Chapter 718 European Lu Bu

Britain gained the monopoly of the slave trade from the Spanish, and at the same time weakened its trade competitor the Netherlands, truly beginning to dominate world trade.

In particular, the acquisition of Gibraltar and Minorca directly blocked the Mediterranean route, which is one of Britain's most valuable assets even today.

In addition, the British forced the French to expel the pretender to the throne, James Francis Edward Stuart, and recognized the succession of George I of the Hanoverian dynasty, the successor of Queen Anne (daughter of James II), who was heirless to the Stuart dynasty, to the British throne.

This seems to be just a bunch of meaningless recognitions, and there is no actual territory and trade rights. Benefits, but in fact these seemingly useless clauses solved the biggest contradictions in Britain at the time and cleared internal hidden dangers for development.

The Jacobite Party used to counter the British mentioned in the previous article originated from here, but even if Franz did not take the initiative to fight for it, this title would eventually fall on the Habsburg family.

By the way, at that time, this title belonged to Francesco V of the Este family, who later became the Duke of Modena.

Modena is one of the four small states in Italy.

France also signed a waiver of its sovereignty claim to the Hudson Bay Colony in northern Canada, and ceded Acadia and Newfoundland in eastern Canada.

This, in a sense, led to the birth of Canada.

The last Treaty of Utrecht made all the blood and efforts of the French come to naught.

Although the history books written by the Anglo-Saxons called the French the first winners, in fact, a country with a population of only 20 million lost 2 million people.

The world's number one navy was completely destroyed, and the world's number one army took 20 years to recover. Financial collapse, social unrest, and riots by hungry people occurred one after another, and the former Sun King became the "King of the Sun".

"King of the Sun" was because Louis XIV had late syphilis, and the defeat in the war and changes in the domestic situation led to deafness in one ear.

In addition, Louis XIV was once very beloved by the French, but his popularity plummeted after the Spanish Succession War, and people would curse him almost every time they mentioned him.

The country was in ruins, the loss of overseas colonies, and the loss of important maritime nodes made him subject to others in the subsequent offshore competition.

The Treaty of Utrecht stipulated that Spain and France would never merge, making all efforts in vain.

This is also why the reaction of European powers was surprisingly small when France and Spain remarried at this time.

The second biggest winner in the Anglo-Saxon population was Austria, but in fact Charles VI only got a bunch of enclaves, and at the same time, he was so injured that he could no longer suppress the ethnic minorities he ruled by force, and could only exchange support for the transfer of rights.

If it weren't for Prince Eugen (another person on the Heroes' Square) who turned out to beat the Ottomans who took advantage of the situation, I'm afraid there would be another siege of Vienna, and if the luck was bad enough, the destruction of the country and the race would not be a problem.

In addition, Spain, which was a huge loss for everyone, and the Netherlands, which became a second-rate country, also won.

(The Netherlands was a first-rate power at that time, and it was not called the Sea Coachman for nothing.)

According to the Anglo-Saxons, although Spain lost all European territories outside its homeland, it also lost its economic hegemony over overseas colonies.

At the same time, Spain became the main battlefield, and almost every city changed hands several times, and the people were living in poverty and suffered heavy casualties.

But! The Spaniards who were madly invaded united, and the separatist forces in the country also suffered a heavy blow. After all, war is a disaster for all, so this is a favorable condition for the implementation of a centralized policy.

The king from France brought advanced ideas: centralization, enlightenment, science and technology. Without the French, technology and ideas would not have spread, and even the heroic historical view would not dare to brag so much.

In summary, although Spain became a ruin and lost more than half of its territory, it made progress.

Among them, the only one who "worked hard and did not complain" and had a little "little loss" was Britain.

For the sake of world peace, they traveled thousands of miles to Europe to participate in the war, and took away other countries' extra territories and trade privileges, putting all the dirty money in their own pockets. What kind of "internationalist spirit" is this? It has attracted future generations to emulate it.

"My great Anglo-Saxons are outstanding in helping others. They are not good at fighting, but only at resolving fights."

Although it is tempting to restore the glory of the Habsburg family, the fate of the Sun King is already in sight, and the decline of Spain, which lacks coal and iron, in the industrial age is almost inevitable. Therefore, no matter how much Archbishop Rauscher said, Franz was not interested.

Prussia was the biggest opponent of the Austrian Empire in the German Confederation. Although it was still very weak at this time, people who are familiar with history know that Prussia took on the burden of unifying Germany and finally defeated Austria and France to establish Germany.

Historically, Austria also wanted to marry Prussia to strengthen its control in the German Confederation, but it was strongly opposed from top to bottom.

However, the general background at that time was that the two countries were at odds over the Hesse issue, and the Austrian Empire itself was also hit hard in the storm year and was at a low point.

But at this time, Austria was a huge monster in the eyes of Prussia. It was not only the chairman of the German Confederation, but also the largest entity in the German Customs Union.

At the same time, the international influence is also terrifyingly large, coupled with the tradition of the Holy Roman Empire, so Prussia can't see any hope at all.

The previous refugee incident is the best proof. Even the right to speak on whether the Prussian-Austrian border is open or not is not in Prussia's hands.

The gap in status and the change in mentality between the two are likely to affect the decision made.

If a marriage with Prussia will greatly ease the contradictions between the two countries, but it is not realistic to annex Prussia in this way, but it may be possible to achieve the result of peaceful division of Germany, or to keep the German Confederation as it is.

If you want to rebuild the Holy Roman Empire or adopt the Greater Germany plan, there will be a war between Prussia and Austria, and it will not be stopped by the so-called alliance or marriage.

As for maintaining the status quo, it is only temporary. When an ambitious person or a not-so-smart king comes to power, war is still inevitable.

Because unification is the general trend, what Franz did is just to postpone the war, and the root cause of the war has not disappeared.

However, even if you win, it is difficult to create the so-called Greater Germany, because the powers are not fools, and multi-national intervention and encirclement are inevitable.

If the reunification is forced, it will be nothing more than a replica of World War I.

There are two princesses of marriageable age in Prussia, one is Princess Louise, the youngest daughter of Prince William I, and the other is Princess Charlotte, the fourth brother of the current King of Prussia William IV.

Princess Louise was born in 1836 and was 10 years old at this time. She was just of marriageable age in 1851, and the civil war had just ended.

Princess Charlotte was born in 1831 and was about the same age as Franz, but she was a little short-lived and died in 1855.

Both of them were favored at home, and at the same time, they had no interest in politics. They were very typical images of 19th-century princesses.

The resistance to marriage with Prussia came more from the Hohenzollern family and the church. Although the Habsburg family was not without pagan marriages, Franz's natural saintly personality had been established, and the Austrian church would definitely not give up.

The Prussian church would also be very opposed. In fact, before Bismarck came to power, no one in Prussia could solve the religious problems in the country.

In particular, the Archbishop of Cologne even conspired with the bourgeoisie to overthrow the Prussian dynasty and establish a Catholic commercial republic.

In 1842, the King of Prussia had to order the continued construction of the expensive Cologne Cathedral in exchange for the support of some clergy.