Chapter 633

The '66 Treaty' obviously couldn't see the light of day. If the news of the Fao and Germany joining hands to divide up the European continent got out, wouldn't the Government of London go crazy?

The European continent wanted to maintain balance, but this was not the way to balance it. If the Great France and the Great Shinra Empire were to appear, the European continent would really be a tripartite. Because at that time, the European continent would probably not be able to find a fourth country.

Like Pandora's box, once ambition was opened, it would be difficult to take it back.

Napoleon left the French not only with brilliant achievements, but also the dream of a great power. With the sensibilities of the French people, once the enthusiasm for expansion was aroused, most of Italy and Belgium could satisfy their desire.

Adding Spain and Portugal wouldn't be too much, right? In the past, Napoleon occupied the Spanish region, and they must inherit this fine tradition!

France unified Western Europe, Austria unified the German Region. In this context, what choice did Switzerland and the Netherlands, sandwiched between the two giants, have?

Either take the initiative to join one side or be forcibly annexed. This was the fate of small countries.

The three Northern European countries that were wandering outside also didn't want to be alone. Due to strategic considerations, the Russians wouldn't let them go.

The three major powers were expanding outward, and the British could only be dumbfounded. They couldn't interfere even if they wanted to. Maybe they would be cleared out before everyone turned hostile.

There was even a basis for the three countries to form an alliance. After completing the expansion, it would definitely take time to digest, which meant that the European continent couldn't fight in the short term.

Then the British, who had the most colonies in the world, would be in danger. They couldn't just run to ally with the Americans, and an alliance would be useless!

Of course, the probability of this happening was very small. After annexing Italy and Belgium, France's internal contradictions had to be dealt with, and there was no ability to continue to expand.

Not to mention Austria. Franz only shouted the unification of the German Region as a slogan. Dividing up the European continent, did he not wake up?

Now that nationalism had awakened, the unification of the German Region was almost the end of Austria's expansion on the European continent.

However, due to the limitations of the times, many people thought that after Austria unified the German Region, they would continue to expand.

The reason was very simple: Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands had all split from the Holy Roman Empire, belonged to the same cultural circle, and the radical Germans counted them all.

In order not to cause panic and ensure the smooth implementation of the plan, the Fao and the Netherlands unanimously chose a high degree of secrecy. Many people knew the existence of this treaty, but only a few people knew the content of the treaty.

There were only three people in Austria who knew the treaty: the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, and Franz himself.

In recent years, France's economy had been developing well, and the throne of Napoleon III had also been stabilized. The people's call for the establishment of Greater France was also growing.

This was definitely the voice, and of of of of of of. This was the French people, and of Napoleon.

Compared to the original owner, who was defeated twice in a row, but still sat firmly on the throne, the desire of the French people to be a great power could be seen.

What really led to the Fao alliance was not Napoleon Empire, but the broad French people. The shouts they let out inadvertently put pressure on the Emperor. Since the people elected the emperor, Napoleon Empire naturally had to respect the choice of the people.

On June 8, 1866, the Foreign Ministries of the two countries signed a "Case of Sovereignty Transaction between the Fao and the Fao on Italy, the Balkans, and some African Colonies."

This was a cover for the '66 Treaty.' There were only the third and fourth clauses of the transaction of sovereignty. Anyway, this couldn't be hidden. Once the two countries began to hand over, it would all be exposed.

It could be used to trade in Europe, let alone suzerainty and colonies. Both sides were willing to trade. At most, the British would be unhappy and create some sales for the newspaper.

Conrad Holman was the editor of the Austrian daily newspaper. Occasionally, he would be a guest commentator and express some official opinions.

Of course, as a commercial newspaper, this opinion was usually very obscure and generally attacked from the side.

As soon as the news of the Fao and the two countries' territory transaction came back, Conrad Holman's work came. There was no doubt that this kind of news would definitely sing praises!

Conrad Holman was deep in thought as he twirled the tip of his pen. News must be eye-catching. For the highly commercialized Vienna daily newspaper, direct official articles were not popular.

If there were too many people writing, how could the same thing ensure newspaper sales? The Vienna daily newspaper sold 100,000 copies a day. This kind of thing would lose readers.

Looking at the globe on the table blown by the wind, Conrad had an idea. He picked up the pen and began to write on the paper.

Title: Reflections on the Fao and the Suzerainty Transaction – Win-Win Cooperation

This was no longer news, but a discussion article. For a commercial newspaper, as long as it complied with Austrian law and ensured that the news was true and reliable, there were not so many requirements on how the content was published.

Conrad directly talked about the international competition, listed a few historical cases, and compared the Fao and the two countries' handling plans.

Finally, the conclusion was: Win-Win cooperation. At the same time, he praised the efforts of the Fao and the two countries for world peace.

From the standpoint of the Fao and the two countries, this transaction was indeed a win-win situation.

The French gave up a part of the colonies in exchange for absolute power in the Central and Southern Regions of Italy, which laid the foundation for the annexation of Italy.

In the Mediterranean strategy, the French had the initiative. With Sicily and Tunis under their control, the French could cut the Mediterranean in two if necessary.

The British strategic layout in Malta was abolished, and the strategic value of the heart of the Mediterranean had been greatly reduced. Unless the era of aircraft arrived, it could once again play the role that the British expected.

Austria exchanged the dispensable suzerainty of Italy for the French Balkans and some of the West African colonies. Not only did it remove a nail, but it also consolidated the colonial hegemony in West Africa.

