Chapter 864

The neighbors began to prepare for war, and the Government of France naturally had no choice. At this point, even if they did not start a war, the Government of France could only follow suit.

Anyway, Napoleon Iv did not believe in the so-called good-neighborly friendship. With the relationship between France and the surrounding countries, once there was an imbalance of power, someone would come to the door in minutes.

In this era of the law of the jungle, being weak was the biggest sin, not to mention that everyone already had a grudge against each other.

Since ancient times, the expansion of the army was considered a prelude to war. The actions of the Government of France once again exacerbated everyone's panic, and for a time, the European continent was in the midst of a storm.

…

London

British Foreign Minister George pointed to the map of Europe on the wall and said, "The plan has been going well so far.

Although Austria was not encouraged to send troops to unify the German Region, the French have taken the bait.

Affected by the tense situation, the Government of Paris has begun to expand its army. It is impossible to turn back after taking this step.

The only trouble is that there are too many countries involved. The diplomacy of the Government of France is really rubbish. They haven't found a single ally, not even the Spanish.

According to the current situation, if we don't help, Austria is very likely to form an anti-French coalition force after the outbreak of war, pulling countries such as Germany, Switzerland, and France to besiege the French. "

Expanding the army for war was not a child's play, especially when the situation was tense. As soon as the government expanded its army, it sent a war signal to the outside world.

Capitalists would increase investment in military-related fields, and the original military enterprises would also expand their production capacity in the shortest time possible.

France had just had an outbreak of overcapacity and unemployment. With the wind of war, the enterprises were revived and the workers found jobs again.

If they wanted to stop, the capitalists would first not agree. They couldn't see a return on their investment. The workers, who had just been re-employed, would also not agree.

Driven by interests, the outbreak of war was a matter of time. What the Government of France could decide was who to fight and where to start.

Prime Minister Gladstone nodded. The French had no allies, which was the basis for the alliance between Britain and France.

It was just that the current situation was a little out of their expectations. One move would cause all the neighbors to be on guard.

"I remember that the Spanish government was supported by the French, and the relationship between France and Spain has been very good in the past decade. There is no reason for them to turn to Austria, right?"

After the Spanish revolution, the Bourbon royal family went into exile in France. Napoleon III made a deal with the Bourbons. In exchange for Alfonso XII's ascension to the throne, the Bourbons would not make trouble for him.

After Alfonso XII came to power, the relationship between France and Spain rapidly heated. The outside world had always suspected that there was a secret alliance between France and Spain.

With such a relationship, without a particularly large conflict of interest, the possibility of the two countries falling out was very small.

George explained, "The relationship between France and Spain has indeed been friendly for a period of time, but the conflict between the two countries is even greater.

Especially after the death of Alfonso XII and the regency of Austria's Archduchess Maria Christina, Spain's foreign policy underwent a fundamental change, from the original pro-French to pro-Austrian.

The current relationship between France and the West could only be maintained on the surface. It was far from being an ally.

The relationship between France and France was to be, but it on. It was was to be. After receiving the loan, the Spanish government immediately announced the expansion of five infantry divisions.

In the past month, Austria has issued loans of different amounts to Belgium, the German Confederation, and Switzerland.

The Government of France was very slow to react. After the incident, they did not take the right measures to win over the countries. Instead, they sent people to warn and threaten. "

As good neighbors, France and Spain had never been at war. The House of Habsburg had also made outstanding contributions in this regard.

But that was hundreds of years ago, and there was no longer any hatred. What the Spanish remembered was the war against France.

If the British defeated the myth of the invincible fleet and pulled Spain from the position of sea hegemony, then Napoleon was the terminator of the Spanish empire.

Mexico, Central America, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, and more than a dozen other countries. Tens of millions of square meters of land became independent because of the war against France.

It was impossible to say that the Spanish had no resentment. It was just that France was powerful and Spain was weak. There were a lot of internal contradictions, so they had to endure.

No matter how they endured, the relationship between France and Spain would not be good with this hatred. When Alfonso XII was alive, because of the grace of restoration, the relationship between the two sides was good.

After Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria became regent, there was no longer a pro-French monarch. The anti-French voices in the country naturally rose.

Minister of Finance George Childes said, "From this point of view, the Government of France's approach is not wrong.

They have a bad relationship with their neighbors. If they want to win over allies, they have to pay a higher cost.

Just the promise of benefits, no one will believe it. They are no match for Austria in terms of financial resources.

Their only advantage is the prestige of the French army. If they can't win over these countries, they can deter them.

Anyway, they are a bunch of fence-sitters. As long as France remains strong enough, these guys will not dare to act rashly.

Moreover, the Government of France is used to being strong. If they suddenly put down their status to win over other countries, it will give everyone bad ideas. "

This was fair. Winning over allies was really not France's strength. If they wanted to compete with Austria in this area, other than laborious, it would be difficult to have any substantial effect. It was not as effective as force.

Gladstone frowned. The situation of the French was worse than expected. Force was indeed effective, but if the Fao and France were in a stalemate on the battlefield, these countries would be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Franz was well-known for his generosity to his allies, especially when it came to being generous at the expense of others. There was absolutely nothing to complain about.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must find a way to keep the countries neutral. Otherwise, if the five countries join forces, the French have no chance of winning at all!"

The French were confident. That was decades of propaganda. The senior government officials grew up listening to this sentence, and subconsciously thought that the French Army was invincible.

The onlookers saw the game more clearly than the players.

Gladstone was not so confident in the combat effectiveness of the French Army. In his impression, the French Army was indeed the best in the world, but being the best did not mean being invincible.

Even ants could kill an elephant. France did not have the confidence to win against Austria in a one-on-one battle. If a few more opponents were added, the war would not be able to be fought.

Britannia wanted both Fao and France to suffer losses, not to allow Austria to take advantage of the situation. Now, they had no choice but to take sides.

Foreign Minister George shook his head. "This is difficult to do unless the French attack Austria from the Regions of Italy. We have a way to keep the countries neutral.

Otherwise, we can only let Spain remain neutral, and at most, add Switzerland.

They are neutral. As long as the French do not take the initiative to find trouble, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is confident in convincing the Swiss government to remain neutral. "

There was no other way. France and Austria were against each other because of Belgium and the German Confederation. The French wanted to invade their land, and it was impossible to make Belgium and Germany neutral.

Prime Minister Gladstone nodded helplessly. Originally, Belgium and Germany were the little brothers they supported, but now they had to give up for the interests of the empire.

Thinking of this, Gladstone had a headache again. Both Belgium and Germany were part of the Gotha Dynasty. If the French were defeated, it would be fine. If the French won the war, the Gotha Dynasty would suffer a great loss.

If she knew that he was the one who planned this incident, Queen Victoria would probably have the heart to kill him. Now, Gladstone did not dare to go to the palace.