Chapter 418: The British’s Diplomatic Skills

  Chapter 408: British Diplomacy

Since neither side wanted to fight, there was no choice but to negotiate.On May 2, 1866, representatives of Austria and France met in Naples for secret talks.

The interests of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies were only an appetizer, the most important thing was the great strategy of the two countries to divide the European continent.

There is no revenge in front of the interests, the military conflict between France and Austria, both sides tacitly agreed to put the blame on the British.

In any case, the British were not present and could not be defended, so letting them take the blame would be good for everyone.

Compared to the Franco-Austrian conflict, the Anglo-French conflict was actually much deeper. In Franz’s opinion, the Anglo-Austrian conflict is now deeper than the Franco-Austrian conflict.

The small actions of the British on the African continent seriously affected Austria’s African strategy, which was uncompromising to Franz, who had aspirations for African indigenization.

In contrast, the Franco-Austrian conflict is still good, before the carving up of the continent, the two countries still have a series of benefits can be exchanged.

Under the common interests, the conflicts between the two sides could still be suppressed.

On the contrary, the British and Austrian African colonial conflict is difficult to resolve, with John Bull stirring up shit, if you can sit back and watch Franz complete the strategic layout is strange!

Can not simultaneously and the two great powers in conflict, this Austria’s national policy, in order to be safe, now have to bring the French to the gutter.

This partition of the European continent of strategic negotiations, is to fool Napoleon III, as long as the French take the first step, just wait to be isolated!

Not the present level of isolation, the vigilance of small countries is not worth mentioning at all. Only the hostility of the Great Powers can make it really difficult for the French.

In a way, Franz didn’t mind if the French strategy could succeed. Only when it got to that point would it be possible to really screw up the French Empire across the board.

Just think about it, a France + three-quarters of Italy + Belgium + all of Germany west of the Rhine, this kind of giant appeared, besides the anti-French alliance, there is no other choice?

The pit that favors this is the strategic plan of the French in the original time and space. No, the original space-time Napoleon III but plans to swallow all of Italy, with the rise of Austria has now shrunk.

The Franco-Austrian War was part of their strategy to annex Italy, but Napoleon III’s actual maneuvering fell apart.

In order to annex Luxembourg and Belgium, there was even a European crisis, which was suppressed by Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria.

Franz proposed the strategy of dividing Europe, almost a replica of the French strategy, to fool Napoleon III.

Only a dozen years ago, France’s military strength is insufficient, Napoleon III just succeeded the throne and coincided with the Near East War, did not dare to take risks.

Now France’s military power has developed, plus the Russians were weakened, short time unable to interfere in European affairs, Napoleon III’s ambition naturally can not be relied upon.

Reaching out to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies is to test Austria’s reaction, and now that the results are out, it is naturally time to pull the plug.

If Austria can’t benefit enough, even if it’s fooling Napoleon III, he wouldn’t dare to push this crazy strategy directly.

The only way to reassure Napoleon III is for both sides to have common interests and for everyone to take action at the same time.

Involved in the exchange of interests is too much, involved in all aspects, this negotiation is destined to be protracted. In comparison, getting Francesco II out of the way was not worth mentioning.

French-Austrian negotiations at the same time, the Prussian-Russian War broke out again, the British this time or give force, although not in Europe to the Russians to find an ally, but in Central Asia is still fruitful.

Under the planning of the British, at the end of April 1866, the Samarkanders broke out in a great uprising against Russia, kicking off a wave of revolt against tsarist rule in Central Asia.

The British not only sponsored weapons for the uprising, but also formed a volunteer army – 8,000 Gurkha mercenaries – to help the people of Central Asia free themselves from the rule of the tsarist government.

The Gurkha mercenaries were one of the top three mercenaries in the world. They defeated 30,000 British troops with 12,000 men and backward weapons and equipment, and gained the recognition of the British, and from then on, they went to the world stage.

If it wasn’t for the fact that the population was so small and it was a military powerhouse. I guess there is nothing for India, they are invincible in South Asia.

Central Asian khanates that had not yet been conquered by the Russians were also forced into battle by the British, including Afghanistan. In a short period of time, more than 100,000 anti-Russian forces appeared in Central Asia.

By mid-May, Tashkent, the largest city in Central Asia, was captured, and Russian rule in Central Asia was in jeopardy.

In order to deal with the critical situation in Central Asia, the Tsarist government was forced to draw troops from the Caucasus to reinforce the Central Asian theater.

Looking at the battle map, Franz knew the Russians were in big trouble. A bad operation in Central Asia over the years was going to go down the drain.

If not previously, the tsarist army attacked the three Central Asian khanates, the situation is estimated to be better. Under normal circumstances, these countries are afraid to mess with the Russians.

However, the situation now was no longer normal. Everyone knew the ambition of the Russians, there was no possibility of compromise, and in order to protect themselves they had to defect to the British.

Now that the boss demanded to go to war, these khanates had no choice but to tough it out. If they offended the British again, they would really be finished.

Franz asked, “The Russians have drawn down their troops in the Caucasus, the Ottomans have an opportunity, do you think the British can talk the Sudanese government into falling on its sword?”

Prime Minister Felix replied, “It’s hard to be sure, at present, although the main war faction in the Ottoman Empire has a high voice, but the Sultan’s government is still seeping in the shadow of the failure of the Near East War, and does not dare to challenge the Russians.

The British position, they can not ignore, the Ottoman Empire wants to survive, can not be separated from the protection of the European countries, the British is the most important part of their diplomacy.

We have already implicitly made our position clear, and as soon as the French ask the Ottomans to send troops again, the Sultan’s government will most likely be forced to go to war.

