Chapter 368： Downhole

Not only is the London government trying to find ways to help the Prussians raise money, the French are not idle either. But they are not raising money, they are busy talking.

In terms of economic development, Napoleon III can be said to be excellent. In the past ten years, the French economy has maintained rapid growth.

This is particularly evident financially. In 1851, French fiscal revenue was 1.273 billion francs. By 1864, French fiscal revenue was close to 2 billion francs.

This is still not the result of the Kingdom of Sardinia, otherwise it can add hundreds of millions. Italy's most prosperous region is not blown out.

After joining the French family, the market problems that plagued the capitalists of the Kingdom of Sardinia were finally resolved, and the local economy began to develop rapidly.

There are pros and cons, and French capitalists have killed them. The weak Sardinian local capital, obviously can not do French capital, can only use the advantages of the ground snake to compete with it.

These struggles were covered up under the circumstances of great economic development. After all, more money is earned, even if the competition is more cruel, but pockets can't fool people.

The financial revenue of nearly 2 billion francs is equivalent to nearly 80 million pounds. At this time, the revenue of the United Kingdom is less than 70 million pounds, and the income gap between the two sides is as high as 10 million pounds.

Of course, this is not to say that French economic strength has surpassed the British. In this era, the fiscal revenues of all countries were only local fiscal revenues, and colonial revenues were not calculated.

Moreover, we must also consider the fiscal distribution of the central and local governments. Different taxation methods also affect the level of fiscal revenue.

However, these figures can still prove the rapid development of the French economy. Prior to Napoleon III's succession, France's fiscal revenue was lower than that of the United Kingdom, and it has now achieved overtaking.

The fiscal revenue has increased significantly, and the Paris government has not only got rid of the financial crisis, but also has the ability to play Franc diplomacy.

The financial ability to support Prussia, and Napoleon III's desire to replace the European hegemony of the Russians did not mean that the French really needed to support Prussia.

There have always been two voices in the French government whether to support Prussia in this war:

Some people advocate assisting the Kingdom of Prussia, and they will take over the Russians to wreck the Russians and lay the foundation for France to seize continental hegemony.

Others advocate watching the Prussians defeat, taking the opportunity to seize the Rhineland region, increase the industrial strength of France, and make up for the lack of resources.

Of course, both of these ideas must be defeated by Pu-Russia, so the French government supported Prussia before the war broke out, and even aided a 50 million francs interest-free loan in advance.

Now that the war has broken out, whether or not to continue to support it has become the focus of competition between the two sides.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Allen proposed: "The gap between the strengths of the two parties is too great. Even with our support, we cannot change the outcome of the war. Continued investment of valuable funds into the Prussian government is a waste.

Now our strategic purpose has been achieved, and the Russian-Prussian War has broken out. No need to do anything, just wait to receive the Rhineland region after the war. "

Foreign Minister Abraham objected: "No, now is the weakest period of the Russians. Even if the strength of the Prussian kingdom is a little weak, they have assembled more than 700,000 troops.

Coupled with the outbreak of the Polish independence movement, which contained a large number of Russian forces, the Tsarist government may not be able to defeat the Kingdom of Prussia in one fell swoop.

As long as the war continues, the Russians will end domestic reforms because of the war.

This is what all European countries want to see, and the Vienna government will not provide much support to the Russians at this time. If the war can drag on for a year or two, the tsarist government will be defeated because of its finances. "

Finance is the shortcoming of the Russians. Alexander II's reform is underway. The social dividends brought by the reform have not yet had time to feed back to fiscal revenue.

Because the Near East War consumed a lot of financial resources, at the end of Nicholas I ’s administration, he was working to smooth out the losses of the war, and did not leave Alexander II with enough information to support a war.

It was because of the shortcomings of the Russians that the Junker nobles dared to plan this war. It is also for this reason that British talents support Prussia.

Finance Minister Allen shook his head and said, "What's the matter with the 700,000 troops in the Kingdom of Prussia? Needless to say? The maximum combat power is only 400,000, and the rest are picked up by guns.

At present, the only countries in Europe that are capable of sending out 700,000 armies are us and Russia and Austria. No matter how poor the Prussian kingdom is, their national strength has also limited their upper limit on military power.

And the Russians have more than one million active troops. To defeat the Prussian kingdom, they can not even mobilize.

Leaving aside the relations between the Russian and Austrian alliances, as long as the Tsarist government benefits Austria, the Vienna government will provide them with loans. Anyway, these benefits are cut from the Prussians.

Even if Austria's financial resources are not as good as ours, they are not far behind. It is enough to support the Russians to defeat Prussia.

Moreover, is there really no background in the Russian Empire? As an old empire, as long as the Tsarist government is willing, it can still spend a billion francs in war funding.

Putting hope on the financial collapse of the Russians, I think it is more practical to pray that God bless the Prussians to survive. "

The prerequisite for supporting the Kingdom of Prussia is that they can win, at least if they can rebuild the Russians. This investment is not wasted.

If the Prussian kingdom was dealt with by the Russians in threes and twos, all these investments would be lost. Do not expect the defeated Prussians to be able to pay their debts. Whether they can keep the country depends on whether they will continue to support them.

...

The public says that the public is reasonable, and the mother says that the woman is reasonable. The indecisive Napoleon III had a headache. Both views were very reasonable, and it was really difficult to decide.

