Chapter 353

Palace of Vienna

Foreign Minister Wesenberg said with a smile, "Your Majesty, in order to seek our support, both Prussia and Russia have offered almost the same conditions.

Russia promised that as long as we support them, we can get Silesia after the war; Prussia promised that as long as we remain neutral, we will cede Silesia after the war. "

Russia's promise was generous at other people's expense. The Tsarist government would not mind using Prussia's interests to bribe Austria.

The Government of Berlin's promise was because they had no other choice. They were also not willing to give up Silesia. In order to win the war, they had to stabilize Austria.

If they won the war, they could get back double what they had invested. If they lost the war, Silesia would not be able to be preserved.

Even though so many years had passed, the Austrians still held a grudge against Silesia. Especially in recent years, with the increase in strength, the Government of Vienna's call to take back Silesia was getting louder and louder.

Once the Kingdom of Prussia showed weakness, Austria would definitely hit them while they were down. Now the Government of Berlin had to stabilize Austria first.

Looking at Felix, who wanted to say something but stopped, Franz asked, "What does the Prime Minister think?"

Prime Minister Felix replied, "Your Majesty, neither of these are the best choices. What we need is for both Prussia and Russia to suffer losses.

Now our alliance with Russia is already an eyesore. European countries are working hard to break up this alliance. If the Tsarist government continues to win, we will only encounter more troubles in the future.

For us, the current Russian Empire is already strong enough. If we let the Tsarist government complete its internal reform, it is hard to say whether the Russian-Austrian alliance will still have value.

Similarly, a stronger Kingdom of Prussia is not in our interest. Europe is too small to accommodate so many strong countries. "

Both Prussia and Russia suffering losses was the ideal situation. Not only could they use Prussia's hand to interrupt Alexander II Of Russia's reform, making the Tsarist government's reform more incomplete than in history. At the same time, they could also interrupt Prussia's ambitions. After this failure, they would never have a chance to rise again.

However, it was very difficult to achieve this. At least, Franz did not think Austria had the ability to balance.

This was different from the Near East War. At that time, the Russian Army had reached the gates of Constantinople. Every class in the country supported the war. No matter how great the losses were, the Tsarist government had to hold on.

This was different from the Near Eastern War. At that time, the Russian army had reached the gates of Constantinople, and all classes in the country supported the war. No matter how great the losses were, the Tsarist government had to persevere.

Franz thought for a moment and said, "Don't have such an idealistic plan. It's easy to fail, and in the end, both sides won't be happy.

According to the actual needs, we only need to do two things:

First, use Prussia to disrupt the Tsarist government's reform. As long as the Russians cannot win in a short period of time, Alexander II Of Russia will give in to the conservatives, and this reform will not be complete.

Second, the Kingdom of Prussia cannot become too big. It is enough to have one strong country in the German Region. There is no need to add another competitor.

Increasing the strength of Prussia can be done by Britain and France. What we need to do is to give blood to the Tsarist government when necessary and strengthen their determination to fight. "

It was impossible to please both sides. If they really did that, the end result would most likely be that both sides would hate each other.

The role of the Russo-Austrian Alliance was declining. However, as long as the alliance was not dissolved, Austria could not openly stab the Russians.

This was related to Austria's credibility in international politics and diplomacy. A country without credibility could never hope to gain the respect of others.

Fortunately, the Government of Prussia was smart enough not to play an undeclared war, nor did they take the initiative to invade Russia. Otherwise, according to the alliance, Austria would also be dragged into the war.

The current situation was that the Kingdom of Prussia invaded Denmark. In order to protect this little brother, the Russians declared war on the Kingdom of Prussia.

This situation was not within the scope of the Russo-Austrian Alliance to participate in the war.

The Kingdom of Denmark was an ally of the Russians, but it did not mean that they were also an ally of Austria. The Government of Vienna did not need to stand with the Russians.

The Minister of Finance Carr reminded, "Your Majesty, the Tsarist government's finances are very bad. The Russians are slow to act, largely due to financial constraints.

Not long ago, the bonds issued by the Tsarist government were cold in the capital market. Investors were worried that the Russians would renege on their debt.

According to the analysis of the information we have, if the Russians' finances are not improved, the Tsarist government may declare bankruptcy again. "

The Russo-Austrian Alliance had a rule that stated that under the condition that it did not harm its own interests, it was obliged to provide material assistance to its allies.

In theory, in this case, the Government of Vienna had to help no matter what. It was a matter of choice. However, how to support depended on the actual situation.

Providing loans was assistance, donating materials was also assistance. The specific situation still depended on the interests.

Without enough interests, they could just take some weapons and ammunition from the warehouse to make up the numbers.

The Minister of Finance's attitude was very clear. That was, the Tsarist government's finances were very bad. After the war, it was very likely that it would go bankrupt. There was no need for Austria to jump into this pit.

Financial bankruptcy had never been a new thing in Europe. Especially the Tsarist government. Once the government's debts exceeded their bearing capacity, they would declare bankruptcy.

The government's bankruptcy meant that they would suspend the payment of the previous debts indefinitely. It could also be understood as not paying them back. The Tsarist government had done this many times. Many creditors wanted to cry but had no tears.

Of course, not every country had the right to renege on their debts. In this era, there was another way to collect money — using force to collect debts.

Even if small countries declared bankruptcy, they usually only reneged on their personal debts. The debts of the big powers still had to be paid. For example, the big powers supervised the finances.

Mexico was a negative example. They didn't have the strength, but they dared to renege on their debts. In 1862, President Juárez announced a moratorium on debt payments. Then the French creditors came to the door.

