Chapter 740 The New Vienna System
The development of things often has two sides. While the economic crisis ravaged the European continent and caused turmoil, it also accelerated the establishment of the Vienna system.
The gunshots of Lyon sounded, and the French government was caught in a dilemma of internal and external affairs; the vigorous development of the Italian independence movement brought the great French Empire to the brink of disintegration.
In order to change their unfavorable political and diplomatic situation, the French urgently need a stable international situation, and the Paris government had to make concessions on the issue of disarmament.
Without the obstruction of the French, the next disarmament conference went very smoothly.
On January 21, 1882, 15 European countries including Britain, France, Russia, and Austria signed the Treaty on the Limitation of Army Armaments.
According to the treaty, the size of each country's army is as follows:
500,000 Russian Empire;
Austria 486,000;
France 382,000;
Spain 246,000;
156,000 German Federal Empire;
Britain 116,000;
Nordic Federation 98,000;
Belgium 48,000;
Netherlands 33,000;
Switzerland 32,000;
Portugal 28,000;
Prussia 28,000;
Greece 18,000;
Montenegro 0.36 million;
...
Generally speaking, this arms treaty is based on the comprehensive strength of each country, taking into account the regional military balance.
The share of the Kingdom of Prussia is low, that is, the Berlin government is poor and cannot support too many troops.
As early as six months ago, the Berlin government had already started planning for disarmament, and the biggest problem was that there was no way to persuade the military to agree.
After finally catching up with the arms limitation treaty, the government will naturally not seek quotas for the military.
The signing of an international treaty has created an established fact. No matter how strong the Prussian military is, it must abide by it. The defeated Prussia has no right to make trouble.
The arms limitation treaty was signed, and the shadow of war that lingered on the European continent disappeared at once. At least for the next ten years, everyone's safety is guaranteed.
Limiting the number of armies, although the advantages of big countries are still obvious, but under the mutual restraint of various countries, they have lost the ability to annex small countries.
Yes, mainly for France. After the disarmament is completed, the French can still maintain their own security, but it is not enough to continue to expand.
Knowing that they were targeted, the French could only accept it. At this time, Napoleon IV had to restrain his ambitions to avoid being attacked from inside and outside.
The arms treaty limited only mainland Europe, and the overseas colonial armies were tacitly ignored by everyone. This is not to leave a back door, but a practical need.
There are three main reasons for being ignored: first, the practical need to maintain the colonial system, it is simply impossible without sufficient troops;
Secondly, most colonial armies have limited combat effectiveness and are not valued by everyone;
Finally, the productivity of the times is limited. If overseas troops want to be transported to the European continent, they need a lot of human and material resources. Economically, it is better to directly expand the military.
After the arms treaty is signed, the next thing is easy to discuss.
The purpose of the Vienna system is: European countries jointly provide guarantees for their own homeland security in order to maintain peace and stability on the European continent.
In this era of rising anti-war waves, governments of all countries have no interest in launching wars on the European continent, and naturally they will not reject such a treaty.
Everyone's disputes are mainly on details. Generally speaking, European countries are peace-loving. Even if the politicians do not love it, the international situation and the European people will make them love peace.
...
While everyone was celebrating the arrival of peace, another arms race was brewing.
Vienna Palace, a military conference that will determine the future direction of Austria, and the world, is going on in secret.
At this moment, Franz is holding a copy of the design parameters of the warship. If you are familiar with the history of naval development, you will find it very familiar.
The displacement is 14,147 tons, and the full-load displacement is 15,786 tons;
126.7 meters long and 21.86 meters wide;
The cruising range is 10 knots and 4700 nautical miles, and the maximum speed is 18.3 knots;
The designed coal storage capacity is 950 tons;
Equipped with 4 305mm main guns, 10 150mm rapid-fire guns, 16 57mm rapid-fire guns, 12 47mm cannons, and seven 450mm torpedo tubes.
...
That's right, the beginning of the pre-dreadnought. Franz's butterfly effect still affects the history of naval development.
Without the Franco-Prussian War, the French navy did not deviate due to funding issues, and with the rising Austrian navy, the competition on the ocean was much more cruel than in the same period in history.
Where there is competition, there is development. In this ever-changing era, no one dares to stand still.
In this context, the naval technology of various countries is at least ten years ahead of the same period in history, and the design concept of the former dreadnought also came into being.
Franz couldn't help with this. Warships are the embodiment of a country's industrial strength, and cannot be promoted by a so-called concept.
If you look carefully, you will find that the designers have never lacked brains, and there are a lot of advanced ideas, which are forced to shelve for various reasons.
Not to mention the former dreadnoughts, concepts similar to dreadnoughts and aircraft carriers have all been proposed.
At the beginning, Franz was still shocked, thinking that he had encountered a traveler, but it turned out that he thought too much.
The brother who proposed the design concept of a similar dreadnought will not mention it. Although it is a bit ahead of time, it is still acceptable, and it is still possible to implement it with the industrial strength of Austria.
Those who designed the aircraft carrier were much more interesting.
For example: airship aircraft carrier theory. It can be seen from the literal meaning that it is to put the airship on the ship and fight the bombing.
Technically, this is totally fine. The bombing hit is ignored first. The key is that it takes time for the airship to lift off. The enemy will send you into the sea before you fly to the sky.
This is nothing, another designer who proposed a "suicide attack", Franz thought it was the possession of the kamikaze brigade.
Airplanes were just born, and combat was impossible. A designer opened his mind and put the plane on the ship as a one-time bomb, and when a war broke out, he rammed it directly into the enemy warship.
There is no technical problem, the key is where to find so many warriors who committed suicide by flying?
In any case, the open mind is still worthy of praise. As for their design concepts, put them into the warship technical reserve room first!
Franz asked: "How long will it take to build such a battleship?"
The design proposals that could be handed to him were all reviewed by the Ministry of the Navy several times and it was determined that there were no technical problems before they came out.
Admiral Castagni replied: "It will take about a year and a half according to the normal construction speed. If the speed is accelerated, it can be completed in a year."
The construction time is one and a half years, plus the preparation time in advance, and the debugging time after launching, it may take two years before the actual service time.
Compared with the previous battleships, this speed is slow; but compared with the future battleships, this speed is very fast.
Generally speaking, the first ship of a new type of warship has the slowest construction speed, and the more the number of ships built, the faster the latter.
Franz nodded and said lightly: "Just proceed at the normal construction speed, build one first and see the effect."
The former dreadnoughts are not cheap. A main gun costs 20,000 Aegis, and a warship costs 1 million Aegis.
The cost of the latter may come down, but as the first warship as a test product, the cost is absolutely not low.
The literal parameters are not equal to the actual parameters. The true performance of the warship will only be known after it is built.
The design values are theoretical, and under normal circumstances, there will be some discrepancies. How big the error is depends on luck.