Chapter 695

The British proposal caused an uproar at the top of the German federal government. Although after purchasing the Rhineland region, it made up for the shortcomings of heavy industry, and the comprehensive national strength of "Comedy Empire" has grown significantly.

It is a pity that the German Federal Empire is not a unified country after all.

The Kingdom of Hanover did not have an overwhelming advantage, and George I was not the master of great talent, so the problem was put on hold.

(Note: George I of the German Federal Empire, George V of the Kingdom of Hanover)

The German Federal Empire, which cannot complete internal integration, is naturally far behind the Pope Federation. Personally, George I had no interest in the British "snake swallowing the elephant" plan.

A group of small states in the country can make him feel ashamed, and then there is another Commonwealth Federation, so what?

In these years, if you have the strength, you have the right to speak. Once the Pope Federation joins the German Federation, it will immediately become the most influential state within the empire, and Hannover's status will inevitably be impacted.

George I: "Do you think the British proposal is feasible?"

It was obvious that he hesitated. The comedy empire also needs to rely on the power of the British to fight against Austria and ensure its own independent status. It is obviously not desirable to directly reject the British.

However, the risk of accepting the Commonwealth is too great. Even if Queen Victoria made a guarantee, in the face of national interests, George I could not fully believe it.

Prime Minister Torben Hoffman: "Your Majesty, the British proposal seems very tempting, but in fact it is full of dangers, and if it is not good, we will fall into the spotlight.

Internationally, the two countries, France and Austria, do not want to see us merge with the Commonwealth of Pubo, and their reckless actions will definitely arouse their dissatisfaction, and may even lead to armed intervention.

Many countries in the country have their own abacus, and joining this war will not do them any good, and it is impossible for the imperial parliament to pass.

Under such a complicated situation, if we bypass the Imperial Parliament and forcibly accept the Popo Federation, it is very likely that the Empire will fall into a state of division.

In addition to these risks, the more troublesome is the Commonwealth itself. Their size is too large, and we have no ability or possibility to digest the Popo Federation.

With the advantage in size, it is a matter of time before they turn against the customers. This cannot be solved with a guarantee, unless the Commonwealth of Pubo can be split. "

Foreign Secretary Steve Lee: "The stakes are really high, but it's still an opportunity. Once missed, it's going to be hard for us to go further.

Everyone knows the situation in Europe. The Prussian-Russian War is a small episode, and the future must be a game between Britain, France and Austria.

Other countries can choose to be neutral, but we cannot. Austria's ambitions have never been concealed, and what is even more irritating is that many people in the country have been fooled by nationalism, and they can't wait to join Austria immediately.

The only way out of this crisis is to make the empire stronger. Only a strong empire can prove nationalism wrong and dispel their unrealistic illusions. "

Torben Hoffman shook his head: "Lee, you're still too idealistic.

I admit it is tempting to annex the Commonwealth, and frankly I'm tempted. The problem now is that we simply can't do it.

Even if the British were able to persuade the French and contain Austria, we successfully persuaded all the states in the country to agree, and the possibility of annexing the Commonwealth of Pope was less than 10%.

Don't ignore the disparity in strength, the Popo Federation seems miserable now, but their population is twice ours and their territory is five times ours.

After the merger of the two countries, it is very obvious who will merge whom.

Moreover, the cruelty of the Russian-Prussian war is also an urgent practical problem. By accepting the Commonwealth of Pop, we must help them win this battle.

After the war, we have to spend a lot of money to repay their debts and help them rebuild after the war. Our income is just an ethereal dream of a big country.

If you really pay such a big price, in order to gain a great power status, it is better to cooperate with the Austrians. At least we don't need our lads to go to the battlefield, and we don't need the government to tighten their belts to live. "

The speaker is indifferent, the listening is intentional.

Deep down, George I had planted the seeds of doubt. "Suspicious" is the instinct of the emperor, not a derogatory term here.

Doubt is doubt, whether it is George I or not, it seems that he doesn't care.

Foreign Secretary Steve Lee: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, you are right. We really do not have the ability to swallow the Commonwealth of Pope, and the cost of participating in this war is indeed very high.

But it doesn't matter, the Pope Confederation has never been a member of the German state. What do we want them to do?

