Chapter 374: Eating a Large Bowl with Tears
January 1, 1843, New Year's Day.
10 Downing Street, London, England.
"The whole of Belgium fell, and the Netherlands announced that it respected the territorial integrity of Luxembourg!" These two important messages that reached Britain at the same time shocked the cabinet members who were still enjoying afternoon tea and almost spit out the black tea they had drunk before; they immediately threw away the cookies in their hands and hurried to the Prime Minister's Office to attend an emergency meeting.
"Damn it, that William II is really spineless and is ready to surrender without firing a shot. But what about Belgium? I have seen their Leopold I. This man is a tough guy and should not surrender so quickly." Prime Minister Viscount Melbourne said helplessly.
"It is said that he was captured because he led the Belgian army out of the city to fight in the field in order to stop the German Confederation troops." Lord John Russell replied.
"The King of the Netherlands is a cowardly and short-sighted waste. We can't be so docile anymore. We must force him to go to war with the German Confederation." Palmerston suggested.
At this time, John Sett, the Minister of War, raised a question, which was military common sense that politicians ignored.
"Have you ever thought about how Austria and Prussia reached Belgium just a few days after the war started? Did they fly there?"
It's just that this most critical point was ignored by politicians, who were not in the mood to discuss the details of strategy and tactics.
"Well, we don't have the time and energy to consider other things. The first task now is to urge the Dutch to hold on and resist to the end, and to contact the French to send troops to Wallonia, so that those bastards of the German Confederation can be a strong enough threat. We must immediately promote the Franco-Dutch-Belgian Tripartite Alliance"
Words cannot express Viscount Melbourne's mood at the moment, he has already felt the crisis. It's been less than a week and Belgium has fallen. It's really unexpected.
"Is there any news from Russia?" Palmerston asked.
"Unfortunately, it's winter now. To get to St. Petersburg, you have to go through Hamburg and Berlin first, and then take a carriage for half a month." A cabinet member waved his hand helplessly.
"Damn it!" Palmerston finally began to get impatient at this time, because he seemed to feel that he and Britain had become someone else's prey.
It seems that the Russians can't quench their thirst with distant water, and now they can only pin their hopes on the French.
In fact, there are other reasons why the British are unwilling to land in Europe, that is, the troops they can devote to land warfare are insufficient, and the European war a few decades ago made everyone understand a truth, that is, the cost and loss of war with the great powers are huge, which is not worth the loss for any country.
"We can negotiate and resolve this crisis peacefully." John Russell proposed.
This is the best idea he can think of. After all, the situation is out of control at this time. It takes time for the United Kingdom to recover the unfavorable situation, and there is only one way to go now.
"But Prussia and Austria have already taken the advantage at this time, how could they negotiate with us?"
Prime Minister Viscount Melbourne understood what John Russell meant, but the reason why Prussia and Austria were able to take Belgium in a short time must have been planned for a long time.
Now that Belgium is occupied and the Netherlands has promised to make concessions, Prussia and Austria have achieved their set goals. What they need to do now is to end the war and force the other side to sign a surrender agreement, rather than resolve the dispute through words.
"No, I think they will accept this proposal, because they need our recognition to end the war. In other words, as long as we don't sign the contract, the war will not end."
Palmerston expressed his inner thoughts very confidently. He believed in the influence of Britain at the moment and believed in his own judgment.
Others also felt that Palmerston's words made sense. At this time, another good news came.
"France has decided to send troops!" A cabinet member shouted excitedly.
Historically, it was the French who sent troops to scare away the Dutch and let Belgium gain true independence. At this time, France decided to send troops, and it must be ready to fight to the death with the German Confederation.
The cabinet members all analyzed it this way. The London stock market soared the next day, and the businessmen celebrated like crazy. Even Lionel Rothschild, who had previously kept his troops in place, began to make big moves.
The machines of the world's factory began to run at full speed. Faced with too many orders to be completed, factory owners raised workers' wages to prepare for a share of the feast.
France, Paris, Douellen Palace.
Louis Philippe frowned at the envoy from Vienna.
"Does your country mean that I should annex my son-in-law's territory?"
"No, just put him under your protection. The new Grand Duchy of Belgium will only have French-speaking residents, who will accept French laws and accept the leadership of you and your son-in-law."
John von Weissenborn once briefly served as the Prime Minister of the Austrian Empire in history, but at this time he was just an unknown diplomat.
Although Louis Philippe was very unhappy on the surface, he was relieved in his heart. The opponent's advancement speed was surprising, and their occupation of Belgium had an additional meaning.
This land used to be called the Austrian Netherlands. The reason why Louis Philippe was wavering before was that he was afraid that the Austrians would want to relive the old dream. If they were allowed to build an enclave at their doorstep, wouldn't it make the whole of France uneasy?
However, this time, Austria's conditions were quite generous. It only wanted to take back the territory of Luxembourg and turn Liege into a free trade zone.
And they would get the Walloon territory except Liege and Western Luxembourg, which has more than one million educated and high-quality populations; it also has rich coal and iron resources, which made France salivate.
The conditions offered by the other side of the strait were to cede Luxembourg to France after defeating the German Confederation and allow the establishment of a Franco-Belgian customs union. In comparison, the promises made by the Austrians were obviously much more practical.
If they really sent troops rashly as the British requested, I am afraid that the first batch of French troops entering Wallonia would have become prisoners at this time.
Although France was expanding wildly at this time, its strength was actually stretched to its limits. The French invested a lot in their colonies. At first, they could rely on those bankers, but the drawbacks became apparent over time.
French colonies other than Texas are losing money. One reason is that the input-output ratio is not proportional, and the other is that the maintenance costs are shockingly high.
All this is of course also due to the obstruction of Britain and the United States behind the scenes. If France really chooses to fight the German Confederation to the end at this time, it is likely that Louis Philippe will follow the footsteps of Louis XVI in a few months, because the treasury has been emptied and the whole of France is living on debt.
Of course, thanks to the very covert method, many powers do not know the emptiness of France at the moment, including Franz, so he will work tirelessly to provoke conflicts between Britain and France, and does not know that France is now stretched to its limits.
Go to war with the German Confederation? Louis Philippe will definitely not choose this. He is still thinking about how to use political means to keep Belgium.
Fortunately, the Austrians have now found a solution for him, just like someone brings him a pillow when he is about to go to bed; but the "kind-hearted" Louis Philippe still had to pretend to be reluctant and divide Belgium with tears.