Chapter 593: "Swindler", "Actor" And "Cook"

The news of Tsar Nicholas I's visit to Britain spread quickly throughout Europe, and as expected, it caused a great uproar.

This was especially a heavy blow to France, a country that was preparing to encircle Austria. After all, the alliance between Britain and Russia was not just about Europe, but about dividing the world.

Louis Philippe was determined not to tolerate this, but he turned around and found that France seemed to have only a half-dead ally like Spain.

Fortunately, the German Confederation responded quickly and put aside past grudges. The two sides quickly started consultations and reached a consensus on some issues.

The small princes of the German Confederation were afraid of France, but they were more afraid of Russia, because they knew that Louis Philippe just wanted to destroy their country, and the Tsar would do it more thoroughly.

Prussia was the first to be hit by Russia's westward advance, and Austria had its own considerations. After all, it was not easy to accept being stabbed in the back as an ally of Russia.

The Tsar's behavior was to openly regard Austria as a spare tire. What he said, "There will be no more obstacles in the world if Britain and Russia join forces" was like a dog confessing to a goddess.

As for why these details were leaked, it was naturally the work of the British. In terms of political skills and diplomacy, the Tsar was not worthy of being an apprentice.

Austria was not weak in diplomacy. After all, Prime Minister Metternich was an experienced diplomat. He was not as excited as the people. On the contrary, he was very calm and felt it was normal, let alone any hurt feelings.

But he knew that he had to take action at this time to fight back against Russia's betrayal and make early plans for the worst possible situation (Britain and Russia joining forces).

France was a good ally. After all, the prestige of the Napoleonic era had not yet dissipated. No country in Europe dared to underestimate France, not even Austria, which had defeated it twice.

Franz was accustomed to Russia's startling diplomatic style, but he was not worried at all about the possibility of an alliance between Britain and Russia or any impact.

After all, Franz knew very well that "there is no room for two tigers in one mountain". It was impossible for two countries that wanted to compete for world hegemony to achieve real peace. In the subsequent Crimean War, the two were the protagonists of their respective camps.

As for the alliance with France, Franz did not take it seriously. After all, there were many frictions between France and Austria at that time, especially on the issues of Italy, Germany, West Africa and North America, which were almost irreconcilable.

However, this did not prevent the two countries from joining forces to protect themselves, but 1848 was approaching, and the Orleans Dynasty might be wiped out in an instant.

After all, France's internal contradictions were no less than Austria's. The financiers almost emptied the country, and the royal family sucked the country's last marrow like a parasite.

The peasants were poor and miserable, the workers' lives were dark, the social status of the soldiers was extremely low (referring to soldiers and non-commissioned officers), and the colonies were also full of contradictions. The seemingly powerful giant was tense all over, and as long as there was a collapse, it would be completely knocked down.

Of course, Prince Metternich's actions were also impeccable, but his actions might slightly hurt the self-esteem of Nicholas I, a traditional monarch.

The situation of the Austrian Empire is special. Although the monarch is Ferdinand I, the decision is made by the Regency Council, so the Tsar should not hate the Habsburg family, but the "thieves" in his mouth.

In fact, after the Tsar's operation, there is still good news for Austria, that is, it makes the Ottomans even more at a loss.

Sultan Mejid, who was once called an oriental "civilized man" by the Western media, has long been bent by domestic and foreign affairs, and his body has been hollowed out by wine and sex.

In order to continue to satisfy his desires, he had to start smoking opium to enhance his "vitality". In order to continue the Ottoman Empire, he chose to extend an olive branch to Austria, his old enemy.

This situation occurred on the one hand because Austria had maintained a strong influence and a relatively strong posture in the previous crises, which impressed Mejid deeply.

On the other hand, the Ottoman Empire really had no friends at this time. Persia was too weak, and the Oman Empire could not quench its thirst.

Historically, the Oman Empire was considered a very powerful existence before the collapse of the Sayyid Dynasty, and even Britain and France did not dare to insult it lightly.

The fact that the Omani navy was defeated by the Austrian navy in the book was not spread too widely. Instead, Sayyid's large-scale purchase of warships from Europe was on the hot search list at the time.

Of course, this popularity was bought by Sayyid himself, in order to deter those who might underestimate the Omani Empire. After all, the battle with the Austrian navy shocked him too much.

Sayyid had always believed that no country could defeat his navy except Britain and the Ottoman Empire.

Later, he fought with the Austrian Empire, a country he had never heard of, which left him with too tragic memories.

The once invincible Omani navy took the lead in launching a surprise attack with several times the force advantage, but was hung up and beaten. This was really terrible.

However, Sayyid's heart had not collapsed at that time. It was not until Friedrich visited Zanzibar for the second time that he gave his most precious daughter as a gift that he really surrendered.

At this time, Sayyid sneered at Magid's proposal for a joint effort. He did not want to bury his country. The fear of the European powers was deeply engraved in his bones.

After ruling out Persia and Oman, he only had Egypt, France and Austria left.

Egypt had been completely defeated by the last Near East crisis, and France was considered by Magid to be an unreliable ally.

In the end, only Austria, which had been fighting with the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years, was left. The latter had good credibility and strength, and most importantly, it would not want to get involved in the core areas of the Ottoman Empire.

Magid's bottom line was Istanbul and the Anatolian Plateau. He did not care about other pagan territories. At present, Austria did not seem to conflict with the core interests of the Ottoman Empire.

And those pagan territories could be used as bargaining chips to win over Austria. In fact, Magid was eager to give the two Danube principalities to Austria and watch it fight to the death with Russia.

However, such an obvious separation plan was difficult to succeed. Fortunately, he did not lack bargaining chips.

Between 1840 and 1845, dozens of riots with more than a thousand people occurred in the Eastern European part of the Ottoman Empire, which greatly consumed Magid's energy and the financial resources of the treasury, and forced him to rely more on the army.

For Magid personally, those were not Ottoman territories, but cancer and the root of evil. If there were no Eastern European territories, the Russians might not have set their sights on him.

In fact, this was not just Magid's idea. A group of Ottoman high-ranking officials thought so, and even formed a faction. This idea also deeply influenced the later Turkish founding father, General Kemal.