Chapter 851

After entering the 19th century, the world became more and more polarized. "The strong countries became stronger, and the weak countries became weaker." The international landscape had undergone earth-shaking changes.

The old empires had seized the opportunity of the industrial revolution and occupied a large amount of resources first. For their own interests, they had begun to suppress the latecomers.

Britain and Austria's move this time seemed to be to curb the expansion of France, but in fact, it was also a collision between the old and new imperialist countries.

Not every country was like the United States, which had abundant resources and markets. If a new country wanted to rise, it was necessary to seize enough resources and markets. This was the contradiction between the old and new empires.

The Kingdom of Prussia was not weak, and if it annexed the Kingdom of Poland, it would become even stronger. With enough strength, but without the resources to match, the Kingdom of Prussia was bound to be a challenger to order in the future.

This had nothing to do with whether the government was peace-loving or not. It would be fine if they didn't develop the industry, but once the industry was developed, raw materials and markets would be the source of motivation for them to challenge the world order.

The rise of the original German Empire was too fast, and the British overestimated the strength of the French. By the time they reacted, it was already too late, and they could only fight a world war.

In contrast, the Americans rising on the other side of the ocean were much luckier. They had enough resources to disguise themselves as a non-threatening "Uncle Sam" and successfully avoided the suppression of the old empires.

After a long silence, Foreign Minister Jeffrey Friedman said, "There's something wrong with the situation. The Anglo-Austrian conspiracy should be highly confidential. How could we find out so easily?

You know, this doesn't just involve us, it also involves the French. Even if the Government of Paris is unstable internally, they won't let Britain and Austria plot against them. "

The biggest loophole was that the intelligence came too easily. There might not be more than ten people who knew about such a conspiracy, and all of them were high-level officials in the country. Under normal circumstances, there was no possibility of a leak.

William I's eyes lit up, and he asked expectantly, "Are you saying that one of Britain and Austria deliberately leaked it? This alliance is not solid, and it's just a temporary alliance because of interests?"

Jeffrey Friedman shook his head. "No, both Britain and Austria do want to take the Rhineland region from us. It's just that they might have a disagreement on how to hand it over to the German Federal Empire.

The German Federal Empire was in a state of disunity. That was because the Kingdom of Hanover, which led the central government, had limited strength.

Hanover's territory was only 40% of the country, and its population and economy were less than one-third of the country.

Due to the influence of the system, the German Federal Empire's highest authority, the Reichstag still retained the traditional system. No matter what the central government wanted to do, the Reichstag could easily.

After so many years, the German Confederation was still the same. Hanover had tried to integrate the country several times, but the Imperial Parliament had vetoed it.

The German region had been divided for hundreds of years, and everyone was used to state politics. It was almost impossible to change this situation.

However, things would be different with the addition of the Rhineland region. If the Rhineland region was directly under the jurisdiction of the central government, the balance of power would change.

Even if the Kingdom of Hanover alone wanted to overturn the table, it was no match for a bunch of states working together. However, the central government of the Rhineland region had an absolute advantage.

"The Kingdom of Hanover will not be a match for the" German Federal Empire "even if they want to overturn the table. But the" Rhineland "would give the" German Federal Empire ".

"" Hanover is not good for Austria to implement the "German Federal Empire" strategy. That was exactly what the British wanted to do. There had been serious differences between Britain and Austria from the beginning.

"Maybe the talks broke down, and the Government of Vienna decided to destroy the British's plan, so they leaked the news."

This was close to the truth. Now that the news was leaked, it was impossible to complete the original plan.

"" Not only the outside world, but the German Federal Empire will not agree to it. "" The central government wanted to take over the "Rhineland". Not only will the small countries not pay, but they will also use the Reichstag to veto the land transaction.

"" Unless it is done secretly, the German Confederation will not even be able to handle it internally.

"" It was a loose federation, not much different from medieval Germany. What can the emperor do if the vassal states don't buy it?

"" With the Kingdom of Hanover's strength, they don't even have the power to unify the German Confederation. "" Furthermore, Austria is still eyeing us. If we are not careful, we will lose our lives.

"" William I rubbed his forehead. He is over 70 years old, and he is not as energetic as before. This complicated international situation is too much of a brain-drain.

He is very conflicted now. On the one hand, he doesn't want to see the German Federal Empire grow stronger and increase the pressure on the Kingdom of Prussia's defense. On the other hand, he wants the German Federal Empire to become stronger and cut off Austria's path to unifying Germany.

