Chapter 219: Snipe and Clam
Chapter 214: Snipe and Clam
Austria and Bavaria went to war, and as soon as the news broke out, the entire continent of Europe was shaken.
Although everyone knows that the relationship between the two countries has broken down, but the accumulated contradictions are not enough to break out into war, then there is only one explanation left – Austria wants to unify Germany by force.
The pretext for the war can be seen, many people have their own brain, that is Austria’s attempt to rebuild the strategy of God Luo was Bavaria to get bankrupt, and simply tore the face hard.
London.
Receiving the Bavarian government’s plea for help, the British government was first shocked, then – it had to intervene, and then the next was a headache.
“Austria is trying to unify the German region by force, now they have taken the first step, we have to stop them, the balance on the continent cannot be broken!” Prime Minister George Hamilton Gordon said sternly
Foreign Minister Thomas analyzed, “Your Excellency the Prime Minister, the situation now is troublesome. It must be said that Austria has chosen a good time, the Russians have held the French and our main focus.
Even if we wanted to intervene, we would only be able to pay lip service for a long time to come.
Austria dares to make a move on Bavaria now, it’s very likely that they’ve come to an agreement with the Russians, and it’s hard to make them let go by diplomatic pressure.”
A truce between Britain, France and Russia? This possibility did exist, but it was based on Austria’s unification of the German region, and now just attacking Bavaria was not enough for the three parties to reach an immediate compromise.
The Minister of the Interior, Henry John Temple, proposed, “There are many German states, and these small states are not weak once they unite, plus the Kingdom of Prussia, once these forces are unleashed, Austria is not capable of eliminating them in a short period of time.
It is not necessary for us to send troops to interfere in the German region. As long as these states are united, it will be enough to stall Austria.
It’s not too late to mediate after the Near East War is over. Perhaps using this opportunity to kick Austria out of the German region is also a good choice.”
Minister of War Stanley objected, “Difficult, there are a bunch of rotten things that happened just from us forming a coalition with France and the Ottomans.
With so many states in the German region and contradictions between them, trying to unite them is not a simple task.
The war in the Balkans proved that if you can’t work together in good faith, it’s easy to be broken by the enemy on each side.
Austria’s influence in the German region was too great, and now the attack on Bavaria was for the sake of national unity, which gained the support of the nationalists in the German region.
In this situation, even if the states in the German region can unite, the fighting power that can be erupted is going to be greatly discounted.”
This was an unsolvable dilemma, as long as the soldiers didn’t want to fight, don’t expect them to be able to break out any combat power on the battlefield.
Prime Minister George Hamilton Gordon said, “Regardless of whether or not there is any fighting power, let’s organize them first, as long as we can stall the Austrians.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will communicate with the European countries as soon as possible, I’m sure no one wants to see Austria unify the German region, so let’s join forces and intervene together to force Austria to stop the war that is destabilizing Europe.”
……
Paris.
The reaction of Napoleon III to the military action taken by Austria was even more intense, and if he didn’t have enough troops in his hands right now, he would have immediately intervened.
Interior Minister Pessini proposed: “Your Majesty, the German region is not so easy to unify, the Austrians should not have the strength, wait for them to fight to the point of defeat is a good opportunity for us to make a move.
We can also take the opportunity to annex the territories west of the Rhine River, now we should not stop Austria’s action, instead we should encourage the Austrians to fight on.”
Without hesitating for long, Napoleon III made up his mind.
“Good, this war cannot be stopped at once. Secretly send people to negotiate terms with Austria, so that they can fight on with confidence and boldness.
On the surface we still keep in line with the countries, put diplomatic pressure on the Austrian government, and as much as possible encourage the German states to go to the death with Austria.”
Interest is always the eternal theme between countries, intervening in this war is inevitable, when to intervene in it depends on the interest.
The French and the British are not the same, the British strategy is doomed to the continent of Europe, they can not be expansion, maintain the European countries assessment is their goal.
The French want to dominate the European continent, the territory of the German region has long been eyeing, and now the opportunity has arisen how can they let go?
