Holy Roman Empire

War reporters also need to look at their resumes. The more wars they have participated in, the more valuable the news they report, and the higher their status in the industry.The special war of reclaiming Jerusalem is naturally a lot of attention.

Of course, if the Holy Land hadn't been recaptured, hundreds of war correspondents wouldn't have gathered, and they wouldn't need two people crammed into a tent.

For example, when the Austrian army attacked Kuwait, except for the domestic newspapers that sent reporters, the major European newspapers were too lazy to send them.

For such unimportant news, take the news published by the Austrian official or the news published by the Austrian newspaper, copy it, modify it, change the perspective, and casually mention it in the international section of the newspaper.

Only a campaign like Jerusalem, which has attracted the attention of the whole people, is worthy of sending someone to collect first-hand information and make a great book after artistic processing.

The treatment of people with more and fewer people is completely different. If there are only one or two war reporters, it is estimated that the army will warmly receive them.Hundreds of war correspondents rushed in at once, and anyone else would dislike it.

Now every move of the Austrian army is being watched by these journalists.If it wasn't for the influence, Feslav would have driven people out.

Therefore, the expenses of these reporters are paid by the newspaper offices behind them. The Austrian army only provides a safe camp and the most basic living guarantee. Simply put, it is the same standard as the soldiers.

If you want a better life, you need to find a solution.Unfortunately, this is the Middle East, and because of the war, all industries are withering and order is chaotic.Not only money can't be spent, but even travel must be careful not to stay away from the military camp.

A few bold colleagues ran out to interview the local people, and they were all sent to meet God, and of course they may have met Allah.

Except for one lucky one who was rescued by a passing Austrian patrol, the rest were turned into corpses, and one of the unlucky ones was sent to the barbecue by the refugees.

After this lesson, everyone did not dare to run around.Now the Austrian army is besieging the city, there is no news, and everyone can only spend time in the camp.

Henry smiled: "Just kidding, liven up the atmosphere, don't be so angry with Brad. Life is already very difficult, if we don't have an optimistic heart, how can we go on?"

Brad nodded: "Okay, even if you're right. It's really boring now. May God bless us to recover the Holy Land as soon as possible."

Henry struck without hesitation: "I don't think God's blessing is very reliable, otherwise Jerusalem would not fall into the hands of the Ottomans.

You should go and tell the Austrians, let them attack quickly, take Jerusalem as soon as possible, and we can go home as soon as possible.

According to the current situation, I estimate that Christmas will be over here this year.Not only this year, but maybe next year's Christmas will be here. "

It is quite normal for war correspondents to spend Christmas on the battlefield, and no one can guarantee that the war will end before Christmas.

It's just that this time the situation is special and the weather is bad.Everyone is hanging out outside, so it's not a problem to eat this bit of hardship.

The trouble is that the Austrian army was besieged and not attacked. Open the history book, there have been cases of besieging the city for three or five years. Given the special status of Jerusalem, everyone believes that the Ottomans will definitely be prepared in advance.

Brad's good mood disappeared in an instant, and he rolled his eyes: "Nonsense, the excuse for the Austrians to besiege and not attack is to worry about destroying the Holy Land, why should I let them attack?

You haven't seen the cities along the way. If the Austrian army is really full of firepower, even if Jerusalem is recaptured, it will be in ruins.Who can take this responsibility? "

Chapter 138 The London Conference

1874 was destined to be an extraordinary year. In addition to the Near Eastern War and the Russian-Polish War, the Asia-Pacific region was also unstable.

First, the French and the Annan government signed the Treaty of Peace and Alliance between France and Annan, and then the Japanese war of aggression against Taiwan broke out.

Needless to say, the latter naturally ended in failure. The Treaty of Peace and Alliance between France and Annan sounds very harmonious, but in fact it has a nice name, and it is essentially a service for colonial invasion.

The strategy has been contracted for so long, and some people in France are unwilling to be lonely.The world has been divided up, and there are only a few leftovers left, and no matter how slow it is, there will be nothing left.

