Chapter 591: Asking for Trouble
Chapter 578: Asking for trouble
The Prussian-German deal was completed and the Russo-Polish War came to an end with an armistice treaty coordinated by Britain, France and Austria.
Only an armistice was agreed upon, the Russians were not asked to withdraw their troops, and the international community did not give a clear statement on the boundaries of Russia and Poland.
The nail was buried, and the hatred between Russia and Poland deepened one more point. Under the power of hatred, the Prussian-Polish merger went one step further.
The goal of the Berlin government was achieved. Despite the loss of the Rhineland, the Kingdom of Prussia had strategically reversed the unfavorable situation after the annexation of the Kingdom of Poland.
With a closed fist, it was possible to strike out with greater force. For the Berlin government, the biggest problem now was not the Polish debt crisis, but the resettlement of immigrants.
Poland had not yet been restored and had not yet had time to establish its credibility. Due to its geographic location, the nascent Kingdom of Poland was under military threat from the Russians and could collapse at any time, and was not favored by investors at all.
Against this background, it was not even easy for the Polish government to borrow foreign debt. Even Britain and France, who supported them, were not likely to throw their money in for a hit.
Therefore, most of the Polish government’s debt is internal, the external part is mainly the beginning of the Restoration, European countries in order to combat the Russians lent them political loans, about more than 20 million pounds, of which one-third is still owed to Prussia.
The internal debt was harder to pin down, as the Polish government devalued its currency several times, relying on additional issues of money to get through the financial crisis.
The aftermath was that Poland’s domestic economy was in a mess, worse than under the Tsarist government, and the Polish industrial and commercial sector became the biggest victim.
This bad situation was a good thing for the Kingdom of Prussia, creating an opportunity for them to annex Poland.
If the Polish economy had not been bad, the capitalists would not have moved closer to the Kingdom of Prussia. Without the support of the business community, Wilhelm I would not have been able to be elected with a high vote.
Since the Kingdom of Poland was to be annexed, the Berlin government was prepared to clean up the mess.
In contrast, the “resettlement” was the real problem. Not everyone was willing to leave their homes, and for many ordinary people, being ruled by the German Confederation was not unacceptable.
At the beginning of the resettlement process, there was resistance from the local population, or rather from the local capitalists. If all the people left, who would work for them?
It wasn’t just the capitalists who made trouble, the middle class didn’t buy it either. Many people were upset that the Berlin government had sold out the Rhineland, thinking that it was abandoning them, and subconsciously rejected the emigration.
The main reason behind these problems was resettlement. The capitalists could relocate their factories but not their mines, and the Berlin government simply could not find an industrial base to replace the Rhineland.
The same goes for the middle class, with a change of location their network of contacts was all but obsolete, and they needed to start all over again. Most people’s incomes and social status would be affected, and they would not even be able to keep their current standard of living.
On the contrary, the workers and peasants who make the most noise in the open are the best to deal with. Their demands are the lowest, and as long as the Government has the money, it can take care of them.
……
Vienna Palace, Franz is looking at the war report of the Near East War and fretting. It was not that the front was losing, quite the contrary it was that the front was fighting too well.
According to the prior plan, the Russians were unable to open the Black Sea Straits, and finally ended the war with the mediation of the European countries.
However, the plan did not change quickly, the Ottoman Empire is even more useless than Franz imagined. The Ottoman Empire was even more useless than Franz had imagined. It didn’t even last half a year before it lost the land along the Black Sea Strait.
How to stop the war has become the biggest problem of the Vienna government. Doing a full set of theater must be done, intentionally put water can not hide the eyes of politicians of various countries.
According to the current situation, the Ottoman Empire has been precarious. With the hatred between the Habsburg dynasty and the Ottoman Empire, Franz should do is to beat the dog, take the opportunity to kill this old enemy.
As a matter of fact, the Vienna government was doing just that. In order to stall for time, Franz pushed out the Reichstag, which did not have much presence.
In reality, this did not serve much purpose. Not only did Austria have a grudge against the Ottoman Empire, but the other states of the Shinra Empire also had grudges against the Ottoman Empire.
Now the whole empire is clamoring to finish off the Ottoman Empire, and the voices of the anti-war faction are almost unheard of, which makes Franz very bitter.
With the current situation, it was almost 100% that the Reichstag would pass the troop increase motion. Franz was also unable to force his men to stand against the people and take the blame for being anti-war faction.
In the case of Austria did not send troops to the Asia Minor Peninsula, the Ottoman Empire were hung by the Russian army, if Austria also followed the troops, Franz does not think that the Ottoman Empire, which is greatly wounded, can hold out for a long time.
Without this unlucky man, who to look for the next diversion? And what about the next strategy?
It was important to realize that although the Ottoman Empire was in decline, it was not at all small in size. With the current situation, Austria and the Russian Empire dividing the Ottoman Empire would definitely choke.
European countries will also not agree, when the time inevitably come a few more to share the spoils. For Austria, who wants to monopolize the eastern Mediterranean, this is very unfavorable.
Franz asked, “How long will the Russian army have to recuperate before they can attack again?”
War is the need to die, do not look at the Russian army in the battlefield is overwhelming, in fact, the loss is not small.
In just half a year’s time, the Tsarist government had replenished its troops four times, and now it was time to replenish them for the fifth time. Total casualties had reached 240,000, of which nearly a quarter had been killed in action.
