Chapter 673: "Palmerston" Returns

At this time, because the riots on the Indian subcontinent involved too much British power, Robert Peel had to start re-examining his foreign policy.

It didn't matter. He found that several foreign ministers under him were all rubbish. Palmerston, the "King of Understanding" who provoked wars everywhere, was better than these crooked melons and cracked dates.

The foreign policy against the Austrian Empire seemed a bit out of place. In comparison, Russia and France seemed to pose a much greater threat to Britain.

In fact, there is another name for this era, that is, the "Great Game Era", also known as the "Great Game Era between Britain and Russia", which shows how great the threat of Russia to Britain was at that time.

Another background is the rise of France. Due to Franz's operation, deliberate guidance and a series of accidents, France at this time was far, far stronger than the France that was recovering in history.

On the other hand, any leader with a little political and military common sense in Austria knows how embarrassing its geographical location is.

The center of Europe is indeed correct in a sense, but it can also be regarded as the center of the encirclement.

This place of four wars may be beaten up at any time. Except for Britain, whoever wants to dominate must beat Austria.

But now it is Britain that has been really in opposition to the Austrian Empire. The former has made many concessions before, but some people in the latter are still dissatisfied.

So Austria turned from retreating to confrontation and began to compete with Britain in various fields. Although the scale of this conflict is very limited, this blow was magnified countless times when Britain was at odds with Russia, France and the United States.

Especially when the Austrian Empire extended its hand to the Near East, Britain immediately took countermeasures-sent troops to the Strait of Otranto.

As long as the Adriatic Sea is blocked, the overseas trade of the Austrian Empire can be completely interrupted, but can it really be done?

At this time, Britain's foreign relations, except for Sweden and Prussia, which still maintain a neutral attitude towards the former, most of the other powers are hostile to Britain.

Russia, France, Austria, the United States, Spain, five of the seven major powers are at odds with Britain, and among the other minor powers, the Netherlands, Egypt, and Denmark have fought with Britain, while Brazil and the Sikh Empire are fighting with Britain.

Robert Peel couldn't help but sighed with his forehead.

"What have those idiots in the Foreign Office done all these years!"

Home Secretary James Graham poured more fuel on the fire.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I have just received some reliable intelligence that the Foreign Secretary, the Earl of Aberdeen, has been accepting bribes from other countries."

In fact, accepting bribes was a very common thing at that time, but Robert Peel, who was angry, didn't care so much. He directly threw all the sins on the head of this unfortunate Foreign Minister.

The Undersecretary was the happiest when the Foreign Minister was dismissed. Stratford Canning was excited when he thought that he could continue his strategy against Austria after he came to power.

That's right, he planned to directly attack Austria's colonies, cut off its overseas trade routes, and then plan several riots in its country, and by the way deprive the Austrian Empire of its leadership of the German Confederation.

However, Viscount Stratford's impassioned speech did not impress Prime Minister Robert Peel. On the contrary, he was dismissed from the position of Undersecretary and exiled to the Ottoman Empire.

In contrast, Palmerston, the "King of Understanding", who always advocated a tough foreign policy, was very flexible and knew how to judge the situation.

Palmerston did not think it was a wise move to confront the Prime Minister at this time, nor did he think that the anti-Austrian policy that had been continued since the old Canning period had any value.

Austria's overseas interests mostly had no conflict with Britain, and Tranquilla, which was hanging in India, was just a small piece of land, and was far away from the core area of ​​Indian rule, and could not hinder Britain's plans at all.

As for the vicious competition in the Near East, as a former ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, he knew the ins and outs of these things very well.

It was just that some British businessmen broke the rules first due to their greed, and some radical actions of the British government led to the Austrian Empire's counterattack.

Palmerston felt that these were trivial matters in the face of British hegemony. Under the premise of the rise of France and the hegemony of Russia, it was inappropriate to continue to suppress Austria.

Palmerston's thinking was very clear. He felt that if Britain wanted to continue to maintain its hegemony, it should split the Holy Alliance and then win over France and Austria to fight against Russia.

At the same time, create conflicts between France and Austria, and then support the United States in North America to create more conflicts and strengthen ties with the Kingdom of Prussia and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Only by keeping the Italian region and the North German region in a loose state can it best serve the interests of Britain.

Support Austria's eastward expansion, especially by taking advantage of the special relationship between the two Danube principalities and Russia to force Russia and Austria to turn against each other.

As for the Ottomans, they are really a mess. If they can be combined with Persia, they may be able to fight against Russia, but that is simply impossible.

The Ottomans and Persia regard each other as heretics, and at the same time, there is a long history of national hatred.

Palmerston felt that it was the best policy to repair relations with the Austrian Empire and France at this time, and let the two turn their guns against Russia.

Because Russia in this life did not sign the Straits Convention, the Russians still nominally have control over the Black Sea Straits (the Treaty of Unkar-Iskelesi).

So in the future, when Russia competes for hegemony, it may be necessary to pass through Austrian territory, and it is important to establish good relations with it.

At the same time, in the east, the Austrians opened the door to Japan, but did not allow it to trade with other powers. This behavior of eating alone is despised.

Britain can enter Japan as an ally of Austria and then seize the market. After all, in the eyes of the "King of Understanding", Austria's industrial and agricultural development level is far inferior to that of Britain.

In addition, Britain is closer to Japan, and Britain can easily take the market conquered by the Austrians.

Austria and France have many colonies that overlap with each other, so it is very easy to provoke disputes between the two countries.

Whether in Central America, West Africa, North America, or Asia, overseas operations require a large number of troops and supplies.

And only Britain in the world has enough ships and strength to send these things to where they want to go, so if they want to gain an advantage in the competition, they must establish good relations with the British Empire.

By that time, Britain can completely change its passive situation in diplomacy, and even profit from it as long as it provokes a war. This is the most suitable path for Britain.

Palmerston's theory is very consistent with Robert Peel's wishes. The latter felt that it was too much of a loss for Britain to participate in it personally, and it would be better to let the powers fight each other.

The objective reality is that Britain's military forces were too dispersed at this time, and the organization was too bloated, making it difficult to form a unified mobilization.

In fact, Palmerston's vision was very sharp. The strategy he gave in the book was very consistent with the character's personality, and also in line with Britain's diplomatic style at this time. Of course, it was definitely more complete and reasonable than Britain's diplomatic strategy in history.

(The characters and countries in the book have been strengthened to a certain extent, and they may not always continue the historical strategies.

So please don't take some things personally)