Chapter 776

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.

…

London

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 were secretly playing tricks on each other.

In fact, from the beginning, the British dug a pit. Supporting the French to "expand their sphere of influence" was not the same as supporting the French to expand 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 there was absolutely no support for the French to expand their territory into Central Europe.

The current French Empire was already very powerful. If they were allowed to continue expanding, they would make up for their last shortcoming, and there would be a new round of surge in strength.

Britain and France were only separated by 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 Britain, there was no problem in holding the French back.

The hatred between Britain and France had existed for hundreds of years, and it could not be resolved by a treaty. Britain and France had been enemies for hundreds of years, and could not be resolved by a alliance.

Although Russia and Austria were also enemies, because of the distance, the British government 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.

We can't let them be idle, lest they drag us down. At the same time, they have to contain Austria. "

We can't let them rest, lest they drag us down. At the same time, we need them to contain Austria. "

To satisfy these two requirements, France and Austria would have to fight each other. Sowing discord had always been the British's forte.

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.

After some consideration, Foreign Minister George nodded and said, "No problem. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will find something for them to do as soon as possible.

With the ability of the House of Habsburg to pull in allies, the French will probably suffer. " The Fao was fighting because of Belgium and Germany. Once the conflict escalated, as the center of the storm, Belgium and Germany would not be able to get away.

The Fao was fighting because of Belgium and Germany. Once the conflict escalated, Belgium and Germany, as the center of the storm, would not be able to get away.

Even because the Government of France did not pay attention to their table manners, their international reputation fell 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 balance the French.

In the absence of a war, the Government of France would definitely suffer a loss if the Fao and Germany fought.

As for a real fight, George could not judge the result. After all, the French were 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?

As soon as the alliance was established, they hurriedly reached out to Central Europe. They didn'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, Franz had learned his lesson from history, so he chose to hold it in for the time being and pretend that he knew 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 until after the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian war. "

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. Perhaps, 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 unexpected to Franz.

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, it was a foregone conclusion. 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 been 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.

Apart from satisfying domestic consumption, it was rarely exported to the outside world. Domestic food processing companies also began to import Russia's food.

In a sense, under the background of falling international food prices, the recovery of Russia's economy was also caused by Austria's grain reduction policy.

However, this kind of good days would soon be gone forever. No matter how much production was cut, Austria's agricultural volume was still there.

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 would definitely need to be digested by the market.

With Britain and France playing self-sufficient, the international food market not only did not grow, but 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 buyers 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 would be unlucky.

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-sufficiency 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 it, they suddenly realized that the Russian Empire was 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.