Chapter 166: Arms race
Chapter 163 The Arms Race
The navy’s shipbuilding program was vetoed by Franz, but the navy’s budget for 1851, once again, was raised by more than a million guilders to a high of 12,681,000 guilders.
The Austrian government’s attitude of attaching importance to the navy could be seen in general, except that no matter how much importance was attached to it, it could not change the nature of Austria as a land power country.
In 1851, the army’s military expenses rose even faster, soaring to 61,246,200 guilders, the big reserve strategy was officially launched, according to the plan from now on, the annual growth of 200,000 reserves.
The total military budget of the Austrian Empire in 1851 rose nearly twenty percent from 1850, and war was approaching.
How could the movements of the Russians, who were neighbors, be concealed from the Austrian government? Not long before Nicholas I had imposed a war tax under the pretext of expansion into distant lands.
If there was no Russian-Austrian secret treaty, perhaps people would still be skeptical and could not be sure of the Russians’ war objectives. Knowing the truth, the Austrian government was already ninety-nine percent certain that another Russo-Turkish war was about to break out.
In that case, as an ally, the Austrian government naturally had to follow up. Without the Russians to break up the situation, how could Austria’s strategy proceed?
Thanks to the Russians’ big move, the Austrian government’s raising of military spending didn’t make a ripple at all. In the eyes of the outside world, this is a normal reaction, with a neighbor like the woolly bear any more vigilant should be.
The situation in Europe has always been a matter of one hair affects the whole body, the arms race is also contagious, although Russia and Austria have no intention of provoking an arms race, but everyone still followed up.
Governments have raised military spending, with the exception of the British, who have never participated in the Army arms race.
Not all countries were in such a good financial situation, and the Kingdom of Prussia, which was in financial difficulties, did not follow suit this time.
Frederick William IV is not a fool, follow Russia and Austria to play the arms race, the Kingdom of Prussia simply can not support. Military expenditure is more than half of the revenue, and if it increases further, it will only go bankrupt.
The French, who were also in financial difficulties, followed suit. Although the French government had no money, the private consortium had money, and it was possible to borrow from the banks.
This is the heritage of the old empire, there are sufficient financial resources to protect, which is why France was able to become the second country among the powers to complete industrialization after Britain.
Belgium completed industrialization at a time very close to the British, but their industrial system was not perfect and many industries did not exist.
Although Belgium completed industrialization first, it still could not compare with several Great Powers in terms of industrial strength, and only had advantages in some fields.
Vienna.
Prime Minister Felix opened his mouth and said: ”Your Majesty, influenced by the Russians’ preparation for war, except for the financially difficult Kingdom of Prussia which has not made any moves for the time being, all European countries have started to expand their armies in preparation for war.
Just a week ago, under the support of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the French government passed a bill to expand the army, the French army was expanded by another 50,000, and after the completion of the expansion, their total strength reached 436,000, second only to Russia.
For our next strategy, the French threat has risen to first place, and we must be vigilant and ready to respond.”
France has always been the traditional land power in Europe, having been in a dead heat with the Habsburgs for hundreds of years, and the French army was at its peak during the Napoleonic era.
For the French, everyone was on their 12th degree of alert. After learning of the French plans to expand the army, the Austrian government immediately held a cabinet meeting.
Franz frowned, he knew that it was not trivial, the French threat could not be taken more seriously.
“How many garrisons are there on French soil?” Franz asked with concern
It didn’t matter how many French soldiers there were, they had quite a few colonies, and there was always a need for people to be stationed there. The key was to look at the troops they had concentrated on the mainland, that was the presence that could potentially pose a threat to Austria.
Prime Minister Felix replied, “221,000 before the expansion, after the expansion is complete it is uncertain, the worst case scenario is that all of those 271,000 troops remain on the mainland.”
Franz breathed a sigh of relief, when the Russians had made their move, Britain and France would surely give the Ottoman Empire a helping hand, and by then it was clear that not as many French land forces would remain on the mainland.
Since the reserve system was rotten, it would take some time for the French to expand their army before they could form a fighting force, and this was the opportunity.
What worries him the most is that the French government will restore the reserve system and return to the Napoleonic era, and that kind of war mobilization mechanism that can recruit millions of troops at any time is the biggest threat.
