Chapter 689: Worrying
Chapter 674: Worry
The Christmas of 1879 was exceptionally lively, in addition to the two countries of Russia and Prussia that were at war, the people of Europe had a fat year.
In accordance with the usual practice, the government of Vienna after the New Year, to the departments of the annual task.
The only exception was the Immigration Department, who knew that with the domestic economy in flames, it was a pipe dream to accomplish the Great Emigration Strategy.
So the Immigration Department’s task for 1880 remained the continuation of the previous year’s unfinished tasks, and there were no penalties yet.
In this regard, the Austrian government is still very pragmatic, the task of each department are after research, combined with the actual situation of the formulation, will not be in order to brush “performance”, blind action.
Into the new year, Franz feel most deeply is “another year old”, to the age of old age, do not serve the old can not.
In terms of per capita life expectancy in this era, this age is considered to be a high life expectancy. In folklore, this is the age at which one can retire.
In the countryside, it’s not so bad, but in the city, they are basically unemployed at this age, and no factory will hire people of this age.
No factory will hire a person of this age. Physical strength and dexterity are not something that can be changed by the will of the individual. Those who are engaged in mental labor are fine, but purely manual laborers, except for a few positions, most of the jobs are insulated from them.
There is no need to worry about old age, as heavy physical labor and an expensive health care system have helped everyone survive the “old age crisis”.
“Franz, when do you think Frederick’s wedding will take place?”
Empress Helen’s voice pulled Franz, who was in deep thought, back.
“So early, isn’t it a bit too hasty?” Franz answered without even thinking
“What early!” Seemingly sensing Franz’s lack of interest in his son’s marriage, Helen said in dissatisfaction, “Frederick is already 24 years old, and Victoria is also 18. The royal family of Baden even sent telegrams over to Cui, can’t you be a little more careful!”
Franz was stunned, he just said it casually! Married for so many years he has never seen Helen so angry, did not expect the first actually for this.
Whether it was the woman’s menopause, or the mother’s strength, Franz did not have the time to investigate.
“What are you thinking, I mean Christmas has just passed, it’s too rush to talk about marriage.
Besides, Prussia and Russia are at war, the European continent is flowing with blood, and it’s just too unlucky to let Frederick get married at this juncture.”
Being the emperor for so many years, Franz today realized how strong his ability to make excuses was, as if he was back in his previous life when he was coaxing his girlfriend.
A woman’s inexplicable fire comes and goes quickly.
Hearing Franz’s defense, Empress Helen extinguished her anger, still complaining under her breath, “This damn war is really tiresome.”
Then she pointed her impudence at Franz: “Why do you men always like to fight and kill, why can’t you just sit down and talk?”
Franz, who was a bit vain, rolled his eyes and replied without changing his face, “Because we have to feed you guys!”
“This world is this big, nature’s gifts can’t meet the needs of all mankind, in order to survive everyone can only go to fight and take.
The Russo-Prussian War was the result of the sublimation of conflicts, no one could make concessions, and backing down meant disaster.”
This is not nonsense, but has sufficient theoretical basis. According to the analysis of the information gathered by the Austrian government, sociologists generally agree that 70% of the world’s population is currently starving, which means that more than one billion people around the world do not have enough to eat.
Whether it is accurate or not, there is no need to dispute this issue. It is a social reality that the majority of people are in a state of poverty and have difficulty even making ends meet.
Even the European continent, which prided itself on being a civilized world, had more than 200 million poor people out of a total population of 320 million, not to mention regions where industry had not developed.
Of course, compared to other regions, influenced by the colonial dividend, the people of Europe are still much better off, and most of them can barely fill their stomachs as long as they work hard.
The causes of hunger are manifold, including: exploitation by the ruling class, insufficient regional food production capacity, colonial rule ……
The problem of hunger for all of humanity has not been able to be solved in the 21st century, and is even more unlikely to be solved in this day and age.
The only thing that can be done is to clean up the snow in front of the door, while developing the country, and then go out to loot a handful of things, basically to make the nationals have enough to eat.
If the first Russo-Prussian War, there is also the element of face, the fight of will; the second Russo-Prussian War, it is completely the struggle for survival space.
The main factor leading to the outbreak of the war was the interest, hatred has long been relegated to a secondary position.
The Tsarist government wanted to restore the status of a great power, to break out of the Baltic Sea, and to recover the lost territories, so it had to defeat the Prussian-Polish Confederation.
And vice versa, if the Pupo Federation wanted to go further, it could only expand eastward.
It can be said that the war was doomed from the moment the Berlin government decided to abandon the sea and land. It was determined by geography. If you don’t become a colonial empire, you can only expand to the east.
