v3 Chapter 176： Precise calculations by Prime Minister Bismarck

With Christian IX's signature confirming the repeal of the London Protocol, this led to near-war tensions between Denmark and the German Confederation in Schleswig and Holstein.

But Christian IX was not without gains. At this time, a large-scale parade broke out outside the Danish Royal Palace. The Danes supported the annexation of these two areas. This parade even made the Chief of Police of Copenhagen declare it as the safest and most patriotic parade in the history of Copenhagen. .

And the majority in the original parliament was already prepared that if it didn't sign, Christian IX would be removed from the Danish parliament, removing him from the throne, and even selecting a candidate to make King Carl XV of Sweden the Danish king. king.

The situation was tense, opinions were sharply divided, and it even aroused the concern of Danish Prime Minister Monrad, who, after the young Christian IX signed the new decree of the November Constitution, began to try to soothe the people. Anger, but the people are indifferent.

He wanted to soothe Deutsche's anger, but no one would dump him.

This is still the case, he begged to see Christian IX.

"Your Majesty, our form is not good."

Seeing Christian IX's indifference, Monrad's heart sank more and more.

With a wry smile in his heart, he said worriedly: "According to our information, the cancellation of the "London Protocol" in the whole of Germany has aroused a strong wave of nationalist protests, and mass opportunities and demonstrations have been held in various places, demanding action against Denmark. strong action.

The Germans of Holstein and Schleswig have refused to swear allegiance to you, and appealed to the German Confederacy to recognize the eldest son of Duke Frederick von August as a self-reliant Schiller Duke of Swig-Holstein. "

They even claimed that the "London Protocol" as your right of legal inheritance, became no longer legal with your abolition, and the Duke of Augustenburg saw this and felt that something could be done, so he proposed succession to the two duchies. "

Christian IX sat and listened to Monrad's worried words. Why wasn't he worried?

I saw him say: "How many troops from Hanover and Saxony have entered Holstein now?"

Monrad heard the words and said, "There are 6,000 people each, 12,000 people in total. They intend to test us militarily, Your Majesty."

Christian IX waved his hand to stop Monrad's persuasion. He stood up, came to the map, pointed to Holstein, made a big circle with the brush, and then made a stroke in Schleswig in the south. In a big circle, turn your head,

To Prime Minister Monrad: "The German Confederation has been peeping at these two places for a long time. Even if we retreat, they will find an excuse. After Frederick VII tacit understanding, they began to die. Now, it is just an outbreak. Just come out."

Hearing this, Monrad sighed, "Faced with Germany, which has two great powers, Austria and Prussia, no matter how Denmark struggles, it seems powerless."

Christian IX doesn't think so.

So he said comfortingly: "I hope that the infighting between Austria and Prussia can minimize the damage to Denmark in this crisis."

Monrad nodded and said, "Your Majesty, I will contact the other countries and let them put more pressure on the German Confederation."

After Monrad disappeared in front of Christian IX, Christian IX murmured: "My son-in-law William IV, your initial guess is right, Prussia really has wolf ambitions, Frederick and I are With the many deployments made by King VII, I hope this crisis in Denmark can land safely.”

......

On July 15, 1864, the British government sent a deputy foreign minister on behalf of Viscount Palmerston to visit the Russian Empire, the French Empire, the Kingdom of Sweden and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and obtained the support of the above four countries, and proposed intervention. event, pointed out that the whole issue should be left to European countries for decision.

At this time, Austria and Prussia, who had just passed a joint motion in the German Confederation Parliament, said that as long as the 1852 agreement was not invalidated as the basis for the agreement, and the two duchies had only a personal relationship with Denmark, Austria and Prussia would agree to return to the agreement. Come.

Therefore, under the auspices of the United Kingdom, the five countries of Britain, France, Russia, Switzerland and the Netherlands, together with Austria and Prussia of the German Confederation, held a meeting at the level of deputy foreign ministers in London, which was held on July 23.

However, this meeting only showed the inevitable confusion of relevant issues, with countries expressing their own opinions and it is difficult to unify.

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The Saxon Count Beuist, representing the German Confederation, is going to the countries to recognize the sovereignty of the Duke of Augustberg over the duchy.

Those sent by Austria tended to follow the same scheme as the young agreement of 1852, and Prussia gradually showed a desire for the goal of a duchy.

Even at the meeting, Prussia expressed the hope that the duchy would become independent and become a single entity.

