Chapter 560 Louis Philippe Is Scared

No. 5 Philip was scared

In fact, there were members who joined the German Confederation as vassal states or territories of other countries, such as Holstein and Schleswig under the Kingdom of Denmark.

Holstein is a German principality with a large number of Danes living there. Schleswig is a Danish principality with a Danish majority but also a large number of German residents.

Historically, these two principalities were not formal members of the German Confederation, but Franz pulled the two principalities into the German Confederation in order to open up the Danish market.

Denmark was naturally very willing to gain access to the vast market in the German region, so both sides felt that they had made a profit.

Franz liked this win-win cooperation model very much, after all, this was the field he was familiar with.

Archduke John welcomed the sudden application for joining. Since the Austrian Empire had made the decision on this matter, other small states naturally had no reason to object, even Prussia, which always wanted to compete with Austria for dominance, had to restrain itself at this time.

After all, strictly speaking, this crisis was caused by Prussia. In theory, Austria could have stayed out of it and watched the fun.

The happiest people now are the German nationalists. They all feel that they have witnessed a historic moment - the German nation has united and fought for the same goal.

Franz looked at the happy scene, got up silently and left to hide his merits and fame.

If France had not intervened temporarily in the just-concluded Mexican-American War, I am afraid that even if the Americans did not cede territory or pay compensation, they would have to admit defeat and return empty-handed.

Franz understood the logic of the French behavior. Austria had too many conflicts of interest with it, and the two must have a winner.

Now it's Austria's turn.

In fact, since the outbreak of the Alsace-Lorraine crisis, the diplomatic system of the Austrian Empire has begun to operate at full capacity.

Both Britain and Russia have been invited by the Austrian Empire, but before the Fourth Vienna Conference is held, Franz must first win on the battlefield.

In fact, Tsar Nicholas I did not want France's power to continue to grow. Whether it was out of fear or hatred, he was a staunch anti-French element.

After receiving the intelligence from Austria, the Tsar even publicly told his ministers that France must not be allowed to make a comeback.

In Britain, Robert Peel was extremely dissatisfied with George Hamilton's handling of the Mexican-American War. He felt that the latter had undermined Britain's long-standing policy of neutrality and allowed France to gain too much benefit.

Robert Peel felt that Britain should strictly adhere to the policy of neutrality, but Charles Canning gave a different opinion.

Charles Canning was George Canning's youngest son. He became a member of the House of Commons in 1836. At this time, he was the British Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and was trusted by Prime Minister Robert Peel. As a member of the Canning family, he also inherited the anti-Austrian characteristics.

"Mr. Prime Minister, our mission in Britain is to maintain the balance of power on the European continent, and Russia and Austria have obviously won too many victories. Their excessive strength will inevitably lead to the collapse of the European structure, which is something we don't want to see."

Robert Peel: "Charles, believe me, France is far more terrible than Austria or Russia. They have just acquired nearly 600,000 square kilometers of land in North America, which is larger than France's area in Europe.

Because of our contempt for France, we later participated in the anti-French alliance more than once. As for the Austrians, just look at North America and you will know that these landlubbers have no way to deal with colonies.

And believe me, Austria is a national cage. It only takes a fire to detonate this bomb. At that time, it depends on us to prevent it from becoming the second Poland."

Robert Peel seemed to be confident when he spoke. Charles Canning knew that the Prime Minister had received reliable intelligence to do so, but he still fought for it.

"Prime Minister, then we should also warn the warring parties not to destroy the Vienna system to prevent either party from becoming too powerful."

Robert Peel: "That makes sense, let's do as you say. I still have to deal with the problem in the East. Damn it! The navy was attacked by Qing pirates."

Then France and Austria both received harsh warnings from Britain, which made Louis Philippe very depressed.

Because he originally thought that the British should come to persuade peace, but the British warning seemed to say "You can fight as you like, just don't kill people (land)."

Although there was no news from Russia, it was clear that it would not stand on its side.

The declaration of war from the German Confederation has arrived, which is to protect the members of the Confederation.

Louis Philippe: "Damn it, how did my territory become a member of the German Confederation!"

The British warning was like a piece of waste paper to the German states. After all, they no longer rely on British goods, and they are not afraid of naval blockades. Even if we take a step back, the warning was written for Austria.

Archduke Albrecht led the army again. He thought this time it would be a big battle, after all, the attack was on the French mainland.

Thanks to the railway system in the German Confederation, the coalition forces had gathered nearly 200,000 troops before the war officially started. Although the French were fighting on their own land, they only gathered a 100,000-man army in the same amount of time.

At this time, Louis Philippe found that France's strength was already stretched to its limits. Spain, Morocco, Algeria, El Salvador, Guatemala, Texas, the new colonies in North America, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and South America were all tying up its energy.

Although France was large, there were less than 300,000 regular troops left on the mainland, while the German coalition had more than one million troops on the surface.

At the same time, the Tsar's more harsh letter also reached Louis Philippe. In the letter, the Tsar said, "If France wants to relive the old dream, Russia will remind it of who defeated it."

Nicholas I's attitude was very clear. He would not only support the German coalition in spirit, but would even send troops to join the new anti-French alliance.

This greatly angered the Bonapartists in France. They still had disputes about whether it was the Russian general who defeated the First French Empire or the Winter General who defeated the First French Empire.

And the Tsar actually used this to humiliate France, which made the French generals angry. Paris newspapers were also trying to build momentum for this war. After all, the July Monarchy had done too many things that hurt the French national sentiment.

(It was mainly Guizot who made concessions to the British in various diplomatic frictions. He sold out national interests to please the British in the Turkish-Egyptian War, the Viceroyalty of La Plata, and the Central American incident.)

Then, when the two sides were on the verge of a war, Louis Philippe backed down.

When he made that fiery declaration, he completely forgot about Austria, the president of the German Confederation, and did not expect the latter's revenge to come so quickly. The attitude of Britain and Russia was the last straw that broke the camel's back.