Holy Roman Empire

Foreign Secretary McKate sneered: "According to what you mean, just hand over the Silesia region? Don't forget, the Austrians also proposed to buy the Prussian Saxony region.

This kind of compromise and concession will only make them push forward. Where can we go?If there is a compromise, how will the government explain to the people? "

Chief of the General Staff Mao Qi retorted: "Of course it is not for nothing. We can exchange interests with Austria. Now we need Vienna's support, at least tacit approval..."

……

Looking at the people arguing endlessly, the painting style is very discordant.The military advocates compromise, and the government advocates toughness. No matter how you look at it, the order seems to be reversed.

It is indeed reversed. Initially, it was the civil servants who advocated compromise, while the military advocated a tough response.But that reversed as the situation changed.

In fact, this is just a continuation of the power struggle of the Berlin government.Now that the civilian faction is at an absolute disadvantage in the government power struggle, and the decision-making power has fallen into the hands of the military, they are unwilling to fail and naturally want to make trouble.

In the face of rights, many bottom lines do not exist.The civilian faction has reached a critical moment of life and death. Once the London negotiations are over and the military has the prestige of defeating Russia, it will further increase its voice in the government.

The military, which has the chance to win, naturally advocates seeking stability. As for the sequelae caused by the cession of land, it is actually not that serious.

The cutting of the land also depends on the cutting method, as long as the operation gains and losses are within the control range.What the Kingdom of Prussia lacks now is not land, but population, especially the lack of Germans.

The East Prussian area is empty and urgently needs to be filled by people, and the newly occupied area also needs immigrants to stabilize the place.Take away all the population and finances on the ceded land, and just throw away a piece of white land in Austria.

This also fulfilled the agreement and left the Vienna government speechless.The original agreement was only to cede the Silesia region, but there was no agreement to include the above population and property.

If you want to make trouble, you can also leave some people behind, transfer all the local industries to these people, and then come to a non-violent non-cooperation.

In a society where private property is sacrosanct, the Viennese government can do nothing if people do not cooperate through legal means.

Of course, this powerlessness is only temporary.People always come up with solutions. Once you lose your integrity, there are many ways to solve the problem.

There is another unspeakable reason for the change in the military's stance, that is, the Junker nobles need labor to cultivate the land for them.In this era, the degree of mechanization is not high, and the demand for labor in agriculture is not small at all.

The East Prussian region is the stronghold of the Junker nobles. Now that there are no people there, they cannot find enough labor to resume production.

There are also newly occupied areas, and a lot of land will also fall into the hands of the Junker nobles through post-war rewards, and these lands also require labor to cultivate.

If there are no local people and all farming is done by local people, language communication alone will be a big problem.

Moreover, the aristocracy needs a foundation to rule a place. When the local people revolt, they also need to suppress it. How can they do it without their own people?

The Silesia region was taken from Austria. It is dominated by industry, and the capitalists are even stronger. Even if the Junker nobles are lost, there will be no loss.

The Prussian region is similar, with a very good economic development, but the time to join the Kingdom of Prussia is too short, and it is not the basic base of the Junker nobles.

Civilian factions are different. In order to compete with the military, they have to form alliances with domestic capitalists.As the spokesperson of the interests of the bourgeoisie in the government, it is natural to protect the interests of the bourgeoisie now.

In theory, the loss of the Kingdom of Prussia can be minimized by transferring all the population and property.Ordinary people can also get government compensation, which seems to be good.

Only the interests of the capitalists cannot be guaranteed. Factories cannot be built anywhere. Even if all the conditions are met, they will have to re-operate their personal connections and sales networks after changing regions.

This is not what the government can make up for with a little compensation. In the process of changing the situation, they are very likely to be replaced by others.

Chapter 1

You cheat me, I cheat you, struggle is the theme of the era of great powers.

People in the arena involuntarily.In international politics, there are only interests. If interests are aligned, we are friends. When interests conflict, we are enemies. Role change is the basic operation.

