On September 11, 1890, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Greece, and Austria closed their trade channels with France at the same time, and the material embargo officially began.
For a time, the European continent was in a state of panic. Everyone knew that this was a sign of the coming storm, and the European War was probably inevitable.
Persuade the French to give in?
The Anti-French Alliance's material embargo directly forced the Government of Paris into a corner. Taking a step back wasn't the sea and the sky, but the abyss and hell.
Persuade the Anti-French Alliance to calm down?
That was even worse. The Anti-French Alliance was the victim. If the French hadn't been ambitious enough to invade Central Europe, this wouldn't have happened at all.
The public was only worried that the European War would be a disaster, not how much they loved peace. True pacifists couldn't be in power.
In the Palace of Versailles, Napoleon Iv, with dark circles under his eyes, once again held a political meeting. There was no other way. Waiting was the most worrying thing.
With the development of the situation, the original intention to get benefits from Belgium and Germany had now evolved into a decisive battle to determine the future fate of France.
Foreign Minister Karel Kadlec: "Austria has begun to form an anti-French alliance, and has now drawn Belgium, the North German Confederation, Greece, and Montenegro to join.
Switzerland and the Netherlands have begun to waver, anti-French voices in the Spanish government are also rising, and the mainstream public opinion in Europe is mostly inclined to the anti-French alliance.
Recently, Austria has strengthened its ties with the Nordic Federation and Portugal. If we continue to delay, the situation will only become more and more disadvantageous for us. "
Imagination was the most terrible thing. The Government of Austria frequently contacted politicians from various countries and announced that it was to strengthen business cooperation.
It would have been better if the Government of Austria didn't explain, but Karel Kadlec couldn't help but be suspicious of this explanation.
In the era of free trade, most governments didn't interfere with economic operations, so there was no cooperation at all.
In fact, although Austria had frequent contacts with other countries, they didn't sign a treaty, at least not on the surface.
Karel Kadlec didn't know the specific content of the negotiations, but he still received news that the talks were very pleasant.
Whether it was deliberately to disgust France or really intended to join the anti-French alliance, it wasn't a good thing for the Government of France.
Prime Minister Terence Burkin: "Not only are we having trouble with diplomacy, but we're also having trouble with the procurement of strategic supplies.
In just a few months, the price of strategic procurement we plan to purchase has almost doubled, and the price of some commodities has even doubled.
Many countries have raised tariffs with us in the name of stabilizing domestic prices, greatly increasing the procurement costs of enterprises.
Affected by the shortage of raw materials, some domestic enterprises have begun to cut production, which is very bad for the upcoming war.
All signs point to the fact that all of this is being manipulated by Austria. They are trying to use these methods to defeat us outside the battlefield! "
The war between great powers is not only on the battlefield, but also outside of France.
In this respect, France was undoubtedly at a disadvantage. Austria's foreign trade volume was several times that of France, and its domestic market far exceeded that of France.
Austria, Austria, Austria, and Austria, and Were. Coupled with the influence of historical issues, the French government was almost certain to be at a disadvantage.
Napoleon Iv frowned. "It can't be that serious. If the European countries really supported the anti-French alliance, they would have joined the blockade against us a long time ago.
As long as they all join in, we can't go against all the countries. Abandoning the Central European strategy is inevitable.
The current situation is more like Austria's manipulation, pulling the other countries to prepare a big show for us, trying to throw us into chaos. "
After being emperor for so many years, Napoleon Iv was no longer a newbie. There were no secrets in politics, and national politics and diplomacy revolved around interests.
From the perspective of interests, analyzing what was best for a country, one could roughly guess what each country wanted to do.
There was no doubt that Fao and Austria would be in everyone's best interest if both sides suffered. Under such circumstances, other than Peter and the other two countries involved, who could not avoid it, everyone else was just there to watch the show.
Except for countries like Greece and Montenegro, who had no choice but to support Austria, the rest of the countries had no reason to join the anti-French alliance.