We only need to absorb the Duchy of Brandenburg, the Duchy of Schleswig, and the Duchy of Holstein, and other non-German territories can be completely abandoned.

Now we don't need to do much, just delay and wait for the Russians to win this war before taking action.

Britain, France and Austria will not allow the Russians to annex the Commonwealth. After they intervene, we will take the opportunity to take back the territory of the German region. Not only can we gain the support of the British, but Fao's reaction will not be so intense. "

Steve Lee's proposal is significantly more feasible than the British plan. After giving up the Commonwealth of Pop, and only absorb the German states, the comedy empire will not have to worry about being choked to death, and the risks to be taken are much lower.

Open the history book and know that the Kingdom of Prussia was formed by

The Duchy of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia merged.

The Duchy of Brandenburg is one of the German princes, and the predecessor of the Duchy of Prussia was the Teutonic Knights, because most of the domestic nobles were Germans and were gradually assimilated.

No matter how assimilated, from the narrow sense of geographical division, the Principality of Prussia does not belong to the German region, and it is reasonable to kick it out.

George I was tempted. Although the territorial area of ​​these three German states is not large, they are the most elite areas of the Pope Federation.

If he can get it, whether it is national strength or his personal prestige, he will go further. And, without taking the risk of war with the Russians.

Poland and Lithuania were recovered, and the Principality of Prussia was annexed. If the tsarist government was not satisfied, the three countries of Britain, France and Austria would be destroyed.

There is no need to pay a lot to get a fat fruit. George I really can't think of a reason to refuse.

After thinking for a while, King George I said happily: "Li, your plan is great, you will definitely become a great diplomat, just like Prince Metternich.

It's up to you, tell the British we agree with their plan, but the details need to be negotiated.

Next, your work is very heavy, not only to delay the time until the end of the Russian-Prussian war, but also to obtain the support of Britain, France and Austria for me after the war.

Do you have a plan? "

It is not difficult to delay the time, and the excuses are easy to find. The Imperial Parliament is the biggest culprit. It is really impossible to "leak the news" and use the hands of the Austrians to terminate the plan.

The trouble is that after the war, Britain, France, and Austria were not charities, and it was impossible for them to do their work in vain, and it was a price to pay.

After hesitating for a moment, Steve-Lee replied: "It needs the cooperation of the Russians, and the more greedy the Tsarist government is, the more likely we are to succeed.

If the Russians stop after regaining lost territory and leave a complete kingdom of Prussia, we naturally have no chance.

But this is impossible. The tsarist government paid such a huge price for this war. Without the spoils, what would they use to make up for the loss?

As far as I know, the tsarist government mortgaged a large amount of territory to Austria, and it was very difficult to repay the money with the finances of the tsarist government. After the war, they would probably use the land in the German region of the Commonwealth to pay off the debt.

This is not what Britain and France want to see. Austria has acquired these territories and has taken the initiative strategically, and no one can stop them from unifying the German region.

On this issue, most European countries support Britain and France. The Russians just wanted to pay off their debts, not to see Austria unify the German regions.

This is our opportunity. In order to hinder Austria from unifying the German region and strengthen our strength, it is also a good choice.

Of course, this is not enough. In order to gain everyone's support, it is necessary to exchange benefits. For example, we can sign a coal supply contract with the French. "

The value of land and land is also different, and the same piece of land has completely different values ​​for different countries.

Steve-Lee judged that after the Russians won the war, they would repay their debts with the territory of the German region, mainly because this part of the territory was of political significance to Austria and could be sold at a high price.

After all, after winning the territory of the general German region, the road to German unification is left with a "comedy empire", and public opinion will form a general trend of unification.

Once the idea of ​​grand unification is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, it can no longer be stopped. For Austria, "the general trend of unification" cannot be measured by pure money.

In contrast, the land in the Russian Balkans, Poland, and Ukraine has no political significance, and it is dispensable for Austria. It would be good if the Vienna government did not lower the price.

From the standpoint of the German Federal Empire, if you want to maintain the current independent status, you must interrupt the general trend of Austria's unification.

To do this, it is necessary to annex the general German regions and form a political pattern of North and South Germany to stabilize people's hearts.

This is also the reason why Steve-Lee is confident of gaining the support of European countries. Austria is already strong enough, and if they unify the German region, that is a proper continental hegemon.