Chapter 382: The War on the Poor

  Chapter 372: War of the Poor

Vienna, Foreign Minister Weissenberg analyzed, “Although the Polish independence movement struck the Russians, it likewise lit a beacon on the European continent.

Influenced by the success of the Polish uprising, in recent times, revolutions have frequently erupted on the European continent, and a new wave of revolutions has arrived.

Since January, uprisings have broken out in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Papal States, Spain, and Portugal, and different degrees of disorganization have occurred in Switzerland, France, Ireland, and other regions.

Most of these revolutionary organizations have recently returned to the European continent from the U.S. Initially, it is judged that this is the federal government’s dog in the manger, and they have the motivation and strength to do so.

President Lincoln’s high hopes for Armageddon, because both sides can not afford to lose, both chose to play it safe and steady, directly so that the battle of the General Assembly into a war of attrition.

The federal government is worried that countries will continue to divide the United States, in order to distract the energy of governments, only to choose this time to create chaos on the European continent.

It has long been no secret that the Americans have funded the Revolutionary Party, and their influence over it is self-evident. It’s just that nothing big has been done, and this layer of windowpaper has never been poked through.

Now that it’s happened, it won’t be long before all the European countries react. At that time the Americans would most likely use these revolutionary organizations as a pariah in exchange for the understanding of the countries.

If the pressure exerted by everyone was strong enough, it was possible that they could even make them pay a fortune. But with such a stir, I’m afraid that in the short term, Britain, France, and the West won’t be able to increase their investment of power in the United States.

With the Union’s power in the Americas at this time, it would not be much of a problem to get the North and South to split, which was the result of the Southern government’s fight.

Trying to split the United States again would be less than a force to be reckoned with. At most, the Indian Territory, which was allied with the South, would be allowed to become independent. But that doesn’t affect the strength of the federal government, after the split they were still two middle powers.

In terms of growth potential, both the Northern and Southern governments had the potential to become powerful nations.

They had no real rivals in the Americas, and secession only delayed them from becoming a power. As long as there is enough population, they can develop.”

This American Civil War was a surprise to many Europeans. The American Civil War, which was originally thought to be a farce, actually exploded into a war potential that shocked everyone.

If there was no secession, the strength of the Americans and Spain had been comparable, and the sole domination of a continent was almost invincible.

While everyone was plotting to tear the United States apart, the federal government, which was not willing to lose, ended up fighting to the death, disrupting the deployment of all parties.

Prime Minister Felix added: “Not only is there chaos abroad, but there are also many people at home who can’t hold back and are beginning to move.

These people are making secret conspiracies, and it is estimated that it won’t be long before they make a big news. In order to catch these people in a net, we didn’t beat the bushes.

With the outbreak of the Russo-Prussian War, we were also held back by continental European affairs for the most part, and with the hidden troubles at home at this time, we were also unable to increase our investments in the Americas in the short term.”

This is to use the conspiracy as a sunshine, even if the countries know that it is the Americans who did it, now can’t help them, and even don’t have to worry about settling scores in the fall.

Spain is full of internal contradictions, and now the prologue of the revolution is drawn, I do not know when it will be able to calm down.

Irish independence organizations and revolutionaries in trouble, and the opposition party pulling back, internal contradictions enough to keep the London government busy for several years.

France, not to mention, with Napoleon III style, I am afraid to take the opportunity to hand deep into the region of South Italy, France and Austria are likely to break out in conflict.

Another Russo-Prussian War, another possible outbreak of the Franco-Austrian conflict, Franz does not have the courage to risk this time to seek the bad luck of the Americans.

By the time everyone got over it, the American Civil War would have been over. If there is no accident Lincoln also long ago rolled out, even if the countries want to settle scores, but also has nothing to do with him.

Fortunately, the Northern government’s army did not perform well and was not able to realize the strategy of quickly defeating the Southern government, or else with regard to the strength of the countries in the Americas, they really do not necessarily have the ability to force them to compromise.

Franz thought about it and said, “The Italian issue can be postponed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies did not even ask for help, the French, even if they want to intervene, they would not dare to do it at this time.

Napoleon III is not stupid, countries against their joint defense treaty is still in place, and now continue to expand their power, the anti-French alliance is not far away.

Now intervene in the coalition can not be a problem, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as soon as possible to coordinate the relationship, can not wait for the Americans to distinguish between victory and defeat, lest the night is long and dreamy.

By this time the North and South have weakened about as much as they can, and splitting the United States is the first priority. Now that the British are on the same page as us, the London government must not dare to wait.”

The situation in Europe was changing too quickly, and there was a high probability that the interventionist coalition would take a turn for the worse. Against this background, it is and its unwise to think of weakening the United States as much as possible.

It is just as well that the Southern government won the Civil War, the plantation economy has limited potential for development, and unless it can monopolize the world’s food supply, it can never become a world power.

Obviously this is impossible, there are too many areas of the world suitable for growing food. American agriculture does have an advantage, but that advantage is not enough to create a monopoly.

Countries are not stupid and will not give their lifeblood to the Americans. At least agricultural exporters like Russia and Austria won’t buy their food.

Once the Northern government was victorious, then the historical America would return. Franz’s placement in the Americas would delay the rise of the US at best.

Even if there was no war on the European continent, the Americans would have taken the initiative to challenge the world order as we entered the 20th century.

With the relationship between the European countries, Franz did not think that everyone could cooperate in good faith. At least on the issue of the North American continent, everyone was happy to see the British joke.

Perhaps the second unlucky person is Austria, now the Central American region is insignificant, and Alaska is not worth much, decades later it will be different.