In Napoleon Iv's eyes, what the other countries were doing now was adding fuel to the fire, cheering for Austria, and strengthening their determination to go to war with France.
Economic Minister Erza said, "Your Majesty, we can't delay any longer. When we finish preparing for war, the enemy will also finish preparing for war.
We are not a member of the free trade system, and in terms of purchasing strategic materials, we are at a disadvantage. Our domestic economy is also slightly worse than Austria's, and we are not suitable for a protracted war with Austria. "
Napoleon Iv understood that it wasn't the ministers who were anxious, but the capitalists in the country who were anxious.
After confirming that the Government of France was going to implement the Central European strategy, the capitalists started to produce at full speed.
As time passed, the goods in everyone's hands increased day by day, and the liquidity decreased day by day. The war still hadn't broken out, and everyone was anxious even if they didn't want to.
If there was a major change in the middle of the war, or if the war was delayed for three to five years, everyone would be finished.
The goods sold were the money, and the goods in their hands were not assets, but liabilities, because storage also required costs.
The government could think about purchasing in advance, but it was impossible to achieve. The reason was very simple: the Government of France didn't have that many warehouses to store goods.
In this context, if the capitalists wanted to use up the inventory in their hands, they could only let the war break out earlier.
The ministers clamored for the war to be brought forward, not because they were bought over, but mainly because they knew that they couldn't stop it.
Either the government would take the initiative to start the war, or the capitalists would start the war, and no one knew how the situation would develop.
Before Napoleon Iv could make a decision, the attendant hurriedly shouted outside the door, "Your Majesty, urgent military news from the frontline."
The situation in Europe was already very tense, and no one would be surprised even if the anti-French alliance attacked first.
Hearing the urgent military news, Napoleon Iv naturally didn't dare to delay, "Bring it in quickly!"
…
A moment later, Napoleon Iv said slowly, "There's news from the frontline. Three soldiers were suddenly attacked by the enemy when they were patrolling at the border between us and Belgium. Two are dead, and one is missing."
It wasn't the first time there was a conflict at the border, but it had never happened before.
Due to the tense situation, the border had already been heavily guarded, and the soldiers patrolled in groups, not too far away from each other.
Under normal circumstances, if there was an accident, the surrounding troops would immediately arrive. It was understandable that they were dead, but it was intriguing that they were missing.
As long as the Belgium and Germany weren't stupid, they wouldn't do such a strange thing. But at this critical juncture, no one would care that much.
Whether it was reasonable or not, the Government of France wanted to start a war, and this was a ready-made excuse for it.
Even though he knew that there was a problem, Napoleon Iv couldn't investigate further. Otherwise, if he found out something, it would be the Government of France that would be embarrassed.
But it was inevitable that they would be unhappy, because the dead were French soldiers. They didn't die on the battlefield, but because some people wanted to start a war in advance, they were met with an unexpected disaster.
Everyone lowered their heads and didn't say a word. They were also in a difficult position after this happened!
It was fine if it was earlier or later, but not now.
Everyone had just persuaded the Emperor to start a war, and immediately there was a pretext for war. No matter how they looked at it, it seemed like they were forcing the Emperor to abdicate.
This kind of misunderstanding was very fatal in politics. If it were a stronger Emperor, they could go home now.
Under Napoleon Iv's sharp gaze, Prime Minister Terence Burkin braced himself and said, "Your Majesty, for this to happen, we should immediately hold Belgium accountable.
Order the Kingdom of Belgium to hand over the murderer within 48 hours, release the captured soldiers, and compensate us for our losses.
Or … or else … "
Seeing Napoleon Iv's increasingly ugly expression, in the end, Prime Minister Terence Burkin couldn't continue, and his voice became intermittent.
As if feeling that it was about time, Napoleon Iv retracted his murderous gaze and said coldly, "Do as the Prime Minister says, but it's best not to cause any more trouble."