In the struggle for rights of the Paris government, it was unwilling to do things outside, and it still could not stop the enthusiasm of domestic colonial expansion.

Colonial expansion does not necessarily depend entirely on fighting. For example, the signing of a treaty with the Annan people this time relies on diplomatic fraud, and even coaxing and deceiving the Annan government into signing it.

The seemingly ordinary treaty actually provided a legal basis for France to interfere in Annan's internal affairs.No matter what the Annan thinks, it is enough for the French to have a statement acceptable to European countries.

The three countries of Britain, France and Austria have formed an alliance, and the loose international situation has created opportunities for the French to expand in the Indo-China Peninsula.

The Indochina Peninsula is not within the scope of Austria's colonial plan and does not involve its own interests. Naturally, the Vienna government will not jump out and act as a messenger of justice.

……

In the Vienna Palace, Franz's attention was attracted to the Kingdom of Poland, and turned into a melon eater, watching the performances of Prussia and Russia.

Foreign Minister Wesenberg reported: "Two days ago, reinforcements from the Kingdom of Prussia arrived at the front, and yesterday there was a small-scale exchange of fire with the Russian army.

However, both sides were very restrained and looked like they were acting.The Russians now occupy most of Polish Ukraine, about one-third of Poland's territory.

Preliminary judgment, this should be the reward promised by the Berlin government to the Russians.Next, the two countries will probably sit down and negotiate and stick to the agreed content.

Affected by this, the British Minister this morning sent an invitation to European countries, including us, to form an international intervention alliance to mediate the war.

The London government can't sit still. The smoke bombs we put out some time ago have already played a role.In order to curb our and the French's continued expansion on the Continent, the British couldn't help but take action. "

The Russian-Polish War, the Polish throne election, such a big thing, both France and Austria are watching from the sidelines, if there is no problem?

It's not that there is no action at all, Franz is still calling on everyone to exercise restraint and sit down and talk about something.The Paris government also warned Prussia and Russia not to play with fire.

specific action?It is a pity that both France and Austria are very busy and do not have the time to intervene in these trivial matters.

To keep France and Austria from intervening, there are naturally beneficial transactions behind this.A little analysis of the British can guess the content of the transaction, and it is not necessary to say that it must be sabotaged.

If you don't mess things up, is that still John Bull?

Franz nodded: "At this point, we will face a lot of pressure from public opinion, and the British are playing a big game.

The government must do a good job in guiding public opinion, but it can't let the British take the rhythm, otherwise there will be a big mess. "

Judging from various signs, Franz judged that the British wanted to take the opportunity to provoke a conflict between France and Austria, and at the same time divide the relationship between Austria and the German Confederation.

This is an unavoidable conspiracy. The French want to annex the Rhineland region. In order to be politically correct, the Vienna government can only stand up against it.

The German region has been divided for many years, and each state is used to being the master of its own.Under the pressure of nationalism, everyone was forced to look like they supported reunification, but actually wanted to keep their independent kingdoms.

Austria has the power to unify the German region. In order to protect their own interests, the high-level governments of various states have to move closer to the Vienna government.

However, once they found that Austria could not unify the German region under the containment of the foreign powers, or that they were strong enough to get rid of this threat, then the situation would change.

Just like the current Kingdom of Prussia, simply withdraw from the German region, instead of claiming to be a German state, play the Kingdom of Great Prussia.

Knowing is knowing, in fact Franz can only respond passively.Even if the Fao conflict broke out, the two sides would not be able to fight.

The only bordering area was in Italy, where the French still had no mass base, despite the fact that the French had occupied the kingdom of Sardinia for many years.

This is the sequelae of Napoleon III's ugly appearance and no legal basis.More than ten years have passed, and the local people still do not agree with the French rule.

If they fight with Austria in the Italian region, they will not have any area to go on an expedition with the labor division and go deep into the enemy territory. They must not only fight against the Austrian army, but also be careful of the civilian guerrillas.

