Chapter 1083: Opening of the Central Asia Railway
Chapter 1062 – Central Asia Railroad Opens to Traffic
It has always been the state policy of Britain to provoke the relationship between Russia and Austria. Despite not achieving substantial results, the British government has spared no effort in promoting it.
In terms of patience, it is estimated that there are few in the world that can compare with the British.
At this time of unprecedented change in 2,000 years, the whole human society has become impatient. Those who can stick to a foreign policy for decades as one day are absolutely rare.
Along with the development of science and technology, people’s patience is also declining, and politics is no exception.
In this era of increasing emphasis on short-term interests, it is definitely not an easy task to stick to a national policy for a long time.
In this regard, it was definitely no fluke that the British became the dominant power in the 19th century.
As the trendsetter of the times, Britannia has always practiced pragmatism. In their view, conspiracy or not, yang conspiracy or not, as long as there is an effect.
Leandro’s tactics, although unorthodox, still triggered Moros’ dissatisfaction with the Vienna government. Although this kind of dissatisfaction, for the time being, can not affect the international situation, but emotions can be accumulated.
If you are able to restrain emotions, always maintain rationality is always a very small number of people, Minister Molos is obviously not one of them.
With full of discontent, Moros naturally did not have anything good to say in his telegram to St. Petersburg.
The title “Second Roman Empire” was enough to make Nicholas II furious, without even having to be added to.
These days, the European world is obsessed with Rome, far beyond the imagination of later generations. Almost every European country is trying to find a way to associate itself with Rome, as if this can make them more noble.
To Nicholas II, Rome became even more important. Knowing that the Tsar’s crown came from the Eastern Roman Empire, the Roman issue had implicated the legitimacy of the Tsar’s throne.
If the Holy Roman Empire, the Western Roman heir, became the direct heir of the Roman Empire, then the Russian Empire, the Eastern Roman heir, would be embarrassed.
When it comes to the crown issue, Nicholas II will naturally not give in.
Only now shouting “second Roman Empire” is only the European media, until the end of the Vienna government has not made a clear statement on this issue.
This was embarrassing. Can not because the European media shouting slogans, go to Vienna to protest, let them change the “Second Roman Empire” to “Second Western Roman Empire” right?
If we really did that, the whole world would probably look at us as a joke. Not only will it not solve the problem, but it will expose his own weakness.
After a period of depression, Nicholas II ended up doing nothing. But the determination to get rid of Shinra became stronger and stronger.
In the world of adults, once a rift is created, it will become bigger and bigger, and it is almost impossible to heal it.
The gap between Russia and Austria was not an overnight problem, it had arisen as early as the time of Alexander II, and now it was nothing more than a further expansion.
The only difference is that times are different nowadays, the Vienna government’s need for an alliance has been on the decline, and there is less and less incentive to bridge the gap between the two countries.
……
With a resonant salute, the main Central Asian Railway line, which had a profound impact on Eurasian politics, was finally opened to traffic on June 16, 1899.
A little international common sense is clear that the opening of this railroad from Moscow in the west to the Afghan region in the south, the influence brought.
The eyes of the world were once again focused on London and St. Petersburg. Compared to the strategic conflict between Britain and Russia, the small gap between Russia and Austria is not a big deal.
After personally attending the opening ceremony, Nicholas II quickly turned from excitement to annoyance.
Along with the opening of the main railroad, anti-British sentiment within the Russian Empire immediately rose, and “going south to India” once again became a hot topic in society.
In contrast to the fervor of the people, the top echelon of the Tsar’s government was particularly calm.
Ordinary people only saw the wealth of the south to India, ignored the risks involved, as long as a little guidance, it is easy to lose themselves.
As the top government can not, they must fully consider the risks and benefits of going south to India, a comprehensive and integrated assessment.
……
Prime Minister Sergei Vitter: “The opening of the main Central Asian railroad line is a good thing, which will help us strengthen our control over Central Asia. But the sudden rise of war-mongering in the country is problematic.
The British are not weak, and it’s not like we haven’t fought the British army before; their land forces, apart from being slightly fewer in number, are no worse than the Imperial army in combat.