At this time, he is very regretful. If he was willing to take the risk and divide the German Region with Austria, the situation now will be very different.

"" Sigh! "

William I sighed and said, "" We don't have much choice. I'm afraid it's not just England and Austria who want to take the Rhineland from us.

"The Government of Paris probably has the same idea. After all, whether the Rhineland becomes independent, falls into the hands of the German Federal Empire, or merges with Belgium, it will be easier to get than staying in our hands.

"What do you think we should do now that is more in line with our interests?"

Prime Minister Moltke said, "First of all, we exclude selling to France. If it falls into the hands of the French, the balance will be broken.

I'm afraid Austria will not be able to contain the French. No one knows if that Napoleon Iv will be the second Napoleon. It is too dangerous to allow France to grow.

"The rest is to let the Rhineland become independent or sell it to Belgium or the German Federal Empire in exchange for a sum of money.

The latter also involves the battle between England and Austria. It is another choice. "Based on the current situation, it is not suitable for us to choose a side among the big countries. It is too dangerous.

"I feel that selling it to Belgium in exchange for a sum of money is more in line with our current interests. The most important thing now is to annex Poland, digest it, and prepare for the war with Russia."

That's right, it is "current interests." In the long run, it is definitely in Prussia's interest to keep the Rhineland region.

However, this is impossible. The old empires are not stupid. Unless they give up on annexing Poland, England and Austria, who are good at playing the balance, will definitely not give up.

In the long run, even if the Rhineland region becomes independent, it is more in Prussia's interest to secretly control the Rhineland region than to sell it.

In the short term, it is different. The Government of Berlin is poor. Even if they can secretly control the Rhineland region, that is a matter of the future. It is better to solve the financial crisis first.

If they sell it to the German Confederation, they must choose a side. Now that the Government of Berlin owes a huge debt to the British, they can only choose the side of the British.

Now that they have offended Austria, what about the future war between Prussia and Russia?

According to the plan, the Government of Berlin is prepared to rope in Austria to completely destroy the Russian Empire. If they don't solve the problem of Russia, Prussia will never be able to live in peace.

War Minister Ron: "It is not that simple. Don't forget about the French. If the Government of Paris takes the risk of sending troops to occupy the Rhineland region, what should we do?

I don't think Austria will fight the French for the Rhineland region. If they want to fight, they would have done it when France annexed Italy.

I don't think the Government of Vienna's strategy is to unify the German Region. Austria's territory is big enough, and the population is big enough. They don't lack anything.

From what the Government of Vienna is doing, this is more like a political slogan. Austria has already occupied half of the Balkans, and now they are attacking the Osman Empire.

If everything goes well and they occupy the Asia Minor peninsula, the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea will be their territory. They will simply be the second Byzantine Empire. "

Rebuilding the Byzantine Empire. This ambition is no less than unifying the German Region. Austria didn't talk about rebuilding the Byzantine Empire, but people can't help but think about the territory.

William I interrupted, "What Austria wants to do is not something we can stop. If they really have such a big ambition, it is also a good thing for us.

If they want to rebuild the Byzantine Empire, the biggest conflict of interest with them is the Russians and the French. Since the Government of Vienna allowed France to annex the Regions of Italy, then the next target should be the Russians.

Before the fall of the Russian Empire, we can all work together. However, the House of Habsburg is best at diplomacy, not military affairs.

Franz is one of the best. After succeeding the throne, Austria used diplomatic means to expand. I don't think they will suddenly become so radical. It is likely that they deliberately put out a smoke bomb. "

…

The Government of Berlin was in a dilemma, but the Government of Paris was very lively. The factions in the government were constantly fighting. The Republican Party, the Orleans Party, and the Orthodox Party, which were suppressed by Napoleon Iii, were all active.

Napoleon Iv's prestige wasn't enough, and he didn't have the ability to suppress the political forces. He could only follow the plan left by Napoleon Iii, which was to play a balance between the factions.

The imperial power was secured, but the internal strife had become more serious. Unfortunately, the factions were brought into the government's work. It was more common to oppose for the sake of opposition.

The French Empire, which was feared by all parties, couldn't make a decision at this time, which gave Napoleon Iv a headache.

If it wasn't for his father's instructions, he would have acted arbitrarily and made the decision directly. Fortunately, he held back, or he would soon know how low the limit of the bureaucrats was.