Chapter 987: Flexible Diplomacy

  Chapter 967 – Flexible Diplomacy

The end of the Continental War not only meant that Austria got the continental hegemony, but more importantly, the sword hanging over Austria’s head no longer existed.

Look at the Draft Disposition of the Law of Treaties to know, Austria this time is to feed the allies, the same will also pull the hatred full.

One can only imagine how bad Franco-Austrian relations will be next. But it’s all a minor issue, and there are plenty of countries with high hate values to share.

Eat the meat can not spit out, to this point, the French want to rise again, first to ask the surrounding neighbors to answer.

Today’s times are different, before the war the French could despise these neighbors, after the war the situation is completely different.

Although the strength of the fallen Spain is not good, but they have a big block ah! Now that it has recovered the rich Roussillon region, its strength will develop further.

Just restored the Kingdom of Sardinia, temporarily can not be counted on, but the development potential is not small, in the issue of anti-France and the support of the Italian states. After one unpleasant experience, people certainly do not want to come back a second time.

The strength of Belgium, which is greatly wounded, is not very good, but it is deeper than the hatred of France, and it is the vanguard of anti-France.

Switzerland, the country of the mountains, although the national strength is not great, but the famous Swiss mercenaries we all know, is definitely difficult to gnaw bones.

France wants to rise again, no matter from which direction to make a breakthrough, is as difficult as heaven. Especially Austria is still on the side of the tiger eyeing, a little too much noise, another war against France.

According to the analysis of the think-tank, after the war, West, Switzerland, Belgium and Saxony together with the combined national strength of the four countries on top of the French. As long as the French are not allowed to break the blockade, the blockade will be unbreakable.

The threat of the Western Front no longer exists, and the European continent is at peace. As long as Austria does not take the initiative to make things happen, no one can make things happen.

As a pacifist, Franz decided to go out and fuss less in the coming years, and to stay at home and farm if nothing else.

Well, all of this is a lull. The truth is that Austria is full of food and needs to stop and digest.

War is a beast that swallows gold. Don’t look at Austria’s seemingly easy win this time around, but in reality the Vienna government was also heavily in debt.

In order to support the war, Austria not only hit the treasury, but also borrowed 800 million guilders from the bank, has launched three war bonds to the private sector, totaling 760 million guilders.

If it only added a billion or so to the debt, it was not worth Franz’s worry. After all, the Vienna government’s financial situation is good, bear this little debt no pressure.

The problem is that the German-Austrian merger has begun, other areas do not need Austria to support how much, but the Rhineland reconstruction expenses are inevitable.

On this issue, do not expect the German federal government can pay, they have long been in debt.

Not long ago, because of the arrears of wages, resulting in a public employees strike, the rubber stamp emperor of Hanover has long been left alone.

According to the previous agreement, after the Vienna Peace Conference, George I will have to declare the dissolution of the Confederation, and then give up the throne. Anyway, it has nothing to do with themselves, naturally broken.

In the end, or Franz can not see past, support a sum of money, only to let the government normal operation.

The real bad luck is still the debtors of the German federal government, the debtor is no more, and can not find the heir to bear the debt, the claim naturally disappeared.

The governments of the following states would not recognize the debt, and Franz would likewise not recognize the debt. No matter where the lawsuit went, no one could say that the Holy Roman Empire was the heir of the German Confederation.

Debts could be disinherited, but territories were to be received. The Rhineland was a direct territory of the German Federal Government and did not belong to any of the states, and after the merger it would naturally become a direct territory of the government of Vienna.

It goes without saying that since it is a direct jurisdiction of the central government, it will naturally have to be rebuilt with funds from the central government. The following states would at most give a little humanitarian support, legally they would not be responsible.

Millions of people will have to be resettled, from food, clothing, housing and transportation to jobs, all of which will need to be solved by the Vienna government, which makes one’s scalp numb just thinking about it.

In comparison, the construction of the newly occupied territories was nothing. Despite the same huge expenses, there was no time requirement!

With the repatriation of the locals, it became a no-man’s land that the Vienna government could develop whenever it wanted.

In addition to these expenses, there was another huge hole to be filled. The Austrian army had also paid a heavy price for the war, and the casualty pensions were astronomical.

Up to now, the Vienna government has accumulated 460 million guilders in pensions. This is not the end; it is only a matter of time before the cost exceeds one billion.

Now it depends on how much the military field can be offset, if the soldiers all choose to take cash, it is estimated that the Vienna government is not far from bankruptcy.

Adding all the expenses together, because of this war, the Vienna government needs to spend the final cost, definitely not less than five billion guilders.

The direct economic loss due to the war was even as high as seven billion guilders, and the indirect economy even exceeded fifteen billion guilders.

Purely counting the economic accounts, let the French people to lose tens of billions of guilders, really not at all wrong.

However, the reality is very cruel, the demand is raised more, people have no money is no money. No matter how high the amount of compensation is set, in the end, you can get your hands on just what people have in their pockets.

If not harvested a large number of colonies, at the same time cleared the obstacles to the unification of the German region, and established Austria’s position as the hegemony of the European continent, the war Vienna government would have lost its pants.

In this respect, Franz had to thank the French for their rich family. Comparison of the original time and space of the First World War will know, as the victorious countries of Britain and France, both lost their pants.

With this unpleasant experience, Franz finally understands why Britain and France played the policy of appeasement before World War II. It’s not that politicians don’t know the risks, it’s really that they can’t afford to fight anymore.

“Peace is fought for.” The meaning of this saying can be truly realized here.

Regardless of what others thought, Austria couldn’t afford to fight anyway. Fortunately, the war lasted only one year, if it lasted three or five years, it would really shake the foundation.