The British did the best in this regard. They were allies just now, but after a while they could become enemies, and after a while they could become friends again.

To a certain extent, the diplomacy of European countries in this era all learned from the British.Everyone's bottom line and integrity have dropped again and again, and the relationship of close and cooperative allies only existed before the Middle Ages.

In this context, the relationship among European countries is a mess, and we cannot distinguish between enemies and friends in a narrow sense.

In order to gain more support in the negotiations, Prussia and Russia are both conducting diplomatic offensives, and the unresponsive Ottoman Empire has also launched diplomatic activities, leaving only a few Khanates in Central Asia and the Eastern Empire still in a state of salty fish.

Salted fish is a tragedy. Under the European rule system, international support is still very effective. Even the diplomatic support of small countries also has value.

The younger brother has no diplomatic skills, so John Bull can only do it himself.Perhaps this is what the London government wants to see most, to increase their influence in these countries and obtain greater benefits.

Franz originally wanted to be a melon-eating crowd, but the tree wanted to be quiet but the wind continued. Because of the relationship between the Russia-Austria alliance, Austria was involved.

"The Russians want to return to their pre-war status and want our support?"

Franz couldn't help but be surprised, this is simply a fantasy.Regardless of whether you admit that the Russians are losers this time, how is it possible that the losers don't want to pay the price?

Not cut an inch of land, not paid a ruble.

Such a truce condition, it is strange to be able to get everyone's consent.Unless they can persuade all European countries to endorse it, they will have to pay a price.

Foreign Minister Weissenberg replied: "Yes, Your Majesty. That's what the Russian minister said. They don't want to take responsibility for this war."

Undoubtedly, this involved political games within the tsarist government.No one at the top of the government wants to take responsibility, so they acted like rogues.

Franz was so annoyed that he didn't bother to care about the Russians, and said decisively: "Reply to the Tsarist government, if they think they have the ability to persuade all parties to agree, we have no objections.

If you can't do it, don't do these whimsical things, lest you end up becoming an international laughing stock. "

The "international laughingstock" is a flaw of the Russians, and their diplomatic jokes are almost never broken.It will come every three to five years, as if they can't grow up if they don't make jokes.

Naturally, Franz didn't want to be with the tsarist government. He treated others as fools, and finally realized that the fool was himself.

Diplomacy is based on strength, but the Russian Empire in its heyday had this confidence.If the war had been ceased a year ago, they would still have the strength not to cede land or pay compensation.

It is a pity that the gunshots in Moscow ended all this. The internal threat was the primary problem of the Tsarist government, and the foreign enemy was only a secondary contradiction.

Not even the most radical Polish nationalists dared to swallow the Russian Empire in one gulp.Not to mention in terms of strength, except for the Kingdom of Prussia, which can fight after all, the others are all fighting with the wind.

The main force of the tsarist army was held back by the Prussians, and the enemies everyone faced were second-rate Russian troops, whose combat effectiveness was not at the same level at all.

What is tragic now is that the main force of the tsarist government has been exhausted, and the combat effectiveness of the recruits is second-rate at best, which is also proved by the fact that all major battle lines are at a disadvantage.

Prime Minister Felix analyzed: "Your Majesty, the Russians I think this is the Russians testing our position.

Now that the war has progressed, it is impossible for the Tsarist government not to know that they can no longer fight.

The economy of the Russian Empire is about to collapse, and social conflicts have already reached a critical point.If the war is not ended, the tsarist government will be over. "

"Economic collapse, internal and external troubles", Franz had an empathy, what would he do if he was in the position of Alexander II?

Soon Franz came to a conclusion—stabilize first and then change.Don't care about so much, first keep the power, and then use external pressure to promote social reform.

Nicholas I won the Near East War, which not only covered up the social crisis, but also increased the difficulty of reform. The ruling group did not feel the pressure of life and death.

Now that the situation is deteriorating, isn't it an opportunity?

After experiencing this failure, the strength of the reformers after the war will inevitably skyrocket.Alexander II can also hold the responsibility for the failure of the war and take the opportunity to clean up some moths.

