Chapter 370: A Lonely Family

  Chapter 360 – The Lonely Ones

The Pudan War led to the collapse of the Vienna system, it would be inharmonious to the many small countries in Europe, without the protection of this system, everyone will have to return to the era of precariousness.

As a rule breaker, Prussia naturally pulled in all the hate. The most immediate consequence: the countries sided with the Danes in the Prussian-Danish War.

Of course, this did not prevent everyone from supporting the Prussians in the Prussian-Russian confrontation. International politics has always been in favor of what is good for you and against what affects your interests.

St. Petersburg, the whole world waited for the Tsarist government to act.

If it was the time of Nicholas I, then there was no need to say just one word – fight. With great strength crippling Prussia was not difficult for the Russian Empire.

The question of how much it will cost is difficult to say. At least one thing is certain, as long as the tsarist government does not die, the Kingdom of Prussia is unlikely to reverse.

Just look at the map to know how big the Russian Empire is, Prussia simply does not have the possibility of a direct attack, once the fight is a war of attrition.

The Russians were the least afraid of a war of attrition and at the same time the most afraid of a war of attrition. The Tsarist government was anything but broke.

Alexander II hesitated, he did not want to fight this war now. He had no money in his pocket and no courage to speak. Prussia is easy to deal with, but behind the British and French is very difficult to deal with.

Foreign Minister Clarence Ivanov analyzed, “Your Majesty, the position of the European countries has become clear, countries have condemned Prussia’s illegal acts, but no country has taken substantial action.

Initially, it can be judged that Britain and France have put pressure on the countries to remain neutral in the Prussian War, with the aim of hitting us.

If we cannot keep the Kingdom of Denmark, our international reputation is bound to be tarnished and we may even lose our present international status.

The Prussians are very firm and have already rejected our counsel. If we want to preserve the Kingdom of Denmark, the use of diplomacy will not do, and we can only rely on force.”

“Are the Austrians making no moves, are they just letting the Vienna system fall apart?” Alexander II asked with concern

“As early as last year when the Kingdom of Denmark merged the two duchies of Schleswig-Holstein, Austria broke off diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Denmark.

Now that neither country has been able to normalize their relations, the likelihood of the Vienna government supporting the Kingdom of Denmark is almost nil.” Foreign Minister Clarence Ivanov replied

Obviously, this was not the answer Alexander II wanted. The breaking of diplomatic relations between Austria and Denmark was not a conflict of interest between the two countries, but was actually more of a political necessity.

A deliberate gesture by the Viennese government to show the people of the German region that their determination to unify the German region has never weakened.

Political correctness worked for every government. Now that Prussia had broken the Vienna system to wage war on the Danes, it made sense for Austria not to take action.

Prussia was no longer a German state, while Denmark was not. The question of helping a relative or helping a reason is very obvious, the Vienna government was neutral that was a bad relation with the Prussian relatives.

After a long silence, Alexander II continued to ask: “If we go to war with the Kingdom of Prussia, on which side will Austria stand?”

This is the core of the problem, Prussia has gained the support of Britain and France, most European countries want to see Russia fail. Without Austria’s support, this war would not have been possible.

Foreign Minister Clarence Ivanov explained, “It is not yet possible to be completely sure, from the intelligence gathered so far, there is a higher chance that the Vienna government will support us.

They want to unify the German region and the Kingdom of Prussia is the biggest obstacle, a strong Prussia is not in their interest.

Even if the Kingdom of Prussia is willing to join in the Shinra Empire, the Vienna government doesn’t want to see a powerful state emerge and weaken their control over the empire.”

After hesitating for a while, Alexander II made a decision, “Tell the Vienna government that as long as we win this war, the Silesian region will be theirs.

Other than not allowing them to unify the German region, the foreign ministry can make other conditions at their own discretion, we can’t do without their support in this war.”

Fight, it must be fought. The status of the Russian Empire was all fought out with a single stroke of the sword, and what makes a tsar who doesn’t dare to fight a war, what makes him lead Russia?

Destroying the Kingdom of Prussia is not an option, that would create an opportunity for Austria to unify the German region, but teaching a good lesson to this little brother who jumped back is very necessary.

Alexander II had already figured out that there was no hiding. All European countries wanted to interrupt Russia’s reforms, and even if they avoided this one, there was another one.

Once the Russian Empire showed half a sign of weakness, there would be a pack of wolves eating the tigers. Austria, now the staunchest ally, may become the vanguard of the partition of Russia.

The best option is to knock out the first Prussia to stand up for itself, otherwise the Russian Empire will have to cut its own flesh.

……

The Palace of Mexico, since ascending to the throne of the Emperor, Massimiliano I has exploded into a twelve-percent passion in his efforts to build Mexico into a great empire.

He was diligent, loving and inspiring, and did not favor any interest group, and was as notarial and fair as possible. He even pardoned the republicans and spared his political enemies.

Then, with the passage of time, he helplessly found that the domestic situation did not improve, but became worse.

Pardoning the republicans did not ease the political struggle in the country. These people turned their eyes and ran out again to draw ranks and revolt against him, the emperor.