From the point of view of the Tsarist government, all these casualties were worthwhile. While replenishing their forces, the Russians also kept replacing the troops fighting on the front in the name of rest and recuperation.
According to the statistics of the General Command of the Allied Forces, 650,000 Russian soldiers had already gone through the battlefield before and after. The bullets shot off in recruit training alone exceeded fifteen hundred tons.
The Russians’ reasoning was reasonable; the frontline troops had suffered too many casualties and needed to be transferred back for recuperation.
With the number of casualties there, Austria could not refuse, even if it knew that the Tsarist government was using the opportunity to practice.
In just half a year, the Russian army had consumed more than 65 million guilders worth of supplies. If it were the Tsarist government itself, it would never be able to afford to play like this.
This is only the expenses of the Russian army, if we add the expenses of the Austrian army, this figure will increase by half.
Airship bombardment, naval shelling, ammunition consumption is equally not low. Fortunately, the Austrian army in the Middle East is only in the siege of Jerusalem, if all the way down, this military expenses will be higher.
Weapons, ammunition, strategic supplies consumption is nothing, the war’s largest single cost, in fact, or soldiers’ casualty pensions.
In Austria, for example, the minimum pension for a soldier killed in action is 600 guilders. Every year to the families of the martyrs of various incentives, welfare expenditure is at least 10 guilders, according to the 30-year calculation is 300 guilders.
This is only the theoretical basic data, the Austrian army pension should also take into account the position, rank, years of service, whether or not they have made a war achievement, these are all additional items.
Under normal circumstances, it was impossible for the government to send blank slate soldiers into battle. This means that in an actual war, the pensions to be paid would be much higher.
On average, for every Austrian soldier killed in action, the Vienna government would have to spend 1,200 Shenduan on pensions. If 10,000 soldiers were killed in action, that would be 12 million God’s Guilders.
The expenses of the dead were large, and the expenses of the seriously wounded who survived would actually be even larger.
Not to mention, the government must bear the follow-up medical costs, and the government must also be responsible for solving the livelihood problems of those who lost their labor force.
To ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops, these expenses can not be saved. In this regard, Franz is willing to spend a lot of money, and Austria’s follow-up work is the best.
Fortunately, the tsarist government does not need to pay so many pensions, otherwise Alexander II would have cried to death, casualty pensions than the battlefield consumption are large.
With the development of industrial technology, the cost of industrial materials is getting lower and lower, and the cost of human life is getting higher and higher. In later times, countries emphasize soldier casualties, in fact, are forced out by high pensions.
Minister of War Albrecht: “According to the previous practice, the Russian army would replace troops with more than ten percent casualties.
The Tsarist government still has more than 200,000 new recruits in the Ukrainian region, which will arrive at the front in as little as a week, and no more than half a month at the latest.
The time before we promise to provide combat supplies is coming up soon, the Russians will surely seize the time, I think that at most no more than twenty days the Russian army will attack again.”
The Vienna government initially promised to provide combat supplies for 150,000 Russian troops for six months, and later on, when both sides made a deal of interest, this limit was raised to 200,000 Russian troops, and the time was extended to the end of 1874.
The Tsarist government had just beaten up the Poles, and although it had achieved brilliant results, its wallet was wounded. Against this background, it was natural for the Russians to save as much money as possible.
Only by launching the Great War before the end of the deadline could they get more supplies from the Vienna government to prepare for the later war.
This kind of thing has always been done by the Russian army, for example: misreporting battle losses and hiding strategic materials.
The Austrian officers at the front had reported this long ago, except that the Russians were still needed to sell their lives, and Franz didn’t pursue it in depth.
Hiding strategic supplies is not as easy as it sounds, at least not to be caught by the Austrian officers at the front. It is easy to hide a small amount of material, but if the amount is large, it is not easy to hide, and the accounts are not even.
Austria also sent officers to follow, overstatement of battle losses must also pass the check, in case the problem is detected, that is to be held accountable.
Austria issued strategic supplies according to the number of Russian troops, but the battlefield every day in the death of people, people died naturally consume less.
However, the quartermaster who issued the supplies could not get the data feedback immediately, and the supplies received by the Russian troops on the front line did not decrease, which made an extra part of the supplies.
False declaration of battle losses, hiding supplies, mainly this part of the supplies. Water to clear, there is no fish, as long as the accounts are done cleanly, Austria will not be deeply pursued.
This part of the material, in the end, how much can fall into the hands of the tsarist government, and how much by the Russian officers privately divided, is not Franz concerned about the problem.
After a few moments of contemplation, Franz made a decision: “Put out the news, say we are ready to send 500,000 troops to destroy the Ottoman Empire.”
There are quite a few European countries that wish to see the Ottoman Empire fall, but everyone definitely does not want to see the Ottoman Empire perish.
If there wasn’t this big guy to hold it back, Austria would be able to put all of its energy into Central Europe, and the pressure on the defense of many countries would increase.
At the London Conference, Britain and France were already mediating this Near East war. But this was not enough. The diplomatic pressure exerted by the European countries was not enough to make the Vienna government let go.
Franz now made the move to exterminate the Ottoman Empire in order to add fuel to the fire, to draw the attention of Britain and France, so that they would put more energy into intervening in this war.
To make trouble for himself, such a bullshit thing, actually really happened, think about Franz feel funny.
(End of chapter)