Chapter 741: This is the end of the line.

  Chapter 724: This is where it ends

There was nothing secretive about limiting the armament of the Army. Except for the British, who were alone overseas, all other European countries were beneficiaries.

The Russo-Prussian War affected not only the two belligerents, Prussia and Russia, but the neighbors also expanded their armaments, and the size of the land forces of all countries swelled to varying degrees.

This was a bad start by Austria. In order to ensure its own security and have the ability to intervene in the war at any time, the government of Vienna took the lead in expanding its army, which then triggered a chain reaction.

So far, the size of the Austrian army has swelled to 947,000, and it is not too much to say that it is a million-strong army.

While expanding the active forces, the Vienna government also mobilized a large number of reserves in the name of training.

If Franz was willing, he would be able to raise two to three million troops in a week, enough to deal with all kinds of emergencies.

There was no way around it, trust between people no longer existed these days, and one had to prepare for the worst.

In the Russo-Prussian War, if one side won the war easily, no one could guarantee that they would not swell up and do something stupid like sneak attacking Austria.

Franz didn’t like to put his safety on others, so naturally he had to expand his strength.

In addition to security considerations, there was also the issue of debt. These days debt collection is not an easy job, without strength who knows you ah?

Now Prussia and Russia are both defeated, as the victor of the woolly bear, there is no capital to renege on the debt, the tsarist government still looks very peaceful, naturally there is no need for force to collect the debt.

In the current prevalence of anti-warism, the Vienna government at this time proposed disarmament, completely in line with the mainstream of the times.

The only ones who were unhappy were probably only the British. In the case that everyone did not cut military spending, the army spent less money, which meant that the navy could get more money.

Combined with the current international situation, if we still don’t know what Austria is up to, the London government doesn’t need to mix.

Knowing it, it was difficult for the London government to sabotage it at this time. Disarmament is the wish of all, in line with the interests of all parties, not a few words can make everyone give up.

……

Prime Minister’s Residence, Downing Street

Foreign Secretary Edward: “The Russo-Prussian War was too bitter, there was a surge of anti-warism in Europe, and the European public was desperately insecure.

The Austrians have chosen a good time to propose disarmament at this time, and I’m afraid it’s not just about disarmament, there are signs that Austria is preparing for a new international order.

Disarmament is just a pretext for an international conference, and while limiting the size of the army, they should also sign a security guarantee treaty with European countries.

Most of the European countries are insecure and no one can refuse such a treaty, the only ones with the power to block it are the French.

It’s just that European countries have always been very wary of the French, and most of them see them as a source of unrest in Europe, and I’m afraid that at this time the French government doesn’t have the courage to jump out and block it.

From Paris came the news that the French had agreed to the Austrian disarmament program, and it was estimated that after the conclusion of the Prussian-Russian negotiations, Austria would convene an international conference to establish a new system of continental balance.

Originally, it was a good thing that the European continent had stabilized, but now the situation was different, and the strategic center of gravity of France and Austria might have shifted outward.

If our deduction is correct, it won’t be long before a new round of naval arms race begins, and Britain will face the most brutal challenge next.”

The hate value pulled by the French was too high to be calmed in a short time. This doomed them to be only a participant, not a dominant player, in the new continental balance system.

Everyone knew that after the Russo-Prussian War, the European political landscape was going to be reshuffled, and the London government was going to be prepared.

The original plan was to pull the French together to establish a new European order after the birth of the North German Empire, only they were a step late, Austria jumped the gun.

Prime Minister Benjamin nodded: ”If the Austrians’ plan succeeds, this will be the Third Vienna System.

If we mess up for them now, and pull in the French, is there any chance of building a continental system with Britain at its core?”

Foreign Minister Edward shook his head, “It’s very difficult, not to mention that we haven’t pulled the French in yet, even if we gained the support of the Paris government, the success rate wouldn’t be more than a third.

In recent years, our influence in the European continent has declined very much. Especially after the Russo-Prussian War, the Kingdom of Prussia that we supported was abolished, and the power of discourse declined even more.

The French are even worse, they are no weaker than Austria, and their influence is no weaker than the Vienna government, but their influence is mostly negative.

Part of it was left over from Napoleon’s day, and the other part was the price paid for annexing Italian regions. Apart from Spain, the French could no longer find an ally on the European continent.

From the intelligence we’ve received, Franco-Spanish relations are also growing cold. If a new international order is to be established, I’m afraid the Spanish may not support them either.”

Politics is very realistic, Britain’s pawn in the European continent is abolished, the ability to intervene in the continent has decreased dramatically, people naturally do not buy it.

Pulling in the French, while increasing their influence, they also had to accept the negative impact brought about by France.

For example: Belgium, Switzerland, the German Confederation, these countries threatened by France, can not help but stand on the opposite side.

Even if the British can pull them over reluctantly, do not expect people to contribute.

It is useless to promise more benefits, as long as France does not give up spying on them, the problem can not be solved.

As for getting the French to let go?

Just think about it, not having experienced the social poisonous beatings and having successfully annexed the Italian regions, it was the time when the French were at their most inflated, so why should they listen to Britain?