Britain has been operating in the Indian region for hundreds of years, and our many attempts to plan an Indian independence movement have all ended in failure, which also confirms the deep-rootedness of British rule in the region.
As long as the British are willing, they can easily arm millions of Indians from the region to fight against us. We have already learned this in the last war against the British.
Though these colonial armies are not very strong, there are too many Indians. Like maggots in a cesspit, they simply cannot be killed.
Once the southward strategy is launched, it is destined to be a protracted war. The Empire’s limited financial resources simply could not support a long war.
Combined with the current international situation, launching the southward strategy now would easily allow someone to reap the benefits.
If it is possible to seize India, it is just, the empire is not a waste of time. The fear is that the British will be pushed to compromise directly with the Holy Roman Empire and choose to fight us to the death.”
Sergei Witte’s worry was not unwarranted, India was the lifeblood of the British. The hegemony of the British world is essentially built on the premise of owning India.
With the loss of India, the national power of the British Empire would shrink by at least forty percent, second in importance only to the mainland. If really forced, the London government may really give up the hegemony to defend India.
Look at the colonial habits of the Vienna government will know, they obviously prefer sparsely populated colonies, populous India is not their dish.
As long as the Vienna government does not seek the Indian region, the British are willing to give up world hegemony, there is a possibility of compromise between the two countries.
If the British and Austrians had really compromised, the Russian Empire would have been a tragedy. Not only did it do the bidding of others, but it also sent itself into a dangerous situation.
The Russo-Austrian alliance could only guarantee the stability of the Western Front, but it did not mean that the government in Vienna would necessarily support them. In the past years, Russia and Austria have come all the way from each other.
Foreign Minister Mikhailovich: “The Prime Minister is right, the current international situation is really not suitable for launching a southward strategy.
Although the main line of the Central Asian Railway has been opened to traffic, the construction of the branch railroads has just begun. The Austrian aid program for us has ended, and the rest of the subsequent works need to be done by us.
With only one main line, it is impossible to support the logistics of the army fighting its way south. Risky action will only be futile and a waste of valuable national resources.
The trouble now is that the British don’t trust us at all. Ever since the news of the opening of the Central Asian Railroad spread, the British government has increased its troops to the Afghan region three times.
The number of British troops stationed in the border area now exceeds 500,000, although most of these troops are colonial troops and the pressure on our front line is still not small.
If the British take advantage of our construction of the railroad spur to be the first to start a war, the Empire will be very passive.”
Mistrust was inevitable. Numerous experiences have taught the world that, as a neighbor of the woolly bear, if one does not keep a high degree of vigilance at all times, sooner or later one will suffer greatly.
The Anglo-Russian conflict is not a day old, and since the First Near Eastern War (Crimean War), the relationship between the two countries has never been good.
……
The southward strategy was opposed by the civilian group, and Evgeny, as Minister of War, looked very ugly.
In his opinion, there was indeed a risk in going south to India, but this risk was definitely not as serious as the crowd made it out to be.
The “Anglo-Austrian Compromise”, if it were really that simple, there would not be so much strife in this world. Anything, once interests were involved, could not be simple.
World hegemony could be more than just a name, but it was also accompanied by a great deal of benefits. Whether it was financial harvesting or the convenience of foreign trade, it was enough to make people rush in.
Such huge benefits were simply not something that could be given up just because some politician said so. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a hegemony struggle in this world.
Knowing that, but Evgeny did not know where to start to refute, after all, cleverness has always been the strong point of the civil officials.
After hesitating again and again, organized language Evgeny slowly said: “Gentlemen, the risk of going south to India is certainly not small, but the benefits are greater.
The world today is becoming increasingly competitive, and the struggle between the great powers is becoming even more heated. In the past few decades, several powerful countries have fallen in the competition.
Turning to the history books, we will find that the present situation is different from any other time in the past, and to continue to look at the problem with the old concepts is to suffer a great loss.
Right now, the world’s countries that can be called great powers are Britain, the Holy Roman Empire, and then we have a total of three.