Prussian ambitions, the countries do not know where, Austria, which is also a member of the German Confederation, has begun to oppose it before the countries have expressed their opinions. What a joke, Prussia is already strong enough, and Austria is gradually falling behind. Now If these two duchies were to stand on their own, it would give Prussia the opportunity to take these two duchies in their pockets, which, for Austria, would make Austria completely lose their influence in the German Confederation.

Although the two countries have privately agreed to give the duchy complete political independence, bound by a common institution, the next step is not yet clear. As for the annexation of the duchy, Prussia has left it to be determined, but it has indicated that any agreement must allow their military to dominate Schlesu. Eagle and Holstein.

This worried Austria, and Franz Joseph I and Grand Duke Rainer Ferdinand were naturally unwilling to make Prussia, which had already been overextended, stronger, so they turned to Duke Augustenberg's declaration to establish a Independent duchy not subject to Prussia.

However, for William I and Bismarck, this matter was already in their calculations.

Because long ago, they had already told the Duke of Augustenberg in private without the knowledge of Austria, as long as the Duke was willing to obey Prussia completely militarily, and ceded the port of Kiel to Prussia as a military port, and let the Prussian army control the neighboring Kiel the Canal, and join the Prussian-led customs union, which would support its proclaimed manifesto at the conference.

Just when Duke Augustenberg hesitated and wanted to bargain, Austria, which also led the German Confederation, was rumored to be unwilling to join this "liberation struggle, because Austria was unwilling to fight for him, and Austria was in the There is also no motivation for ambition in the territory, because just as rumored, Austria has already been exhausted by the problems of governing the multiple ethnic groups on its own territory.”

This allowed Duke Augustenberg to finally sign an agreement in private, agreeing to Prussian terms.

And Prime Minister Bismarck in Berlin, with the agreement signed by Duke Augustenberg, was agitated in his heart.

The Polish Confederacy and the Prince Conference were not the only events in this year's spate of German Confederacy patriotism, both of which were overshadowed by the chronic problems of Schleswig and Holstein.

As these two problems fermented, Bismarck's foreign policy down to the smallest tactics were influenced by this problem.

Bismarck saw this key, so cleverly it completed the consolidation of Prussia's position in North Germany and his own power in Berlin politics.

Even before he became Prime Minister, when he was Minister of State, he was planning to find a top-down way in this event to plan the model opportunity for the unification of the German Confederation.

So he planned Duke Augustenberg, a strong contender for Christian IX's position as king of Denmark, to create trouble and provoke the resentment of the Germans. Triggered the conflict between the Danes and the Germans.

At the same time, provoking Christian IX's participation in the Danish and German wars in 1852, the Germans in Schleswig and Holstein opposed his rule, and Prussia lost no time in launching August, a German-friendly candidate. Duke of Sternberg.

This allowed Austria to be finally persuaded to participate in the event, as Austria was also a signatory after the First Schleswig War Bismarck took advantage of Austria's multi-ethnic nature, which was neither willing to support the German Confederation in the The dilemma of the stubbornness of the ministries on the issue of the two principalities and the fear of losing its prestige as a result of this dilemma made Austria lose its diplomatic initiative on the issue of the two principalities, and Bismarck saw this even more. instead.

Bismarck's personal experience of the Schleswig-Holstein issue was due to a heated debate in Paris with the Danish representative in Paris from 1855 to 1858, when he was the Prussian minister to France.

At that time, he had persuaded the Prussian government to express its opinions in the honor of the German nation, but not to take action against Denmark, as long as Prussia got obvious benefits in solving this problem, but at that time Bismarck's approach was warned by the United Kingdom, and the United Kingdom demanded that Prussia must Respect the London Protocol.

The Prussian government was afraid of the dissatisfaction of the Austrian government at the time, as well as the international status of Britain, and finally he compromised.

Take a loss and gain wisdom!

But since then, Bismarck has developed a skillful self-control, learned to act in accordance with international law, cite the role of the parties, and rely on the "London Protocol" to prevent other countries from interfering in this issue.

He was not under the flag of the German national zhuyi, but in the name of defending the London Protocol of 1852, to oppose Denmark's annexation of Schleswig.

This position seems to be conservative, and it seems to maintain the European order and support international law. In fact, it is conducive to openly resisting the interference of countries such as Britain, France and Tsarist Russia. It also helps Austria, which has always feared and opposed national movements and strived to protect the existing order in Europe, Incorporated into the policy framework of Prussian planning.