British-French relations have long since ended the honeymoon period, originally covered up by the time of the British-French feud, again and again appeared in the newspapers of the two countries, is enough to explain a lot of problems.

Wanting the French to abandon their strategy and continue to give them a little brother is simply impossible.

Regardless of who became emperor, the Anglo-French relationship had to turn cold, or the burgeoning nationalism would cause the Paris government to collapse.

After the Franco-Prussian War in the original time and space, both Britain and France fought against each other for many years, and if it weren’t for the German Second Empire’s one dim move after another, Britain and France wouldn’t have been able to stand together.

Now France can not feel the threat, so the Anglo-French relationship must deteriorate. When it comes to politics, interests determine everything.

Secretly calculating once again, Prime Minister Benjamin helplessly sighed: ”It’s just a matter of establishing the international order as soon as possible, it’s also a good thing for Britain. If Austria wants to dominate, let them dominate!

With the treaty binding us, our next plan for North Germany will also be smoother. Having just established the international order, the Vienna government can’t just slap itself in the face!”

To dominate the new European order, one could gain not only prestige, but more importantly, selling one’s own ideas.

All people need packaging; a good package can make it easier to succeed in social life, and the state is no exception.

Competition among great powers is all-encompassing, political, economic, military, cultural and ideological. Leading the establishment of an international system is undoubtedly the quickest mode of spreading one’s influence.

The Vienna government was experienced in this field, and having had two successful experiences, Franz naturally wanted to replicate it for the third time.

……

The blood has not yet dried in St. Petersburg, where just recently a major purge took place, with thousands of big names’ heads falling to the ground.

Anyone suspected of involvement in the assassination of the monarch was thrown into prison by Alexandrovich, which of course involved the removal of dissidents.

How the list came to be is another unsolved mystery in the history of the Russian Empire.

Arrests and re-investigations were made, and the case really progressed much more rapidly. Of course, there is no less involved in a whole lot of bad things, in short, everyone is deserved, all take out to shoot, basically does not bring the wrongdoing.

The number of people involved is too large, all killed certainly impossible. A lighter sentence is inevitable, as long as there is no involvement in the assassination of the king, other issues are negotiable.

Even so, there are still thousands of people were ordered by Alexandrovich click off, no way Alexander II assassination so many times, the participants are not just a few.

Hundreds of assassinations, casually involved in any of them, it is a word – death.

In addition to the revolutionaries, many capitalists and nobles were involved and were sent to meet God together.

The tradition of not killing nobles did not apply here, and no one dared to help intercede in this matter.

Under normal circumstances, after slaughtering so many people at once, including hundreds of nobles, Alexandrovich would have long been infamous, this time was an exception.

Most of the mainstream media in Europe praised his righteous action. Europe’s most powerful aristocratic group, came to a collective loss of voice.

Including the aristocracy within the Russian Empire, also rare to remain silent. Regardless of what they think in their hearts, their mouths can never say that Alexandrovich did something wrong.

Regicide was definitely a taboo, whether it was successful or not, it was a great offense. At this time, if you jump out and make a noise, you have to consider the reaction of your own monarch first.

Even if Alexandrovich kills people’s heads rolling, who is the real culprit, still has not been unraveled.

But the people who obstructed the investigation were uncovered. Unfortunately for these guys, they weren’t the ones plotting the conspiracy.

Obstruction of the investigation, mainly about Alexander II’s assassination case is too much, they are either active, or passive, to get involved, for fear of in-depth investigation of their own to get involved.

Looking at the investigation report in his hands, Alexandrovich’s behavior is very strange, did not make any reaction, as if nothing happened.

Thousands of people’s heads fell to the ground, it seems to be very powerful, in fact, the real involvement of people with weight is very small, the vast majority of them are ordinary people.

A lot of involvement is not too deep, most of them were ordered by Crown Prince Alexandrovich to be removed from office, or exiled, really killed just really involved in the regicide case.

If it is an ordinary assassination case, the results of this treatment is obviously very heavy, but encountered a “regicide case”, Alexandrovich’s treatment is too light.

Although Europe does not have the expression of executing nine clans, but involved in the regicide case, kill the whole family is definitely not too much.

The relatives and friends implicated, or unintentionally for the assassination to provide assistance, even if it is not cut off the head, how to take off the title of nobility.

None of that happened, the more than a hundred nobles who were executed were mostly those who had personally planned or conspired with someone and paid for the action, as well as those who had helped to silence people and hindered the investigation.

Really if the number of nobles clicked off, not even a tenth of what Franz took out during the Vienna Revolution.

Of course, this is not a concept. The impact of killing someone with a borrowed knife is definitely different from killing someone yourself.

Still, it was too light compared to the Tsar’s assassination death. As in the original time and space, Crown Prince Alexandrovich was only “raised high and fell gently”, and did not come to a national purge.

Put down the information in his hands, Alexandrovich said faintly: “stop here, the public announced that the public opinion party people do, the next secret investigation on the line.”

……

(End of chapter)