If it is ruthless enough, it can also use the opportunity of suppressing the rebellion to severely damage the domestic conservatives.

This is a ready-made example. It was because of the reshuffle of the Great Revolution in Austria more than ten years ago that social reform was completed.

Franz didn't doubt the ability of Alexander II at all. The original time and space completed a social reform.Naturally, bloody violence was indispensable during this period, otherwise he would not have been assassinated by the Revolutionary Party.

As Emperor Franz, he knew very well how difficult it was to assassinate an emperor. Without the cooperation of internal traitors, the Revolutionary Party would not be close at all.

And how to drop the bomb?Especially after throwing a bomb, when Alexander II checked the coachman's injuries, he threw a second bomb to kill him.

Are the guards all wooden?Give someone a second chance when they attack at close range?

There is a time interval in between, artificially throwing bombs means that the distance between the two sides is only tens of meters, under normal circumstances, the assassin will either be beaten into a sieve, or captured alive, and there is no second chance to make a move.

Including the surrounding crowd, will also be immediately cleared and controlled.The assassination case obviously covered up something, and it is unreasonable to analyze it purely from the surface.

Referring to his own security capabilities, Franz can conclude that there is no ghost, and the assassin cannot bring guns or bombs close to him.

The surrounding security personnel will prohibit strangers from approaching.Even if it is a political show, those who can get in touch with the emperor have investigated their ancestors for several generations, and they can only get close if they are sure that there will be no problems.

In a country with strict hierarchy like Russia, it is difficult for common people to get close to the nobles, let alone the emperor at close range.

Not to mention the assassins, even a group of assassins may not be able to rush to the front tens of meters.

Franz didn't bother to dwell on these questions, he could just be careful anyway.Even if they were active in Vienna, there were hundreds of guards accompanying them, and there were four-digit police peripheral activities.

The safety factor is definitely the highest, even if an assassin sees this lineup, they can only retreat obediently.

Wechat private visits do not exist.A monarch who travels in a carriage with a few guards only exists in a small country.They can't afford to put on a show, so they can only make do with it.

Franz said with a smile: "It seems that Alexander II is about to make a big move, and now he is probably deliberately indulging the bureaucracy to paralyze these people.

The Great Purge of Tsarist government is coming, I guess Alexander II will stage a coup, clean out the moth in the government, and then throw the responsibility of losing the war on them.

This serves multiple purposes. Not only can it clean up the moths in the government, but it can also take the opportunity to suppress conservatives, and give the people an explanation by the way.

The corrupt ministers have been cleaned up, and the rebels have no excuse to rebel.It won't be long before the rebels will be plunged into internal strife, and if the Revolutionary Party doesn't run faster, they might be taken down and asked for credit. "

The foundation of the revolutionary party is too shallow. Don't look at them making a lot of noise. In fact, any revolutionary party in Russia in this era has only 80 NO.[-] members.

It was only temporarily united in order to seize power. If they were not too weak, they would not accept the banner of "the side of the Qing emperor, punishing the corrupt officials".

Although this banner has united many people, it also brings a problem.As the ranks of the rebel army grew, the Revolutionary Party lost control of the army.

The "filthy ministers" have all been killed, the people's rebellion goal has been achieved, and many people are about to quit.To put it bluntly, many people participated in the uprising because the tax was too heavy.

A few edicts from Alexander II could solve the problem, and the responsibility was shifted to the bureaucracy. The grievances of the people came out, and the tsar was still a good tsar.

The hearts of the people are still on the tsar, and the army also supports the tsar.No matter whether the aristocratic group is a reformer or a conservative, no one intends to overthrow the tsar.

Including the capitalists who have just risen, these people also think that it is better to keep the tsar than to have no tsar.They support the revolution only for the purpose of seizing power, not for a real social revolution.

In a country where more than 90.00% of the people support the tsar, isn’t it nonsense to want to overthrow the tsarist government?

