France and Russia were secretly in contact, and Britain and Austria had never broken off contact. It was just that everyone had a tacit understanding and pretended not to see it.
If they took it seriously, they would have no friends.
International relations in the late 19th century had become a mess. The Fao and Russia were opposed on the issue of Central Europe, but the two sides were in agreement on the issue of Central Asia.
Although their motivations were different, the goal of the two was to provoke a war between Britain and Russia and weaken the strength of their competitors.
On the other hand, Britain and Russia were similar. Central Asia was about to fight, and the two sides' positions on the issue of Central Europe were almost the same: let the Fao and Russia fight each other.
…
Although it was known that France and Russia had been secretly flirting with each other for a long time, the news of the French issuing bonds for the Russians still caused strong dissatisfaction among the Government of the United Kingdom.
Prime Minister Gladstone frowned and asked, "What are the French trying to do by issuing bonds for the Russians at this time?"
The timing was too sensitive. It would have been fine to issue bonds for the Russians earlier or later, but they chose to do it when Britain and Russia had a falling out. The intention was too obvious.
Foreign Minister George explained, "The French are retaliating. We promised to support their expansion into Central Europe, but when the French were seeking coal interests in Belgium and Germany, the government chose to be neutral."
Was it really just "neutral"?
The answer was: no!
If the Government of the United Kingdom did not add fuel to the fire and did not secretly drag the French down, the anti-French wave in Europe would not have broken out so easily.
Perhaps in the Government of the United Kingdom's view, not directly opposing it was the greatest support for France.
Secretly encouraging Bede and Germany and sending a vague warning to the French government, these actions of hindering others were all professional habits. It was not a big deal at all.
In the face of such an ally, it would be a problem if the Government of France did not react fiercely.
They were originally using each other. No one really regarded the other as an ally, so it was not surprising that they secretly played tricks on each other.
In fact, from the beginning, the British dug a pit. Supporting the French "expansion of their sphere of influence" was not the same as supporting the French expansion of their territory. These were two completely different concepts.
Perhaps during negotiations, in order to fool people, diplomats would be vague or make verbal promises. But on paper, there was absolutely no support for French territorial expansion into Central Europe.
The current France Empire was already very powerful. If they were allowed to continue expanding, they would make up for their last weakness, and there would be a new round of explosive growth in strength.
Britain and France were separated by only a strait. If France continued to grow, Britannia would not be able to sleep.
Prime Minister Gladstone rubbed his forehead. This explanation left him speechless. From the standpoint of Britannia, there was no problem in holding the French back.
The feud between Britain and France had lasted for hundreds of years, and it was not something that could be resolved with a paper treaty. Curbing the growth of France had always been the top priority of the Government of the United Kingdom.
Although Russia and Austria were also enemies, due to the distance, the Government of the United Kingdom did not feel it deeply.
If it weren't for the Tsarist government eyeing Central Asia and threatening India's security, the two countries wouldn't have directly confronted each other.
After hesitating for a while, Prime Minister Gladstone made a request, "Think of a way to find something for the French to do.
We can't let them be idle, lest they hold us back. At the same time, they have to contain Austria. "
To meet these two requirements, they could only let the Fao and Austria fight each other. Sowing discord had always been the British's forte.
With the current relationship between the Fao and Austria, it seemed that there was no need to continue to sow discord. It was enough to intensify the conflict.
After thinking about it, Foreign Minister George nodded. "No problem. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will find something for them to do as soon as possible.
It's just that this will completely push Belgium and Germany to the side of Austria. With the ability of the House of Habsburg to pull in allies, the French will probably suffer. "
The Fao was fighting for the sake of Belgium and Germany. Once the conflict escalated, as the center of the storm, Belgium and Germany would not be able to get away.
Even because the Government of France did not pay attention to their table manners, it caused their international reputation to fall again. As their neighbor, it was impossible not to worry.
In this context, once the situation in Europe became tense, even if Austria did not move, the European countries would push Austria to check and balance the French.
In the absence of a war, the Government of France would definitely suffer a loss if the Fao and Austria fought.
As for a real fight, George could not predict the outcome. After all, the French were very famous, and Austria was strong and had many potential allies.
Prime Minister Gladstone sneered. "If we don't let them suffer a little, how will they know our importance?
They have just concluded an alliance, and they are in a hurry to reach out to Central Europe. They don't even know when to choose a good time.
The French have had such a good time these years that they have become conceited and arrogant. "
…
Compared to the Government of the United Kingdom, Franz was actually more nervous about France and Russia moving closer.
This was determined by geographical location. Austria was sandwiched between France and Russia. Once France and Russia moved closer, Austria would face too great a strategic danger.
However, with some historical lessons, Franz chose to endure for the time being and pretend to know nothing.
Not only did he not cut off the loans to Russia to retaliate against the Tsarist government, but he also suppressed the anti-Russian voices in the government.
"The matter with the Russians has come to an end for the time being. No matter what the Tsarist government has done, we will pretend that nothing happened now.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can express appropriate dissatisfaction. Other issues will all wait for the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian war to be discussed. "
There would definitely be settling accounts after the autumn, but the prerequisite must be after the autumn.