Obviously, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was not very good at military affairs. Otherwise, during the Franco-Prussian War, it would not have been possible to mobilize only 220,000 troops to hastily fight the Prussians and be beaten by others with more than twice the superior force.
Perhaps because the loss is too wrong, after the war, the French have been unconvinced, the British provoked a bit, France and Germany has become an unresolved deadly enmity.
Franz asked uncertainly, “If the French just use so many troops to intervene, we should be able to pocket it, right?”
Professional questions, but also professional answers.
Franz thought he still had a certain level of military proficiency, a level that was mainly reflected in strategy. If it was specific to tactics, commanding battles below regiment level was estimated to be no problem.
Now this kind of battle that moves hundreds of thousands of troops, or the chief of the general staff Marshal Radetzky has more right to speak, he and the peak of the French army fought, have first-hand experience.
Marshal Radetzky thought for a while and then replied: “Your Majesty, the current French army is not so invincible as it was during the Napoleonic era, after so many years of wear and tear, it has long since lost that invincible aura of the world.
With equal strength, we can have a duel with the French.
If we wait for the Kingdom of Bavaria to build the railroad through and then take military action, then within a week we will be able to hit Baden and keep the French out of the country.”
Ever since he had seen the Austrian government’s strategy for the railroad network, Marshal Radetzky had discovered the great military utility of railroads.
Since railroads could be used to transport goods, naturally they could also be used to transport troops, while also being able to effectively provide logistical support.
The South German region was not a dragon’s den, and Austria had operated in these areas for many years. With nationalists as the lead party, it was difficult for these small states to resist.
As long as the speed is fast enough, do not give these small states the opportunity to collude with the French, there will be no major changes.
It would not take too long, only two or three months, and after the political leadership of each country had been neutralized, the armies of these German states could be transformed to join the Austrian army in resisting the French invaders.
After gaining the support of the local population, Austria was invincible. Nowadays, France is no longer in the Napoleonic era, and can be pushed all the way across the border.
The Minister of War, Prince Wendy Schlegelz, spoke up and said, “Not only the South German region, but if the French intervene with their troops, there is also the possibility of striking in the Lombardy region together with the Kingdom of Sardinia, making us fight on two fronts.”
Marshal Radetzky shook his head and said, “It doesn’t matter, they fight theirs and we fight ours.
If France dares to send its main force to the Italian region, the big deal is to fight for the Italian region and we will fight directly to Paris.
In terms of distance, we are still more advantageous. Whether we can capture Paris or not I don’t know, but we can bet with the French government.
The big deal if we lose the bet is a Lombardy, if we win the bet, the French will have to pay a big price.”
Watching the dispute between the two, everyone tacitly did not participate. This was exactly the effect Franz wanted, if there was no conflict at all between the War Ministry and the General Staff, he was going to have to replace them.
It had nothing to do with trust, it was an instinct of the imperial balancing act.
If you let your men collude, then they’re going to be deceitful, and there aren’t one or two emperors in history who have been hollowed out.
Similarly, you can’t let your men fight to the death, everyone is busy with infighting, who’s going to do the work?
After thinking about it, Prince Wendischgraetz retorted: ”The French are not paper mache, so how can they be conquered in a short period of time?
Once they were unable to capture Paris and the war was at a stalemate, the French’s advantage of fighting on home soil manifested itself, and they were soon able to mobilize hundreds of thousands of cannon fodder to come out.
These cannon fodder troops were untrained, but could also rely on morale to make up for the lack of training when it came to defending their country.
When the time comes, constrained by logistical supplies, we will still have to withdraw in vain, and it will be difficult to recover the Italy we lost.”
Marshal Radetzky said defiantly, “Even if we can’t capture Paris, we can still demoralize the French.
They people can concentrate their forces on defending Paris, and they will have no guards in other areas, and if they refuse to compromise, we will burn and pillage our way through, destroying their industrial and commercial system in the northeastern region.
I dare not say anything else, create a few million homeless stragglers out and encourage these people to rob and pillage, spreading chaos throughout France.
If they can’t take care of themselves at home, can they not withdraw their troops from Italy? Is a single Sardinian kingdom still capable of stopping us from recovering the Italian regions?”
