Chapter 572： Difficult choice

After entering the 19th century, the polarization of the world became more and more serious. "The stronger the stronger country, the weaker the weak country." The international pattern has undergone tremendous changes.

The old empire seized the opportunity of the industrial revolution and preempted a large amount of resources. For its own benefit, it has begun to suppress the latecomers.

The British and Austrian shots this time seem to be to curb the expansion of France, and in fact it is also a collision between the old and the new imperialist countries.

Not every country is the United States, and there are abundant resources and markets at home. If a new country wants to rise, it is bound to grab enough resources and markets. This is the contradiction between the old and new empires.

The Kingdom of Prussia is not weak, and if it annexed the Kingdom of Poland, it would be even stronger. With sufficient strength but no matching resources, the Kingdom of Prussia will be a challenger to order in the future.

It has nothing to do with whether the government loves peace. If the industry is not developed, once the industry develops, raw materials and markets are the driving force for them to challenge the world order.

The rise of the German and German empires was too fast. The British overestimated the strength of the French. When they responded, it was too late, and they could only end up in a world war.

In contrast, the Americans who rise on the other side of the ocean are more fortunate and have sufficient resources in themselves to dress themselves as "Uncle Sam" without threat, successfully avoiding the suppression of the old empire.

After a long silence, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeffrey Friedman said: "The situation is a bit wrong. The plot between Britain and Austria should be highly confidential. How could it be so easy for us to discover?

You know, this involves not only us, but also the French. Even if the Paris government is internally unstable, it will not let Britain and Austria count on them. "

Intelligence came too easily, the biggest loophole. Such a conspiracy does not necessarily involve more than ten people, and all of them are high-level national officials. Under normal circumstances, there is no possibility of leaking secrets.

William I was in front of his eyes, and looked forward to asking: "You mean that one of the British and Austrian countries intentionally leaked. This alliance is not reliable, but because the interests are temporarily united?"

Jeffrey Friedman shook his head: "No, Britain and Austria really want to take the Rhineland from us, but there may be differences over how to hand it over to the German Federal Empire.

The German Federal Empire was scattered, and the Hanover Kingdom, which dominated the central government, had limited strength and did not integrate the country's strength.

Hanover's territory is only 40% of this country, and its population and economic aggregate are less than one-third of this country.

Affected by the system, the Imperial Assembly, the supreme authority of the German Federal Empire, still retains the traditional one-nation-one-vote. Whatever the central government wants, the Imperial Parliament can easily veto it.

After all these years, the German Federation remains the same. Hanover's several attempts to integrate the country were rejected by the Imperial Parliament.

The German regions have been divided for hundreds of years. Everyone has become accustomed to state politics. It is almost impossible to change this situation.

However, it is not the same with the Rhineland region. If the Rhineland region is directly under the jurisdiction of the central government, the strength comparison will change.

Even if a Hanover kingdom wants to overturn the table, it is not the opponent of a group of states below, but the central government of the Rhineland region has the absolute advantage.

From the standpoint of the Vienna government, there is no problem in giving the Rhineland region to the German Federal Empire, but it must join as a state.

Making the Kingdom of Hannover bigger is not conducive to Austria's implementation of the German Unification Strategy. This is exactly what the British want to do. There have been serious differences between Britain and Austria since the beginning.

Maybe the talks between the two countries collapsed, and the Vienna government decided to undermine the British plan and simply broke the news. "

This is close to the truth. Now that the news leaks, it is impossible to complete the original plan.

Not only the outside world, but the German Federal Empire did not agree. The central government wants to directly manage the Rhineland. The following small states will not only not pay, but will also use the Imperial Parliament to legally veto this territorial transaction.

Unless the secret facts lead to established facts, otherwise the German Federal Government can't even figure it out internally.

It was originally a loose confederation, which was not much different from the Germans in the Middle Ages. The following vassal states did not buy it, what could the emperor do?

With the strength of the Kingdom of Hanover, even if they wanted to unify the German Federation by force, they did not have that strength. Besides, there are still Austrian tigers out there, and one is not good at putting himself in.

William I rubbed his forehead. After the age of seventy, he was not so energetic. This complicated international situation was too wasteful.

