Chapter 1128: Diplomacy First
Chapter 1107 Diplomacy First
The Russo-Japanese War was just a small interlude, and its impact on the international situation was far less than that of the doubly publicized Anglo-Austrian conflict.
Since the beginning of Britain’s withdrawal from the free trade system, the relationship between the two countries has deteriorated dramatically, and the frictional conflicts that were originally suppressed by the two countries together have bubbled up in recent times.
Especially the civil media, as if to see what is going on, not only to follow the fuel, but also intentionally or unintentionally exaggerate the conflict, and there are even people openly shouted “war”.
The air is filled with tension, and those who are slightly sensitive to the situation know that war is approaching.
Not for nothing, many experts, scholars and celebrities in society have called for the two governments to sit down and talk things over.
But it’s no use. The core interests of the two sides are so conflicting that no one is likely to make major concessions.
If they could talk it over, both sides would have compromised long ago. Who is willing to take real money to fill the bottomless pit of war, really think that we are warlike ah?
Sign a peace agreement, Franz is no problem, even if it is to maintain the status quo can be accepted.
The problem was that the British did not dare to agree. The British Isles is such a big place, the development potential is inherently limited to death.
If there is no restriction, according to the development of the current situation, the gap between the two sides will only get bigger and bigger.
The British government is not willing to make concessions, and it would be even more unrealistic to expect Shenla to abandon its own efforts. The bottom line of the Vienna government is very clear, at most maintain the status quo and not interfere with each other.
Since the negotiation table can not reach a compromise, then only in accordance with the law of the jungle, to the battlefield to share a victory or defeat.
A fire in the city gates is a calamity for the fish in the moat.
Britain and Shen Luo two big rogues to duel, the European world naturally do not want peace. Taking sides is an eternal topic.
If you support one party, you are bound to offend the other. If you want to remain neutral in the battle for hegemony, you have to have the strength to back it up.
Unfortunately, there are only a handful of countries with such strength, and even fewer in Europe.
For small countries, “taking sides” is no less than a test of life and death. Once the wrong bet, the death of the country is not so bad, but the death of the government that is certain.
The most enjoyable time to take sides was probably more than ten years ago in the war against France.
When the Vienna government came out to pull the strings, it was almost a done deal. The war was over just as soon as it was over.
Not so now. Who won or lost the Anglo-Austrian war, people really couldn’t tell this time.
Both have their own advantages, who may become the final winner, and there is even the possibility that no one can do anything about it, and in the end to end up with both sides losing.
Surrounding the speculation of the war’s victory or defeat, a bunch of military experts are analyzing, that is, the public said that the public has a reason, the mother-in-law said that the mother-in-law has a reason.
This was a great test of everyone’s judgment. Other than those small countries that had followed Shinra’s lead early on and determined their camps ahead of time, the rest of the countries had to choose a camp once, or rather, gamble on their national fortunes once.
The first to bear the brunt was naturally the Nordic Confederation, Holland, and Portugal, and other than their three, the other countries had supported Shinra in the previous round.
Not to say that all of them can eat the big meat, but as the victorious country in the war against France, everyone followed Godroe, the broth is always drunk.
The Vienna government did far better than the British in this regard. Casually flip through the history books to know that the allies who followed Britain to mix, not dead or half-crippled.
Not by the ally pit to death, are considered God blessed, to be able to preserve the capital is a great outburst of human character.
Even if the spoils of war are divided, there are still pits everywhere. It seems as if the British are uncomfortable if they don’t create conflicts for one day.
With such a stark contrast, the countries that have already followed God Luo and eaten tangible benefits, the possibility of jumping ship is minimal.
As neutral countries, the Netherlands, the Nordic Federation, and Portugal were embarrassed.
In terms of interests, the three countries with the British and Austrian do not have a core conflict of interest, not to mention the national hatred, seems to be with anyone.
From the geographic point of view, the three countries is a proper tragedy, are coastal countries, and happens to be north of the Atlantic Ocean.
This is embarrassing, the land to be subject to the threat of God Luo, the sea and the threat of Britain. No matter where they stand, they all feel like a pit.
There is no doubt that the Netherlands, Portugal, the Nordic countries are in the city gates in the fire, was the fish in the river.
Comparatively speaking, Portugal was a little bit happier. Because of the geographical location, they are far away from the European continent, from the middle of God Luo also separated from the French and Western countries.
