Chapter 362: The Junkers’ Calculations

  Chapter 352 The Junkers’ Reckoning

American Spring Palace, Franz is still bitterly waiting for the results of the American Civil War. As for the controversy caused by the high expenses of the Central American colonies, it was not even on his mind.

The wool comes from the sheep’s body, without the Central American colonies, Austria could not earn large profits in the American Civil War, and now these profits are spent in the construction of the Central American colonies.

Since it was the Americans who paid the bill, why should he be distressed?

To be able to gain access to Central America and put a nail in the American’s backyard is already a big profit.

The Panama region was not in the bag, but the influence had already spread in. Franz’s goal was just to delay the opening of the Panama Canal and do some damage on the line, not necessarily to actually occupy the land.

If you stand at a different height, you will naturally look at the problem in a different way. Franz’s definition of an overseas colony has always been: the current stage of raw material production + market, the future of Austria’s economic + political power radiation circle.

In fact, the British did well in this regard, and the strategic concept of the Commonwealth is still very successful. The only problem is that the US and USSR are too powerful and Britannia is falling.

Weakness is the original sin, Britain’s strength is not good, the Commonwealth will naturally not be able to play the role envisioned. However, it still retained some of the economic and political benefits, which was better than nothing.

Austria could well follow suit, the unique system of the Holy Roman Empire was naturally prepared for such a situation.

The division into states or autonomous provinces took into account the interests of all parties while preserving the unity of the country. As long as the central government was strong enough, the empire was unbreakable.

……

Foreign Minister Weissenberg said, “Your Majesty, we just received news that there was a large-scale rebellion in Russian Poland three days ago.”

The Russian Empire initiated a rebellion, which could only be considered a trivial matter. Ever since Alexander II’s reforms, it had happened so many times almost every year.

If it was a rebellion in the Polish region, then the situation was different. Ever since the partition of Poland by the three powers, the Polish question has become a closely related issue for Russia, Austria and Prussia.

Poland was also once bullish, except that people tend to drift when they are complacent, and there is no doubt that Poland drifted, and both the German region and Russia became their hunting grounds.

It didn’t matter when Poland was strong, but unfortunately in the late 18th century the Polish kingdom fell, and its good neighbor, Russia, became strong again.

In the role of hatred + interests, Russia, Prussia and Austria decided to divide Poland, once and for all to solve this enemy, the bullish big Bobo died.

As the leading big brother, Russia seized 62% of Poland’s territory, occupying about 460,000 square kilometers; Prussia seized 20% of Poland’s territory, occupying about 141,100 square kilometers; Austria seized 18% of Poland’s territory, occupying about 121,800 square kilometers.

Given this awesome history, it was only natural that the Poles would not tolerate being ruled by all three countries. As the 19th century passed, the Polish independence movement was also an important part of European history.

At this time, the time came to test the ability of each country to rule. Without a doubt, the Prussians had been engaged in a Germanization campaign for decades, Austria was in the process of national integration, and Russia, which had done nothing, was shot.

Taking the most land and population in Poland and not digesting it, coupled with the corrupt rule of the Tsarist government, Russian Poland became the stronghold of the Polish independence movement.

But rebellion is contagious, and even though Austrian Poland has been stable, close attention is necessary.

Franz asked, “Did a foreign power intervene?”

There was no one on the European continent, including Austria, who wanted to see the Tsarist government succeed in its reforms, and a decadent Russian Empire was in the interests of all parties.

Typical of the reform period of the tsarist government, raising funds from the outside world was resisted by the capital market. In addition to the bad reputation of the Tsarist government, the political stance of each country was also an important factor.

With the existence of the Russo-Austrian alliance, Austria would not directly stab the Russians in the back, other European countries were not so sure, especially Russia’s sworn enemy, John Bull.

Foreign Minister Weissenberg replied, “There is, and there is more than one. According to the intelligence we have gathered, we can tentatively conclude that both Britain and France have financed Polish independence organizations, and that the Prussian government has also given them help.

There are also several other European countries that have secretly facilitated the Polish Independence Organization.

Recently, the Polish independence organizations have been very active and have been looking for diplomatic support. Including in the country, Polish independence organizations have also appeared, and the anti-Russian faction has given them cover.”

Franz rubbed his forehead, it was true. One had to admire the Russians’ ability to pull hate, even with the Russian-Austrian alliance in place, the anti-Russian factions in Austria were still quite vocal.

It could be said that if he shifted his pro-Russian diplomatic stance today, the anti-Russian faction could even become mainstream in Austria tomorrow.

This is the Russians’ own pot, after the signing of the Russian-Austrian alliance, often as the boss, naturally caused a lot of people’s dissatisfaction.

Especially after Austria had grown stronger, the cry of discontent was even higher. Franz pretended not to know anything, the Russian-Austrian alliance could not be torn up now, and likewise he would not cultivate the so-called pro-Russian faction.

Franz did not have to go into details to know that Austria was among the European countries that secretly supported the Polish independence organization. As long as the Russian-Austrian alliance was not explicitly destroyed, Franz encouraged everyone to use their initiative.

If it were not for the fear that the growth of the Polish independence organization would threaten the security of Austrian Poland, it is estimated that there would have been more people in the Vienna government who supported Polish independence.

