. As long as Silesia and Prussian Saxony are taken away from Prussia, the Schleswig-Holstein duchies that the Prussians harvested this time will be tantamount to disappearing.

This is only superficial. From the perspective of resources and industrial development potential, the value of these areas far exceeds that of the two duchies of Schleswig-Holstein.

Then the Kingdom of Prussia's gains this time are only the Baltic Sea region, and minus the losses in the war, their actual gains are very little.

The area of ​​the Baltic Sea is not small, and the resources are not bad, but there is no main ethnic group.Assimilation is a problem unless the Berlin government is diversifying.

If this problem is not solved, the growth of the strength of the Kingdom of Prussia will also be puffy.Austria's move now can be regarded as drawing the salary from the bottom of the pot.

Franz thought for a while and said: "It is not easy to achieve this step, and the Berlin government will not compromise easily. In the current international situation, it is not convenient for us to directly use force.

The possibility of getting the Kingdom of Prussia to make concessions by diplomatic means is almost zero. "

This is a fact. The Berlin government is not a state-religious government, and it is not so weak that it will cede land when it says it will.

The use of force to persecute will damage Austria's international image, arouse the fear of European countries, and lead to diplomatic isolation.

So at the beginning, Franz was not prepared to take back the Silesia region, let alone the Prussian Saxony region.

Others are afraid of the Kingdom of Prussia becoming bigger, but Franz is not afraid.It takes time to integrate power, and there is no doubt that he will not leave so much time for the Kingdom of Prussia.

Franz has always believed that the best way to defeat the enemy is not to go to war directly; but to constantly release the pressure on the opponent and the enemy to make them make mistakes under pressure.

The Kingdom of Prussia took the risk of launching this war, which is a manifestation of its inability to bear the pressure.They chose to rely on gambling to break the situation. The first step has already been taken, so is the second step still far away?

After the enemy has made a mistake, the price to pay is much smaller.If there is no Kingdom of Prussia, what excuse does Franz find to attack the German Federation?

You must know that the German Federation is not safe, most of the states have a good relationship with Austria, and there is no chance for Franz to solve the problem by force.

Internal problems are far more difficult to solve than external problems, and the emperor still needs the support of the people.The same is true for the Kingdom of Prussia. If you can't win the hearts of the people, then don't worry about it.

Franz didn't want to create a bunch of chaotic parties, who would do sabotage every day.The lessons of history told him that any emperor who ignored the hearts of the people would pay a heavy price in the end.

Prime Minister Felix replied: "It's really not easy, but we still need to try. Even if we can't get it back in the end, we must let the people see the government's determination to take back their homeland."

This "people" is obviously not just the people, but also the Saxony government.Since the outbreak of the Russo-Prussian War, the government of the Kingdom of Saxony has been working hard to recover the Prussian Saxony area, and the Vienna government must also consider the wishes of the Saxony people.

In addition to Saxony, there are still many Austrians who never forget Silesia, including many people in the Vienna court, who advocate taking back the Silesia region.

The original measure they took was to secretly support the Russians and take back these areas through the hands of the Russians.Now that the tsarist government has been defeated, this plan has collapsed.

These people began to lobby the Vienna government again, and apparently Prime Minister Felix was also affected, or he himself was also a supporter of taking back Silesia.

He wanted to give it a try, though he had little hope.If it fails, it will be a waste of work for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is not a loss to make a show, but it will make money if it succeeds.

After sorting out the cause and effect, Franz nodded, expressing his acquiescence.

Chapter 1: Juncker VS Civil Service + Capital

In March 1867, Austria conducted a massive military exercise on the Prussian border, which made the Prussians frightened.

Just after the Prussian-Prussian War, they were busy licking their wounds, but they didn't have the courage to start another Prussian-Prussian War.

If a fight broke out at this time, not only would all the results of the previous battles have to be vomited, but even self-protection would be difficult to do.

In the Berlin Palace, Foreign Minister McCarter said: "The Austrians are demonstrating, they will not provoke a war at this time.

Once the war breaks out, the Russians will definitely continue the war, and the tsarist government can take back Poland and the Baltic Sea region as long as it follows behind.

This is not what the Vienna government wants to see, a strong Russian Empire is not in their interest.The Russia-Austria alliance only exists temporarily because of interests, and sooner or later they will face each other for European hegemony.

There is also the current international situation, it is impossible for the Vienna government to ignore it.European countries do not want to see an overbearing Austria. If they provoke a war at this time, they will fall into isolation.

If the French attacked the Rhineland after the war broke out, would the Vienna government intervene or not?

If they intervene, it is likely that an all-out war between France and Austria will break out; if they do not interfere, how can they claim to be the leaders of the German region? "

The reason for the real fearlessness, McKitt did not say.It is definitely impossible to win a fight. The Kingdom of Prussia is now exhausted.

But as long as the Berlin government is shameless enough, there is still a chance to trick Austria and reverse the current passive state.

Once the French invade the Rhineland region, the Prussian government can directly admit defeat and join the new Holy Roman Empire, requiring Austria to defend the territorial integrity of the German region.

The Franco-Austrian war broke out in this way, and the situation changed.If the French gained the upper hand, or if the war reached a stalemate, they could turn back again.

