Chapter 778: Indulgence Mode

  Chapter 761 Indulgence Mode 2.0

The alliance is a complex thing, need to consider all aspects of the problem, between Britain and France is not without contradiction, on the contrary the two countries in many places are rivals.

Austria gave the British enough pressure, but did not give the French enough pressure, at least the Paris government does not feel the Austrian threat.

Don’t look at the civil war not long ago to make France hurt, no a few years time to slow down, this is only the outside world’s view, most of the French people still feel good about themselves.

Perception perception can not be changed overnight, the more big countries in this regard the more stubborn, self-confidence is often accompanied by pride.

What’s more, the French lost only the economy, basically no loss of military power, in the European world is still the most horrible man-eating beast.

In the temporary royal palace in Paris, Napoleon IV still had not slowed down from the hatred of destroying his family, and changed his previous tolerance of the revolutionaries to open the era of white terror.

This is the inevitable result, no ruler can tolerate the existence of the chaotic party, before the tolerance and generosity is for the sake of the overall situation, now the situation is stabilized, naturally, to settle scores.

If the rebels were not punished, would it not encourage everyone to rebel?

For Napoleon IV, the first order of business was to regain the lost majesty of the monarch and to remake the glory of the monarch.

The haggard Napoleon IV asked in a deep voice, “What do you think of the British alliance proposal, how likely is it to be true?”

Skepticism is a must, the Anglo-French relationship is very bad most of the time, and has been pitched too many times to not learn a lesson.

Foreign Secretary Terence Burgin analyzed, “Taking all factors into account, the Foreign Office feels that it’s at most five out of ten.

In recent times, we have been busy with domestic affairs and the international situation has changed radically.

Without our hold, Austria has exposed its ambitions.

Judging from the current situation, as long as we stay out of the way, the fall of the Ottoman Empire is a foregone conclusion.

A Persia has not been able to stop the pace of Austrian expansion, the British feel a tangible threat, before rushing to pull together allies to share the pressure.

But the Ottoman demise of the European world did not cut the pain, the civil society is still screaming, the British want to force Austria to stop through international pressure, simply can not be done.

In this respect, we are their only option. However, the conflict between us and the British is not small.

What happened in the country not long ago had the British in it, and these scores have yet to be settled with them, so what makes the British think that we will stand with them?

I am afraid that the Austrian threat alone is not enough to put aside the conflict between the two countries.

Unless the London government is willing to pay to make up for our losses, I have good reason to suspect: this is a deliberate diversion by the British, fearing our retaliation.”

There’s no way around it, the French have been tossed around a lot in recent times, and while many countries in Europe have laid their hands on them, the biggest blackmailer is still Britain.

First it was financial shorting of the franc, next it was commodity dumping and support for the revolutionaries, and even the overseas colonies didn’t break out in conflict.

Don’t think that at the last minute, the London government closed its hand, but also pulled them a hand, the French government should be grateful to them.

This was something impossible; the human attribute of holding grudges was far stronger than holding grudges. If they weren’t busy with internal affairs, the French government would have been thinking about how to retaliate.

“There are no eternal enemies between nations, only eternal interests.”

While this saying is good, it is not entirely accurate. Countries can hold no grudges, but people have to hold grudges.

As the beneficiaries of the French civil unrest, the British naturally do not have hatred; but as the victims of the French, so that people immediately forget the hatred, rationally weigh the pros and cons, it would be difficult.

Of course, if the interests are large enough, it is possible to temporarily forget the hatred.

Roy Vernon, Chancellor of the Exchequer: “No matter what the true purpose of the British is, it is necessary for us to make contact with them.

Right now our task is to restore the economy, and we won’t have enough energy to get involved in international issues for a long time to come.

Not to mention the fact that Austria has not yet exterminated the Ottomans, and even if it has annexed the Ottomans, that is still a problem for the British.”

This was the general opinion of the European countries, and in most people’s conception: the Ottoman was the barbaric land, with a bunch of uncivilized savages living on it.

Especially after seeing the fierce resistance of the Ottomans, everyone was more relieved. All fought into a white field, there is no way to increase Austria’s national strength.

Many people were ready to look at the joke, and even some newspapers openly mocked: Austria had fought a war destined to lose money for the sake of hatred.

There was nothing wrong with that, purely from an economic point of view, it was necessary for the government of Vienna to lose money.

According to the news that came back from the war correspondents, the Ottomans were a universal army, truly an inch of blood.

The land occupied by the Anti-Turkish League was basically in ruins; roads, bridges, and farmland were destroyed, dams and rivers were bombed, and the city was reduced to rubble; even the wells were poisoned.

The few populations that remain are old and weak, women and children, each with a hateful look that could turn into terrorists at any time.

