Chapter 218

St. Petersburg

The tsarist government was embarrassed. Austria's expansion was too fast, and it had to find a way to contain it.

But the Russian-Austrian alliance cannot be broken. Austria is the only significant ally of the tsarist government on the European continent, and it must not be lost.

Now that Austria is not expanding beyond the scope of the treaty, they can't even find an excuse to interfere.

This has nothing to do with credibility, as long as the interests are suitable, the tsarist government does not care about selling teammates.

Obviously, the current interest is not enough for the Tsar to sell his teammates. Even if Britain and France abandoned the Ottoman Empire, the tsarist government would not be able to tear up the Russian-Austrian Covenant.

The reason is very simple. The war in the Near East woke up the tsarist government and made them understand that they were not as powerful as they thought. Since it is not strong enough, it needs allies.

Throughout the world, there are only a handful of countries that are qualified to be Russia's allies, and Austria, a traditional ally, is reliable.

Spain's internal instability, Isabel II is still busy with infighting, unable to intervene in the affairs of the European continent. Such an ally would not be wanted by Nicholas I.

These two guys from Britain and France are powerful, but what about everyone going to war? A bright enemy, no doubt, how could it be an ally?

Looking at it again, there is only the quasi-power of the Kingdom of Prussia. Putting aside the previous contradictions between the two sides, it is obvious that the Russians will suffer from an alliance with the Kingdom of Prussia.

When they needed help, the Prussians were helpless; in turn, they had to support Prussia from time to time.

The reason for finding allies is because of common interests, and it is impossible to achieve what everyone needs, so there is no way to talk about alliances. This is also the reason for the collapse of the three northern European palace system.

Foreign Minister Karl Worsell said worriedly: "Your Majesty, the voice for the unification of the German region is very high, and Bavaria's nationalism is not the most fanatical, and they all supported the unification war launched by Austria with practical actions.

It is estimated that other states are not much better. Except for the Kingdom of Prussia, other states may be lured by the Austrians by political means.

Now the Prussians were too intimidated to send troops to intervene in the war. What we envisioned as a German unification war has now become an Austrian armed parade.

If we do not intervene, Britain and France are afraid that they will not be able to stop Austria's next actions. "

Allies also need to be wary. Austria is developing too fast, which is not a good thing for the Russians.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Aristan Lirod objected: "We cannot directly intervene in this German unification war. The Russian-Austrian Secret Pact has already demarcated the spheres of influence of the two countries, and we cannot do so until Austria surpasses the pre-agreed line. Breach of contract.

The enemies of the Russian Empire are the British, French, and Ottomans. If they intervene in this war, they will only benefit our enemies in vain. Without the support of Austria, we would not be able to fight this war in the Near East right away.

The Austrian threat is only possible, based on their unification of the German region. Now the chance of them uniting the German region is still very small, at least the Kingdom of Prussia has not surrendered.

Moreover, this kind of threat is not only directed at us. The French people should be most worried about now. Austria has unified the German region, and the threat to them is the greatest. "

Geopolitics determines the strategic threats of countries. The British Isles are isolated from the European continent, and the threat of the British can only come from the sea; after the reunification of the German region, the French will bear the brunt, followed by Russia.

"No, Mr. Aristan Lirod, you misunderstood. Interfering in this war and abiding by the covenant are not contradictory. As long as we support the Austrians to obtain the pre-agreed territory, it is not a violation of the covenant.

In this matter, Britain and France can be the villains. There is no need for us to directly conflict with Austria. ' explains Karl Woossel

Aristan Lirod asked uncertainly: "You mean to split the German region and completely cut off the unification of the German region?"

Karl Woossel answered affirmatively: "Yes, it has been proved that after the awakening of nationalism, if the German region is not divided, reunification will happen sooner or later.

It is too late to stop it now. If it is a little later, the Kingdom of Prussia is also influenced by public opinion, and it will be difficult for us to stop them from reunifying! "

"What specific plans do you have?" Nicholas I asked with interest

Karl Woossel analyzed: "Your Majesty, this plan still requires the contribution of Britain and France, and cannot be proposed by us, which will affect Russia-Austria relations.

According to the current situation, it is not a big problem for the Austrians to get the South German region. If Britain and France are willing to stop them, they can be allowed to do this villain.

Prussia can gain a certain expansion in the North German region, the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein are allocated to the Danes, and the states in the western region can be merged with Belgium and the Netherlands.

Of course, the West German state doesn't care about us, so the British will have a headache. It doesn't matter whether it is for Prussia, or for the two younger brothers of Belgium and Holland, or for independence.

As long as these economically developed regions are not annexed by Austria, their power will not skyrocket. After the division of Germany, Austria's expansion road was blocked, and they could only compete for overseas colonies.

This is bound to conflict with Britain and France. After having a common enemy, the future relationship of the Russian-Austrian alliance is expected to go further. "

Solving the problem once and for all is indeed the best choice. As long as the German region is completely divided, no country on the European continent can threaten the security of the Russian Empire.

