Chapter 420: Arms race

  Chapter 410 The Arms Race

How could the situation in Europe be chaotic without Britain? French and Austrian conflicts have not been provoked, the London government is very disappointed.

But Prime Minister John Russell was not worried, one thing led to another. It was a fact that the French, no matter what excuse they had, had their hands in Austria’s backyard.

The seeds of conflict between the two countries had been planted, and that was enough for the British. Provoking the French-Austrian relationship, pitting them against each other and keeping them in check, is the option that best serves British interests.

It really would not be a good thing to have them fight instead. Or any war that breaks the balance of Europe, the London government does not want to see.

Especially at the point in time when the Russian Empire was about to decline, a war between France and Austria, with either one winning, would be the new hegemon of the European continent.

Any European hegemon is the greatest enemy of the British, no reason is needed, the London government’s state policy has always been like this.

10 Downing Street, Foreign Secretary Raistlin walked into the conference room with a smile on his face, and it was obvious that he was in a good mood.

John Russell said flatly, ”All here, so the meeting will begin. Sir Raistlin, what’s the good news?”

Foreign Minister Raistlin replied with a smile, “We have just received news that the Tsarist government intends to let the unification of the three Nordic countries go.”

This was something that the London government had been trying to do for the last few years and had failed to do so. The unification of the three Nordic countries was definitely not a good thing for the Russian Empire.

As long as chauvinism is exported to them, the unified Northern Europe is destined to stand against the Russians, who let them have a glorious history.

Turning to the history books, Finland, the Baltic region and other large territories, all once their territory, now occupied by the Russians, the radicals still sit down?

Of course, the three Nordic countries do not have a large population, to threaten the Russian Empire is still far from it, but hold the Russians part of the energy can still be done.

This is also the reason why the British were willing to support them, anyway, no matter how the development of Northern Europe, will not affect the interests of Britain.

Under normal circumstances, the Russians would not have let Northern Europe unify. The fact that they did so now meant that the Russians were about to lose their hold and had to make compromising concessions.

John Russell asked uncertainly, “Could it be that the Russians want to draw Sweden and Norway into a war against the Prussians to reduce the pressure on their battlefield?”

Foreign Minister Raistlin replied, “This is the ideal state of affairs, and in fact the Tsarist government should know very well that such a situation is almost impossible.

The Berlin government has already made concessions, promising to withdraw from the Jutland Peninsula and limiting its territorial claims to Denmark to the two German duchies.

That was enough for Sweden. If the two German states were also incorporated, the Danish voice would be too heavy for them to gain the upper hand.

The Czarist government now just wanted to stabilize Sweden, or else they really wouldn’t be able to hold out if the Northern Frontier wolves started up again. A preliminary judgment can be made that the Russians are now in the midst of exhaustion.”

The Russians are in exhaustion, and that’s the biggest piece of good news. After this wave, the Russians wouldn’t be able to cause them trouble for the next few decades.

If the later plans went well, there was no chance that the threat could be solved once and for all.

Without the slightest hesitation, Prime Minister John Russell made a straightforward decision: ”Unleash our greatest influence and deal another fatal blow to the Russians.

Increase aid to Prussia, get the Ottoman Empire into the war as soon as possible, and the Far East must be mobilized as well.

If we can get Sweden to stab the Russians, the plan will be perfect.”

Obviously, John Russell did not expect much from Sweden’s entry into the war. If the Russians continue to oppose the merger of the three Nordic countries, then the possibility of the Swedes stabbing the Russians is very high.

Now that it was almost impossible, the Swedish government had to take into account the feelings of the Danes. Now that Denmark and the Russians were allies, their enemy was the Kingdom of Prussia, which made it impossible for Sweden to join forces with the Prussians.

……

“Since the implementation of the two-strength standard, the Royal Navy has been severely challenged. Currently our navy is severely underfunded and is no longer able to hold down both France and Austria at the same time.

Not long ago the Paris government allocated another 120 million francs for shipbuilding, the specific shipbuilding plan is still unclear, obviously this is aimed at our two-strength standard.

The Austrians have not yet responded, but in accordance with past practice, the Vienna government will refer to the French shipbuilding funds of eighty or ninety percent of the allocation.

Our shipbuilding budget for this year has already been exhausted. To continue with our present advantage, another ten million pounds of funding must be allocated.” Edward, the Secretary of State for the Navy, said

The ten million pounds of this age is not the ten million pounds of later times. There are no more than ten countries in the world whose annual revenue can exceed ten million pounds.

The one that dares to ask for so much shipbuilding funding in one breath should not have a second except for the British Royal Navy.

France and Austria do have the money, however, these two are land power countries, the development of the navy must also take into account the army.

