Chapter 301: The Black Hand
Chapter 291: The Black Hand
Vienna Palace
Head of Intelligence Theron reported, “Your Majesty, the negotiations between Britain and France over the Suez Canal have failed. The Paris government has decided to leave the British aside and dig the Grand Canal alone.”
This was expected, the Suez Canal was not only significant to Austria, it was also extraordinary to the French. Having invested so much up front, it was naturally impossible to give it up just because the British were against it.
Now the gap between the strength of Britain and France, is not as disparate as the end of the century, and now the French are still nostalgic for the position of world supremacy.
And, they still have the strength to match their ambitions.
The total strength of the French army standing army is as high as 400,000, in the European continent only in Russia and Austria; the total tonnage of the French Navy is more than six layers of the Royal Navy, close to the size of the seven layers.
At the same time have a world-class navy and army, the French is the most balanced development of the powers in the country, the comprehensive national strength is not weaker than any of the powers. Possessing such a strong power, even if they wanted to be at peace, it would be difficult.
The only pity was: this was already the peak of the French, and their national strength was no longer enough to support them further.
Wanting to compete with the Russians for hegemony on the European continent, the French population was too small, and in an age where the sea of men reigned supreme, the slow population growth rate directly put the French out of business.
Want to compete with the British for hegemony at sea, the construction of the Continental Army and diverted resources, unable to do the country’s strength, naturally will not be John Bull’s opponent.
Being in the bureau of the French only saw the strength of their own strength, and did not see in the development potential, they have been thrown off by their competitors, still dreaming of world domination.
From this strategy, France and Austria are facing some similar dilemmas, both must be developed at the same time the land and naval forces, can not focus on specializing in one side.
Austria’s advantage lies in the population to be more, the mainland area to be larger, more advantageous resources; disadvantage is also very obvious, multi-ethnic countries if you can not complete the national integration, such as the awakening of nationalism will be in big trouble.
Stroke clear in the hands of the bottom card, Franz think still want to be happier than Napoleon III, Austria’s nationalities again how much, but they still want to be more than the French people peaceful ah!
Learning from history, history Napoleon III is still doing well, just one defeat was hot-headed people ousted; and the original owner of the history of consecutively lost the Franco-Austrian war, Prussian-Austrian war, or sitting steadily on the throne can be seen the gap.
From the beginning of his power, Franz was pushing for the unification of language and writing on one side, and inter-ethnic marriages on the other.
So far, the language unification is the best, basically universal German in the towns and cities, the countryside for the time being do not have to think about, except for the children who receive compulsory education, the older generation can speak a few words of German is considered to be an active member.
In any case, German was still spoken by nearly seven segments of the population. Minority areas, the newly occupied Balkans, on the contrary, had the highest civil German penetration.
Needless to say, the social status quo of a largely illiterate society remained unchanged, even though the official literacy rate had exceeded sixty-seven percent.
Franz did not consider being able to write a few words to be intellectual. The sixty-seven percent could be taken to mean that sixty-seven percent of the population could write their own names.
To truly unify the language, we have to wait for the generation of compulsory education to grow up, this kind of thing can not be rushed.
In contrast, the growth in the number of mixed-race children was much greater. With the advancement of industrialization, exchanges between people of various races have increased dramatically, and naturally there are more marriages.
Theoretically, as long as there were three million couples in interracial marriages, all the races of the entire New Holy Roman Empire were tied together.
Everyone became relatives, and the concept of ethnicity was diluted. To put it bluntly, except for ultra-nationalists, who would discriminate against their own friends and relatives?
Franz instructed, “Continue to keep an eye on the French, the excavation of the Suez Canal is not only a huge investment, but the risks involved are also unknown, and the French government is bound to finance it on the capital market.”
Investment in the Suez Canal is a profitable business, this golden waterway is a rolling source of wealth, Franz naturally will not let go of this opportunity.
Theoretically, after being opposed by the British, in order to minimize the risk, the French will most likely pull Austria to join.
But the controlling stake in the canal, the French are unlikely to let out, Franz did not expect to get the controlling stake.
In this case, the Vienna government can get a share of the investment of up to three or four layers, looks quite a lot, but more people to share the cake, as the emperor Franz must pay attention to the eating.
Instead of taking from the government investment, it is better to secretly buy a portion of the shares in the capital market, anyway, this is an investment that only takes dividends, the more secretive the better.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Tyrone replied.
After a pause, Franz asked, “What’s the latest news from the Kingdom of Prussia?”
Teren replied, “The Kingdom of Prussia is still undergoing reforms, Frederick William IV’s rule is a bit unstable, and there are undercurrents in the country. He himself is not in good shape and has not appeared in public for a long time.
The exact circumstances were uncertain, and the Prussians blocked the news. But from Wilhelm Frederick Ludwig’s frequent activities in the political arena, we can infer that Frederick William IV is afraid that his health is failing.”
Hearing this news, Franz reacted to the fact that the historically famous Wilhelm the Great was about to take the stage of history.
But one slow step was followed by another, and by this time the Kingdom of Prussia had lost its heavenly time.
The pattern of three-part Germany was created by Franz, in the case of the Vienna system re-established, how can it be easily broken?
Now Britain, France, Russia and Austria all wanted the European continent to be stabilized, which could not be swayed by personal power. Unless he was able to turn on the heat and make everyone’s brains collectively go to water, there was no chance.
Historically, the unification of the German region by the Kingdom of Prussia was established against the backdrop of Napoleon III’s government pumping the wind. It didn’t just jerk the wind once, but three times in a row to create the opportunity for them.
Now the international situation is even more severe, unless they can simultaneously get France and Austria to start fighting in the Italian region and Britain and Russia to start fighting in India, there is no room for them to play.
After pondering for a moment’s effort, Franz ordered, “Theron, look for an opportunity to get rid of Bismarck, the Prussian ambassador to Russia. Do it naturally and don’t reveal that we did it.
If there is no suitable opportunity, then stink him up first so that he loses the chance to go further.”
His hero, our enemy.
Even though Franz had always abided by the rules of political struggle and seldom played these machinations, it didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be able to do so.
To be on the safe side, he still decided to get rid of this Iron Blooded Prime Minister first. Without him at the helm, even if other radicals come to power, the Prussians will not be able to turn a big wave.
The Kingdom of Prussia’s national strength was limited, it couldn’t afford to lose in the competition for supremacy, as long as there was any one operational error, it was going to be over.
Wilhelm Frederick Ludwig was no simple man either, and would not take any chances with the Radicals at all when there was no chance of winning. Not all prime ministers were Bismarcks, able to force the king to concede.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Theron replied
……
(End of chapter)