.

At least in the current situation, there is still no way to see which country has the strength to threaten Russia. Even the French, who were most feared by the tsarist government, are not as terrible now as they were in Napoleon's time.

...

Paris

The situation was changing too fast, and Napoleon III's plan to sit on and watch the tiger fight had died before it had time to start.

All the states in the German region acted as ostriches, as if the Bavarian government was really guilty, and Austria overthrew their rule is expected.

Well, according to the information from Bavaria, Napoleon III had to admit that Austria was indeed the one that everyone expected this time.

This meant that the Austrian annexation of Bavaria would have been an easy armed parade from start to finish, with casualties on both sides adding up to no more than triple digits. With a good popular base, there will be no problem at all in ruling in the future.

Napoleon III cursed: "Everyone knows the news from the German region.

The situation is completely out of control, and if we don't take action, it may not be long before Austria can rebuild that damn Shinra Empire.

If you don't want to watch the monsters that have plagued France for hundreds of years come back to life, then find a way to strangle them now! "

Interior Minister Pesini proposed: "Your Majesty, in the current situation, we must prepare for armed intervention. Considering the current situation in Germany, these states will not become our allies.

Austria's strength is not weak. For the sake of insurance, it is best to join forces with Britain and Russia. The most important thing now is to coordinate foreign relations and ensure that the powers are on the same page. "

Pesini was the mastermind of Napoleon III, including the restoration plan, which he formulated. He may not be good at governing the country, but he is definitely a master at playing power.

He was clearly trying to persuade Napoleon III not to interfere in this war rashly. When he said it, it became a diplomatic need.

It also vaguely reminded Napoleon III that the main French force is still on the battlefield in the Near East, and the domestic force is empty. If the troops are sent out, it will contribute to the enemy's record.

There is no way, the Napoleonic era of all soldiers is a thing of the past. The current French Empire is not as fast as Prussia in terms of mobilization.

There are not enough troops in hand, and it jumps out to interfere with force. Isn't that a joke?

Napoleon III asked with concern: "How long will it take us to have enough troops to intervene in this war?"

War Minister Arnault thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, because of the war in the Near East, our standing army has now exceeded 800,000, and a large number of reserves have been recruited.

There are 280,000 troops in Crimea, 200,000 in Constantinople, 154,000 in overseas colonies, and less than 170,000 troops in the country.

Now we are able to mobilize 150,000 young people to join the army every month. These recruits need at least three months of training before they can be put on the battlefield.

If we want to intervene in this war alone, it will take at least half a year before we have enough troops. "

Napoleon III completely rejected the idea of ​​going it alone. This is all a good thing done by the July Dynasty. During the Louis-Philippe period, the standing army of France was usually more than 200,000, and the system of all soldiers was also abandoned.

After Napoleon III came to power, the army was expanded to 800,000, where there are so many reserves that can be directly recruited.

There is no shortage of young France of the right age, but these people can go to the battlefield without taking up arms, and they must also undergo certain training.

After three months of basic training, he was actually a cannon fodder among cannon fodder, and his combat effectiveness was pitifully low. This kind of unreliable army, Napoleon III did not dare to take to the battlefield.

It's not that the mobilization ability of the French is really poor. Everyone is similar in this era. Before Franz reformed the military system, the mobilization ability of Austria was similar to that of the French.

In this era, the countries that can quickly mobilize 800,000 troops are Russia, France and Austria. Of course, there are still many countries that can gather the number of people, but there is no way to guarantee the combat effectiveness.

Seeing a leaf and knowing autumn, according to the situation in France, Napoleon III quickly came to the conclusion that this armed intervention would be difficult to proceed.

Unless the Austrians really want to unify Germany and make everyone anxious. Britain, France and Russia pulled back the warring troops, otherwise everyone would not have enough troops now.

His judgment was not wrong. The British gave up the plan of armed intervention for the first time because the British Army could not come up with a large enough force.

...

While all countries were preparing, Franz was not idle either. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was busy and started public relations throughout the European continent.

Even Switzerland, which had a feud with the Habsburg dynasty, was not spared. Hatred is a thing of the past. Relations between the two countries have normalized since permanent neutrality was declared at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

Of course, this is not the focus of Austrian PR, it's just a matter of routine to make a statement to the Swiss government.

Unless Switzerland is willing to give up its neutral position, they will not be able to participate in this war, in fact they will not be able to participate in this war.

Switzerland in this era is not the developed country of later generations. As a mountainous country, it is natural to be poor before it completes industrialization.

Aside from fooling the German states, the biggest PR target is actually the French. The Russians can't be counted, this was done in advance, and now it's just a matter of continuing to communicate.

Not that Franz didn't want to do the British job,

The problem is that John Bull is too shrewd, and Austria has no interest in buying them.

On the contrary, the French people have a common language and can be bought at a certain price. Franz is afraid of pain when he cuts flesh on his own, so he can only be generous to others.

...