Franz thought for a moment and said, “Warn the anti-Russian factions in the country to restrain themselves and not to let the Russians get hold of them.

Even if we have to pull the Russians’ leg, it’s best to arrange a few vestiges and not get us involved.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Weissenberg replied, the last thing he wanted was to cause trouble. Once a diplomatic conflict was triggered, the one who would end up being responsible for wiping his ass would still be him, the foreign minister.

……

In Berlin, Ron, the Minister of War who was also the Minister of Navy, had been distracted at times lately. Ever since he learned that the Junker aristocrats were plotting to make Poland independent, he had been very apprehensive.

From the beginning of the Revolution, the anti-Russian faction within the Kingdom of Prussia had gained the upper hand, and the Polish independence plan was proposed at that time, with the main purpose of creating conditions for Prussia to unify the German region.

It was only suppressed by William Frederick IV, and the plan was indefinitely put on hold. As a result of this delay, the situation in Europe changed, and with the revival of Austria, Prussia’s chances of unifying the German region evaporated.

In order to change the diplomatic passivity, there was a call for better Russian-Prussian relations in the Prussian government, of which Bismarck was one of the leaders.

Unfortunately, Bismarck was assassinated in St. Petersburg, and the Czarist government perfunctorily took the Polish Independence Organization as a pretext to trigger another anti-Russian wave.

These reasons were not enough for the Junker nobles to provoke the Russians, but the Russian Empire was also very intimidating, and Prussia could not afford to mess with it.

The main reason that really prompted them to make this decision was the opening up of the colonies in the Central and Southern Peninsula. Even though they only occupied the Phnom Penh Dynasty, this still brought the Prussian government a considerable amount of profit.

At this time there was a division within the Junker nobility, and a portion of the nobles who had gained rich returns from their overseas colonial activities sided with the capitalists and advocated for greater investment in the navy.

Most of the Junker nobles who supported overseas colonization were capitalist Junker nobles, also known as the Maritime Junker nobles.

The other part of the traditional Junker nobility, the Continentalist Junker nobility, feared that their dominant position in the army would cease to exist when the strategic center of gravity shifted to the sea.

After all, army officers were almost monopolized by the Junker nobles. The Junker nobles had all undergone professional military training from a young age, and in terms of professionalism, even in a fair fight, they were not comparable to halfway decent civilian officers.

When it came to the sea it was different, even though the current navy was a direct transfer from the army, it was still the Junker nobles who occupied the dominant position.

But in practice they found that a good army officer is not the same as a good naval officer as well. Many army officers who entered the navy were not able to do their job.

The rigidity of the Germans came into play. If they couldn’t do the job, they got out. Without waiting for anyone else to do it, they themselves drove these unqualified officers back into the Army.

As people went down, people went up, and the number of civilian officers in the navy grew by the day. Once the navy became the center of gravity of the Kingdom of Prussia, it was difficult to continue to secure their dominance over the army.

For their own interests, the Continentalist Junker nobles had to pull the navy’s leg. To develop the navy was fine, their control over the army had to be guaranteed.

Simply put, it was to slow down the development of the navy and wait until they had trained the next generation into qualified naval officers.

This kind of odd idea was still very much on the market amongst the Junker nobles. In their opinion, it was only a matter of a few years left and right, so there was no harm in delaying it.

Plotting Poland’s independence was only the first step, only when the Russians were left to fend for themselves would they have a chance to seize the two duchies of Schleswig-Holstein.

This was a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Capturing the two duchies would not only increase Prussia’s strength, but also weaken the Russians, and by the way, solve the land and sea disputes at home.

Anyway, as long as the land fight, military spending will inevitably be tilted toward the army, the development of the navy naturally delayed.

Drag on a few years time, Junker aristocratic origin of naval officers also graduated from the school, let these own people into the navy to grasp the power, is to protect the interests of their own family the best choice.

The plan looked perfect, and to be on the safe side, they even got Britain and France to top it off. Even if the plan fails, on the surface of the Prussian participation is not deep, the Russians want to look for trouble that is also to seek the bad luck of Britain and France.

Ron asked, “Mauch, do you think this plan is likely to succeed?”

Chief of General Staff Mauch replied, “Your Excellency, I cannot answer that question. The Russians have a large family, and it is still unknown how much trouble just one Poland can cause them.

Although Britain and France have promised to support the Polish Independence Organization, how much they are willing to put down, again no one knows.

We also have to consider the reaction of the Austrians, if they supported the Russians, then the chances of the Polish independence movement succeeding were even lower.

We can’t wait for Polish independence to succeed, their chances of winning are too low. The best option is for the Poles to hold off the Russians and cover us for taking the Two Principalities.

As long as our occupation of the Two Principalities creates an established fact before the Russians can settle the Poles, the Tsarist government has nothing to do with us.”

It was from the Prussian General Staff that this rough plan came. As a member of the Junker nobility, Mauch likewise did not want to see the Junker nobility decline.

In order not to leave an opportunity for the bourgeoisie to take advantage of, they had to undertake a strategic adventure. If the operation is good, it may be possible to swallow the Kingdom of Denmark in one bite, and change the passive situation of Prussia on the European continent in one fell swoop.

It can be said that the French gave them an example and inspired the ambition of the Prussians.

(End of chapter)