The emperor was diligent in his government and loved the people, but the bureaucrats below him acted recklessly, and naturally the result was that nothing worked.

The most deadly thing was the notarial fairness, the constitutionalists who supported his rise to power did not dominate the new government, Massimiliano I shared power with the neutrals and the opposition, sparking their discontent.

Many members of the Constitutionalists despaired of the Emperor, believing that they had lost their investment, and chose to withdraw their capital, no it should be cold feet.

After all, Massimiliano was already the emperor, and the constitutionalists had no way to get a new emperor even if they regretted it.

The results of the reform of the previous government, Massimiliano selectively retained most of the, because did not take into account the incompatibility of the water and the soil, and then triggered the dissatisfaction of the various classes in the country.

For example: at the beginning of the succession, the Catholic Church was also out in force, with the aim of recovering the lands they had lost.

This part of the land was not distributed to the people, most of it fell into the hands of the republican bureaucrats and the big landowners and capitalists who supported them. Now that the republicans were losing politically, it was natural for the Church to counterattack.

Normally, Massimiliano I would have sided with his supporters and fought the republicans as an enemy.

However, he believed that the Church should not hold too much land. The land was taken into state ownership and sold by the government to private individuals in a legal transaction.

There is no doubt that this violates the party code. Not being able to bring benefits to his supporters, naturally, I don’t want people to continue to support him.

It can be said that in just a few months, Massimiliano I not only failed to cultivate his own crony regime, but also drove many of his supporters to the opposite side.

This is only part of it, the most typical case of death, is Massimiliano I succeeded to the throne soon, let the Mexican Empire’s debt tripled.

As an idealist, naturally, he was very good at fooling around.

Just ascended the throne is facing a financial crisis, the government needs money to run, intervention in the Mexican civil war of the French army needs to return, and the treasury has long been running rats.

In the face of this predicament, Massimiliano I could only borrow from the outside world. As his supporters the French naturally ate the cake, only the French appetite is a little big.

Besides the French, the interests of the other two intervening powers had to be equally safeguarded. Recognizing the debts owed by the previous government was one of them.

Here again Massimiliano I made the mistake that many of these debts were actually illegitimate and did not need to be inherited by the new government, who took them all on.

The famous Miramar Agreement was signed, in which Massimiliano I commissioned the Bank of France to issue 114 million pesos in bonds, of which the French withheld one-third to pay off their own debts and one-quarter to pay off the debts of other countries.

Together with the messy commission, what finally reached Massimiliano was 42.18 million pesos, which still had to pay for the French garrison and keep the government running.

Nothing had been done, and the debt had tripled in size. Mexico’s domestic educated people, naturally do not see this emperor.

Even if the loan, at least consider the actual situation ah. This debt the Mexican government can not afford to pay back, and now the French asked Massimiliano I mortgage tariffs.

Massimiliano I reacted, he realized that he had been cheated.

The Mexican Empire is simply not as rich as rumored in the outside world, rich in silver is not true, but most of these minerals have the background of the Great Powers, can not collect a few taxes.

Massimiliano I knew the importance of customs and was not willing to just hand it over to the French, and the period of secret contracts between the two sides ended.

“Your Majesty, this is the treaty you sign!”

The French commander in Mexico, Bazan, directly took out a document and handed it to Massimiliano I, not seeing the slightest respect for the emperor.

Massimiliano I picked up the document, did not even look at it directly tore to shreds, thrown all over the ground. With an icy tone, he said, “Well, you can roll now.”

As a direct line of the Habsburg family, Massimiliano also had a temper. The French did not give him face, and naturally, he could not be allowed to give him face.

Bazan left the palace with a grimace on his face, and in the end, he still didn’t say the threatening words. Not putting Massimiliano in his eyes is one thing, in the open he still does not dare to mess around.

He is not a republican mob, France is also a monarchical country, to maintain the dignity of the monarch is the common will of the European monarchies, Bazan naturally will not make a taboo.

Can not get the emperor’s signature does not matter, get the cabinet’s signature is the same. Originally, the French were prepared to find a random senior official to sign, and then create an established fact.

Now the Paris government even as the Mexican customs officials are appointed, just waiting to make up a legal formality, and then go to the office.

It was only because of a clash between Baden and Massimiliano I during a banquet that he deliberately took out the document to irritate Massimiliano.

From the beginning the French just wanted a puppet emperor, unfortunately Massimiliano didn’t cooperate at all and continued to try to be a good monarch.

However, this effort largely worsened the situation. As the emperor whom the French had united with the constitutionalists, conservatives, and the Church, Massimiliano did not stand with the class that supported him politically.

Whimsically, he wanted to be a monarch of the most umpire-like character, without being a spokesman for any political faction. He wished to establish a government of moderates, with the common approval of all parties.

At present he has succeeded in accomplishing half of his goal, being fair and impartial, without being the spokesman of any class or interest group.

The remaining half, it is estimated, will never be done. If it weren’t for the political blocs at home, which need him to stand up to French pressure, Massimiliano would be truly alone by now.

(End of chapter)