Now he is very contradictory. On the one hand, he does not want to see the development and growth of the German Federal Empire and increase the defense pressure of the Kingdom of Prussia; on the other hand, he wants the German Federal Empire to become stronger and sever the road of Austrian German reunification.

At this time he regretted it very much. If he took a risk and divided the German region with Austria, the current situation would be very different.

"Ugh!"

With a sigh, William I said: "We have little room for choice. Now I am afraid that it is not just Britain and Austria who want to take the Rhineland from us.

It is estimated that the Paris government has the same idea. After all, whether the Rhineland region is independent, falls into the hands of the German Federal Empire, or merges with Belgium, it is easier to get it than staying in our hands.

What do you think is more in our interest now? "

Prime Minister Mochi: "First of all, the sale to France is excluded. If it falls into the hands of the French, the balance will be broken.

I am afraid that Austria will not be able to restrain the French at that time, and no one knows whether that Napoleon IV is the second Napoleon. It is too dangerous to let France grow.

All that remains is to make the Rhineland region independent or to sell it to Belgium or the German Federal Empire in exchange for a sum of money.

The latter also involved the dispute between England and Austria, and was another stand-in team. From the current situation, we are not suitable to stand in the middle of a big country, this is too dangerous.

I think selling it to Belgium in exchange for a sum of money is more in our current interest. The most important thing right now is to annex Poland and then digest it, preparing for a war with the Russians. "

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

However, this is impossible, and the old empire is not stupid. Unless they give up annexing Poland, otherwise Britain and Austria, who are good at balancing the game, will not give up.

In the long run, even if the Rhineland region is to be independent, it is more in the interest of Prussia to sell it in secret.

It will be different in the short term. The Berlin government is so drowsy that even if it can secretly control the Rhineland region, that is a future thing, and it is better to solve the financial crisis first.

Selling to the German Federation requires a platoon. Now that the Berlin government owes the British a debt, the team can only stand on the British side.

Now it's refreshing, but it offends Austria. What will happen in the future?

According to the plan, the Berlin government was ready to win Austria and completely destroy the Russian Empire. Prussia will never be able to survive without solving the Russian enemy.

Secretary of the Army Ron: "It's not that simple, don't forget the French. What should we do if the Paris government ventures to occupy the Rhineland region?

I don't think that Austria will fight the French for the Rhineland region. If they want to take a shot, they will do it when France annexes Italy.

I think the strategy of the Vienna government is not to unify the German region. Austria's territory is already large enough and the population is large enough. There is nothing lacking.

Judging from the practices of the Vienna government, this is more like a political slogan for them. Austria has occupied most of the Balkans and is now attacking the Ottoman Empire.

If it progresses to occupy the Asia Minor Peninsula, the eastern coast of the Mediterranean will be their territory, which will be the second byzantine empire. "

The reconstruction of the Byzantine Empire is no less ambitious than the unification of the German region. Austria did not hesitate to rebuild the Byzantine Empire, but the territorial boundaries could not be imagined.

William I interrupted: "What Austria wants is not something we can stop. If they have such great ambitions, it will be a good thing for us.

To reproduce the Byzantine Empire, the biggest conflict with their interests was the Russians and French. From the perspective of the Vienna government allowing France to annex Italy, the Russians should be targeted first.

We can cooperate before the fall of the Russian Empire. But the Habsburgs are best at diplomacy, not military.

Franz is the best among them. After his succession, Austria's use of diplomatic means continued to expand. I don't think they will suddenly become so aggressive. This is likely to be a smoke bomb they intentionally released. "

...

The Berlin government is struggling, and the Paris government is lively. Factions in the government have been constantly struggling, and the Republicans, Orleans, and Orthodox factions suppressed by Napoleon III have become active.

Napoleon IV had insufficient prestige. He did not have the ability to suppress political forces on all sides. He could only balance among the factions according to the plan left by Napoleon III.

The imperial power is guaranteed, but the party struggle has intensified. It is unfortunate that the party's disagreement was brought into the work of the government, and it was more common to oppose it in order to oppose it.

The empire of France, which was jealous of all parties, was still unable to make a decision at this time, which caused Napoleon IV a headache.

If it wasn't for his father's account, he would have to act arbitrarily and make a decision directly. Fortunately, he held back, or he would soon know how low the bureaucratic threshold was.

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