If the British hadn’t clamored for a two-strength standard, the Paris government wouldn’t have suddenly increased shipbuilding funds and ignited this arms race.

In this era, the French and Austrian navies combined, the total tonnage and the Royal Navy is comparable, the number of ironclad ships is also a little more.

In the face of the British clamor, so that Napoleon III felt insulted, even Franz in Vienna could not tolerate this provocation.

Oh, it was not just their personal feelings, but more accurately the common feelings of the populations of both countries.

Everyone was trying to save face, and the militant groups in civil society were clamoring to catch up with the Royal Navy. Then there’s no choice. An arms race!

As it happened, Napoleon III needed to distract the populace from their constant fixation on the shit going on in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Napoleon III had a good reason for starting an arms race. The French economy has been on a fast track for the last decade or so, and last year’s revenue exceeded that of the British by more than eighteen million pounds. (Including the Kingdom of Sardinia)

Of course, this is only the revenue of the mainland. If the colonies are included, the British are still more powerful, knowing that the revenue of India alone is as high as more than 50 million pounds, so the British’s bravado can be seen in general.

But Napoleon III is not a wimp, it’s not like he’s going to let the French Navy overtake the Royal Navy right now, as long as the French and Austrian navies combined are able to break the two-strong standard that the British are clamoring for.

Behind the gamble, but also involves the international political status. Once the Royal Navy’s two-strong standard was allowed to materialize, the British gained absolute dominance in overseas affairs.

Here France and Austria could not tolerate. The French Navy is the second in the world, the arrogant Parisian public and daily petition, this out of the head Napoleon III must be.

Minister of Finance Agarwal glared fiercely at Edward, and in his heart he had already greeted his family once.

In his opinion, the Ministry of the Navy is a typical not in charge of the family does not know the price of wood, rice, oil and salt. The “two-strong standard” looks tempting, but in reality it is just looking for excitement.

The British financial strength is indeed the world’s strongest, but France and Austria are also not weak, the gap between their strength is not too great.

Just as in the original time and space, the British clamored for the standard of the two strongest, was also challenged, and even more serious.

Either France or Austria had the potential to challenge the Royal Navy’s hegemony, and if it wasn’t for the development of the land forces, the Royal Navy’s maritime hegemony would have been destabilized long ago.

Agarwal said with a gloomy face, “No, this year’s budget has long been determined, and now suddenly increase the budget by ten million pounds, the Ministry of Finance does not have the money. If you want funding, go convince the parliament yourselves!”

Ten million pounds was indeed a lot, but for the London government, it actually squeezed out. It was clear that Agarwal was not prepared to save money to raise money for the navy.

Edward, the Minister of the Navy, said angrily, “The Royal Navy is related to the national fortune of Britain, and if we can’t secure absolute superiority, once we let France and Austria catch up, we’ll regret it!”

There is not so much reason, the main purpose of the navy to engage in the “two strong standard” is for funding. The threat of the French and Austrian navies is actually still a hundred thousand miles away.

We are all colonial empires, most of the navy scattered around the world, each region is suppressed by the Royal Navy, where to talk about what threat.

Even if the French and Austrian navies join forces, they are still mostly no match for the Royal Navy. The problem of the two navies cooperating with each other on the battlefield could not be solved. In the case of fighting on their own, they were simply no match for the Royal Navy.

Finance Minister Agarwal didn’t buy it and said, “So you guys look for the parliament to ask for money! Right now, the Ministry of Finance doesn’t have this budget, and to temporarily increase the budget by a huge amount, it has to be approved by the Congress.”

Without the support of the Cabinet, the Admiralty alone could not convince the Congress that easily. Even if they reasoned and moved, when they persuaded the congress gang of lords to agree, the warships built by the French would have long been in service.

Edward was just about to argue his case when the Prime Minister, John Russell, struck out and stopped him. Competition for funding was a common occurrence, basically once a year the Treasury had to go head to head with each department.

There was nothing wrong with Agarwal’s behavior, it was perfectly in order. A temporary budget increase for the Department of the Navy would surely require a trip to Congress. Treasury’s reluctance to go out on a limb and ask Congress for funding is also in line with the rules.

“The issue of increasing funding for shipbuilding will be for the Department of the Navy to submit a bill to Congress, which will be scheduled for next Monday, and we will support the proposal.

Sir Edward, the Admiralty must be fully prepared to be questioned by members of Congress, any questions?” John Russell said

This is a necessary process, as long as Congress agrees to increase the budget, then the Treasury can always solve the funding problem by either taking out a loan, issuing bonds, or raising taxes.

The arms race has only just begun, and the government in London isn’t feeling the pressure yet. At a later stage, they won’t be so relaxed.

Edward, the Secretary of the Navy, replied, “No!”

……

(End of chapter)