Chapter 656 Russia-Austria Agreement

Once the seeds of doubt are sown, they never linger. After carefully studying the actions of the Vienna government in recent years, Dumbledore became more and more confused.

If Austria wanted to target France, why let them annex the Italian region?

When propagating to the public, it can be explained by the strength of France. As a high-level government, Dumbledore does not think so.

No matter how powerful France is, it can't match the alliance of European countries. If the European countries jointly put pressure on them, they can only retreat in shame.

Expanding territory on the European continent has never been easy, and the Italian region is not a backcountry, and Dumbledore does not believe that Austria has no ambitions.

The French government has studied this issue for many years, and finally everyone has come to an unbelievable conclusion that the Vienna government abides by the spirit of the contract.

The truth is no longer important, the meat is eaten anyway. No matter how doubtful it is, the French government is unlikely to give up the Italian region.

It doesn't matter if you can't figure it out, just look at the military strength of Austria. The so-called "threat" is based on strength.

After sorting out the information about the Austrian army in recent years, Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief. Although the threat did exist, France resisted it.

Take action?

Sorry, being a qualified bureaucrat starts with weighing the pros and cons rather than acting blindly.

Austria's threat is only potential, and without sufficient interests, it is impossible for France and Austria to fight for no reason.

In the war of this era, it is obvious that the defensive side has the advantage. If nothing else, it was decided only by the deployment of troops.

In contrast, as a member of the cabinet government, Dumbledore was more worried about the military's expansion. It can be said that from the beginning, Jeffrey Friedman found the wrong person.

The two countries are different. One country owns the army, the other the army owns the country. What seems to be taken for granted by the Berlin government is very different to other governments.

Because there may be threats, direct measures are taken. That is the way of thinking of the military. Politicians have always put their interests first.

Knowing that people are sowing discord, without thinking, jumping out to be a gunman to others is a reckless behavior.

Jeffrey Friedman successfully provoke Fao relations, but did not change the outcome of the negotiations. If you want France to contain Austria, you can exchange it for benefits.

In the face of interests, the Paris government is still not giving an inch. Because of the threat of Austria, supporting the Commonwealth of Pubo does not exist.

Everyone is a mainland country, and for France, Poo is a potential threat, and it is nothing more than a matter of "the size of the threat".

...

At the critical moment of the Franco-Prussian negotiation, the Russia-Austria negotiation has also come to an end.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg: "Your Excellency Minister, I do not see your country's sincerity. Your country has put up too little collateral, and its value is not equal at all.

If you only have these collaterals, and I highly doubt that your government will simply give up these areas, then we will lose a lot of money. "

Russian Minister Nikolayevich: "No, we are very sincere. Your Excellency Minister, don't forget that we have even staked our gold reserves, and there is no possibility of default at all."

Wesenberg was unmoved. If it were not for the purpose of obtaining the Russian gold reserves and promoting currency hegemony, he would not have talked to the Russians here at all.

The so-called territorial mortgage, the Tsarist government has no sincerity at all. Perhaps in order to prevent Austria from entering the Black Sea, none of the territories mortgaged by the Russians had access to the sea.

The Bulgarian area and the area west of the Dnieper River (central and western Ukraine + Moldova), which were mortgaged by the tsarist government, all lacked the most critical coastal areas.

In the sea power era, there were no ports, and all of them were inland areas. Naturally, the value of these territories was greatly reduced.

From the Russians' standpoint, they have a reason why they have to. It is easy to let the Austrians into the Black Sea, but it is difficult to expel the Austrians.

As far as the broken ships of the Black Sea Fleet are concerned, once the Austrian Navy enters the Black Sea, Russia's interests in the Black Sea region will be seriously threatened.

In the face of interests, the tsarist government did not dare to test Austria's integrity. If the interests are too great, maybe the Vienna government will deliberately let them lose for the sake of collateral.

Even with the current territorial mortgage, the tsarist government made a risky decision after weighing the pros and cons again and again.