From this aspect, Alexander II was born in a good time + a good place.The Russian revolutionary mentor has not yet been born, the proletarian revolutionary party has not yet been seen, and the current bourgeois revolutionary groups are not anti-imperialist.

If the time was pushed back 50 years, or the background was changed to France, the republic would have been established long ago.

Prime Minister Felix said disapprovingly: "Reform is not that easy. The conservative forces in the Russian Empire are very strong. Nicholas I did not complete social reforms. Alexander II may be even more difficult to achieve.

What he can do now is probably only to carry out limited reforms, transform the feudal system of the Russian Empire, and improve its strength in the short term. "

He has the right to speak. When Austria reformed, the Hungarian nobles completely lost their right to speak. The conservatives in Vienna were swept into the garbage dump by the rebels, and the conservatives in Bohemia were smashed by the rebels.

By the time the Vienna government announced reforms, the power of the conservatives was gone, and most of them had lost their roots.

Even so, there have been no fewer struggles between the two sides in the past ten years.

Now the tsarist government has no way to rely on the rebels to clean up the conservatives. It needs the tsar to fight in person. This wave of hatred alone is enough to cause Alexander II a headache.

This is doomed, and the reformers and conservatives will continue to confront each other under the power of hatred for a long time in the future.Even with the support of the Tsar, it is difficult for the reformers to surpass the conservatives in a short period of time.

There is no way, according to European tradition, even if the nobles are cleaned up, Alexander II cannot kill them all.

The crime of corruption and bribery is too light, and it can only be regarded as a small disadvantage for the nobles.When military supplies are involved, at most only a few responsible persons can be killed.

Most were simply driven home, or exiled to Siberia.These people have lost their rights and are still alive, which is still a hidden danger.

The rebels in Moscow were very weak and did not make any big news.There are no big nobles and big capitalists at all, and it is impossible to implicate them.

"On the side of the Qing emperor, punish the filthy ministers" is naturally lower than the rebellion, even if it is to show off the emperor's benevolence, Alexander II will also issue a security order.

The ones who took the blame were all revolutionaries, and the rest of them only needed to be smarter, and after Alexander II issued a pardon, they resolutely chose to defect, and at most they were marginalized after the war, and liquidation did not exist.

This means that the conservatives only lose in the political struggle, and the loss of their own strength is not great.

After all, like Austria, the Russian Imperial Army was also dominated by nobles, and it was impossible for the Tsar to violate the rules of the game.

Franz nodded and said: "For the Russian Empire, limited social reforms are enough to create a world power.

They have a vast territory, rich resources, and a large population. As long as they complete industrialization, they will become a big European country.

If they really carry out radical social reform, it will not be a good thing for us.You must know that the development potential on the European continent is higher than ours, only the Russian Empire. "

……

Chapter 1 kind reminder

On April 1867, 4, the London Peace Conference was held.Representatives from more than 22 countries around the world gathered in London to discuss this special war.

Since the Anti-French War, it has affected the most countries in the world, involved the widest range of warring areas, and the largest war.

Undoubtedly, this was also the war with the heaviest casualties and the greatest economic losses. The total military losses of the two warring parties exceeded 200 million, and the total economic losses of all countries exceeded 20 billion Aegis.

(about 10 billion pounds, equivalent to 7322.38 tons of gold)

Among other things, just looking at the casualties and economic losses, countries all over the world have collectively misfired.You must know that the population of many countries is less than 200 million, and the entire country is not worth 20 billion Aegis.

Naturally, the Russians suffered the most. Not only did the army suffer heavy losses, but the domestic economy was also severely damaged.

If you do it all over again, the Russians will definitely not just go straight up.

At the Paris Conference, the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were assigned to Denmark. Prussia's invasion of Denmark was opposed by European countries, and they could use a roundabout way to solve the problem.

Of course, the Russians are not good at roundabout diplomacy, and they don't look imposing enough to show off their European hegemony.

Unexpectedly, the war that was originally used to establish prestige ended up burying the hegemony of the Russian Empire, and a great empire was dying.