Chapter 865: Two Alliances Confrontation Era
Chapter 848: The Era of Confrontation between Two Alliances
The alliance is not a pat on the head can be accomplished, must be carefully which weighs the pros and cons, especially the alliance object is the British.
Britain and France is not the first alliance, according to the previous alliance experience, each time the result is not satisfactory.
Napoleon IV was not mesmerized by the British rhetoric, blowing no matter how heavenly, but also to fall into the real before counting.
As long as the Anglo-French alliance, Britain will support the expansion of France into Central Europe. Such a big pie, Napoleon IV does not believe that it will be smashed in his head for no reason.
The same is also because the pie painted too big, Napoleon IV and can not throw away.
Prime Minister Terence Burgin: “Your Majesty, the British proposal seems to be in our favor, but in fact it is harboring evil intentions.
On the surface, they are supporting our expansion into Central Europe, but in reality, they are asking us to hold Austria at bay for them.
Judging from the current international situation, once we expand into Central Europe, we will be met with the combined hostility of all European countries, even triggering a new round of European war.
Really if the situation is out of control, I really have no confidence in the British, with their style, if they do not fall into the well, it is all ……”
It’s true, the Anti-French Alliance existed in name only, and that was based on the premise that France didn’t pose a threat to everyone.
Once they reveal the teeth of the tiger and make the European countries feel threatened, this alliance that exists in name will immediately turn into a real alliance.
Expecting the British and France to challenge the European continent together, it would be better for France to take on the European continent alone, at least single-handedly without having to worry about being stabbed in the back by an ally.
Minister of War Luskinia Hafiz: “Prime Minister, there are two sides to everything. Britain is certainly unsettled, but if we utilize it well, we will also be able to gain a great deal of benefits for France.
Although there are many countries in Europe, most of them are small, and there are only a few that deserve our attention.
In addition to Russia, Austria and the United Kingdom three big countries to be highly valued, the rest of Spain, the Nordic countries, the German Confederation together can only be counted as half.
Among them, Spain is still our ally, will not obstruct our eastward advancement; Nordic Federation and far away in the Baltic Sea, no conflict of interest, belong to the object that can be fought for.
The British can be used to hold Austria in check, why can’t we use them to hold the Russians in check?
As long as the British and Russians are fighting in Central Asia, a single Austria is powerless to stop us from annexing the territory west of the Rhineland.
The big deal is that we and Austria and the Rhine and rule, to the style of the Habsburg dynasty, they are most likely not and we will not be dead.
As long as we take the Rhineland and Belgium, one of our most important short version of resources, will also make up for it.”
Ambition well, naturally there is. Only the French main war faction was born at the wrong time, did not catch up with the good times, has not been given the opportunity to show.
Waiting for the right and left, it is not easy to welcome this opportunity. In the view of the French military, this is not what Britain and Russia to hold each other back, is clearly in the French and Austrian duel to create opportunities.
With the Habsburg dynasty that old enemy in, France’s continental hegemony can never be real, must use a war to witness the high and low.
Of course, now is not the time to talk about this. It would be bad if it scared His Majesty the Emperor, after all, Austria still looks like a big block and is good at pulling allies.
If there was really an immediate showdown, although the military was confident, there were still many in the government who were not optimistic.
Luskinia Hafiz is still very politically astute, in order to reduce resistance, did not mention the French-Austrian duel.
Even stole the concept, turning the Franco-Austrian duel into a division of the German region with Austria. Not only did it downplay the risk, but it also gained the support of domestic capitalists.
Economy Minister Elsa objected, “No, this is not the time to move east. Our big farm program is in progress, once interrupted by the war, the previous investment will all be in vain.
The German Confederation is not as weak as everyone thinks, they have deployed 70,000 troops in the Rhineland region, plus the 50,000 troops deployed in Belgium, the total strength is as high as 120,000 troops.
As long as the war dragged on for a month or two, Austrian reinforcements came up. The Russo-Prussian War we all saw, today’s times are different, now the two big countries duel, move are millions of troops.
Once the war breaks out, it will be impossible to distinguish between victory and defeat in a short period of time. Austria still has a group of allies to share the pressure, but we can only fight alone, the British can not be counted on.
It’s wishful thinking to expect the Austrian government to compromise. Sitting back and watching us annex the territories west of the Rhine, what else would give the Habsburgs the right to rule the German region?”
The concern of the Minister of Economy was the very reason for the hesitation of the crowd. Pinning one’s hopes on an Austrian compromise was itself unreliable.
Alone against any enemy, everyone had confidence in France, but the problem was that the enemy was going to play a group game!
These days the countries on the European continent are more capable of fighting, even the small country of Belgium, that is able to pull out more than 100,000 troops.
Volume of the larger North Germany, as long as the coordination of internal relations, a million troops can be pulled out.
Austria, not to mention, anyway, easily a few million. If other countries also follow the hilarity, France to face the enemy is an astronomical number.
