Holy Roman Empire

It cannot be smelted on the spot, and the developed ores have to be shipped and sold. With the traffic conditions of this era, these minerals naturally lost their economic value.

Needless to say, oil and natural gas have just begun to be used, and the importance of it has not been seen at all. Naturally, no one has spent a lot of money to explore.

After thinking about it, Franz found that these things were really useless for a short time.It may not even be used within a hundred years, and the advance layout is completely nonsense.

Austria has declared its neutrality in the war. This time, the loan to Bolivia is naturally carried out in the form of a private commercial loan. The government only charges a fee for guaranteeing the performance of the contract.

Judging from the current situation, the possibility of the Bolivian government winning the war is very small.

If the collateral has no value, private banks will not buy it.Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if the government negotiated terms and no bank would lend money in the end?

When he came to his senses, Franz was not embarrassed at all, and immediately changed his words: "Since the precious metal mines are gone, these latter things can only be considered as the first thing, and let the Bolivian government take out other things as collateral."

No collateral?it's out of the question.After all, it is also a country, how can it be without any family background?It's really not possible, there is no land.

"Delinquent", let alone worry.It is still the 19th century, and there are more than one incidents of armed debt collection.Unless it's a giant like the Russians, the cost of debt collection is too high, and everyone can only admit it.

……

Foreign Minister Weisenberg: "Your Majesty, our covenant with the Russians expires in only three months. The negotiators sent by the tsarist government have arrived in Vienna."

The Vienna government also has different opinions on whether to do another Russian-Austrian alliance.Franz, including Franz, shook his position several times in the middle.

It's not that everyone's will is not firm, but in the final analysis, it is still the interests of the people.Whether it is to continue the alliance or abandon the alliance, there is a lot of interest in it.

After so many years, the Russian and Austrian economies have been essentially tied together.Austria imported industrial raw materials from Russia, processed them into products, and sold them back to the Russian Empire.

Since 1854, Russia and Austria have been each other's most important economic partners.At its peak, trade with Russia accounted for two-thirds of Austria's total foreign trade.

With the rapid development of the Austrian economy, Austrian industrial and commercial products continue to open up new markets, and this number begins to decline year by year.

Even now, trade with Russia is still the most important part of Austria's foreign trade, accounting for 29.7% of Austria's total import and export trade.

If it weren't for the fact that the Russian economy did not keep pace and the domestic market grew too slowly, this proportion would have been even greater.

There is no doubt that the Russian-Austrian alliance has made important contributions to the economic exchanges between the two countries and promoted the trade exchanges between the two countries.

There are advantages and disadvantages, and the Russian-Austrian alliance also restricts Austria's expansion.For example: During the Russian-Prussian War, the Vienna government lost the opportunity to take advantage of the opportunity to bring down the tsarist government.

Constraining further expansion, this can only be regarded as a small problem.The European continent is not big, and the expansion will not be much, but it is a lot of trouble.

It's mainly an international image issue, and the Russians are too hateful.The existence of the Russian-Austrian alliance allows Austria to share the pressure.

This has constrained the Vienna government, which has always been good at flexible diplomacy, and often has no room to play.

The economic gains are not for nothing, and Austria is still the biggest creditor of the Russians.

Borrowing money is fine, but the tsarist government has a bad reputation.It was often unable to perform the contract normally, and it also owed a lot of Austrian debts.

Unpaid debts are definitely the most hated.Austrian financial circles are staunchly anti-Russian, and even the people have a bad impression of Russians.

In agriculture, the two countries are again in a state of competition.The peasants in Austria hated the Russians, a market-destroying competitor.

Austrian peasants are not rural peasants who have no right to speak, and there are a large number of nobles among them.These people were all victims of Alexander II's policy of reclamation, and naturally hated the tsarist government.

Franz asked blankly: "Do you think it is necessary for us to renew the contract now?"

History seems to be repeating itself. The former two empires of time and space have conflicted with the Russians because of agricultural friction, and Austria is similar now.

Of course, there are differences. In addition to the anti-Russian aristocracy and peasants in Austria, the financial community also hates the Russians because of the debt problem. Only the domestic business community supports the renewal of the contract.

In a similar position, Franz somewhat understood the foreign policy of Wilhelm II alienating Russia.

