Chapter 668: The Money That Had to Be Given
Chapter 653: The Money That Had to be Paid
Vienna Palace, the content of the Anglo-Prussian negotiations has reached Franz. It is not that the intelligence department has much power, it is completely the British who deliberately leaked it.
This kind of high-level negotiation, those who know only a few people, and they are all ministerial high officials, it is not the intelligence organization can be bought.
It is not surprising that the Pupo Federation is leaning toward the British, no matter how to say John Bull is a sea power country, it is impossible to become a continental hegemony, there is no direct conflict between Britain and Prussia.
In contrast, Austria was different. The Vienna government shouted every day to unify the German region, the core territories of the Pupo Confederation were in the German region, and it would be strange for the Berlin government not to be worried.
Standing in the Austrian position, the two countries of Russia and Prussia are the most consistent with their own interests. To cooperate with Austria is to seek the skin of the tiger. Given a choice, the Berlin government naturally favored the British.
“The British actually want to push for Franco-Prussian relations, what conspiracy do you think is behind this?”
All along, the British had been trying to find ways to isolate the French, and now that they were suddenly pushing for Franco-Prussian ties, it was hard for Franz not to speculate with the utmost malice.
Foreign Minister Weissenberg analyzed, “Your Majesty, there could be two reasons for this.
The victory or defeat of this Russo-Prussian war is hard to predict, and since the British alone are unable to guarantee a victory for the Prussian-Polish Confederation, and do not want to give up the benefits that have been delivered to their doorsteps, they have to look for someone to share the risk with.
If the French are brought in, with Britain and France joining forces, even if the war is unfavorable, they will be able to preserve the Pupo Federation and ensure that their investment will not go down the drain.
The other thing is that it is directed at us. The London government believes that the power of France and Austria is out of balance, and that they need to pull in allies for the French to continue to maintain the balance of the continent.
The latter is unlikely, with the reputation Napoleon left behind, the British will only overestimate the strength of France, not underestimate.
Since supporting the restoration of the Spanish crown, the French strategic situation in Europe had been reversed. The government in London is still having headaches about splitting the Franco-Spanish alliance, and there is no sense in continuing to pull allies for them.”
In the mid-19th century, after the restoration of Napoleon III, France broke the bonds of the Vienna system and came back to full military strength.
European countries worried about the military threat from France, under Austrian domination West, Prussia and Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and other countries signed a common defense treaty, France’s strategy into a passive state.
Of course, the path of French expansion was not blocked. For example: the Austro-Saxon relationship was bad, the Kingdom of Sardinia was excluded from the joint defense organization, the French had only one way to expand to the Italian region.
In order to change the diplomatic dilemma, Napoleon III took a series of political-diplomatic actions to improve relations with European countries.
After the outbreak of civil unrest in Spain, the French government supported the restoration of Alfonso XII, and Spain announced its withdrawal from the Joint Defense Organization, the strategic blockade was declared bankrupt.
The geopolitical relationship, France and Spain are close, John Bull will not be able to sleep. For the sake of their own strategic security, the British have always been trying to find ways to divide France and Spain.
Prime Minister Felix: “Whatever the reason, it has become a fact that Prussia and France are moving closer together. Without British cooperation, it will be difficult for us alone to stop this from happening.
The French are ambitious and have always wanted to seize continental hegemony, and there is no way they can refuse a Prussian-Polish confederation that is delivered to their door.
The two sides already have an interest base for cooperation, and even if they don’t align, the relationship will go further. We need to prepare in advance now before we are caught off guard.”
There was no way around it, the Pupo Confederation had chosen the British, Austria would have to support the Russians, this was dictated by national interest.
Franz had no interest in continental hegemony, but that couldn’t be said! Austria had no ambitions for continental Europe, this was something that Franz himself would not believe even if he said it.
This is not a matter of ambition, it is mainly determined by strength. Whether willing or not, as long as the strength is there, the interest groups will push the government upward.
Now Austria did not move, that is this game is still in progress. The French tiger’s might is especially present, and on the surface, France and Austria are equal in military strength, with the British on their side.
Austria’s rise is one part military and nine parts political, and there are relatively few radicals in the country. The ideal strategy of most people was to unify the German region, and world domination was not part of the plan.
Of course, this had to do with the distribution of benefits as well. Austria got not a lot in the colonial movement, as a vested interest, naturally not so cynical, to rush to break the world order.
Foreign Minister Weissenberg: “The situation is not that serious, and it’s not all bad that Prussia is leaning in, at least the German Confederation is going to fall back on us. With a bit of luck, we’ll also be able to bring Belgium into the fold.
As long as the Russians don’t fall, the Prussian-Polish Confederation will always be in check, and it’s still mainly France we need to face.
The only headache is being unsure of the British options. But that’s not too hard to solve, there are definitely more anti-French than anti-Austrian factions in the London government, and diplomatically we have a much bigger advantage.
Besides, it’s still Belgium and the German Confederation, and it’s unlikely that the London government will completely ignore the interests of its little brother, and it’s much more likely that it will join forces with us to suppress the French.”
The reality is in front of us, the French are importing tens of millions of tons of coal from Belgium and Germany every year, a figure that continues to grow.
This has seriously affected the development of the French economy, especially in the field of heavy industry, France has fully lagged behind Britain and Austria.
Even if the French government wanted to exercise restraint, the domestic capitalists would not agree. If the Paris government does not want to see the Italian problem escalate, it must solve the energy problem.