The boss of the Italian Independent League is the former Sardinian king, which is a ready-made pawn.If the French do not move, no one can do anything to them. As long as they are defeated once on the battlefield, the fragile Great French Empire may collapse.

In general, the longer the Grand French Empire existed, the more favorable it was for Austria.Not only can it help Austria share the international pressure, but also accelerate the national integration movement in Lombardy and Venice.

At the beginning, when there were a lot of states in the Italian region, the Italians in Lombardy and Venetia also wanted to become independent, and the progress of national integration was very poor.

Since the French annexed the Italian region, the national independence movement in Lombardy and Venetia suddenly fell into a low ebb.

This round of social beatings has awakened many people.The local capitalists no longer supported the independence movement, but actively moved closer to Austria.

In recent years, the popularity of the Austrian language and writing has accelerated in the local area.Newspapers, books, and advertisements on the streets are all in Austrian, and traditional Italian is abandoned.

Social ethos has changed, not knowing Austrian is despised, it's hard to get around in the city, and no capitalist will hire a worker who doesn't speak Austrian.

Before the death of Napoleon III, he wanted to emulate Austria's national integration policy, but was forced to give up at the beginning.

It's not easy to be a socialist emperor, and social welfare benefits have been improved, and financial expenses have inevitably increased.

In addition to financial problems, there is resistance from the Italian local government.The French forcibly annexed the Italian region, but there was no way to replace all the local officials with French.

Without the cooperation of local officials, how can the policies of the central government be implemented?

This is different from Lombardy and Venice. When Franz promoted national integration, there were hundreds of thousands of Germans and a group of nobles who were loyal to the Habsburg dynasty. supporter.

All Italians, how can the French government change?Even if the person is changed, they are still passive and slack at work.To establish a local government loyal to the French Empire is not something that can be accomplished overnight.

The national integration policy that Napoleon III could not carry out, now in the hands of Napoleon IV, will only be more difficult.

Without real national integration, Grand France is a powder keg that could explode at any time.

An enemy with weakness is not terrible. The French have such obvious weaknesses, and Franz will naturally not worry about France becoming bigger.

……

The German Federal Empire itself was a joke, and Franz never worried that the alliance would become a threat.

At the beginning, European countries wanted to forcibly upgrade them to empires. In addition to the existence of kingdoms within the German Confederation, they were more worried about the peaceful evolution of Austria to achieve reunification.

No matter how much the British provoke relations, it cannot change the nature of the cultural homology between the two sides.The ruling class also needs to consider the feelings of the people. The Kingdom of Prussia has no way to get rid of the influence of German nationalism, let alone the German Federal Empire?

……

Called by the British government, on July 1874, 7, European countries convened an international conference in London to discuss and resolve the ongoing Russian-Polish War and the Near East War.

In the Austrian embassy in London, Britain and Austria are conducting secret talks.

British Foreign Secretary Marquis MacLean: "His Excellency Minister, the world needs peace, and a stable Europe is the foundation of world peace.

On the issue of maintaining European stability, the interests of our two countries are the same, and now it is necessary for your country to take more active measures to contribute to the stability of Europe. "

Austrian Minister Hummel smiled slightly and put down the coffee in his hand: "Your Excellency Minister, we are also happy to work for world peace, but the facts tell us that world peace needs to be maintained by everyone.

Maintaining the stability of the European continent is the common responsibility of all European countries, not the responsibility of one or two countries.We have done enough for European stability.

History has taught us that sometimes doing too much can be counterproductive.Occasionally let go, there may be unexpected gains. "

There is no doubt that Hummel is speaking of the Metternich era.At that time, the Vienna government was an active defender of the European order. However, Austria maintained the stability of Europe, but its greatest interests were taken away by the British.

After the Anti-French War, Europe remained stable for 30 years, creating favorable conditions for British overseas colonial expansion.However, Austria, which worked hard to maintain the European order, locked itself in the European continent and was unable to carry out colonial expansion.