Sure enough, the old man is a ruthless character, really if this is done, it is estimated that the French people will not be able to recover for more than ten years, and Austria and France have become mortal enemies, and the mainstream of the future international conflict is the Austro-French conflict.
If you let Franz choose what to do? Of course it is dry, anyway, have become an enemy, do 50 and do 100 what is the difference?
Who is afraid of whom? The big deal is to play grandson to the British, do not challenge the sea power on the line, Austria’s geographical location determines the threat from the sea is almost zero.
Once the French were defeated, the spirit of the army came out. After the unification of South Germany, the Austrian Empire was completely transformed.
Metternich as a peacemaker, smilingly said: “two don’t be so big fire, as long as we choose the right time, caused by the established facts, the French are likely to acquiesce.
They are not fools, if I put 300,000 to 400,000 troops in the South German region, they do not have the same strength, how can they risk sending troops?
Besides, if the French want to intervene in us, the best route for them to send their troops is to come from the Rhineland, would the Kingdom of Prussia dare to lend them a route?
When we make our move, Prussia will most likely follow suit. The French oppose our unification of South Germany, are they willing to watch Prussia unify North Germany?
They are eyeing the lands of the German Confederation west of the Rhine, and a strong Kingdom of Prussia is not in their interest.
In the future, we and Prussia remain allies in dealing with the French.”
Hearing Metternich’s explanation, the people’s faces were happy. Persimmons looking for a soft one to pinch, bullying the soft and fearing the hard is the theme of this era.
What the French wanted was not in Austria’s hands, and even if they intervened in the unification of the German region, it was essentially for the sake of profit.
On the contrary, the Kingdom of Prussia wants to keep the territory west of the Rhine, and had to fight the French to the death. Want to compromise? Did the nationalists at home agree?
Franz spoke slowly: “Well, that’s the end of the French problem. The problem now is the arms race in Europe, and our good neighbor Prussia can no longer hold out.
It seems that this Prussian-Danish war was not fought in vain, and in the short term, the Kingdom of Prussia is difficult to get out of the predicament, which is also a good thing for us.
From the current situation, the Russians should start the war in 1851, no later than 1852, should we escalate the arms race?”
There was no doubt that the only countries on the European continent whose land forces could threaten Austria were Russia, France, and Prussia. Now that the Kingdom of Prussia is in a financial crisis and can’t keep up, this is the time to escalate the arms race is Russia, France and Austria.
Prime Minister Felix gritted his teeth and said, “Your Majesty, we can bet that after the Russians start the war, Britain and France will send troops to intervene, and the opportunity to unify the South German region will arise.
Escalate the arms race now and eliminate the Kingdom of Prussia first, one less competitor will give us one more chance of success.
If we lose the bet, the big deal is to implement the Balkan strategy first, how can we not lose!”
How can we not lose? In Prime Minister Felix’s view, not going westward into Germany and running to carve up the Balkans would have been a losing proposition.
But in order to gain the support of the Balkanists, he also gave up. If the war machine appeared, he would unify South Germany, but if it didn’t appear, then he would have to go to the Balkan Peninsula to make up for the loss.
Marshal Radetzky said excitedly, “Your Majesty, this risk is worth taking, the big deal is tens of millions of guilders if you lose, but if you win, it’s South Germany!”
Indeed losing, the big deal is just tens of millions of guilders in military spending. It wasn’t a complete waste, well at least it increased military strength.
It’s not like the Austrian government has an iron head and is going to tough it out.
If the international situation is unfavorable and you can’t go west, you can still go south and bully the Ottoman Empire to make up for your losses. Even if Russia did run to the Far East to eat ice, Austria would not be a wimp if it went it alone.
Thinking about it, Franz has made a decision in his mind.
Many bookworms have been misled into believing that Prussia’s industry exceeds France’s. In fact, France’s industry has always been second in Europe, and it was only after German unification that it surpassed the French.
There are figures for this, in 1865 the German region accounted for 13% of the world’s industrial output while France accounted for 10%, but the German region is not the same as Prussia, it’s a completely different concept. Even this German region is not just the German Empire behind, but also includes parts of Austria.
The first to complete industrialization were Britain and Belgium, then France and Germany
(End of chapter)