Although the German region of the state is small, but the joint strength is not weak, if you do not let them and Austria to consume each other’s strength, where is the opportunity of France?
Napoleon III wanted to be a fisherman, from the interests of the British and French position has been decided to be contrary, close cooperation is non-existent.
……
Frankfurt.
To send troops or not to send troops, that was the dilemma.
Who to send troops to help is another conundrum.
Chancellor Felix’s snub was not without significance, at least the capitalists in Frankfurt thought that a united Germany was more in everyone’s interest.
You can’t raise a dragon in shallow water. If the capitalists in Frankfurt wanted to go further, they had to have a bigger market.
Interest is always the best catalyst, and they had half an opinion about rebuilding Shenla. It was a free city anyway, and it didn’t matter if it became an autonomous city.
Not only them, most of the free cities in Germany were hesitant, the blueprint drawn by Chancellor Felix was too wonderful for the capitalists to stop.
Of course there were also voices of opposition, for the very real reason that the status of capitalists in Austria was too low to meet the expectations of their hearts.
Many were skeptical about Felix’s promises, and wondered if they would be honored after the establishment of Holy Rome.
“To do great things is to be spared, but to see small gains is to forget righteousness.”
It is the most apt way to describe them.
……
Baden
One of Bavaria’s staunchest allies, the Kingdom of Bavaria nearly annexed the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1830 when the Baden royal family became extinct in Maine, but unfortunately the plan failed to catch up with the intervention of the Great Powers.
This little incident did not affect the relationship between the two countries, at most, there is only a little resentment between the royal family.
Whether or not to send troops to help Bavaria became a problem for Ludwig II, or rather for his brother Prince Friedrich.
There was no way around it; in recent times it was as if the European royal family was cursed with a whole lot of bad, bad things, and Ludwig II suffered from a weak mental illness.
Needless to say, no one dared to keep him in power if he suffered from this disease, no matter how mild or severe it was, and no one could guarantee that he was in his right mind when he was making decisions.
“The Bavarians have called for help, should we send troops to rescue them immediately?” Prince Friedrich asked
“Your Highness, this is not a good time to send troops, the Austrians are prepared, we simply cannot save Bavaria with our strength alone.
It’s best to act jointly with the countries, if we venture into the war, we might lose a lot of money.” Prime Minister Waltz replied
The Kingdom of Bavaria must be saved, they still understand the reasoning that lips are cold and teeth are weak. However, how to save it is a matter of skill, if the operation is not good, it will be a big loss if they get themselves involved.
Johannes, the Minister of the Interior, added: “Not only that, but we also have to consider the attitude of the people in the country, and most of them do not have a favorable impression of Bavaria.
Since the Bavarian government’s three-country cabinet plan was proposed, many civil radical groups have demanded that the government break diplomatic relations with them.
The news hasn’t spread yet, and once it does, the likelihood of the populace objecting to the government’s sending troops is very high.”
Austria’s plan to rebuild Shinra was very deceptive, not to mention the populace, even many state governments were fooled, and the Baden government was no exception.
Now that the poor map is in place, the top government officials can change their mindset very quickly, but not the general public. Many people would be preconceived to believe that Austria was justified in starting this war.
The blackening of the Bavarian government can be attributed not only to Austria, but more to the people’s spontaneity. Who made the Bavarian government’s plan for German unification dissatisfactory to them?
In the view of many nationalists, the unification of Germany was inevitable, the Bavarian government was a tumor against the unification of the country, and to strike them down was the first step towards national unification.
This notion, which Franz intended to lead, had by this time fermented. It was impossible for the Baden government to speak to the populace about the loss of lips and teeth, and it was useless to do so.
The majority of the people wanted German unification, and the Baden government was not that popular. The Grand Duchy of Baden even established a republican government at one time during the Revolution, and still relied on the Prussians to help suppress it.
Of course, now that they had carried out social reforms, the position of the government in the minds of the people, whether it was as important as German unification, was a question that no one knew.
