Chapter 845

While the British were taking action, the other countries weren't idle either, especially Prussia, Russia, Poland, and Osman, who were in the center of the whirlpool.

In order to obtain the diplomatic support of the European countries, the diplomats of the four countries were like diligent bees, constantly shuttling back and forth between the embassies.

France, Austria, and Germany, who were also in the center of the whirlpool, seemed to be in a dream and didn't move at all.

Hummel knew that things weren't as simple as they seemed. It wasn't that they didn't want to move, but that they couldn't. Dealing with the changes by remaining unchanged was Austria's best choice.

He also understood why the French didn't move. Thanks to the illustrious reputation left behind by Napoleon, the European countries still hadn't let down their guard against France.

Under such circumstances, no matter what the Government of Paris did, the European countries wouldn't give up on their fear of them.

If they wanted to annex the Rhineland, apart from Monaco, which was controlled by the French, any other country in Europe would stand against them.

The smaller countries could still threaten and bribe them to maintain their neutrality, but what about the larger countries? Even if they wanted to make a deal, France couldn't afford the price. Since it was destined to be useless, why waste their energy?

The German Federal Empire didn't move, which made Hummel puzzled. If they wanted to snatch the Rhineland from the tiger's mouth, it would be impossible without the support of the European countries.

If they left everything to the British, would they just sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor? Did they think John Bull was doing charity? How could they let them do it for free without enough benefits?

It was impossible for the German Federal Empire to not be interested in the Rhineland. If they took over the Rhineland, it would be a great boost to their domestic heavy industry.

They didn't move at all and just let the British handle it. Weren't they afraid of being sold by John Bull?

After all, there were many countries that were interested in the Rhineland region. Other than the French, Belgium was also a competitor.

Under normal circumstances, Belgium was too weak and would only think about it in secret. But if they had the support of the major powers, it might be different.

If the German Federal Empire could buy the Rhineland, Belgium could do the same.

To the Kingdom of Prussia, rather than letting the Rhineland fall into the hands of the German Federal Empire, it would be more beneficial for them to give it to Belgium.

It wasn't the best choice to give the Rhineland to Belgium, but as long as it didn't fall into the hands of the French, the Government of London could accept it.

Knowing that there was a competitor, the German Federal Empire still trusted the British. there had to be some unknown secrets.

Hummel ordered, "Holls, send a message to Vienna immediately. Tell their intelligence organization to investigate the insider trading between England and Germany as soon as possible."

"Yes, Your Excellency!" Holles, the secretary, replied.

Halls replied.

The London Conference was formally held on July 20, 1874. At the conference, the Polish Foreign Minister, W Flublewski, denounced the Russian invasion of Poland and made three proposals to the International Conference:

1. Condemning and punishing the Russian crime of aggression against Poland;

The immediate withdrawal of the Russian troops from Poland;

Third, the Tsarist government must compensate the Polish Kingdom for the war losses.

There was no doubt that the Poles' proposal received diplomatic support from the European countries, who all condemned the Russian atrocities.

Perhaps it was to make things difficult for the Russians, or perhaps there were other calculations, the British Foreign Minister, Macklin, who presided over the meeting, proposed a vote.

The result was one-sided. Of the representatives from Britain, France, Austria, Russia, Prussia, Poland, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Greece, Montenegro, Northern Europe, and Osman, 13 voted for Poland.

Austria and Montenegro abstained. The only vote against was cast by the Russians themselves. It was a veto. Because Russia objected, the resolution was voided.

Hummel was confused. He didn't know what the British were trying to do. This international conference wasn't binding, and the countries didn't sign the relevant treaty.

Other than making the Russia representative look bad, it didn't have any effect. Everyone could verbally support Poland, but if they wanted other countries to send troops to intervene in the Russian-Polish war, they should just forget about it.

Hummel didn't doubt the British's ability to fool people. If the Government of London was willing to spend a lot of money, it wouldn't be a problem to convince the Kingdom of Prussia.

Obviously, the British didn't support the Prussia to fight the war. The input and output were not proportional.

If the Russians were defeated, the Government of Berlin would go back on its debt, and all the British investment would be wasted.

It wasn't that the Government of Berlin wanted to go back on its debt, but at that point, they really couldn't pay back the money.

War was a gold-swallowing monster. The debt owed in the last Prussia war, the Government of Berlin paid less than one-third. What could they use to pay again?

