Chapter 671: The Russian-Austrian Agreement
Chapter 656: The Russian-Australian Agreement
Once the seed of suspicion was sown, it never lingered. After scrutinizing the actions of the Vienna government in recent years, Dumbledore was getting more and more confused.
If Austria wanted to target France, why did they let them annex the Italian regions?
The propaganda to the public could be explained by the power of France. As a senior member of the government, Dumbledore would not see it that way.
No matter how powerful France was, it could not be defeated by the European countries joining forces. If the European countries join forces to apply pressure, they can still only return in disgrace.
Expansion of territory in the European continent has never been an easy thing, and the Italian region is not a poor countryside, Dumbledore does not believe that Austria has no ambition.
This issue has been studied by the French government for many years, and finally everyone came to an incredible conclusion – the Vienna government abides by the spirit of contract.
The truth didn’t matter anymore, the meat was eaten anyway. No matter how skeptical it was, the French government could not give up the Italian regions.
It doesn’t matter if you can’t figure it out, just look at Austria’s military power. The so-called “threat” is based on strength.
Organized a bit, the recent years of Austrian military information, Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief. Though the threat does exist, but France can still resist.
Take action?
Sorry, as a qualified bureaucrat, the first thing is to weigh the pros and cons, not blindly take action.
The Austrian threat is only potential, there is not enough benefit for France and Austria to fight for no reason at all.
War in this era, obviously the defense side has more advantages. Other than that, the force projection alone is decided.
In contrast, as a member of the cabinet government, Dumbledore was more worried about the military getting bigger. It could be said that from the very beginning, Geoffrey Friedman had the wrong man.
Prussia and France were different; one country owned the army, the other the army owned the country. What seemed natural to the Berlin government was very different to the other government.
Taking direct action because of a possible threat is a soldier’s mindset now, politicians never put profit first.
Knowing that people are stirring up trouble and jumping in to give them a shot without thinking about it is reckless behavior.
Jeffrey Friedman succeeded in stirring up French-Austrian relations without changing the outcome of this negotiation. Wanting France to hold Austria at bay can be done, take the benefits in exchange.
In front of the interests, the Paris government still did not give an inch. Because of the Austrian threat, to support the Pope Federation, that does not exist.
We are all continental countries, for France, Austria and Prussia are potential threats, it is only the “threat size” problem.
……
At the critical moment of the Franco-Prussian negotiations, the Austro-Russian negotiations were coming to an end.
Foreign Minister Weissenberg: “Your Excellency, I don’t see the sincerity of your country. The collateral your country has put up is so small that there is no parity in value.
If this is the only collateral, I very much doubt that your government will simply give up these areas, and then we will lose a lot of money.”
Russian Minister Nikolayevich: “No, we are very sincere. Don’t forget, Your Excellency the Minister, that we have even staked our gold reserves, and there is no possibility of default.”
Wessenberg was unmoved, if it wasn’t for the fact that he was trying to get his hands on the Russians’ gold reserves and promote monetary hegemony, he wouldn’t even be here to talk to the Russians.
The so-called territorial mortgages, the Tsarist government was not sincere at all. Perhaps to block Austria’s access to the Black Sea, none of the territories mortgaged by the Russians had access to the sea.
The Bulgarian region and the region west of the Dnieper River (west-central Ukraine + Moldova), which the tsarist government took out as collateral, were missing the most crucial coastal areas.
In the era of sea power there were no ports, all were inland, and the value of these territories was naturally greatly reduced.
Standing up for the Russians, they had reasons why they had to do it. It was easy to let the Austrians into the Black Sea, harder to try to expel them.
On the Black Sea Fleet that a few broken ships, once the Austrian Navy into the Black Sea, Russia’s interests in the Black Sea region, will be a serious threat.
In front of the interests, the tsarist government did not dare to test the Austrian modesty. If the interest is big to a certain extent, it is not likely that the Vienna government will deliberately let them lose the war for the sake of collateral.
Even in the case of the current territorial pledge, the Tsarist government had to weigh the pros and cons before taking the risk of making the decision.