In the face of interests, personal strength cannot make up for it. The emperor must also consider the position of the people in the country and cannot oppose the majority of people.

Prime Minister Felix hit the nail on the head: "Continuing to renew the contract has a little effect on the economy, but it is worthless strategically!"

Agriculture Secretary Halles: "The economic value is not great, it's the era of free trade, and the tariff advantage we used to have is no longer there.

Even without the Russian-Austrian alliance, at most a portion of the Tsarist government's purchases would be reduced, with minimal impact.

After so many years of hard work, many aspects of Russian industry have to rely on us. Even if the tsarist government wants to kick us out, it depends on whether they can afford this loss. "

This is the main reason for the reassurance of the Vienna government.Austrian industry is a self-contained system, and the standards adopted by Britain and France are different, and they are completely unsuitable.

Russian industry was heavily influenced by Austria from the very beginning, and the capitalists, greedy for cheap, adopted Austrian standards directly.

Adopting Austrian standards is nothing, the key is that the Russian industry has not formed a complete industrial system, and machinery and equipment rely on imports from Austria.

To withdraw now means that most of the industrial equipment in this area will be scrapped. This loss is simply beyond the tsarist government's ability to bear.

Chapter 217 Preparing for War

The end of the Russian-Austrian alliance was like a thunderclap on the ground, instantly causing a sensation in the world.

The Pacific War, the dispute over the free trade system, Queen Victoria's Secret History, these popular news have been suppressed.

Anyone with a little political savvy knows that the international situation is about to start to shuffle again.

Without the Russian-Austrian alliance, the last obstacle that restricts the Federation of Pubo and Poland no longer exists.The Berlin government could not wait for the Russians to be ready to go to war.

In recent years, both Prussia and Russia have been preparing for war, and the military industry and transportation of the two countries have achieved leapfrog development.

Because of the Russian-Austrian alliance, the Russians and Austria have carried out in-depth cooperation in the field of military industry.In order to maximize cost savings, the bureaucracy of the tsarist government directly copied the Austrian military-industrial system.

In the long run, this kind of complete copying has ruined the independent research and development capabilities of Russia's military industry, and the consequences will definitely be catastrophic.

But in a short period of time, the strength of Russia's military industry has been greatly enhanced, and it has directly transitioned to the world's top level.

What is the development of the military industry?

There are many comprehensive factors that need to be considered, but it can be summed up in two words - throwing money!

The tsarist government was self-aware, knowing that its own research and development capabilities were not good, and that it did not have enough funds in its pockets, so it simply cooperated with Austria.

The Commonwealth of Prussia is different. From the very beginning, the Kingdom of Prussia has taken the road of self-help research and development.Limited by funding, Prussia's domestic military industry has actually fallen behind.

The British couldn't help them in this regard, and John Bull's army equipment was mediocre.It's not that their technology is not good. The main reason is that the number of British Army is too small and the purchase order for equipment is too small. Naturally, military enterprises are not willing to spend a lot of money on research and development.

This situation continued until the Pude territory deal.With the change of ownership of the Rhineland, the obstacles between the French and the French no longer exist, and it is natural for the Berlin government to move closer to the French.

In recent years, there have been more and more military technology transactions between the two countries.

Of course, Prussia and France are not allies, and the French have no need to take care of the Commonwealth. The cooperation between the two countries in the military industry is not as deep as that of Russia and Austria.

The cooperation between the two parties is limited to technical exchanges, and it is impossible to go further.At least until there is no unified industrial standard between the two countries, it is impossible to achieve a perfect connection.

In theory, the Russian and Austrian industrial standards are unified, and the tsarist government directly replicates the Austrian military industry, which should have an advantage in the arms race.

It is a pity that the industrial base of the Russians is too poor, and there is a lack of good enough industrial workers. With the same production equipment, the products produced by the Russians always have a higher defective rate.

The gap in this regard has brought the Prussian and Russian military industries to the same level.Even if there is a gap, it is limited to individual weapons and equipment, and there is no age gap.

Compared with the military industry, the changes in transportation are more obvious.

Only a few short years after the establishment of the Commonwealth of Poles, the Berlin government has started construction of 1 kilometers of railways in Poland, one third of which has now been opened to traffic, and the remaining sections will be completed in two or three years.

