Chapter 389: Interference in the Civil War

  Chapter 379 Interference in the Civil War

London, since the Vienna government proposed to deal with the American issue first, it immediately attracted the attention of the British government.

As the world’s first colonial empire, there are Brits everywhere. North America, not to mention, Canada was placed there, and among the European countries, they had the greatest interests in North America.

The interests of the Americas are no longer big, or bigger than Europe, John Bull’s national policy has never been to prioritize to ensure the balance of Europe and land. The outbreak of the Russo-Prussian War, the British government had to put more energy into the European continent.

Foreign Minister Raistlin analyzed: “The situation on the European continent is already very dangerous, once the Russians concentrate their full strength, the Prussians will probably not be able to withstand it, and we must be ready to intervene in this war.

Now Prussia and Russia are still in a stalemate, not that the Prussians have the strength to resist the Russians, there are three main factors that cause the battlefield to be in a stalemate:

One, the Tsarist government did not pay attention to the Kingdom of Prussia as a rival, until now, the Russians did not put out their full strength;

Secondly, the Russians had financial problems and could not afford the huge military expenses, and the Tsarist government wanted to win the war with as little military expenses as possible;

Thirdly, the Prussians, who had the upper hand, did not dare to risk a duel with the Russians, they could not afford to lose the war. The Berlin government was prepared to take advantage of the Russians’ weakness of insufficient funds to force the Tsarist government to compromise.

Any change in any of these three points and the continent of Europe could change drastically, and we must be on our guard.

If it is the Prussians who win the war it is still possible, if the Russians win the war, there is a high probability that the Kingdom of Prussia will be divided into three parts between Russia, France and Austria.

In the last ten years or so, the strength of France and Austria has been developing very fast, and the land and naval forces of the two countries have occupied two or three places in the world respectively, and they are our greatest enemies after the Russians.

If we let them continue to expand, sooner or later they will threaten us. Thankfully Russia, France and Austria are all crammed into the European continent, which creates an opportunity for us.

At present, the European continent is still generally a three-legged race, and Russia, the continental hegemon, only has the strength to suppress one family, but has no way to suppress both of them at the same time.

In order to preserve the hegemony, Nicholas I chose to ally with the Austrians, reducing one enemy.

However, with the change of the power contrast between the two countries, the importance of the Russian-Austrian alliance to Austria was gradually declining, and this change of continent was an opportunity to split the Russian-Austrian alliance.

In contrast, the American Civil War took a back seat. Although the United States is in a unique geographical location, but they are only a newborn immigrant country, the people’s centripetal force is not strong enough, want to catch up with a long time.

Moreover, the civil war created an opportunity for us to divide the United States.

The original plan was that we were going to split the United States into five countries, but now because of the changes in Europe, the countries are limited in the amount of power they can put into it, and now it can no longer be done.

However, according to the current situation, as long as we give it a push, the division of the North and South will become final, and we can also make the Indians independent.

After the split, it will take longer for the United States to develop. We can also support the Southern government to check the Northern government and keep the balance of the American continent.”

Finance Minister Agarwal questioned, “The plan is very good, but is it really feasible? What if there is an early change of heart on the Prussian-Russian battlefield?”

Foreign Minister Raistlin replied calmly, “No one can guarantee that these plans will work, right now all we can do is – fast.

Force the North and South to the negotiating table before the end of the Russo-Prussian War. On this point, the position of the Austrians is the same as ours.

The Viennese government has been very active in intervening in the American Civil War, and the Austrian flag has already appeared in Central America, and there is a Habsburg emperor in Mexico.

Whatever the reasons, that Habsburg lord of revival needs a divided America.

Now the government in Vienna was anxious to put an end to the American Civil War, and indeed to recoup its energies. The Russo-Prussian War affected Austria much more than it did us.

Spain now suffers from civil strife in the midst of which it has lost most of its voice in the four-nation interventionist coalition. As long as we and Austria are on the same page, we can already sway the coalition’s decisions.”

In fact the four-nation interventionist alliance has now become a three-nation interventionist alliance. With the problems within Spain, it has become unknown how determined the government is to intervene in the United States.

Even if they wanted to intervene in the American Civil War, whether or not they could honor the number of troops they had sent in their promise, again, no one knew.

The four-nation intervention alliance, however, was always going to be more influential than the three-nation intervention alliance. Spain’s strength was already at the bottom of the list of powers, but their political influence was still there.

Especially in the Americas, there existed a large number of Hispanics. The position of the Spanish government was also able to influence the choices of many people.

John Bull naturally could not kick the Spanish out of the interventionist alliance, but of course in terms of discourse, Spain was inevitably weakened.

After a moment of silence, John Russell slowly said: ”Let’s end the American Civil War as soon as possible, waiting any longer is prone to change. The account of the Americans supporting the Irish Independence Organization, this time by the way, also settle with them.”

Don’t think that John Bull only has interests in his eyes, they likewise hold grudges.

President Lincoln’s final counterattack was certainly a distraction for the countries, buying time for the federal government to avoid being divided into five, and likewise pulling in enough hatred.

Evidence? I’m sorry, when did the powers ever need evidence to do anything? Just think it is and that’s enough.

Franz didn’t send anyone to look for evidence that the Americans were supporting Hungarian independence organizations, and the British wouldn’t do the same for nothing.

Only the weak look for evidence and protest with it. Being the kings of this age, none of the British, French and Austrians protested to the Americans and simply began to prepare for retaliation.

This is the basic way of playing power politics in the 19th century, only when there is really no other way out will people choose to protest, and more often than not, they will still retaliate directly back.