This debate continued for many days before Napoleon III made up his mind.

"Well, I decided to provide a loan to the Kingdom of Prussia, but they will use the sovereignty of the Rhineland region as a collateral to ensure that our loan is safe."

This is a compromise solution, both supporting the Kingdom of Prussia to continue the war and creating an excuse for seizing the Rhineland.

The Kingdom of Prussia won the war, then the strategy of damaging the Russians was realized, and France was one step closer to the European hegemon. Conversely, the defeated Prussian kingdom has no money to pay off its debts, and they can take away the collateral directly.

On the surface, this is the best choice, no matter what the post-war results, they will not lose out. In fact, this is just the wishful thinking of Napoleon III.

European nations cannot watch them succeed. The British did not want to see the birth of the European hegemon, the Russians fell to the position of hegemon, and the three countries of France, Austria, and Russia restrained each other. No one could obtain an overwhelming advantage. They wanted to see it.

Geopolitical relations, even if Franz is not ready to compete in Europe, he will not let the French become the new hegemon.

The good neighbors of French, such as Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, the Italian states, the German Federal Empire, and the Kingdom of Prussia, are also reluctant to see France grow again.

The common defense treaty against France is the best weapon to contain them. How can a country hostile to its neighbours become a continental hegemon?

Rely on strength alone? Looks like the French are not so powerful. The Russians can use millions of armies to maintain their hegemony, and the French can never do it.

What kind of overlord is there without a younger overlord? Unless you have the strength to crush the continent, you can only play at home behind closed doors.

...

In Berlin, William I did not know that a quarrel had just happened in Paris that determined their fate. The Pulau-Austrian War that broke out on the European continent was completely different from the Russo-Japanese War in history.

The power that the Russians can throw in here is definitely not just two or three levels. If only the British were to support it, the London government would be too much.

With good luck, supporting the Kingdom of Prussia for tens of millions of pounds can achieve the goal. If the bad luck ends up paying hundreds of millions of pounds, it is not surprising.

Even if it is a loan, you must also consider whether the Kingdom of Prussia can pay it back. In short, it is impossible for the London government to meet all the needs of the Prussians.

Recently, the Berlin government has applied for loans to almost every European country. Mosquitoes are as small as meat, even if some small countries can only provide loans of tens of thousands of pounds, they are not dismissive.

"Just this morning, the Swiss government informed us that the joint defense treaty between the two countries will be officially lifted, and they will announce it to the outside world tomorrow," Foreign Minister Mike Kate said with a frown.

It happened too suddenly. The Swiss government made a sudden attack, which did not leave us time to recover. It seems that they are heartfelt and want to draw a line with us. "

This is obviously not good news, and the Puri Joint Defense Treaty is undoubtedly directed at Austria. Historically, it disbanded in 1866, when Austria lost the Proto-Austrian War and was unable to plan the Swiss region.

Switzerland is suddenly about to dissolve the joint defense treaty, and there must be something inside it. Do not even think that they also know that this is the handwriting of the Vienna government.

William I sighed and said, "Forget it, we can no longer take care of these minor problems. The immediate priority is the Russian-Prussian War. Now the frontline troops have engaged the Russians.

Financial aid promised by Britain and France did not arrive on time. The focus of the next work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to coordinate with Britain and France so that they can fulfill their promises as soon as possible. "

No way, the pit teammates seem to be talented in Britain and France. The London government has not coordinated with domestic consortiums in advance, and is still trying to help them raise money; the French government has delayed the fundraising process because of hoops.

In the face of life and death, the Swiss' dissolution of the joint defense treaty against Austria is not worth mentioning at all.

William I understood the Swiss government's approach very well. Now that Prussia was playing with fire, the Swiss feared that it would be normal to ignite.

Should Austria be dragged into the water because of the Russian-Austrian alliance, wouldn't they also be dragged into the war because of the joint defense treaty?

The status of an eternal neutral country did not come easily. If dragged down, the French can annex Sardinia, and Austria can annex Switzerland.

The Swiss and Habsburg families are feudal, but the strength gap between the two sides is too great, and the Swiss government simply cannot afford the courage to wage war with Austria.

The Vienna government asked them to dissolve the joint defense treaty, and the Swiss government naturally followed suit. Anyway, from the outbreak of the Prussian-Russian war, even if the joint defense treaty exists, it will not play any role.

Understanding and understanding, William I was still very angry at the downfall of the Swiss government. It's just that they really don't have the energy to manage so much. Everything will have to wait until the war is won, and lose everything.

Foreign Minister Mike Kate replied confidently: "Relax, Your Majesty. Britain and France will not look at us defeated due to insufficient funds. Now they are delaying time, nothing more than worrying about our defeat and investment.

As long as we don't fail on the battlefield, the aid they promised will be fulfilled, and it will not be paid in installments. "

As an anti-Russian vanguard, McKay always believed that the Russian Empire had decayed, and only a push of the Empire would collapse.

The Polish uprising that broke out recently. The Russians spent more than two months not only calming down, but intensified, spreading the war to Belarus, which further confirmed McKate's judgment.

These understandings are completely different from those of William I, but since it is necessary to fight the Russians, it is natural to replace these confident anti-Russians.

If a group of people with Russian phobias is employed, and every day they want to compromise with the Russians, how can this fight be fought?

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