Chapter 425
You pit me, I pit you, struggle is the theme of the era of the great powers.
People in the arena involuntarily. In international politics, there are only interests. Consistent interests are friends. If interests conflict, they are enemies. Role change is the basic operation.
The British did the best in this regard. They were allies just now. They can become enemies after a while, and friends again after a while.
To a certain extent, the diplomacy of European countries in this era is to learn from the British. Everyone's bottom line and integrity dropped again and again, and the alliance of close cooperation only existed before the Middle Ages.
In this context, the relationship between European countries is a mess, and cannot be narrowly distinguished by enemies and friends.
In order to gain more support in the negotiations, both Prussia and Russia are 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 salted fish.
Salted fish is tragic. International support is still very useful under the European rule system. Even the diplomatic support of small countries also has value.
The younger brother has no diplomatic ability, so he can only go to John Bull himself. Perhaps this is also what the London government wants to see most, which can increase their influence in these countries and obtain greater benefits.
Franz wanted to become a melon eater, but he wanted to be quiet and the wind kept going. Because of the relationship between the Russian-Austrian alliance, Austria was involved.
"The Russians want to get back to their pre-war state, with our support?"
Franz can't help but be surprised, this is simply a fantasy. Whether or not to admit that the Russians are losers this time, how can the losers not want to pay the price?
Not one inch of land is not worthy of a ruble.
It would be surprising if everyone agreed to such a truce. Unless they can persuade all European countries to endorse it, the price is bound to be paid.
Foreign Secretary Wesenberg replied: "Yes, Your Majesty. That's what the Russian envoy said. They don't want to be responsible for the war."
There is no doubt that this involved a political game within the tsarist government. No one at the top of the government wants to take responsibility, so they act like rascals.
Franz was so pissed off that he didn't bother to care about the Russians' bad things, and said decisively: "Reply to the tsarist government, if they think they have the ability to persuade all parties to agree, we have no opinion.
If you can't do it, don't do these whimsical things, lest you end up being an international laughing stock. "
The "international laughing stock" is the fault of the Russians, and their diplomatic jokes have hardly stopped. It will come every three or five years, as if they can't grow up without making a joke.
Franz naturally did not want to accompany the tsarist government to have a good time, treating others as fools, and finally realizing that the fool was himself.
Diplomacy is based on strength, but the Russian Empire in its heyday had this confidence. If the war ended a year ago, they would still have the strength to not cede land or pay indemnities.
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.
Even the most radical Polish nationalists would not dare to swallow the Russian Empire in one bite. Not to mention in terms of strength, except that the Kingdom of Prussia can fight after all, the others are all fighting against the wind.
The main force of the tsarist army was dragged down by the Prussians, and the enemies we faced were all second-rate Russian troops, and their combat effectiveness was not at the same level.
Now the tragedy is that the main force of the tsarist government is exhausted, and the combat effectiveness of the new recruits is second-rate at best, which is also proved by the disadvantage of all major fronts.
Prime Minister Felix analyzed: "Your Majesty, the Russians I think it is the Russians who are testing our position.
Now that the war is going on, it is impossible for the tsarist government to not know that they can no longer fight.
The economy of the Russian Empire is about to collapse, and social conflicts have long reached a critical point. If the war is not ended, the tsarist government will be doomed. "
"Economic collapse, internal and external troubles", Franz thought in a different position, what would he do if he was in the position of Alexander II?
Franz soon came to a conclusion - stabilize first and then change. Don't care so much, first keep the power, and then use external pressure to promote social reform.
Nicholas I won the war in the Near East, 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 has deteriorated, is it not an opportunity?
After this defeat, the strength of the post-war reformers will inevitably skyrocket. Alexander II can also hold accountable for the failure of the war and take the opportunity to clean up some of the worms.
If it is ruthless, it can also take advantage of the opportunity to suppress the rebellion and hit the domestic conservatives hard.
This is a ready-made example. It was only because of the reshuffle of the Great Revolution that Austria completed its social reform more than ten years ago.
Franz did not doubt the ability of Alexander II at all, and the original time and space completed a social reform. During this period, bloody violence was inevitable, 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 able to get close.
How to drop bombs? Especially after throwing a bomb, when Alexander II checked the coachman's injuries, he dropped a second bomb before killing him.
Are the guards all wooden people? Someone is attacking at close range and giving them a second chance?
There is a time interval in the middle, and artificially dropping bombs means the distance between the two sides.
It's only a few dozen meters. Under normal circumstances, the assassin is either beaten into a sieve or captured alive, and there is no chance for a second shot.