Even if a war breaks out, they will not be reduced to a battlefield. As long as they don’t show too much activity, they may still be able to muddle through.
The Nordic Confederation was also considered to be a moderate country. They insisted on not taking sides, and the Divine Law and Britannia couldn’t do anything about it.
It is too difficult to clear the field, and the benefits are not proportional to the effort. No one is willing to go to the Swedish ravine to fight guerrillas, at least until the winner is decided, they can’t care about them.
In the future, they might be suppressed, but it won’t be too serious, as long as they behave peacefully enough, they can endure for a few years and get over it.
The most tragic of all is undoubtedly the Netherlands, which happens to be in a position between Britain and Shinra, very close to both sides.
Support the British, the Holy Roman Empire’s army will be able to kill in the same day; support the Holy Roman Empire, the Royal Navy will teach them to be a human being in minutes.
If the British government is bold enough to launch a landing operation, then Holland is also one of the preferred places.
Of course, so was Belgium next door. Only Belgium stood up early, as a full-fledged little brother, the Vienna government must be watched over.
Not to mention, just the fact that Belgium has so many military airports in the country is worth the Vienna government’s money.
After all, to bomb the British Isles, take off from here is too suitable, is considered to be the front line.
Theoretically, pulling off a counterattack from France is also a good choice to capitalize on the Franco-Austrian hatred.
Unfortunately, this thing is not suitable for the British, Britain and France is also a world hatred, the mass base does not see any better.
Besides, pushing all the way from France to Shenla is just too far away. It simply can’t play the role of a surprise attack, and can only honestly fight a positional war.
The gap between the two sides of the land force strength is too disparate, but where the British government IQ online, will not be brain-dead to think of a duel on land and Shenla.
Even if the head iron launched landing operations, it is also political propaganda significance is greater than the actual military significance. To do the appearance that they are fighting back, to give an account of the domestic on the line.
In the original time and space of the two world wars have really staged, in order to political needs, the British have launched a number of head battles.
Although they didn’t achieve any decent results, they managed to pit their allies against them!
Franz understood the plight of the Netherlands, but politics is not conscientious, the pressure should be imposed or a point not less.
The situation is not human, not to mention the Dutch, even Franz can not be outside.
Accompanied by the international situation of tension, semi-retired Franz the Great, but also had to come out from time to time to brighten up a phase, to increase everyone’s confidence.
There is no way, who let this time the protagonist is the Navy?
Just as the British wanted to lull the Shenluo Navy out, Franz similarly wanted to lull the British Navy in, and rely on combined air and sea warfare to lock down the victory.
Unfortunately, everyone was not a good lord to be snubbed. Even when the Vienna government invited them in the name of naval exchanges, the British only took out a few old battleships to make up the numbers.
On that broken ship, not to mention the pressure on the government credibility to sneak attack. Even if war had broken out, Franz would not even take a look.
Everyone was smart enough to defend a hand. Trying to speculate for victory was simply not maneuverable.
But as a challenger, to win the war, it was ultimately up to the Shinra Navy to take the initiative and go out and fight the British.
Not to mention that the others had no bottom, even Franz himself lacked confidence in his own navy. Daring to launch a challenge, that was the number of heaps he was prepared to pile on from the start.
Learning from the Americans in World War II, the first to win is not considered a win, only to laugh is the real winner.
Vienna Palace, Franz waved a large brush while asking, “What was the international reaction after our release?”
If you looked closely, it was a heck of a lot of ink and paint. If it had happened in East Asia, it wouldn’t have been surprising, but this was Europe that was unusual.
It was all child’s play, perhaps because of his age, Franz became more and more capricious.
Apart from remaining sane in politics, he has become completely self-indulgent in everyday life. In a world with so little entertainment, it’s not surprising to pick up former hobbies.
As for whether hobbies are too alternative and will attract attention, that is no longer in Franz’s consideration.
The only regret was that Franz’s painting work was not good enough, and the picture of a hundred birds facing the phoenix, which was imitated under his artistic processing, ended up becoming a picture of a chicken pecking at rice.
It didn’t matter, these guys in the audience couldn’t tell the difference between a grass chicken and a phoenix anyway. As for whether it would distort everyone’s aesthetics, that was out of Franz’s consideration.
As a matter of fact, Franz was also forced to play with ink painting. Because his oil painting skills also failed, ashamed to take out to meet people. He could only play with what people didn’t understand, so that he could pretend to fool people.