Napoleon IV nodded, “The Foreign Office talk to the British, the government in London wants our help in restricting Austria, let them contribute to help us restore our economy first.

Britain and Austria control the price of the international coal trade, and this is the time to break it. As a goodwill for cooperation, let the British cut the price of coal-fired exports by half first.”

After the outbreak of the economic crisis, in order to gain an advantage in international competition, the British and Austrian capitals deliberately inflated the price of coal exports.

French business and industry had to bear energy costs twice as high as those of Anglo-Austrian firms. It is vital for French business and industry to break this malicious monopoly.

……

It’s no secret that Britain and France are leaning on each other, and it’s natural to make a big deal out of the fact that the biggest point of this alliance’s existence, in itself, is the deterrent effect.

The first to bear the brunt of Austria, whether Franz wants to admit it or not, the Anglo-French alliance is still the most powerful combination in these days.

At least in terms of influence, even now, more than eighty percent of the world’s people still believe that Britain and France is the world’s most powerful country.

Long after the Franco-Prussian War in the original time and space, the outside world generally believed that France was stronger than Germany, and the defeat was just an accident, so how can people still reason?

Foreign Minister Weissenberg: “Our alliance with Britain and France will expire in one year, and judging from the current situation, the possibility of renewal is almost nil.

In recent times, we’ve put too much pressure on the British, and it’s only then that they couldn’t wait to pull the French in.

However, England and France are still heavily conflicted, and it will be difficult to reach an agreement in a short period of time, so if we release a certain amount of goodwill, the Anglo-French alliance will most likely end without a hitch.”

Standing up from his position and wandering around the chamber for a few steps, Franz said cautiously, “Britain and France must be prevented from drawing closer together, this is a dangerous signal.

Austria does not fear any of the great powers, but can never tolerate the existence of a hostile alliance.

An alliance between two great powers is not as simple as 1+1=2 anymore, it means that the European world’s tolerance for us is about to cross the line.

Napoleon is a lesson for us, and something similar must never happen to us.

There should not be any great power alliance in the European world except the one led by us.

The British are worth learning from us in this regard. If we can’t break up the Anglo-French alliance, then we should find a way to join it.

Isn’t the imminent expiration of the Anglo-French-Austrian Triple Alliance not yet due?

The British can buy the French, so can we, and we can even bid higher.

Didn’t Napoleon IV want to surpass his father, so well let’s give them the chance, let’s see if the French have that good of an appetite.”

Franz had never been generous when it came to being generous at the expense of others. What big picture, long-term interests, in his case are all such floating clouds.

The nineteenth century and the twenty-first century are very different concepts, and what is most valuable now does not mean that it will be equally valuable in the future.

After a pause, Franz continued: “The British are not planning to build North Germany, then fulfill them, we play dumb and pretend not to see anything.”

Prime Minister Felix hurriedly objected, “Your Majesty, this is unacceptable, otherwise the road to German unification will be far away.”

Franz waved his hand, “Our Prime Minister, calm down for a moment. It’s easy to establish the North German Empire, it’s not simple to keep North Germany.

After this economic crisis, the French have realized the importance of energy, and the French government will surely find a solution.

Napoleon III was very much spying on the resources of the Rhineland region back then, only to be snubbed by us to Italy.

If the French searched around and finally realized that only the Rhineland region had the coal mines they wanted, could Napoleon IV hold back?

Even if the Emperor could restrain his desire for the sake of the general situation, could the French industrial and commercial circles endure it?

If necessary, we can still add fire to the fire. When conflicts have accumulated to a certain extent, just a little spark can ignite such a crisis.

I am curious to see what the British government will choose when the Franco-German war breaks out.”

Prime Minister Felix said in alarm, “Your Majesty, it’s too risky to let France move eastward, it could easily cause the situation to get out of control!

We ……”

Franz interrupted, “It’s not that serious, if North Germany can’t hold out, we’ll go in personally. As long as we defeat the French, the German regional unification strategy will be complete.

If France is not good enough to beat, let the front line deliberately fail, let the situation rot, and pull the European countries down.

A strong and aggressive France is a threat to all the countries in Europe, so why should we let one of us fight for our lives at the front?”

Looking at the crowd that was in shock, Franz did not continue. Everyone’s shock was nothing more than a bottom line issue.

In Franz’s opinion, the German region had not yet been unified, and the North German region was not considered the territory of the New Shinra Empire.

The rotten situation was just the right time to use the knife to kill and clean up those small states, knowing that at its peak, the German region had more than a thousand lords and more than two hundred independent states.

After reorganization, at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, there were still 39 legal states in Germany.

Nowadays, there are still more than thirty independent states in Germany, and Franz could not be a stable emperor without solving some of them.

The French were undoubtedly a good sword, and with the French threat, it was impossible for everyone not to move closer to Austria.

(End of chapter)