Not only Poland is building railways, but other areas in Prussia are not idle. For example, Lithuania has planned two main lines, plus subsidiary branches, with a total length of up to 2 kilometers.

Up to now, the total railway mileage of the Pubo Federal Railway has reached 2.6 kilometers. Once the plan of the Berlin government is completed, the total mileage of the Pubo Federal Railway will exceed 3.7 kilometers.

This figure can make the total mileage of the Federal Railways of Pubo surpass that of France and become the third largest railway country in Europe after Russia and Austria.

The Commonwealth of Pubo was working hard to build roads, and Alexander II, who saw the importance of transportation, was not idle.

In just ten years, the Tsarist government has successively started construction of 3.4 kilometers of railways, of which 2.6 kilometers have been opened to traffic. In addition to the previous railways, the total mileage of railways in operation in the Russian Empire has approached 3 kilometers.

From a purely numerical point of view, the Russian Empire clearly surpassed the Commonwealth of the Commonwealth, but in reality the situation is quite the opposite.

The territory of the Russian Empire is more than 20 times that of the Pubo Federation, but the difference in total railway mileage between the two sides is less than 15%. The gap in transportation between the two countries can be imagined.

Now that both sides are rushing for time, there is no doubt that the Popo Federation will have the upper hand.Restricted by geographical conditions, the Russians were destined to be at a disadvantage in railway construction.

Don't look at the total railway mileage of the Russian Empire seems to be more, but the capacity is still not as good as the Commonwealth of Poland.This is determined by the climate, as long as winter comes, the Russian railways cannot guarantee full load.

In terms of transportation, the Russians need to build at least 15 kilometers of railways to reach the current level of the Commonwealth.This is only limited to connecting some major cities in Russia in Europe. Considering Asia, doubling it may not be enough.

Obviously, this is not possible.The Berlin government would not have left so much time for the Russians. If the Tsarist government had solved the traffic problem, unless they were able to hang up, the war would not have been fought at all.

The whole world is paying attention to the news of the dissolution of the Russian-Austrian alliance. In addition to the political impact of this alliance, the most important thing is that the dissolution of the alliance is equivalent to announcing that the Prussian-Russian war has entered a countdown.

The people who eat melons can't help but come out to give pointers, not to mention the tsarist government as the protagonist.As soon as the bad news came, Alexander II smashed N cultural relics in anger.

"Damn Habsburg bastards, a bunch of perfidious traitors..."

Anger resounded in the Winter Palace.No wonder Alexander II was so angry. In order to continue to maintain the Russian-Austrian alliance, they have made obvious concessions and released goodwill to the Vienna government through various channels.

However, all this was in vain.Not to mention renewing the contract for another 30 years, even extending the covenant to five years later was rejected by the Vienna government.

The reform of Alexander II has basically been completed, and now it is only time to transform the reform into national strength.It can be said that every day is crucial to the Russian Empire.

The Russian-Austrian Alliance has bought time for Austria to develop peacefully. Now it is time to buy time for the Russian Empire. Austria suddenly announced that it will not play. How can Alexander II feel bad?

It doesn't need much, as long as it drags on for another five years, the Russian Empire will be able to have the strength to hang the Pubo Federation.

This is a gap in size, but also a gap in development potential.Both countries are developing rapidly now, but the ceiling of the Commonwealth has reached its ceiling, and the Russian Empire has just begun.

The angry tsar was terrifying, and none of the ministers wanted to touch this brow.Seeing that the situation was not right, Alexandrovich bravely persuaded:

"Father, now is not the time to be angry. Since the Russian-Austrian alliance no longer renews the contract, the obstacles that restrict the Pubo Federation from starting a war will no longer exist."

"Humph!" Alexander II exclaimed angrily. "What are you afraid of? Could it be that without Austria, the great Russian Empire cannot defeat the enemy?"

Aleksandrovich: "Of course not, but the situation is very serious. We have made major concessions, the Vienna government still refuses to make concessions, and there must be unknown transactions behind this.