After all, there were too many conflicts between countries in this era. The day before yesterday you stabbed me in the back, yesterday I stabbed back secretly, we have been back and forth many times, which is right or wrong is not clear.

Of course, if there is evidence or better, you can put pressure on public opinion, the ultimate game still depends on the strength and means.

……

After a round of urgent consultations, March 7, 1865, Britain, France, Austria and Spain finally reached an agreement, the four countries to maintain peace in the Americas on the grounds of the North and South to send a diplomatic note.

The British, who were the most powerful in the Americas, were the obvious allies. Mark Oliver, the British Minister to the United States, intervened on behalf of the Interventionist Alliance to negotiate with the North and South.

On March 8, the British, French, Austrians and Westerners simultaneously held joint military exercises in the East and West Pacific.

The four countries assembled more than two hundred warships to conduct maneuvers off the coast of the U.S. The sound of booming guns was heard by some of the inhabitants of the coastal areas.

The North and South, which were negotiating in secret, were at an impasse because of the distribution of benefits and were unable to reach an agreement.

At this time the four countries intervened in, President Lincoln’s first reaction was that the negotiations were exposed, triggering the dissatisfaction of the countries.

Everyone in order to interfere in the Civil War, before and after the investment of a lot of manpower and resources, if they let them privately reached a compromise, how to protect the interests of the countries?

Secretary of State Safar analyzed, “Your Excellency the President, including you and I, no more than ten people know about the secret negotiations, and all of these people are in high positions, so it doesn’t make sense that they would leak the news.

Now the sudden intervention of Britain, France and Oxi is mostly due to the situation in Europe. They don’t want to keep waiting, which is a good thing for us.”

The plan had worked, though Lincoln was not much elated. Negotiations were now at a stalemate, with neither North nor South willing to let go of the fight over Maryland.

Maryland was also one of the slave stock states, now occupied by the Confederate government, and the state’s slaveholders had been bloodshed for the South, with more than 60,000 men enlisted in the Confederate army.

To give it up now would undoubtedly strike at the prestige of the Southern government and weaken the centripetal force of the Confederate states.

The Southern government could not give it up, nor could the Northern government. Washington was next to Maryland, and without Maryland as a bulwark, Washington was exposed at all times to the eyes of the enemy.

No, it was now exposed to the eyes of the enemy, and Virginia, next door, had joined the Southern government early.

At the outbreak of the Civil War at the beginning, parts of Virginia near Washington remained loyal to the Union, only to save Washington from the dilemma of starting a war that is the front line.

But it didn’t help that most of Washington’s urban areas had fallen by now as the war progressed, and the federal government was only holding on to a few strongholds, indicating that the defense of Washington was still going on.

Secret negotiations began, and the North and South very tacitly stopped large-scale fighting. Otherwise, there is no doubt that Washington would have fallen by now.

Regardless, Lincoln still didn’t want to give up Maryland. Even if he was unpopular in Maryland and probably wouldn’t get much of a vote.

“This is indeed good news, but it comes with big trouble just the same. With the interventionist coalition involved, there would be no way for us to force the Southern government to make concessions.

If the interests are right, I don’t think the Southern government would mind inviting the four countries of England, France, and Austria and West to join in the negotiations, and then we would be passive.”

Lincoln had no illusions about gaining the support of the four nations; it was impossible to do.

A strong United States was not in the interest of the nations, and with the support of the revolutionary organizations of the nations not long before, the two sides were already on opposite sides.

Knowing that, it did not mean that he had to give in to the Southern government. As a political figure, one had to consider the political implications, not just look at the superficial benefits.

It might seem on the surface that giving up Maryland to end this civil war early would be less costly than if the States had intervened, but politically would the States of the Federal Government be able to accept it?

Realizing that Maryland supported the federal government, even though that support was the result of extraordinary tactics used by President Lincoln, does not detract from the fact that Maryland was one of the many states in the Union.

Now give up the place, the centripetal force of the states to the federal government has to decline, the authority of the federal government is bound to be weakened.

In contrast, giving up Maryland with the intervention of the Great Powers would have been even more acceptable to the populace.

When the time comes, you can also wash your hands of it, it’s not that the government didn’t try hard, it’s mainly that the enemy was so powerful that there was really no way to have to compromise.

Especially for the politicians personally, choose the former to mess up to go down with the hat of the southern spies, choose the latter at least can pull some sympathy points.

Even if it is the end of political life, better than everyone shouting, ah?

Secretary of State Safar said indifferently: “Anyway, it has come to this point, the situation is out of our control. Being able to preserve the core interests of the federal government, we will be able to afford the votes of the people.”

Indeed, overall they hadn’t done a bad job, and even said it was excellent. Being able to integrate so many Confederate states and fight the South in blood for so many years was proof of their ability.

No amount of competence could hide the fact that they were the losers. Secretary of State Safar has looked the other way, and their term is about to expire anyway.

For the new general election, Safar wasn’t going to participate at all, lest he humiliate himself at that time. Whichever unlucky person was elected in the future, let the later clean up the mess.

No, if it wasn’t for the civil war delaying the election, the next government would have already been elected.

No one is stupid, no one will jump out and act as a backstabber until an armistice treaty is signed.

So the Republicans and Democrats agree: people in many of the Confederate states were unable to vote during the war, and the election now does not represent the will of all the people.

The election was naturally postponed until after the war, and the Lincoln administration was extended.

Otherwise Safar and others were relieved immediately, they were less than a month away from the end of their term, and just dragged it out.

It was the common will of all parties that the Lincoln administration would have to take responsibility for the division of the United States before they could roll over and get out.

Of course, Lincoln could have run in the next presidential election. Only as a loser, his popular support was so low that he had almost no chance of winning.

(End of chapter)