This method was ineffective against the Russians. No creditor had the ability to go to St. Peter's Castle to ask for money. After the number of times of being swindled, no one in the capital market lent money to the Tsar.

Franz asked in surprise, "The Russians' finances have deteriorated to this extent?"

In his memory, the Tsarist government's finances were bad, but not to the point of collapse. Even if they fought a Prussian war, they wouldn't go bankrupt immediately.

Finance Minister Carr explained, "Your Majesty, in modern times, as long as ordinary European countries can persevere, they will try their best to repay their debts. There are very few who renege on their debts. However, the Russians are an exception.

Based on past experience, when the Tsarist government's debts reach a certain level, they will declare bankruptcy. Recently, we have gathered information that the Tsarist government has made a bankruptcy plan. "

Franz had nothing to say. In fact, in the Middle Ages, there were many cases of kings declaring bankruptcy and reneging on their debts. It happened almost every few decades.

Many capitalists were swindled to tears. Among them, the Jewish capitalists suffered the most. This was because they were too rich. Most of the money was gathered in their hands. If they didn't borrow money from them, who else could they borrow money from?

Of course, there were also many kings who were swindled. The Jewish capitalists were hated because they often buried nails in loan contracts. Many kings who borrowed money were tricked and had to pay a lot of extra interest.

Facts proved that rulers were not to be trifled with, especially in the era of monarchies. Those who dared to cheat their money had to pay the price. Most of the anti-Jewish movements in Europe came about this way.

In modern times, the power of capital continued to grow. There were fewer and fewer cases of governments going bankrupt and reneging on their debts. In particular, international loans with the backing of great powers didn't dare to renege on their debts.

In the era when everyone reneged on their debts, it naturally didn't matter. In any case, all crows in the world were black. But suddenly, everyone started to abide by the rules and you were the only one left to renege on your debts.

Once the creditors publicized it, the Tsarist government's credibility was destroyed. Without credibility, a lot of things were difficult to do. That was why the awkward situation of Russia using gold and silver coins came about.

Franz thought for a moment and said, "Then we should also tighten the monetary policy and remind the domestic financial sector to be more vigilant.

The support for the Russians was mainly in the form of in-kind aid. All large loans to Russia must have collateral. "

This could be considered as adding insult to injury. These restrictions undoubtedly increased the difficulty for the Tsarist government to raise funds in the Austrian capital market. But as long as the Tsarist government didn't renege on their debts, it didn't matter how much collateral they took out.

With collateral, even if the Russians declared bankruptcy, they wouldn't be able to renege on their debts. After all, the value of the collateral usually exceeded the loan.

Franz also had to do this. It should be known that not long ago, the Tsarist government used Alaska to pay off the debt of 2.57 million DND and also owed a favor. If it wasn't for the fact that they couldn't hold on any longer, the Russians would never do this.

…

While Austria was worried about the bankruptcy of the Russians, the Government of London was also facing the same problem. As the most militaristic country in Europe, the Kingdom of Prussia wasn't rich.

The risk of lending money to the Government of Berlin now was no less than lending money to the Russians. The war bonds issued by the Government of Berlin received a cold reception in the London financial market.

If the Kingdom of Prussia won the bet, it was possible to pay back the money. If the Kingdom of Prussia lost or both sides suffered losses, these investments would be wasted.

Not many people were optimistic about the Kingdom of Prussia. No one was willing to risk their money. Even though the interest on the bonds had been raised to 15.8% annually, the sales were still not optimistic.

As the financial backer of the Kingdom of Prussia, the Government of London naturally couldn't watch this happen. Without enough money, how could the Kingdom of Prussia fight this war?

Finance Minister Agarwal said, "We have already issued war bonds to the people of Prussia. So far, only 1.869 million pounds have been sold. It's too far from the issued amount of 15 million pounds.

The people aren't optimistic that they can win this war. Unless someone can provide them with a guarantee, there's no way to sell these bonds.

The Kingdom of Prussia's finances are very bad. Since 1848, they have been in the red.

Many domestic financial institutions think that Prussia's finances are on the verge of bankruptcy and refuse to provide them with loans. "

It wasn't easy to be a financial backer either. This required real money. The cost of the Prussian war was bound to be a huge expense, and the possibility of losing everything was very high.

Prime Minister John Russell rubbed his forehead and said, "So, we haven't collected one-fifth of the aid we promised to the Kingdom of Prussia in the past two months?"

According to the agreement, the United Kingdom had to provide the Kingdom of Prussia with a loan of 10 million pounds and issue war bonds of 15 million pounds.

The reality was that, except for the advance of 5 million pounds from the Government of London to the Government of Prussia, no one in the capital market cared about it at all.

This was the aftereffect of the Near East War. Britain and France couldn't defeat the people of Russia, let alone the Kingdom of Prussia.

Even the Government of London didn't think that the Kingdom of Prussia could win this war. If they wanted to support them, it was only to interrupt the reform of the people of Russia. They didn't expect the Kingdom of Prussia to win.

"Yes, Prime Minister. People don't have confidence in Prussia, so they are more cautious when investing, "Minister of the Exchequer Agarwal replied.

The British people were still very supportive of supporting the Kingdom of Prussia to fight against the people of Russia, but it was different when they had to pay.

Some newspapers in London were betting on when the Kingdom of Prussia would lose.

The most optimistic estimate was that the Kingdom of Prussia could only hold on for a year and then lose the war; the most pessimistic was that the Government of Berlin would surrender in less than a month.

The outside world generally believed that the Kingdom of Prussia wanted to win this war. Unless Britain and France personally participated in the war, defeat was only a matter of time.