High society, if you do not have some art cells, it is easy to be despised as a bumpkin.
Professionals look at the gang, that is completely overthinking. If you don’t believe it, just take a pair of them out for auction, as long as they are stamped with Franz’s seal, they will definitely be worth more than the real works of the Saint of Paintings.
The artwork that has stood the test of the market is the real artwork. Those who suspect that there is something wrong with the work must have insufficient artistic training.
See the emperor’s special hobbies, we are used to it. It’s just some calligraphy and painting that you can’t understand, it’s not a big deal at all.
Foreign Minister Leo stepped forward and replied, “Your Majesty, the international community’s reaction has been very intense. All countries do not want us to break out into war with the British, including our allies.
Ever since the news was delivered, the Foreign Ministry’s phones have been swamped with people coming to inquire about the situation.
Among them, the Dutch have been the most active, communicating overnight with more than ten countries, including Belgium, Spain, and the Nordic Confederation, in preparation for diplomatic mediation.”
A possible outbreak of war, let the whole European world sleepless, Franz is also considered to set a record.
But think about it is not strange, the outbreak of war between God Luo and Britain, European countries have a count, all have to follow to bear the loss, the difference only lies in the degree of damage is not the same.
Other than that, everyone’s sea trade is no longer play. Once the war breaks out, both sides are bound to blockade each other.
Shen Luo wants to blockade Britain, only pull the European countries together, or else it is a virtual virtual.
The British are the same, just cut off the Holy Roman Empire’s overseas trade, do not blockade other European countries, it is still a blockade?
Being cut off from overseas trade routes, the two big rogues won’t necessarily do anything, but the many small countries will certainly suffer heavy losses.
If the duration of the short time is good, we bite the bullet and hold on to things will be over; if the war is delayed, the delay can not be divided into winners and losers, we are going to be a tragedy.
Especially a few countries that rely on marine trade, may be directly collapsed because of the war.
Against this background, it is normal for everyone to react vigorously. If there was no reaction, that would be a problem.
After finishing the last point, putting down his pen and picking up a towel to wipe his hands, Franz slowly said, “Let’s formally make contact with the countries!
If they want to use diplomatic mediation, you should not stop them. Without experiencing failure, countries will not easily give in.
Tell them that as long as the British are willing to maintain the status quo, then they can sign a peace agreement with them.
If necessary, to show our peace-loving sincerity, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can completely unilaterally make a promise not to initiate a war to buy time for the warship construction.”
In the face of international interests, treaties are a waste of paper, and promises are even more of a joke.
In recent decades, the Vienna government has not broken a treaty, and that’s only because the bargaining chip for breaching wasn’t big enough.
When it came to world hegemony, it was a very different matter. Even losing the government’s credibility was worth it if it could fool the British and lay the groundwork for winning the war.
Well, Franz didn’t get his hopes up either. The British weren’t stupid, and maintaining the status quo didn’t include stopping shipbuilding.
The Royal Navy was barely able to cope with the current batch of warships in service without losing control.
But if you follow the old calendar and build a dozen or so dreadnoughts every year, the British government will have to go on the rampage.
There is no doubt that Franz can do this kind of thing. At this crossroads, there is no room for him to retreat.
Domestic large and small interest groups, now want to overthrow the British on the throne to share the cake, is not said to be able to retreat.
Foreign Minister Leo: “Yes, Your Majesty! I will turn around and implement it, ensuring that the responsibility for starting the war will be thrown to the British.”
Although the Vienna government had formulated a detailed battle plan, there still wasn’t an accurate finalization of when exactly the war would be initiated.
However, one thing was certain, and that was that the later the war broke out after the ravioli started, the better.
Against this background, dumping the pot of initiating the war on the British also turned from impossible to possible.
Time was on the side of Shinra as long as it dragged on. Just because the Vienna government could afford to procrastinate did not mean that the British could afford to procrastinate as well.
According to the most common theory, whoever could not resist starting the war first was the instigator of the war.
As for the causes and consequences, just ignore them, ordinary people don’t think that much.
If it was just an ordinary war, it didn’t matter who started it first. This time was different, a war between Shinra and Britannia would spill over into a large group of pond fish.
Having suffered an undeserved disaster, there had to be an outlet for everyone to vent their grievances.
Although the world’s hegemony, there is no such thing as not being scolded, but it is better to let the British take the blame than to come out and pull the hate yourself.
(End of chapter)