Looking around, in addition to Belgium and the German Confederation, the coal-rich neighborhood is left with Britain and Austria. This multiple choice question is simply a fixed answer.
Right now it’s not there yet, the French are still actively looking for coal mines, looking forward to being able to make gains in the North African colonies. It is only when their prospecting is complete that they will take the most extreme approach.
Everyone is a realist, and once the French move, Belgium and Germany will realize that the British can’t be relied on, and Austria is the only option.
Franz shook his head, ”It’s not that simple, hatred won’t sway the British decision, they will only be influenced by profit.
From the current situation, France’s demand for resources continues to increase, not more than twenty years at the most, the French will put their hands on Belgium and Germany for resources.
At that point we will either be a passive entrant or an active participant in the game. The British will still continue their balancing strategy of suppressing whoever is strong.
Looking at the economic data, the French have run off the rails. In order to maintain a high rate of economic growth, I don’t know which genius came up with the idea of developing a chain centered on the financial industry.
At the current rate of development, how long do you think the French-Austrian balance can be maintained?”
The nature of the usury empire has not changed, since the death of Napoleon III, the French government has been unable to suppress the capitalists in the country, and the economy has been involuntarily tilted towards finance.
This has become more and more acute as the energy crisis has intensified and the cost of French industry has continued to rise, with manufacturing accounting for a lower and lower proportion of GNP.
In the short term, the illusory figures masked the contradictions everyone could not yet see the crisis. But once war breaks out, all the problems will explode.
It goes without saying that the world leader always has to suppress the second. When the French bubble is burst, that’s when Austria and the British flip-flop.
Economics Minister Reinhardt Haldgen: “How long the military balance can be maintained depends on the international situation. But economically, the balance has been broken for a long time.
According to an analysis of the data collected by the Bureau of Statistics, France’s industrial strength is only 68.1% of that of the British and only 58.6% of ours, a percentage that continues to fall.
The gap is even greater in heavy industry, take the steel industry as an example: French steel production is only 37.2% of that of the British, less than a third of ours.
Coal production is even more disparate, less than a third of the British and less than a quarter of ours.
These figures already tell us a lot, and it is worth mentioning the addition of the Italian regions, which hardly contribute to French heavy industry, with negligible coal production and only a few small workshops in steel.”
Not to trivialize the Italian regions, there really just weren’t many resources there. The capitalists were willing to support Napoleon III in the first place to get more cheap raw materials for industry.
No one expected that France was equally resource-poor. The annexation of the Italian region is only a nominal increase in the national strength of France, in fact, more or a burden.
Other not to mention, without the Italian region, France’s resources are absolutely scarce to this extent.
After a moment’s hesitation, Franz made a decision: “Speed up the negotiation process with the Russians. As long as the Russians are willing to deposit their gold reserves in the Austrian National Bank, they will accept their territories as collateral for any shortfall.
If the Tsarist government agrees to use ninety percent of it, for the purchase of Austrian commodities, we will accept them to offset their debts with industrial raw materials.”
It no longer mattered whether the loan was collected or not; the Pupo Federation had made its choice, and Austria could not afford to be unresponsive.
Besides, it had been predestined for a long time. With the international credibility of the Tsarist government, who would dare to lend them money except Austria?
If the Vienna government had not supported the Russians, this war would have been decided before it even started.
Minister of Finance Karl’s face changed dramatically, and he hastened to discourage them, “Your Majesty, the Russians are in a very bad financial situation. Even if they win the war, they are not capable of paying back the money.
There is no problem with the gold mortgage. But the territory mortgage is completely unnecessary, Austria doesn’t need these rotten lands now.
Carving up the Puppo Confederation is a blank check, now that the British have decided to support the Puppo Confederation, the chances are high that the French will support them as well.
With the British and French as backing, even if the Russians can win, they won’t be able to exterminate the Pupo Commonwealth, and at most, they will only be able to take back the Polish region, we don’t need these rotten lands.”
Karl repeatedly emphasized the “rotten land”, and Franz also had a big headache. From the beginning of the localization of Africa, the top of the Vienna government’s desire to expand in the European continent is gone.
It is not that the land that the Russians put up as collateral is really rotten, on the contrary, it is still very fertile, mainly because the cost is too high.
Franz explained stiffly, “This is a strategic necessity, we need both Prussia and Russia to lose, while eliminating two potential threats.
Without funding the Tsarist government, what will the Russians fight with?
The issue of collateral can still be slowly negotiated with the Russians. The Tsarist government can be fooled first, as long as they win the war, they can take the territory of the Pupo Federation in exchange.
Any homeland in the German region, we can replace it at a ratio of 1:3, and get them to mortgage the Ukrainian region as much as possible.
If the Tsarist government insists on mortgaging the Bulgarian region, let them add Constantinople. They can also be allowed to redeem, but at interest.”
Minister of Finance Karl worriedly said, “With the credibility of the Tsarist government, I’m afraid it will be hard to get them to honor the treaty, and I’m afraid that it will be another strife when the time comes.”
It is not “I am afraid”, but it is bound to be a dispute. With the credibility of the Russians, the possibility of them honoring their promises is almost nil, and it is still a matter of strength.
This point Franz is very assured, the Pupo Federation is not weak, after the war, the Russian Empire will not die, but also to shed skin.
(End of chapter)