Incidentally, it added a bargaining chip with the Russians. The Dardanelles Strait was still very attractive to the Tsarist government, at least until they gave up the Mediterranean.

After finishing the manuscript, he proofread it a few times and corrected a few mistakes in the writing. Seeing that there were no problems, Conrad Holman handed the draft to the editor-in-chief for review.

This kind of big news usually had more than one press release. Generally, three to five people wrote the draft at the same time, and the editor-in-chief chose the most suitable one to publish.

Occasionally, there might be a meeting to discuss, but because of the timeliness of the news, this kind of discussion rarely happened.

Unsurprisingly, Conrad's press release was approved. The idea of "win-win cooperation" surpassed others. News had always been inseparable from politics. The slogan of "win-win cooperation" was very in line with Austria's current diplomacy.

Although the government did not publicly shout this slogan, in fact, it had been done for a long time. From the beginning of the Russian-Austrian alliance, it opened the prelude to win-win cooperation.

For example, in the Near East War, the Russians got Bulgaria and the coveted Constantinople. Austria unified South Germany and annexed parts of the The Balkans.

This was the embodiment of win-win cooperation. Of course, this example could not be used, otherwise, it would cause too much hatred.

Not only would Britain and France go berserk, but even the Tsarist government would probably have objections. They knew their own situation. They were only nominal winners. They paid a heavy price, and the gain was only a political victory.

This result could be used to fool the ordinary people. The Tsarist government was still very clear that they failed in strategy and lost the best opportunity to enter the Mediterranean.

If they used the Fao deal as an excuse, then there would be no problem. Anyway, the Fao and the two countries took what they needed. Any reason was enough to satisfy the domestic people.

The slogan of "win-win cooperation" was shouted by Conrad, but the impact was not what he could predict.

With the publication of the news, it quickly caused a sensation in Vienna. As time passed, this slogan became the official propaganda slogan of the Fao and the Tsarist countries.

With the signing of the treaty, the diplomatic relationship between the Fao and the Tsarist countries also entered a honeymoon period. Many people optimistically thought that the Fao conflict no longer existed.

No matter what others thought, anyway, Franz was very clear that the Fao conflict was only artificially suppressed under common interests.

This was not the point. The point was that Austria could withdraw its troops from Italy. The effect of training the troops had been achieved. They had a fight with the French, which could almost prove the combat effectiveness of the army.

The rest of the Italian guerrillas, let the French deal with them themselves! Suzerainty was not only about benefits, but also meant responsibility.

To some extent, this unfriendly fight also accelerated the pace of the alliance between the two countries. On the battlefield, the Fao and the Tsarist armies did not have a one-sided battle. The combat effectiveness of the two sides was almost equal.

Of course, this was because the area of the conflict was too small and there were not many troops fighting. Most of the two sides were fighting hard, and the officers did not have much room to play.

This situation made the senior officials of the Fao and the Tsarist countries afraid. The Government of Vienna was afraid of the prestige of the French, and the French were afraid of the large number of Austrian soldiers.

This was determined by the population advantage. Even if the Kingdom of Sardinia was annexed, the population gap between the two countries of the Fao and the Tsarist countries was still large. Once it turned into a war of attrition, the first to be unable to bear it would definitely be the French.

Franz was very clear that the strength of the French was not weak. Just because the original Napoleon Iii failed, it could not be taken for granted that the combat effectiveness of the French army was not good.

One had to know that the ratio of the two sides in the Franco-Prussian War was 47: 22. Because of the blind command of Napoleon Iii, in the first major battle, the Battle of Weissenburg, the Prussians fought the French with ten times the number of troops. Then, in the Battle of Volta two days later, the ratio of troops between the Prussians and France was 130,000 against 40,000. The result was naturally self-evident.

The following battles were basically the same. In almost every battle, Prussia had more than three times the number of troops to fight the French army.

Don't ask why this was so, this question could only be answered by Napoleon Iii. Anyway, this was history. Who knew why he commanded the troops to die?

In Paris, the French people had already begun to celebrate. Thanks to the newspapers helping them spread strategic knowledge, many French people thought that this marked the establishment of France's hegemony in the Mediterranean.

Although this had not been recognized by the United Kingdom and Austria, it could not stop the French people from celebrating. The annexation of the Regions of Italy had become the consensus of the French radical groups.

The reaction of the Government of Paris was completely different from the celebration of the people. Many people were worried that after this deal was reached, it would attract the hostility of the British.

The pro-British officials thought that this was a plot by Austria to provoke the relationship between Britain and France. This speculation was close to the truth, but it was not a conspiracy, but an open conspiracy.

The reaction of the Parisian people had already told them that if they wanted to stop this deal, there was no way.

"Friendship between Britain and France", did such a thing exist?

Any French history book could prove that there was hatred between Britain and France. Friendship was too extravagant.

The centuries-old feud between Britain and France could not be resolved in a day or two. In fact, the Government of Paris had never made such an effort.

If anyone wanted to try, please be prepared to accept the glorious title of "national traitor". Although there were many pro-British people in the government, there were still more anti-British people among the people.

Recently, Napoleon Iii was very annoyed. He suddenly realized that it was not a good thing to have too many pro-British people in the government. Even he himself was pro-British.

But in the face of interests, one's personal standpoint had to give way! Whether or not to carry out a big official purge, this was a question worth thinking about.