The French army is no longer able to fight, but also can not hold the ants bite the elephant.
Moreover, the French army is not so capable of fighting, the performance of the French army in the overseas colonies, has made many government executives have doubts about the combat effectiveness of the French army.
There is no value in being able to win one-on-one, and once the Continental War breaks out, they will have to face at least twice as many enemies, if not three or four times as many.
Foreign Minister Karel Kadlec interrupted, “Gentlemen, you are going too far. It makes it seem as if we must start a continental war as soon as we ally with the British.
As a matter of fact, those are two entirely different things. What is being discussed now is only whether or not to ally with the British, as for expansion into Central Europe, that is a future matter.
Personally, I am in favor of an alliance with the British. France needed more allies to get out of its isolation.
Perhaps the British have ulterior motives and are only allying with us at this time to counteract the pressure Russia and Austria are putting on them in Central Asia.
But we have no better choice than the British.
Don’t expect the British to really support our expansion into Central Europe, as long as they don’t join the anti-French alliance when we head east.
Besides, being in an alliance with the Brits doesn’t mean we actually have to go along with them.
Austria has no interests in Central Asia and got involved solely because of the Russo-Austrian alliance, and there’s no way they’re going to go to war with the British just for the sake of the Russians.
The British want us to hold Austria back, so let’s do it symbolically. The Austrians want to contribute to the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian war anyway, so we’re perfectly capable of cooperating.”
Reality was harsh, but it had to be faced. France was indeed powerful and still powerful enough to have no friends.
The British may not be able to fulfill their promises, but with this additional ally, the French government’s diplomatic environment will improve dramatically.
In essence, the two sides are each take what they need, not to drag their feet, then it is affordable to the paper of the covenant.
……
Vienna Palace, since receiving the news that Britain and France are interested in an alliance, Franz whole person is not good.
Seemingly Europe to form two opposing camps, in fact, geographic location on the decision, the Russians can hide in the rear, Austria must be alone to bear the pressure of the two great powers.
The threat of land is not yet obvious, the fighting force bearer is still the French, the British can be ignored.
The sea is different, looking at the Austrian Navy is about to have the strength to threaten the Royal Navy, with the British and French alliance, and then have to pin their tails between their legs.
This meant that in overseas competition, Austria would once again be at a disadvantage, unable to compete with Britain and France.
Not only that, Franz wanted more. As France and Austria continued to grow, the British were already feeling the pressure.
Against this background, it was not impossible for the British to conspire to provoke a Franco-Austrian war and use it to weaken the two enemies.
British-Russian confrontation to hold each other back, and why not create an opportunity for France and Austria to turn the other cheek?
Don’t look at the British-Russian conflict, even if the two countries really broke out in the war, once the situation in Europe is out of control, the two countries may still unite.
Stir up a war between France and Austria, and so on the two countries to fight almost, and pull the Russians to intervene, do not let the two countries divided into winners and losers.
If Franz had been in the position of the British, he would have done the same thing. Otherwise let France and Austria continue to grow, the future of the European continent where there is still a chance for Britain to intervene?
Speculation is always just speculation, before things happen, Franz does not dare to jump to conclusions.
The French are not fools, in the context of having a fisherman on the side, running to a duel with Austria, obviously does not meet the interests of their own family.
Austria is the same, unless it is brain-dead, or the Vienna government will not be stupid to run to attack the French.
……
Foreign Minister Weissenberg: “After much verification, the Foreign Office has established that Britain and France are engaged in negotiations for an alliance.
The specific content of the negotiations is unknown, what is certain is that there is certainly nothing less in it that is aimed at us.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly attempted to sabotage the Anglo-French alliance, but with little success. Even our proposal to reorganize the Triple Alliance was rejected by Britain and France.”
If you can’t sabotage it, find a way to join it, and then split the alliance from within. This hundred-tested diplomatic tactic doesn’t work here either.
However, it also corroborates the fact that the Anglo-French alliance targeted Austria.
Prime Minister Karl: “Failing to stop the Anglo-French alliance, the importance of the Russo-Austrian alliance is then greatly increased.
From now on, it is not only the Russians who need us, but we need the Russians just as much.
We will have to make a great effort to support the Tsarist government in the next war in Central Asia.
The four great powers of Europe are now separated into two great alliances against each other. I fear that the international situation will be in turmoil for a long time to come.
Once the confrontation escalates and the guns go off, it may even trigger a new round of continental war. From now on, it is necessary for us to save for a rainy day.”
There was no way around it, the international situation was not subject to the will of individuals. Even though Franz had been trying his best to avoid it, there was still a situation where the two alliances were confronting each other.
In a sense, this result wasn’t too bad; two against two was better than one against three.
Britain and France were now allied, the first to suffer a shock was the Russians, the relationship between Britain and France and the Russians deteriorated, the Russo-Austrian alliance became more consolidated, and Austria’s eastern front was safe.
(End of chapter)