It was not until after Franz came to the throne that the Vienna government abandoned Metternich's European balance strategy and caught up with the train of colonial expansion.

Maclean was unmoved, and said nonchalantly, "That's not necessarily true. Letting the situation develop is also risky. Once the situation gets out of control, everyone's losses will be even greater.

Rather than letting the situation develop, take the initiative.Presumably your country does not want to see the French continue to expand.

If they get the Rhineland area, I am afraid that Belgium will be difficult to preserve, and even the German Federal Empire will be cut by them. "

This is an inevitable result. With the resources of the Rhineland region, the strength of France will be further strengthened.

There is little chance of preventing them from annexing territories west of the Rhine.For Austria, this has exceeded the bottom line of tolerance.

Hummel nodded: "The whole of Europe doesn't want to see this kind of thing happen, and we are no exception. I don't know what plans your country has, but as long as it can be prevented from happening, we will be happy to cooperate."

……

Chapter 139 The British Plan

A staff member of the Austrian embassy in his thirties reported: "Your Excellency, this is the information we have recently collected.

It is worth noting that at the same time as Marquis MacLean's visit, Crowe, the Permanent Undersecretary of the British Foreign Office, also entered the French embassy at the same time.

The two talked in the secret room, and no one knew the specific content.Preliminarily judged that the content of their conversation should be related to the war in the Near East, and half of them may involve the issue of German unification. "

To win over Austria to check and balance France, and to pull France to check and balance Austria, to use the British, French, and Austrian Tripartite Alliance to maintain the stability of the European continent and consolidate their world hegemony, is the foreign policy of the British.

Hummel was not surprised by the contact between the British and the French.The British want to keep the nail of the Ottoman Empire, and the Vienna government is also ready to leave this decaying empire to slowly shear the wool.

If the Ottoman Empire were killed all at once, Austria would not be able to swallow this piece of meat.At that time, the European countries will divide up together, which will not only destroy the fraudulent strategy implemented by the Vienna government, but also put Britain and France into their own back gardens.

Just shout the slogan "United Germany", if it is serious then you will lose.Hummel, a senior government official, knew very well that the Vienna government was not ready to unify the German regions.

Hummel nodded: "Put the document here, I will take time to read it. Now I continue to stare at the British, I always feel that things are not so simple."

Things were going so well that Hummel didn't have to do anything to get the results he wanted.

If it is anything else, it can be celebrated in advance.But in the international diplomacy of intrigue, the more it is like this, the more vigilant it is necessary to be vigilant.

No one can guarantee that this will be a smoke bomb released by competitors.Britain and Austria have only reached a verbal agreement, which is not binding at all, and it is too easy to go back on it.

……

Inside the Prime Minister's Residence in Downing Street, senior British cabinet members gathered.

Prime Minister Gerston: "How is the plan going, have France and Austria taken the bait?"

Foreign Secretary Maclean: "It's going very well, and both France and Austria are very vigilant about each other. As long as we control the timing, proceed step-by-step as planned, and don't leave them time for private transactions, the big picture is set.

Compared with France and Austria, I am more worried about the German Federal Empire.There are too many states in the German region, Austria has too much influence in the German region, and local nationalism has awakened.

I worry that even with our backing, they may not go according to our plan.If they don't hold on, our investment will be lost.

To know that so far, Hannover has not really mastered the country.Their imperial parliament is still in accordance with the traditional model, one state, one vote, which is very troublesome. "

"One country, one vote" is a prerequisite for the establishment of the German Federal Empire. Otherwise, why would many German countries follow Hannover?

Behind the right to vote, there is also Austria's handwriting.This model of political structure was created from the very beginning to prevent the German Confederation from being integrated.

The effect is very good now. After so many years, the German Federal Empire is still the "comedy empire", and it is noisy when it encounters things.

It stands to reason that such a political structure will affect the development of the country, but the fact is just the opposite, the local economy is developing very well.

These states have a high degree of autonomy and can formulate economic policies flexibly without the intervention of the central government dominated by Hanover.