Chapter 668

On October 7, 1866, the Government of Sudan submitted an ultimatum to the Russian Minister, demanding that the Russians hand over the Constantinople within 48 hours, or it would be war.

This war ultimatum did not wait for 48 hours. The Russian Minister who received the ultimatum immediately replied, "Then let's go to war!"

The Osman Empire's preparations for war were so big, how could it be hidden from the Russians? As an old enemy, the Tsarist government had never relaxed their surveillance of the Osman Empire.

The Russian Foreign Ministry was also trying to rope in the Osman Empire, but they could not offer any benefits, so it was naturally in vain.

Seeing that the Government of Sudan was mobilizing, Alexander II Of Russia knew that war was inevitable.

He was sure when he opened the map. The Osman Empire did not have many choices. There were only three neighbors.

The geographical location determined that Persia would not be easy to fight. Even if they won, there would not be much profit. The Government of Sudan did not need to fight in the weak areas.

Austria did not dare to fight, or rather, could not touch. The Sinai Peninsula was next to them, and they were separated by the vast desert. They wanted to attack the The Balkans by sea, but they did not have the strength. There was no chance to land.

Only Russia was left. The Black Sea Fleet was completely annihilated in the Near East War, and due to financial constraints, it had not recovered after so many years.

With the support of Britain and France, it was possible to attack the Caucasus region or the Constantinople. It was too easy to seal the Bosporus Strait, which was a few hundred meters wide. It could be done directly with artillery.

The Government of Sudan's painstakingly prepared excuse for war directly turned into a farce.

The Constantinople had gathered 80,000 Russian Troops, and the Russian Army in the The Balkans had a total of 150,000 troops. Relatively speaking, the Caucasus region was the weak point.

Both sides had declared war, so the war still had to be fought. This time, the Osman finally had an absolute advantage in military strength, so they naturally had to do something big.

In St. Peter's Castle, Alexander II Of Russia received the news of the Osman's declaration of war, and his brows furrowed even tighter. It was not a good thing that there were more and more enemies.

The Russian Empire's war potential was actually almost unleashed. Limited by transportation and productivity, this was already the largest force they could mobilize.

Five to six hundred thousand troops in Eastern Europe had to fight with the Polish and Polish coalition forces. At present, there was no opportunity to win the war. In order to prevent Sweden from taking advantage of the situation, 50,000 troops were deployed in the Northern European region.

There were seventy to eighty thousand troops deployed in the Far East, but because the area they ruled was too vast, there were not many troops that could be sent to the battlefield.

In Central Asia, more than three hundred thousand Russian soldiers were engaged in a bitter battle with the enemy, or rather, they were being suppressed by the enemy. This part of the army was basically recruited at the last minute. It would be good if they could stabilize the battle lines.

The Balkans seemed to have enough troops, but in fact, the 150,000 Russian troops could only defend Constantinople. Fortunately, the French had sold their Balkan colonies to Austria, otherwise they would have had another potential enemy.

More troops were needed in the Caucasus region as well. No one could guarantee that the Sudanese government was not a diversion. If they lost the Caucasus region, the enemy could kill all the way to the Volga River Basin.

The Russian Army was fighting hard on the battlefield. In order to support the war, the domestic economy had been seriously affected. Fighting a war of attrition was the most painful. Unable to put in more troops, the human wave tactic could not be used. This was a serious challenge for the Russian Army.

Worse, the European countries had seen the Russian Empire. The so-called Russian Army of a million was a joke. In any battlefield, the Tsarist government could not put in a million troops.

What was worse was that the European countries had seen the Russian Empire. The so-called Russian Army of a million was a joke. The Tsarist government could not put in a million troops on any battlefield.

These changes also affected the relationship between Russia and Austria. The Austrians felt that the alliance was dispensable, and the Russians felt that the Austrian ally did not contribute.

Kristanval whispered, "Your Majesty, after the outbreak of the war with the Osman, our trading partner is only Austria.

This year's fiscal revenue will probably hit the lowest record in 30 years. Next year, it may continue to decline. "

Such a change made the Minister of Finance have no confidence to speak. Although the responsibility was not on them, they had no money and the problem fell on them.

Fortunately, they had made a fortune from the Jews. Otherwise, the Tsarist government would have gone bankrupt. Even so, Kristanval did not dare to relax.

This kind of windfall could not be found every day. According to the current situation, it would not be long before they faced a financial crisis again.

Alexander II Of Russia asked indifferently, "How low will it be?"

"This year's fiscal revenue will fall to about 150 million rubles. If the war continues, it may fall to 120 million rubles next year."