Foreign Minister Nikolaus proposed, “Your Highness, Austria’s plan to unify Germany will not succeed, once the Powers intervene it is over, there is no need for us to take the corn in the fire.”
Prince Friedrich nodded his head in recognition, the Grand Duchy of Baden’s family is not thick, if it runs to fight a big war with Austria, it would be a light loss of energy, or the whole army would be destroyed.
Once this happens, the foundation of the government’s rule will be shaken. Without a standing army, how could they suppress the revolutionary forces in the country?
Anyway, in the end, the Great Powers intervened, so what were they afraid of? The death or life of the Bavarian government was not even in their consideration.
……
Berlin.
Learning of Austria’s unification of Germany by force, Frederick William IV became excited; a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presented itself.
With Austria as a head of state, the Prussian kingdom’s difficulty in unifying the German region was greatly reduced.
“Gentlemen, the Austrians can’t help themselves, now that they have broken the situation, should we send troops to rescue Bavaria?” Frederick William IV asked
Prime Minister Joseph von Radowitz said cautiously, “Your Majesty, we absolutely cannot send troops at this time, and we must try to avoid engaging the Austrians until we form a coalition with the German states, or until the Great Powers intervene.
The economic conditions in the country have been bad in the last few years, and the development of our army has been limited, and the chances of us winning a duel with the Austrians now are too low.
Even if we win, we will still be the losers. Risking fighting Austria depletes our strength and will only allow other states to pick up the advantage.
Once we lose heavily in a war, we will have lost the chance to unify the German region. The Great Powers will not give us time. They oppose the Austrians’ unification of Germany, and they likewise oppose Prussia’s unification of Germany.
The best choice at this time is to encourage the other small states to send troops and use the opportunity of war to deplete their strength and reduce the difficulty of our unification of Germany.
As for the Austrians, leave it to Britain and France! They think they have chosen a good time when countries are powerless to interfere with their military actions.
But they have forgotten that Britain, France, and Russia are not the only ones in Europe, and even if the three of them are at war, with their influence they can pull together other countries to organize an intervention army.”
The influence of Britain, France, and Russia was too great in this era, and the two hegemonic powers of Britain and Russia were especially bullish, and it was normal for Joseph von Radowitz to have confidence in them. Even though Austria was also one of the four great powers, there was no way it could compete with Britain and Russia.
Foreign Minister Rudolf spoke up, “Your Excellency the Prime Minister, if we don’t send troops, I’m afraid that the smaller states in the German region won’t dare to do so, and with their strength they are simply not qualified to intervene.
If everyone doesn’t intervene, the Kingdom of Bavaria will be finished. By the time Britain, France and Russia reacted, Austria would have already created an established fact.
Now that England, France, and Russia are fighting fiercely in the Near East, Austria and Russia have always had good relations, so it’s not impossible in case the two countries reach a secret agreement.”
Rudolf’s concern was not unreasonable, the number of German states was large, but the large states were few, and each of these small states could at most send out 10,000 or so troops, and could not make the slightest wave on the battlefield.
Austria’s strength is not weak, and once the established facts have been created and the Russians’ acquiescence has been obtained, the pressure of Britain and France will not be enough to make them give in.
“Herr Rudolf, this could indeed happen, so we must act. At the very least, the armies of the German states must be organized so that we can disrupt the Austrian plot without significant cost.” Chancellor Josef von Radowitz replied
In short, recklessly going up to fight Austria alone was impossible, and if the Kingdom of Prussia wanted to be the last fisherman, it couldn’t afford to fight Austria to the death and lose valuable troops.
……
Britain and France were counting on the German states to send troops to stop Austria, and the smaller German states were equally counting on the intervention of the Great Powers.
Everyone wanted to be the last fisherman, and then the Kingdom of Bavaria had the tragedy of having to fight alone at the beginning of the battle.
The battle was fought long before the internal disputes between the states.
The Bavarian government, still unaware of being sold out, was mobilizing its army with confidence and preparing for a battle to defend the homeland after receiving a positive reply from the countries.
(End of chapter)