"If your government took out all of its gold reserves as collateral, we naturally wouldn't worry that you would default, but your country only took out half of its gold reserves.

Your country has always been a major producer of gold. Every year, dozens or even hundreds of tons of gold are mined. It is not difficult to replenish this reserve.

Your Excellency the Minister should know that we are not interested in your territory. Not all land is invaluable, especially after the loss of the sea port, it is greatly depreciated. "

Minister Nikolayevich frowned. It is not difficult to replenish the gold reserves. This is for Britain and Austria. It is very difficult for other countries in the world to increase their gold reserves.

It is true that Russia is the world's major gold-producing country, but it can't stand the outflow every year! Especially when a war is about to take place, a massive outflow of gold and silver is unavoidable.

Taking out all the gold reserves means handing over all of your economic lifeline to the Austrians. If you don’t want the ruble to become waste paper, Russia can only be a little brother.

Minister Nikolayevich: "Your Excellency

, which is impossible. Mortgage half of the reserves is already our bottom line.

The land mortgage can be negotiated, and we can add some ports. In return, your country guarantees our loans to the Nordic Federation and guarantees that your navy will never enter the Black Sea. "

In order to raise money, the tsarist government has repeatedly lowered the bottom line. Especially after the bad news from London, the bottom line of the tsarist government was lowered again.

Today, Alexander II has no way out. If the war is not launched in advance, it will be too late when the enemy is ready.

The word "compromise" has never been in the Russian dictionary. The Russian-Prussian War has essentially become a way for the tsarist government to shift internal conflicts, and once it stops, the consequences will be disastrous.

Knowing that a war is breaking out now, the losses may be heavy, and the tsarist government has to bite the bullet.

Wesenberg: "Yes, but your country must provide equivalent collateral. Once your government defaults, we will repay this debt on your behalf, and safety must be guaranteed.

The navy will never enter the Black Sea, which I cannot guarantee. However, we can make an agreement that as long as your government does not default, the Austrian Navy will not enter the Black Sea. "

"Collateral" has almost become Nikolayevich's dream, as long as he thinks of the word, his scalp tingles. This Russia-Austria negotiation has consumed a lot of his energy.

On the contrary, it is a small problem whether the Austrian Navy can enter the Black Sea. No amount of guarantees for this thing are nonsense. As long as the interests are in place, no one can stop it.

Nikolayevich hurriedly said: "Your Excellency, this is just a normal commercial loan guarantee, and we can pay the guarantee. There is no risk, and your country can rest assured."

Wesenberg shook his head: "Sorry, Your Excellency the Minister. The war is about to break out. If your country can win the war, then I believe there will be no problems.

Once your country loses the war, or is tied. At that time, your government will be unable to repay the debt, can you really fulfill the contract? "

It's almost a matter of saying directly, doubting the credibility of the tsarist government. In his view, if the tsarist government lost the war, it would definitely be able to perform its contract normally, but it would not be guaranteed if it won the war.

The defeated Russian Empire, even if it wants to refuse, the Nordic Federation can send troops to get it by itself, and everyone is good at getting down.

By contrast, Austrian collateral is somewhat troublesome. Parts of Western Ukraine are likely to fall into the hands of the Commonwealth after the war, and the Vienna government wants to acquire these areas, which is another turmoil.

...

After a war of words, on October 10, 1879, Russia and Austria signed the "Russian-Austrian Commerce and Trade Agreement" in Vienna. The treaty stipulated:

The Russian Empire mortgaged the area west of the Dnieper River and the Russian Balkans, and raised 480 million Aegis funds from Austria, including 180 million Aegis loans and 300 million Aegis bonds. (Note: Ossad and Constantinople are not included)

Loan interest: 3.5‰ month

Bond Interest: 8.4% per annum

Handling fee: 3%

...

A week later, representatives of the three countries of Russia, Austria, and the Nordic Federation signed the "Debt Guarantee Contract" in St. Petersburg. The Vienna government provided security guarantees for the debts of the two countries.