Kristanval's voice became smaller and smaller. Before the outbreak of the war, the Tsarist government's fiscal revenue had exceeded 300 million rubles. Now it was cut in half.

The reality was cruel. The Russian Empire was now besieged. Apart from the Arctic Ocean, which was still safe, the road from Eastern Europe to the Far East was at war.

Overseas trade had shrunk sharply. The huge profits brought by food exports in the past were no longer there.

Compared with the small export trade, the import trade was growing rapidly. Russia's foreign trade was settled in gold and silver. This change caused a large outflow of domestic gold and silver.

The consequences of the loss of wealth were quickly reflected in the economy. Deflation had become a social problem that the Tsarist government could not avoid.

"It seems that the Austrians have made a lot of money again."

Alexander II Of Russia's seemingly unintentional words had already described the changes in Russian-Austrian relations. If I was unlucky, you were rich. Even the best of friends would become estranged. It was the same when it came to national relations.

No one responded to this sentence. Russian-Austrian friendship was still politically correct. Whether it was jealousy or jealousy, it could not change the fact that Tsar could not leave Austria.

…

Alexander II Of Russia was right. Austria had made a lot of money recently. Because of the war, the Bosporus Strait was blocked. Austria naturally monopolized trade with Russia.

Sweden in the Nordic region also made a small fortune. However, their national strength was limited and there were not many goods that could be exported.

In addition to trade with Russia, another benefit was that Austria's market share in agricultural products had increased. Russia's food exports could only be sold to Austria first and then sold to the international market after processing.

This hit a wave of competitors. The companies that originally bought Russia's food for processing had to rush to the international market because of the lack of raw materials.

After the war between Russia and Osman, the trading price on the international market rose by ten points in a short period of time. This was only the beginning. As long as the supply and demand relationship was not solved, food prices were likely to continue to rise.

In the mid-19th century, half of the world's population was hungry. Hundreds of thousands or even millions of people died of hunger every year.

Under this background, the food shortage in Europe was obviously not solved in a short period of time. Increasing food production was easy to say, but it was difficult to implement.

The major colonial empires did not lack land. The problem was that the initial investment to cultivate food was not small, and the market return was not high enough.

If there was a harvest, there was a high chance that it would rot in the ground. It was not that people did not need food. The bigger problem was that many people could not afford to buy food.

In this era, only European countries had the market purchasing power. Other regions were self-sufficient. Places that could not be self-sufficient could only starve.

Purchasing power limited production. When there was an emergency, the price of food would naturally rise in a short period of time. Perhaps everyone had reserves, but capitalists wanted to make money. Raising the price of food was also one of the methods.

This had little to do with Austria. No matter how the international food price changed, as the world's largest food exporter, domestic food prices were very stable.

As one of the beneficiaries, Franz's wallet was a lot fuller. This could no longer arouse Franz's interest. At the critical moment of the industrial revolution, it was obvious that new industries had more "prospects".

Foreign Minister Wesenberg frowned and said, "Your Majesty, Russia's envoy informed us that they will raise tariffs because of the war."

Franz frowned. Raising tariffs was bound to affect the trade between the two countries. But did the current Russian Empire really have the capital to raise tariffs?

Without understanding the Tsarist government's plan, Franz was too lazy to care.

"Maybe it's time to raise the price of our exports!"

Wool comes from the sheep's back. Raising tariffs would cause the price of goods to rise. This was a normal business law.

Perhaps raising tariffs could protect some industries in Russia. However, it was an era of war. The biggest trade between the two countries was strategic goods.

These were necessities. The Tsarist government had to accept the price increase. Wouldn't raising tariffs now give capitalists an excuse to raise prices?

This price increase would definitely exceed the tariff increase. In the end, the Tsarist government would suffer losses.

Franz was sure that this decision was definitely not made by Alexander II Of Russia. It was obviously shooting himself in the foot. Alexander II Of Russia was not such a fool.

Either the Tsarist government had financial problems, and the bureaucrats made a stupid policy in a hurry. Or it was pushed by domestic capitalists in an attempt to obtain greater benefits.

The truth was covered up. No one would have thought that Alexander II Of Russia's words would make his bureaucrats think and make a stupid decision. This ended the honeymoon period between Russia and Austria.

If Alexander II Of Russia knew about this, he would definitely regret it.

This decision did protect many domestic industries. On the surface, it seemed to be a good policy. At the beginning of industrial development, protecting national industries was beneficial to the development of domestic industries.

However, before the benefits were reflected, the consequences had already occurred. The Tsarist government soon paid a painful price for this.

Because tariffs increased the price of imported goods from Austria. In order to save money, the Tsarist government chose to purchase goods from domestic companies. A sinkhole was about to be formed.

…