Including the surrounding crowd, will also be cleared and controlled immediately. The assassination case obviously concealed something, and it is very unreasonable to analyze it purely on the surface.
Referring to his own security capabilities, Franz can conclude that there is no inner ghost, and the assassin cannot approach him with guns and bombs at all.
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 are sure that there will be no problems before they can approach.
In a country like Russia where the hierarchy is strict, it is difficult for commoners to get close to the big nobles, let alone get close to the emperor?
Not to mention an assassin, even a group of assassins may not be able to rush to the first few dozen meters.
Franz didn't bother to struggle with these questions, he could just be careful. Even if it was in Vienna, it was accompanied by hundreds of guards, and there were four-digit police peripheral activities.
The safety factor is definitely the highest, even if an assassin sees this lineup, he can only retreat obediently.
Wechat private visits, that does 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 pomp and 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 and paralyzing these people.
The purge of the tsarist government is imminent, and I guess Alexander II will stage a coup to clean up the worms in the government, and then pass the blame for the failure of the war on them.
This serves multiple purposes. Not only can it clean up the worms in the government, but it can also take the opportunity to suppress conservatives and give the public an explanation.
The filthy ministers have been cleaned up, and the rebels have no excuse to rebel. It won't be long before the rebels get caught up in internal strife, and if the revolutionary party doesn't hurry up, it might even be rewarded with credit. "
The foundation of the revolutionary party is too shallow. Don't watch them make a lot of noise. In fact, any revolutionary party in Russia in this era has only 180 people.
They were temporarily united in order to seize power. If they weren't too weak, they wouldn't accept the banner of "the side of the Qing emperor and punish the filthy ministers".
Although this banner united many people, it also brought a problem. As the ranks of the insurgent army grew, the Revolutionary Party lost control of the army.
The "dirty ministers" have all been executed, the people's goal of rebellion 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 can solve the problem, push the responsibility to the bureaucracy, the grievances of the people are out, and the tsar is still a good tsar.
The hearts of the people are still towards the tsar, and the army also supports the tsar. Neither the reformers nor the conservatives in the aristocratic group had any intention of overthrowing the tsar.
Including the newly emerging capitalists, these people also think that it is better to keep the tsar than no tsar. They support revolution only to seize power, not to really carry out social revolution.
In a country where more than 99 percent of the people support the tsar, isn't it nonsense to want to overthrow the tsarist government?
In this respect, Alexander II was born in a good time + a good place. The Russian revolutionary teacher has not yet been born, the proletarian revolutionary party has no shadow, and the current bourgeois revolutionary group is not anti-imperialist.
If the time was pushed back fifty years, or if the background was changed to France, it would have been a republic by now.
Prime Minister Felix disagreed and said: "Reform is not that easy, the conservatives of the Russian Empire are very strong, Nicholas I did not complete social reforms, and Alexander II may be even more difficult to achieve.
What he can do now is probably to carry out limited reforms, transform the feudal system of the Russian Empire, and improve his 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 by the rebels, and the conservatives in Bohemia were attacked by the rebels.
By the time the Vienna government announced its reforms, the conservatives had lost all their strength, and most people had lost their roots.
Even so, the struggle between the two sides has not been less 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 give Alexander II a headache.
It is doomed that in the future, reformers and conservatives will continue to face each other for a long time under the power of hatred. 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, it is impossible for Alexander II to kill them all.
The crime of embezzlement and bribery is too light, and it can only be regarded as a small loss to the nobles. Involving military supplies, at most, only a few people in charge can be killed.
Most would just be driven home, or exiled to Siberia. These people have lost their rights and are still alive, and they are still a hidden danger.
And the rebels in Moscow were very ineffective and did not make big news. There is no big aristocrat or big capitalist at all, and it is impossible to get involved.
"On the side of the Qing emperor, punish the filthy ministers" is naturally a step lower than the rebellion. Even if it is to show off the emperor's kindness, Alexander II will also issue an order for security.
The top pots are all revolutionaries, and the rest just need to be a little smarter. After Alexander II issued the pardon order, they decided to defect. After the war they were marginalized at most, and reckoning did not exist.
.
This means that conservatives have only lost in political struggles and have not lost much of their own strength.
After all, like Austria, the Russian imperial army is dominated by nobles, and the tsar cannot 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 have completed their industrialization, they are European powers.
It's not a good thing for us if they really carry out radical social reforms. You know, on the European continent, there is only the Russian Empire that has more potential than us. "
...