Thinking about it, Franz admired the Tsarist government. Near East War, Prussian-Russian War, Anglo-Russian War …… Since Franz succeeded to the throne, the Russian Empire has not been peaceful, almost every ten years or so, it will come once.

After so many wars, the tsarist government not only persevered, the foundation of its rule was not even shaken, and there were even fewer domestic conflicts than in the original time and space.

Of course, the easing of domestic conflicts came at a price. The population of the Russian Empire is a full twenty million less than the same period in the original time and space, and the total amount of industry is far less than the same period in history, the only thing that exceeds the original time and space is probably only the territory and agriculture.

The combined national power has declined, but the regime has stabilized. What should have been a joke actually happened.

But a closer look at history reveals that something similar happened more than once in history.

After every change of dynasty, a large number of people died, and then social conflicts eased, and as long as the ruling class didn’t commit suicide, a heyday came.

The situation in the Russian Empire was similar, the Tsarist government had survived the most dangerous period of the war to become the victor, and now it was natural to enjoy the fruits of victory.

In this regard, the medieval European continent often waged war, and not only the noble lords warlike, which did not have the intention of using war to reduce the population.

……

One wave has not yet subsided, and another wave has arisen.

In the anti-French alliance immersed in the victory of the war against France, the British were not idle, taking advantage of the defeat of the French have no time to worry about overseas when the moment, blatantly sent troops to invade the French Central and Southern Peninsula.

Nope, not sure about an invasion just yet. The British took out a colonial transfer agreement with the Bonaparte dynasty, which, if the contents were true, was just an ordinary colonial transaction.

Undoubtedly, having lost so badly on the European continent, the French colonial government far abroad naturally had no determination to resist the British.

Seeing the agreement on the transfer of colonies, regardless of whether it was true or not, one colonial government after another surrendered.

No, I should say there was a transfer of territory. Although the British took over the colonies, the French troops were not disarmed, much less put into prisoner of war camps.

Overseas high jinks did not comfort the British government. The smile on Gladstone’s face diminished as he watched the day of the Vienna Peace Conference approach day by day.

Overseas eat more, that is only some scraps of food. The power of the Antifa Alliance could not be extended before they picked up a bargain.

Such a bargain had no meaning to the current international situation. Britain, already isolated, became even more isolated.

The original allies and juniors are now all gone. It can only be said that the dominance of the Antifa League was so obvious that no matter how much the government in London tried to pull them together, there were just no European countries to stand with them.

Originally also ready to do things in Vienna and the meeting of Gladstone, now also have no interest. Now the international situation is very obvious, as long as the anti-French alliance is not dissolved, the European continent will not have their right to speak.

Foreign Minister George: “According to the news coming from the embassy in Vienna, the closed-door meeting of the Antifa Alliance has ended. The exact content is unknown for now, but they have expelled the French.

Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, and Sardinia have all taken action and have expelled the French from their border areas.

Initial estimates are that the Anti-French League has reached an agreement to partition France. Most of the current expulsions were in preparation for the territorial annexation that was to follow.

Because the French had previously taken similar action in the German region, the Antifa League is now going to retaliate, and it is not good for us to morally condemn it.”

These days it’s not popular to be a saintly mother, blood money is the mainstream of the times. The Continental War was a war of aggression initiated by the French, and it was only natural for the Anti-French Alliance to retaliate.

Of course, more importantly, the Antifa Alliance is too powerful “billion” points. The vast majority of European countries are members of the Antifa coalition, the few neutral countries also followed the line.

The European continent’s position is the same, Britain’s supremacy is naturally no longer exist. Standing directly against the Antifa coalition, the London government was also abashed.

Received this bad news, Gladstone frowned more tightly: “at all costs to figure out the content of the treaty, before that do not busy to take a position.

The Foreign Office continues to communicate with Russia and the West, too powerful Austria is not in their interests, encourage them to come out and fight for the spoils of war.”

It was a phallic plot, every European power had a dream of continental supremacy, and Russia and West were no exception.

Austria had become was the biggest stumbling block on their way to hegemony, and they certainly didn’t mind kicking it away if they had the chance.

George shook his head, ”Your Excellency the Prime Minister, this is impossible to do. Spain is already in decline and is still busy counterattacking the Philippines, it is exactly the time when they need Austria’s support, it is simply impossible to turn the other cheek.

The Russians are indeed ambitious, but their way westward has been blocked, and they won’t flip with Austria without enough certainty.”

“Potential” rivals, that’s just “potential”. Spain was too weak to compete for hegemony; the Russians had power, no doubt, but the Tsarist government was not stupid.

It is easy to fight for the spoils of war, the problem is to eat it. Whether it was dividing up France’s mainland, or fighting for overseas colonies, a strong navy was needed to back it up.

This happens to be something the Russian Empire does not have. Flipping out with an ally for something you can’t get is only likely to happen if you’re out of your mind.

Gladstone slammed the table, ”We have to do it even if we can’t do it, the Antifa alliance is too powerful, we can’t fight them directly, we can only disintegrate them from within.

If we can’t convince Russia and the West to oppose Austria, then we should find a way to join the alliance. In short, Britain cannot be isolated by the European world.”

To join if you can’t handle it is a traditional skill of Britannia. Thinking back to the time when France and Austria were allies, however, after Britain joined, the two countries soon became strangers.

If any international relations scholar were to study this period of history, he or she would realize that there was a clear turning point in Franco-Austrian relations.

Before the establishment of the Triple Alliance, the two countries could be said to be in a honeymoon period; after the establishment of the Triple Alliance, the conflicts between the two countries intensified, which directly led to the disintegration of the alliance.

In this regard, Britain also played a dishonorable role in this continental war, only to misestimate the strength of both sides, resulting in the late play collapse.

(End of chapter)