The combined interest of the two locations is only greater than that of the British. But whether Britain and Austria could suppress the Americans in North America, Franz did not have that certainty.

After all, with that kind of social system in the United States, it was hard for them to take strategic risks without full certainty.

Look at history to know, after the end of the first world war, they have the power to dominate the world, hard to hold back until after the second world war before breaking out.

Domestic conflicts were directly ignored by Franz. The nets were all set, just waiting for the fish to take the bait. If something could still go wrong, it would mean that he had failed as an emperor.

After this wave, the last obstacle to national integration would not exist. As powerful as nationalism is, it takes time to spread.

Even if there were survivors, after experiencing this wave, if they still dared to secretly mess things up, then they would be true warriors.

……

St. Petersburg, Alexander II’s fire has been growing lately, and the altar in the palace has suffered.

The poor performance of the Russian army on the battlefield had disappointed him to no end. Fortunately, the Kingdom of Prussia, because of funding, the early military reforms did not go well, and only before the outbreak of war completed a scaled-down version of the reforms.

Overall, the two sides fought a half-hearted battle. This result was enough for the Berlin government, who had been prepared to drag the Russians to their deaths.

With Britain and France behind them, there was absolutely no need to risk a duel with the Russians. If a wave of reckless went up and defeated the Russians, the infuriated Tsarist government would fight them to the end.

For the Russian Empire, the loss of hundreds of thousands of troops was just that. The Kingdom of Prussia, on the other hand, could not afford to do so.

The Russian army was not a soft touch, as long as the commander did not make a fatal strategic error, the exchange ratio on the battlefield would not be too overwhelming.

The Near East War is an example of a field battle between the British and French Allied Forces and the Russians, which is usually 1.5:1, and conversely 3:1 and 4:1 on defense is also a frequent occurrence.

If you are really reckless, you will find that it is easy to defeat the enemy army, but difficult to destroy the enemy army. In the era of no airplanes, tanks and machine guns, after leaving the fortress, it is almost inevitable that the infantry on the plains will suffer when they meet the cavalry.

Now the situation is 546,000 Russian troops vs. 328,000 Prussian troops + 231,000 Polish insurgents, both sides fought a half and half, and even the Russians suffered a small loss.

“Who can tell me what kind of battle was fought?”

Looking at the furious Tsar, the crowd tacitly lowered their heads.

Originally thought that they could easily win this war, but as a result, more than a month into the war not only did not bring the fire of war to the Kingdom of Prussia, but was forced to withdraw from Poland.

Minister of War Nicholas Cage explained stiffly, “Your Majesty, the Polish region is full of a bunch of rebels, and we had to divide a large number of troops to transport strategic supplies when we were fighting the enemy.

General Fitzroy chose to shrink his front because the Warsaw region is not suitable as a battlefield, and decided to place the battlefield in East Prussia in order to avoid giving the enemy an opportunity.”

Now the Warsaw region was full of partisans, and fighting here the Russians could not enjoy the advantages of fighting on the home front, but instead were caught in a sea of people’s war.

Militarily speaking, there was no problem in temporarily abandoning the Warsaw region and directly placing the strategic center of gravity in East Prussia.

Compared to the Polish insurgents, the Kingdom of Prussia was the heart of the matter. As long as the Prussians were defeated, the Polish Insurrection could not exist for long at all.

Moreover, the Polish independence movement was a joint effort of several revolutionary organizations, and they could work together in good faith in the face of a crisis, and then fall into infighting once the threat of the Russians waned.

After the outbreak of the uprising, in order to attract more people to join, the Provisional Government of Poland promised to give out free land, implement labor protection laws and other conditions.

These terms were seriously detrimental to the interests of the capitalists and aristocrats and did not gain their approval, and from the very beginning the insurgents were divided.

Verbal promises were all that mattered, but if they wanted to honor these conditions, the insurgents were bound to engage in infighting. Whichever faction was victorious, the power of the insurgents would be drastically weakened.

If the proletariat faction failed, the conditions could not be honored, and the morale of the insurgents would be immediately disintegrated; if the nobles and capitalists failed, the Tsarist government would have a bandwagon party.

This militarily correct choice was a political failure. The conservative aristocracy at home kept jumping up and down, giving Alexander II a hard time, attributing losses on the battlefield to the reforms.

Alexander II was not a fool who pursued political victories, he knew very well that momentary gains and losses were nothing, and that the final outcome of the war was the key.

“Hmph! Tell General Fitzroy that I don’t care what price he pays, he must bring the war to the territory of the Kingdom of Prussia as soon as possible.

If the large forces are unable to break through the enemy’s defenses, send small units in to cause trouble, and weaken the enemy’s war potential as much as possible.

The Prussians have the support of Britain and France and want to drag the war out, we can’t give them that chance.”

A poor man’s war can only be decided quickly. As long as the war dragged on, it was a defeat for the Tsarist government.

Because of this war, Alexander II had to suspend his next reform program and do everything he could to raise funds for the war.

The early losses of the Russian army were also largely caused by the lack of money. Fighting the enemy in the Warsaw area, the loss of supplies in transit was too great and more than the Tsarist government could afford.

Fitzroy gave up the Warsaw region under pressure because of the logistical supply problem. The government was short of money and had limited strategic supplies ready, so once they were lost in transit, it was difficult to get the next batch in on time.

Fitzroy was forced to make this decision after hints from various branches of the government. Alexander II was well aware of these things, only knowing it, he could not stop it.

Now the funds raised by the Tsarist government were less than half of what had been raised before the war in the Near East, and it was very difficult to keep the war going.

(End of chapter)