Even if they won the war and got rich spoils of war, these spoils couldn't be cash. Most of them were real estate and land, which couldn't be converted into wealth in a short time.

Even because of the war, more money needed to be invested to develop the newly occupied areas. For a long time, the contribution of these new territories to the treasury was negative.

Unless the British continued to increase loans and let the Government of Berlin borrow new debt to pay the old debt, the Kingdom of Prussia without money was doomed to go back on its debt.

…

In the Palace of Vienna, after receiving what happened at the London Conference, Franz's face changed dramatically. The seemingly ordinary vote, in fact, was hidden with killing intent.

The Russians didn't feel it because they were isolated. Even if they went against the European countries, the situation wouldn't be worse.

If it was another country, it would be different. Ignoring the attitude of the European countries required the capital to ignore the European countries.

There were only two countries on the European continent that weren't afraid of being hostile. One was the Russian Empire. They had a lot of debt, and they had a geographical advantage. The vast territory plus the cold winter made the Russian Empire invincible.

Other than that, there was only Britannia, which was isolated overseas. Even if everyone was unhappy with them, with the strait as a barrier, and the Royal Navy's strength, they couldn't do anything to them.

Other European countries were different. If they wanted to survive on the continent, they couldn't make themselves the enemy of the world. Every time they stood on the opposite side of the European countries, it meant that the crisis was closer.

Napoleon's example had already told everyone: without a superior strategic position, without the strength to challenge the European continent, it was best not to be reckless.

Franz was certain that the British weren't targeting the Russians this time. The declining Russian Empire wasn't worth their effort.

Other than the Fao and France, there was no third party that was worth the British's effort. Now that the Government of Paris was still fighting, it was unlikely that they would do anything in the short term, so it was most likely targeted at Austria.

"The British have already made their move. How do you think we should deal with it?"

Prime Minister Felix: "Your Majesty, it depends on what the British want to do. At present, there aren't many places that we can be targeted, and there are even fewer places that are worth the British's effort.

The British's little tricks at this time are either to mess up our strategy of German unification, or to destroy our eastward expansion plan.

If it's the former, they will most likely start with the German Federal Empire. Nominally, our strategy of German unification is only left with this last link.

However, the German Federal Empire is seriously divided internally. It looks like it has a lot of power, but the power it can exert is very limited.

Even if they can integrate the German Federal Empire, there is no way to win the hearts of the people in the short term. If they want to learn from the Kingdom of Prussia and get rid of the influence of German nationalism, it can't be done overnight.

If they are targeting the latter, then the British will want to protect the Osman Empire. This doesn't contradict our strategic goal. Anyway, the plan has been completed, and the war in the Near East just needs an excuse to stop.

Now that the British's main goal is to prevent the French from obtaining the Rhineland region, targeting us should be incidental. The British Fao still has the tripartite alliance, so the British shouldn't go too far. "

Is it that simple? Franz was very skeptical. He didn't think that the British would have such a small appetite in the end after laying so much groundwork.

Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "I remember that two days ago, our embassy in London sent a telegram to explain that the German Federal Empire's behavior is abnormal and wanted the intelligence organization to investigate the insider trading between Britain and Germany.

Combining the current situation, it can be inferred that there is a deal between Britain and Germany that is not beneficial to us. In order to prevent us from finding out, the German Federal Empire chose to be quiet.

Of course, there is a very small possibility that the British are releasing a smoke bomb, and the German Confederation is just accompanying them in a play to confuse us.

It is very easy to break out of this situation. The German Federal Empire thinks that annexing the Rhineland region is a sure thing, so we will muddy the waters.

Didn't the Belgians reveal their intention to buy the Rhineland region? Then we will make them move. With one more competitor, I think the people of Prussia will be very happy. "

It doesn't matter if we don't know the British's plan, we will first disrupt their deployment and muddy the waters.

If we let Belgium jump out at this time, the Government of London will have to make a choice. They can only support one of the two underlings, and then the relationship between the British and the one that was abandoned will definitely be affected.

After thinking for a while, Franz made a decision: "Then let's encourage Belgium to go, but this little bit of pressure is not enough.

At this point, there is no point in keeping it a secret. I think the Prussians and France have probably guessed the British's plan.

Then we might as well make things clear and let them know that we have joined forces with the British to support the German Confederation in obtaining the Rhineland region.

Let the Prussians and France jump out and directly flip the table. "