“If your government takes out all of its gold reserves as collateral, we naturally don’t worry that you will default, but your country has only taken out half of its gold reserves.
Your country has always been a major gold producer, with dozens, if not hundreds, of tons of gold being mined every year, and it’s not difficult to replenish this part of the reserves.
Your Excellency the Minister should be clear that we are not interested in your country’s territory. Not all land is worth much, and especially after the loss of access to the sea, it is greatly devalued.”
Minister Nikolaevich frowned, it was not difficult to replenish the gold reserves, this was for Britain and Austria. Any other country in the world that wanted to increase the amount of gold reserves was very difficult.
Russia is the world’s major gold-producing country, but it can’t help that every year, there will be an outflow of ah! Especially soon to war, a large number of gold and silver outflow simply can not be avoided.
The gold reserves all out, that is, all of their economic lifelines into the hands of the Austrians, do not want to ruble into waste paper, Russia can only obediently when the little brother.
Minister Nikolayevich: “Your Excellency the Minister, this is impossible. Pledging half of our reserves is already our bottom line.
The territorial pledge above is negotiable, we can add some of the ports. In return, your country will have to guarantee our loan with the Nordic Federation and guarantee that your navy will never enter the Black Sea.”
In order to raise money, the Tsarist government was repeatedly lowering the bottom line. Especially after the unfavorable news from London, the tsarist government’s bottom line was lowered again.
To this day, there was no way back for Alexander II. If we don’t start the war in advance, when the enemy is ready, it will be too late.
“Compromise was never in the Russian vocabulary. The Russo-Prussian War had become a way for the Tsar’s government to divert internal conflicts, and the consequences of stopping it were unimaginable.
The Tsarist government was forced to go ahead with the war, knowing that it would be a costly endeavor.
Weissenberg: “Yes, but your country must come up with equivalent collateral. Once your government defaults, we have to pay this debt on behalf of the security must be guaranteed.
The navy will never enter the Black Sea, this I cannot guarantee. However, we can make an agreement that as long as your government does not default, the Austrian Navy will not enter the Black Sea.”
“Collateral” had become Nikolayevich’s dream demon, and the mere thought of the word made his scalp tingle. The Russian-Austrian negotiations had already consumed a great deal of his energy.
On the contrary, the Austrian navy into the Black Sea is a small problem, this thing more guarantees are nonsense, as long as the interests in place, no one can stop.
Nikolayevich hurriedly said: “Your Excellency, this is just a normal commercial loan guarantee, we can pay the guarantee. There is no risk whatsoever, your country can completely rest assured.”
Weissenberg shook his head, “I’m sorry, Your Excellency the Minister. War is about to break out, if your country can win the war, then I believe there will be no problems.
Once your country loses the war, or it is a draw. At that time, your government will not be able to repay the debt, will you really be able to fulfill your obligations?”
It was almost as if he was directly saying that he doubted the credibility of the Tsarist government. In his opinion, the Czarist government would certainly be able to fulfill its obligations normally if it lost the war, and conversely, it could not guarantee it if it won the war.
The defeated Russian Empire, even if they want to refuse, the Nordic Federation can also send their own troops to take, fall on the well everyone is very good at it.
In contrast, Austria’s collateral is still a bit of a problem. Parts of Western Ukraine are likely to fall into the hands of the Prussian-Polish Confederation after the war, and the government of Vienna wants to get these areas, another storm.
……
After some war of words, on October 10, 1879, Russia and Austria signed the Russo-Austrian Agreement on Commerce and Trade in Vienna, which stipulated:
The Russian Empire mortgages the area west of the Dnieper River, the Russian Balkans, to raise 480 million guilders from Austria, consisting of 180 million guilders in loans and 300 million guilders in bonds. (Remarks: Odessa and Constantinople are not included)
Loan interest: 3.5‰/month
Bond interest: 8.4%/year
Handling fee: 3%
……
A week later, representatives of the three countries of the Russian-Austrian-Nordic Confederation, again in St. Petersburg, signed a Contract of Debt Guarantee, in which the government of Vienna provided a security guarantee for this debt of the Russian and Northern countries.
(End of chapter)