The number of powers is decreasing, which means that the era of multipolar coexistence is dying. If the Empire doesn’t want to be the next great power to fall, then increasing our strength is our only option.
However, we are now wavering, sometimes to the west, sometimes to the east, constantly dispersing our national power, without even a clear strategic goal, we are going to suffer a great loss if we go on like this.”
The intention of the blatant accusation, Evgeny even lazy to carry out the cover up. It was obvious that he was quite dissatisfied with the strategy of the tsarist government in recent years.
“To the west”, naturally refers to the garrison in France. In the eyes of the outside world, the tsarist government’s garrisoning of France was mainly for the purpose of extorting war reparations.
However, this was only superficial. The Tsarist government scrambled to garrison Paris, in addition to seeking profit, but at the same time there was a deeper purpose – “to save the energy for the French, leaving an enemy of the Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe.”
Only the plan did not change as quickly as it should have, because the ability of the Russian army to carry it out was misjudged, and the military discipline of the Russian officers and men was neglected.
Because of an accidental conflict, the Tsarist government, which originally wanted to save the energy for the French, became the vanguard of the suppression of France.
It was either do or die. On this issue, the Tsarist government saw very clearly.
Seeing the failure of supporting the French, for the sake of its own interests, the tsarist government quickly fell to Vienna and became the vanguard of the suppression of France.
One plows, one reaps.
Although the plan to keep enemies for the Holy Roman Empire failed, in the process of suppressing the French resistance, the Tsarist government likewise reaped the benefits.
The top wave of talent in France had been raided as early as the Continental War, but there were still plenty of second-rate ordinary talent.
The outside world only saw the Russian army in France forcibly conscripted strongmen, wantonly, but ignored hidden in the strongmen doctors, engineers, skilled workers ……
If not for the Russian army in the front line to fight hard, make a and the French people do not share the frame, want to scavenge talent from France is simply impossible.
A war down, the free labor to build railroads have, to promote the country’s industrialization process of basic talents also have.
The most critical is the military expenses, or the Vienna government advances, a war to suppress France, the tsarist government is actually just out of people.
In this respect, the “westward” strategy was undoubtedly successful. In addition to the face is not good, the Russian Empire is actually blood money.
If these talents can be used, relying on this wave of sucking the blood of the French, the Russian Empire’s industrialization process can be accelerated for at least ten years.
In contrast, the “eastward” strategy will be less satisfactory. The Siberian Railway is under construction, and is still far from being opened to traffic.
In any country, there are only a few talented people. French blood is not unlimited, and as things stand, the “westward” strategy is about to come to an end.
Evgeny wants to express the meaning is very obvious, the western front can not continue to count on, the eastward strategy is limited by the transportation is far away, the short term south is the best choice.
As for staying put, waiting for the opening of the Siberian Railway, and then implement the eastward plan. Just think about it, not every country has such good patience.
Even if the top of the Tsarist government can wait, the people below can’t. There is no way, India is too rich, wealth has lost the eyes of many Russians.
The mood of the crowd was immediately heavy as the topic was picked up. Although the Russian Empire does not have the tradition of subjugation, but the following people take matters into their own hands still happen from time to time.
No one knew better than the crowd present how bad the Anglo-Russian relationship was. Especially at the moment when the Central Asian railroad was opened, a spark on the border could start a war.
……
Nicholas II: “In any case, the Central Asian Railroad is currently only the main line opened to traffic. Many areas along the route still require a large amount of manpower to transit supplies.
If war breaks out before the construction of the branch railroad is completed, we simply won’t be able to guarantee the logistics of the frontline troops. The empire has already suffered many similar losses, and must not repeat them now.
To avoid the worst, the Empire should do everything it can to avoid conflict with the British. The military must keep an eye on the frontline troops, the Empire can’t afford to be tossed around right now.”
There was no way to solve the problem, so Nicholas II decided to use the word “delay”. On the grounds that the construction of the branch railroads would take time, he first stabilized the main warring factions of the military.
As for when the branch line railroad can be completed, it depends on how the situation develops.
(End of chapter)