Although the strength of the German Federal Empire in the west is not great, but people’s geographic location is special, the west is equivalent to the declaration of war at the same time Britain and Austria, or rather the declaration of war Britain, France, Russia and Austria four countries.
To the south was the much stronger Austria, and to the north was the Nordic Confederation. Geographically speaking, the Berlin government is also considered to be on its way northward to confront the Russians.
Empress Helen was not interested in politics, and she usually stayed out of it unless she had to. In her opinion, these issues were far less important than having grandchildren early.
“You see to it, and if Frederick complains, I’ll tell him it was your idea.”
In the end, she was still heartbroken for her son, and Empress Helen did not want Frederick to be wronged. Ordinary people get married in Europe when the blood flow is nothing, but as the Crown Prince of Austria, if you get married at this time to be affected is inevitable.
Just think of the wedding guests, not to send blessings, but busy chatting about the Russo-Prussian War, that awkward scene, Helen Queen felt apart.
Franz smiled slightly and made a very confident judgment: ”Don’t worry, the Russo-Prussian War won’t last long. If it goes well, it will be over by the end of this year, and at the latest it will drag on until 1882.”
If Russia and Prussia had a winner and a loser, then the war might be over by the end of the year; if there was no winner and loser, the war would be over if it dragged on for two years.
We’re not even in the 20th century yet, and the country couldn’t support it if it wanted to last four or five years like the World Wars!
There is no parent who is not anxious to have a grandchild, and Franz was forced to delay his son’s marriage. Being in the royal family, marriage must serve politics.
In that case, it is natural to maximize the benefits. Sacrifice so much, not to make a sum of lucrative political resources, Frederick would be a big loss.
The end of the Russo-Prussian War, the situation in Europe has changed dramatically, is the best time for Austria to penetrate the German Confederation, Frederick’s marriage is just the right opportunity for all parties to contact.
Originally already talked about things, but also can take the opportunity to get to the surface, and finally reached the political results, not less Frederick this party a point.
Contributed to the unification movement in the German region and accumulated political prestige, which was very important for Frederick’s future succession to the throne.
Second-generation emperors were not easy to be, especially if their fathers were particularly powerful. Outsiders would compare them, but are political achievements so easy to make?
Franz was in the great era of change, this special period of time on the throne, the achievements made later there is no way to copy.
……
While Franz was worrying about his son, the Prussian-Russian battlefield also saw changes, and after a lot of hard work, the Prussian army finally gained the upper hand in the Ukrainian battlefield.
Mauch, who is good at external combat, gave full play to the advantage of the speed of the Prussian army, and used a series of tactics such as encircling the point and striking the west, constantly mobilizing the Russian army, and concentrating superior forces in the movement to fight a duel with the Russians.
After a series of military textbooks can be included in the tawdry operation, in the end of 1879 to the beginning of 1880 within a few months, the Prussian army has annihilated the Russian army more than 200,000, by the European media known as the “Warren Great Victory”.
Tactically, the Prussian army was successful, but strategically, it was only a slight advantage. The Russians lost most of the Volyn, but kept the strategic location of Brest, and the Mauch Kiev Offensive was not fully accomplished.
Small regrets do not count, in any case, the south is also won, the other battlefields to be much worse. In particular, the northern coast was attacked by the Russian navy, and several harbor cities were reduced to rubble under fire, with heavy losses.
The center of the battlefield is not much better, although the battlefield did not lose, but the Russian army constantly sent the Cossack cavalry deep to sabotage, so that the Berlin government is very distressed.
I don’t know whether it is the reason for the talent, in the front battlefield Cossack cavalry fighting strength is not much stronger than the cavalry of the Prussian army, but once transformed into bandits, it is just like a hanged general fighting strength skyrocketed.
Once a Cossack cavalry regiment finished robbing, accidentally fell into a Pu army cavalry regiment and two infantry regiments surrounded, the result is that they hard to defeat the Pu army cavalry regiment, with part of the booty break out.
Although this has something to do with the haste of the Prussian army, the encirclement did not have time to tighten, the Cossack cavalry’s combat power is still shocked by the Prussian army.
This is not an exception, if you analyze and study carefully, you will find that when protecting their own booty, the Cossack cavalry can always be over-performed.
In order to combat the Russians’ arrogance, the Prussian army also set up traps and ambushed the robbers many times.
The Cossacks’ dream of making a fortune could not be stopped even by the greatest risk.
Moreover, the tsarist government was generous this time, not only all the loot to their own, but also provide a generous reward, as long as the participation in the robbery will be 3 rubles of bounty.
Looking at the summarized battle losses of Russia and Prussia, Franz came to the conclusion that “the conclusion of a tie”.
Russian soldiers suffered heavier casualties, PBF civilians suffered more casualties, and neither one took advantage of the other.
(End of chapter)