We can boldly guess that there is insider trading between Puo and Ao.The Berlin government has limited leverage, and the only thing that can impress the Vienna government is…”

After speaking in one breath, Alexandrovich almost believed it himself.Of course, in essence, this is just a step, and everyone still won't believe that Prussia and Austria will hook up.

Politicians control their emotions, which is only the most basic operation.Alexander II was quite angry, but not to the point where he couldn't control himself. His anger was just to cover up his wrong foreign policy after he came to power.

No way, who let him kiss Pu in the first place?With Peter III, the scumbag predecessor, the tolerance of such things in Russia has dropped by several grades.

Even though Alexander II made the right choice and decisively changed his political stance, his early pro-Pussius foreign policy was still questioned from within.

Now that the Russian-Austrian alliance has ended, there must be a group of people in the country who put the blame on him.The nobles whose interests were damaged in the reform have always been looking for opportunities to attack, and Alexander II must put an end to this possibility.

This is also the reason why Alexandrovich pinned the responsibility for the termination of the Russian-Austrian alliance on the collusion between Phu and Austria.

The hearts of the Russians are still there. In any case, the Russian Empire cannot tolerate Austria's unification of Central Europe, which means that their European hegemony will end.

If the tsarist government could not make concessions on the issue of German unification, then the breakdown of the Russian-Austrian alliance would make sense.It is nothing more than saying that the Berlin government has a lower bottom line and can compromise on this issue.

It doesn't matter if it's true or not, as long as it's politically said in the past.

After a moment of silence, Alexander II seemed to be adjusting his emotions: "Alas!"

"Forget it, this is the end, let's discuss how to deal with it!"

The collapse of the Russian-Austrian alliance was also anticipated by the tsarist government.Since joining the tsarist government and opting to join the pound-gold system, the two countries are separated.

Minister of the Army Heramed: "Your Majesty, without the Russian-Austrian alliance, the initiative in war is no longer ours alone.

Judging from the current situation, the railway plan of the Pubo Federation can be completed within three years at most and two years at the fastest, while our railway plan will take at least five years.

In terms of time, we no longer have the advantage.The enemy will not give us that much time, and now there are only two paths before us.

Either start the war in advance while everyone is not ready; or do the defensive work and wait for the Popo Federation to be ready to attack us. "

"Five years" is only a theoretical figure. In fact, everyone knows that the transportation of the Russian Empire cannot be solved in five years, and at most it will connect major cities.

Of course, it's enough if you can do this.Almost catching up with the traffic in the European part of the Russian Empire before the First World War.

It's a little bit worse, but it can support millions of troops to fight on the front line. This number is enough to fight the Popo Federation.

The population of the Russian Empire is 2.8 times that of the Commonwealth, and the casualty tolerance is much higher.

It's a pity they don't have that much time and now have to do multiple choice questions.This war is extraordinary. The tsarist government cannot afford to lose. Once defeated, it means that the Russian Empire will not be able to turn over for decades.

Everyone's breathing suddenly became heavier. Obviously, this multiple-choice question is not easy to do.

Minister of the Interior Mikhail: "We can't wait for the enemy to complete the plan. Now the enemy is busy building roads, and a lot of money has been occupied, and the financial resources that can be invested in the war are limited.

Once the enemy is allowed to complete the plan, the situation will be different, then they will be able to concentrate all their financial resources into the war.

Today is different from the past. The international situation has undergone earth-shaking changes. We are no longer enough to make Britain and France fearful. The British will not support the Commonwealth as much as they did in the last war.

As far as I know, the financial situation of the Commonwealth of Pope is also very bad, if not for the previous sale of the Rhineland, they would have gone bankrupt.

As soon as war broke out, the Berlin government would soon be in financial trouble.It is not easy for a government with limited repayment ability to face a war in which the outcome is uncertain. It is not easy to obtain financing from the outside world. "

War is all about money.After the war in the Near East and the last Russian-Prussian War, the Tsarist government has sobered up and no longer believes that the second Russian-Prussian War can be ended in a short time.

Once the war continues, the two sides fight is financial resources.As for the army, the tsarist government has no shortage of soldiers. As long as there is money, there will be soldiers.

The finances of the Commonwealth of Popo and Po are not good, mainly because of the financial problems of the Polish government.Prussia emerged from a financial crisis after the land sale.