The government in Paris is still hesitant at the moment, but as long as Napoleon III wants to execute his European strategy, then continuing to weaken the Russians is a must.”

In fact it is not only the French position, but if Austria could ask the Ottomans to send troops in the open, it would likewise put enormous pressure on the Sultan’s government.

The Russians’ ambitions for the Ottoman Empire had never been extinguished, and it could be said that the Sultan’s government was most interested in seeing the Russians fall.

The only problem is that those who experienced the Near East War in the past have not been eliminated from the scene, and the younger generation does not dominate the government.

The old men are afraid and have lost confidence in defeating the Russians in the last few “Russo-Turkish wars”, which ended in failure.

However, the hard truth is that the Russians will not leave them alone unless they attack them. The “Russo-Turkish War” has been a part of everyone’s life for twenty years, as history books show.

The next “Russo-Turkish War” was only ten years away at the most, and this was the rule of history, with no exceptions in the past two centuries.

Without the support of the European countries, the Sudanese government did not have the confidence to take on the Russians alone, and even though their social reforms had begun to bear fruit, the power gap between the two sides was still huge.

Against this background, the position of Britain, France and Austria was of vital importance to them. Moreover, Britain and France are still their debtor countries, mastered their domestic finance, London government sneeze, Ottoman Empire economy is a turbulence.

Historically, the French could use economic means to pull the Russians onto the chariot, and now the British and French influence on the Ottomans has to go further.

Franz smiled and said, “So the Prussians will have to look to God for Napoleon III to make up his mind sooner rather than later!”

He was very pleased with the present situation. The fact that the British were able to make so much noise in Central Asia was completely unexpected.

But it was normal to think about it, rabbits bite when they are anxious, and the Central Asian Khanate had to cooperate with the British at this time in order to protect itself.

The people have laughed, Central Asia for the Russians is also just a skin disease, even if it is all lost, the Russian Empire is still the Russian Empire.

The Central Asian coalition formed by the British was full of internal contradictions, and was only able to cooperate reluctantly under the pressure of the Russians, and once the threat of the Russians disappeared, infighting would take place.

Wanting them to fight their way in all the way to the interior of the Russian Empire is a wash! If these men were capable of this, Franz couldn’t have been unimpressed.

The Ottoman Empire, not to mention the recapture of the Caucasus, was enough for them to struggle for many years. To threaten the Russians further, they might have been able to do so in the last century.

Something that could weaken the Russians without killing the Tsar’s government was something that the Vienna government had always been happy about.

Foreign Minister Weissenberg said, “Your Majesty, the British are not only having success in Central Asia, but they have also made considerable progress in the Far East.

At their instigation, the Japanese expelled the Russian troops on Tsushima Island. That old empire in the Far East has also erupted into a battle between the sea-defense faction and the Serb-defense faction, which at present has the upper hand.

Perhaps they are going to make a stir as well, but unfortunately the telegraph network has not been completed, and we are not aware of the present particulars.”

Franz was alarmed, could it be that historical events were about to be brought forward? It wasn’t out of the question, now was the weakest time for the Russian Empire, it was clearly a good time to regain lost ground, maybe there could be a windfall.

After pondering for a moment’s effort, Franz said as if nothing had happened, “The Far East is too far away to affect the European region, and even if the Russians lost the Far East, it would not have much impact.

It is still they themselves who will decide the outcome of the Russo-Prussian War, and the British will at most distract the Russians and drain the Tsar’s purse.

Unless the Swedes could be persuaded to make a move, the Kingdom of Prussia was still on its own. These potential allies, in essence, cannot offer them much help.”

These actions certainly held the Russians back in large numbers, however the Tsar’s government had little else, but more soldiers.

No matter how much it was held back, the number of Russian troops on the Prussian battlefield would not decrease. Unless the Swedes made their move, then the Czarist government was constrained by supplies and could not maintain a large force on the front.

This is the geographic location of the decision, whether it is Central Asia, or the Far East, the transportation of strategic materials and are to the east; and Sweden and Prussia front, the need for strategic materials, part of the route is overlapping.

For the Berlin government, the other allies are just that, the only one that can immediately play a role is the Swedes.

Foreign Minister Weissenberg analyzed: “I’m afraid it’s a little difficult, the Swedish government shows no sign of entering the war, the British can not give more leverage.

All the promised benefits have to be taken from the Russians. This kind of empty glove trick, the London government has played too much, can not play the proper role.

The Kingdom of Prussia was even worse, they wanted to bring Sweden on board and couldn’t even give the chips.

Karl XV demanded that the Prussians withdraw from the Kingdom of Denmark, the Berlin government agreed to give up only the Jutland Peninsula, and the two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein they simply did not dare to let go.”

The duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were now of vital importance to the Kingdom of Prussia, and it was only by raising the national flag that Austria could be kept from falling to the Russians in the war.

With the great righteousness that the Germans identified with them in place, it was only then that people donated money and goods to them, and volunteers who brought their own dry rations ran to sell their lives.

Including Austria there were volunteers who ran to support the Kingdom of Prussia, whether this had anything to do with the government in Vienna or not is beyond me.

In short, the Committee for the Reunification of the German Nation, the Committee for the Exchange of German Folk Art …… and several other social groups working for the unification of the German region were strongly supporting the Prussians in their fight against the Russians.

If the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein had been abandoned, all this support would have ceased to exist, and Austria’s position of absolute neutrality in diplomacy could have been changed.

The allies added more.

The Central Asian National Uprising was a real event, there was no opening up

(End of chapter)