Don't doubt the integrity of politicians, as long as the interests are large enough, there is nothing that cannot be done.

The pillar of the Kingdom of Prussia is the Junker nobles. Even if the Vienna government wants to buy this class, it cannot afford to buy it.

In private, the two sides have had contact for a long time. If Franz is willing to compromise, the German region can be unified at any time.

The Junker nobles opposed joining the new Holy Roman Empire only for profit.If Prussia can achieve the same status as Austria and protect their interests, then everyone can merge at any time.

Obviously this is impossible. If there is a compromise, the new Holy Roman Empire will be divided again.

An empire can only have one core. If it becomes two, then it becomes Prussia and a group of small states to fight against Austria in the empire.

From the very beginning, Franz made a decision - the rights of the state must be restrained.

After so many years of hard work, he took back his diplomatic rights, minting rights, military command rights and some financial rights. How could he hand them over again?

Ron, Minister of the Army and Navy questioned: "This is just your wishful thinking and does not represent the position of the Vienna government.

Moreover, Austria's becoming the leader of the German region relies on strength, not so-called public opinion.They gained the strength first, and then gained the support of the people.

Nationalist influence is indeed strong, but it is not enough to influence the decision-making of the Vienna government.It is not a disadvantage for the Austrians to exchange the Rhineland region for the unification of Germany, right?

You must know that Austria has always been afraid of us. Among the many states in the German region, only we threaten their strength. "

As a representative of the military, Ron is an advocate of the supremacy of force.This is determined by the national conditions of the Kingdom of Prussia, and everyone has been regarded as an advocate of the supremacy of force.

Ron doesn't value Austria's influence.In his opinion, strength comes first.Now Austria has enough strength, and other problems are nothing.

As long as the German region can be unified, the Rhineland region will be lost if it is lost, and the people will scold it at worst.In the future, as long as it is collected back, these problems can be washed away.

Not only his personal opinion, many people have the same opinion.Some folk groups are still advocating the theory of unification with a price, that is, to pay a certain price in exchange for national unity.

Specifically include: ceding the territory west of the Rhine to the French, and ceding the territory of Prussia to the Russians.

Someone also conducted an in-depth analysis and believed that in this way, the Kingdom of Prussia would shrink by more than half, which would make the unified empire more stable.

This is what the Junker nobles are most worried about. If Austria just annexed a shrunken version of the Kingdom of Prussia, they would really suffer heavy losses.

The Kingdom of Prussia is larger than all states except Austria combined. The existence of such a large state will obviously weaken the authority of the central government.

If Austria wants to dominate the new Holy Roman Empire, it must suppress the Kingdom of Prussia and keep them within a controllable range.The two sides are naturally at opposite sides, and there is no possibility of compromise.

This view does not include smart politicians, only they can see how bad the situation will be after Austria unifies the German region.

Politically, it is inevitable to fall into a state of isolation, and the Central European Empire is naturally hostile to Europe; militarily, it is also the enemy of the whole world.

This enemy comes from both land and sea.There is nothing to say on land, just look at the map and you will know that you must confront France and Russia at the same time.

The situation at sea was even worse. In the Mediterranean, the Austrian Navy had to contend with Britain and France, in the Baltic Sea it had to contend with the Russians, and in the Atlantic it had to contend with Britain and France at the same time.

This is still the result of ignoring small countries. In fact, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the Nordic Federation will all be enemies of Austria, which is determined by geopolitics.

Except for Switzerland and Belgium, which are likely to be neutral, the European continent is full of enemies at a glance, even Montenegro and Greece, which are not worth mentioning, are no exception.

No, Greece and Montenegro are already on opposite sides of Austria.Their dream of a great country was blocked by Austria.

If it wasn't for too many external enemies, why would Franz have suppressed the Russians and released another Great France?It's not about reducing stress and distracting everyone.

With the decline of the Russians, Austria was able to get rid of the dilemma of fighting on two fronts.Even if it is an operational error that detonates an all-out war in Europe, the Eastern Front can be resolved in the shortest possible time.

To stir up the ambitions of the French, let alone deliberately indulge the emergence of Greater France.

They are also public enemies of Europe. When two Big Macs appear at the same time, the governments of European countries will be confused in an instant, and it is difficult to come up with a countermeasure in a short time.

The two powers are facing each other, no matter which one falls, the other will become the European hegemon.Such a multiple choice question, who knows how to do it?

With this hesitation, the situation changes.

To put it bluntly, this is a gamble.After Franz bet on the unification of the German region, he can first complete the internal integration.Then rely on diplomatic means to provoke internal conflicts in Greater France, and finally use national power to overwhelm France.

The French, on the other hand, are betting that the French army will be better at fighting. After the establishment of Greater France, they can directly defeat Austria after the unified German region on the battlefield.

The existence of the French-Austrian Alliance not only needs what they need, but also means to join forces to clear the field.Without solving other competitors first, the two sides will not rest assured of a decisive battle.

Although there is no allusion in Europe that "the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman reaps the benefits", but everyone still understands this truth.

Obviously, this is not something the Berlin government knows.If they knew that Fao had formed an alliance, they probably wouldn't be thinking about the "Great Prussia" plan, but quickly found someone to hug for warmth.