If Austria attacked now and caused trouble for the Russians, how could the Tsarist government have the confidence to compete with the British for the Regions of Afghanistan?
If the Russians lost the war, they would definitely suffer heavy losses. Maybe they would also lose the national fortune that they had accumulated in recent years.
Although the Russian Empire seemed to be very powerful now, don't forget the previous wars. This old empire had been hit hard.
The loss of millions of young adults wasn't something that could be made up for in a day or two.
Comparing the population growth rate of the Russian Empire in the past 30 years, one could see how much damage the war had caused.
Especially after the second Prussian War, the Russian Empire had a negative population growth for many years. Until now, they could only keep the population from declining.
In this context, if they added another 1.8 million people to the Central Asian region, and they just happened to lose the war, the foundation of the Tsarist government's rule would be shaken.
Of course, if they won the war, these were small problems that weren't worth mentioning. Victory could suppress all dissatisfaction. If they took over the Regions of Afghanistan, the Tsarist government would work together to fight for India.
The problem was that it was easy to take over Afghanistan, but it wasn't so easy to digest the Regions of Afghanistan.
Unless they followed Austria's indigenous migration policy and moved the locals away.
Otherwise, with the guerrillas raiding inside and the British eyeing outside, the Russians would never have a day of peace.
Austria only needed to give them a push at the right time. Although it was a bit despicable to trap their allies, it was also the Russians who colluded with the French first.
…
The Minister of Agriculture, Halls, reminded, "Your Majesty, according to the information collected by the Ministry of Agriculture, the food self-sufficiency plan of Britain and France has achieved progress.
Especially the large farm plan of the French. Ever since the Government of France changed a group of colonial officials, the agriculture in French Africa has begun to develop rapidly.
If nothing unexpected happens, France's staple food shortage this year will be reduced to less than 1.8 million tons. It won't be long before they can achieve food self-sufficiency.
However, it is said that the operating costs of the farms opened by the French in Africa are high. Only a small number of farms can make ends meet. Most of the farms rely on financial allocations. "
This result was not out of Franz's expectations.
The food shortage in France was mainly due to the Regions of Italy. In fact, there was enough food in the headquarters.
In order to reduce foreign exchange expenditure, in recent years, farms had been established in Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and other areas. It was only a matter of time before the food shortage was made up.
As for the high operating costs of the farms, that was the inevitable result. There were few areas in French Africa that were suitable for developing agriculture.
Many of the places had owners. They couldn't just drive all the owners away, right? It should be known that many of the local land owners had long become French colonists.
In addition to robbing some of the indigenous land, most of the farms were personally developed by the Government of France. Many of the farms' natural conditions were not the best and could only be said to be barely passable.
If the irrigation facilities were complete, the later problems should not be too big. However, this all needed time and could not be done in a short period of time.
In the short term, these farms had to rely on the weather to make a living. Naturally, the food production would not be high. In addition, the management of the bureaucrats increased a lot of additional costs. It was normal for them to lose money.
Franz nodded. "It's about time. Promoting potash fertilizer also needs time. There is no need to continue to hide it."
At this time, promoting fertilizer would definitely not be Austria's biggest loss.
Due to the impact of falling international food prices, Austria had been reducing the area planted for staple crops in recent years.
Other than satisfying domestic consumption, it was rarely exported. Domestic food processing companies also began to import Russia's food.
In a sense, in the context of falling international food prices, the recovery of Russia's economy was also caused by Austria's food reduction policy.
However, these good days would soon be gone. No matter how much production was reduced, Austria's agricultural volume was still here.
Even if the effect of potash fertilizer was not as effective as in the future, and the food production only increased by 5%, it was enough to feed six to seven million people.
The increased production definitely needed to be digested by the market.
In the context of Britain and France playing self-sufficient, the international food market not only did not increase, but also gradually shrank.
With the domestic food production increased, Austria would definitely have to take care of itself first. It would be difficult for Russia to find a buyer for their food.
The actual situation should be even worse. Potash fertilizer could not be kept secret, and European countries would follow suit.
With the increase of food production in various countries, the international food market would shrink sharply, and prices would continue to fall.
In a sense, this was used to smash the pot. Austria could find ways to increase food consumption and overcome the agricultural crisis, but Russia was unlucky.
Right after the Anglo-Russian war, the agricultural crisis broke out. This was destined for the Tsarist government to tighten their belts for many years to come.
Franz could swear to God that this tactic of killing a thousand enemies and sacrificing a hundred of his own men was never meant for his allies.
The original plan was to wait until the Anglo-French food self-sufficient plan was completed, then start to smash the pot and drag everyone into the era of food cost competition.
However, the plan changed quickly. When it was time to implement, they suddenly realized that the Russian Empire seemed to be the biggest victim.
There was no other reason. The Anglo-French Fao was an industrial country, and there was a domestic industrial chain to support it. Only Russia was heavily dependent on agriculture.
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