An alliance cannot be completed with a pat on the head, and the pros and cons must be carefully weighed, especially if the alliance is aimed at the British.

This is not the first time that Britain and France have formed an alliance, and judging from the experience of previous alliances, the results have not been satisfactory each time.

Napoleon IV was not fooled by the rhetoric of the British, and no matter how much it was blown, it had to be implemented to count.

As long as Britain and France were allied, Britain supported French expansion into Central Europe. Such a big pie, Napoleon IV did not believe that it would be smashed on his head for no reason.

It was also because the pie was painted so big that Napoleon IV was reluctant to throw it away.

Prime Minister Terence Burkin: "Your Majesty, the British's proposal seems to be beneficial to us, but in fact it is harboring evil intentions.

On the surface, they support our expansion into Central Europe, but in fact they want us to contain Austria for them.

Judging from the current international situation, once we expand into Central Europe, we will be met with joint hostility from European countries, and even trigger a new round of continental war.

If the situation really gets out of hand, I really don't have confidence in the British, and with their style, if they don't fall into the ground, it's all ......"

This is a fact, the anti-French alliance exists in name only, and that is based on the premise that France does not pose a threat to everyone.

As soon as they show their tiger teeth and make the countries of Europe feel threatened, this nominal alliance will immediately become a real alliance.

Counting on the British and France to challenge the European continent together, it is better for France to take on the European continent alone, at least without worrying about being stabbed in the back by the allies.

Secretary of War Luskinia Hafez: "Prime Minister, there are two sides to everything. Britain is certainly uneasy and well-intentioned, but if we make good use of it, we can also make a lot of money for France.

Although there are many countries in Europe, most of them are small countries, and there are only a few that deserve our attention.

In addition to Russia, Austria and Britain, the remaining three major countries of Spain, the Nordic Confederation, and the German Confederation together can only be regarded as half.

Spain is still our ally, and will not hinder our eastward advance; The Nordic Confederation is far away in the Baltic Sea, so there is no conflict of interest and it is an object that can be fought for.

The British could use them to contain Austria, so why can't we use them to contain the Russians?

As long as Britain and Russia make a real fire in Central Asia, Austria alone is powerless to prevent us from annexing the territory west of the Rhineland.

It's a big deal that we will rule the Rhine with Austria, and in the style of the Habsburgs, they will probably not fight with us.

As long as we win the Rhineland and Belgium, we will make up for the short version of one of our most important resources. ”

Ambition, naturally, there is. It's just that the main battle in France was born at the wrong time, and it didn't catch up with the good times, and it never got the opportunity to play it.

Waited left and right, and finally welcomed this turnaround. In the eyes of the French military, where is Britain and Russia holding each other down, it is clearly creating an opportunity for a decisive battle between France and Austria.

With the old enemy of the Habsburg dynasty, France's continental hegemony has never been worthy of its name, and it must be witnessed by a war.

Of course, now is not the time to talk about that. It would not be good if it frightened His Majesty the Emperor, after all, Austria still seems to be very big and good at pulling allies.

If a decisive battle is to be held immediately, although the military is full of confidence, there are still many people in the government who are not optimistic.

Luskinia Hafez is still very politically savvy, and in order to reduce resistance, there is no mention of a decisive battle in Fao.

He even secretly changed the concept and turned the Franco-Austrian decisive battle into a division of the German region with Austria. Not only did it downplay the risks, but it also gained the support of domestic capitalists.

Economy Minister Elsa objected: "No, now is not the time to go east. Our big farm project is underway, and once it is interrupted by the war, all the previous investment will be lost.

The German Confederation was not as weak as everyone thought, and they deployed 70,000 troops in the Rhineland, plus 50,000 troops in Belgium, for a total of 120,000 troops.

As long as the war dragged on for a month or two, Austrian reinforcements came up. Everyone has seen the Russo-Prussian War, and now the decisive battle between the two great powers is carried out by millions of troops.

Once a war breaks out, it is simply impossible to distinguish the winner from the loser in a short period of time. Austria still has a bunch of allies to share the pressure, but we are left alone, and the British cannot count on it.

Expecting the Austrian government to compromise is complete wishful thinking. Sitting back and watching us annex the territories west of the Rhine, why did the Habsburgs still rule the German regions? ”

The Minister of Economics' concern is also the reason for the hesitation. Pinning hopes on Austrian compromise is inherently unreliable.

Against any enemy alone, everyone has confidence in France, but the problem is that the enemy has to play group fighting!

In recent years, the countries on the European continent have been relatively capable of fighting, even Belgium, which is a small country, is able to pull out more than 100,000 troops.

The larger Nordic Federation, as long as the internal relations are well coordinated, can pull out a million troops.

Not to mention Austria, which is easily a few million anyway. If other countries followed suit, the enemies that France would face would be astronomical.

No matter how much the French army can fight, it can't stop the ants from biting the elephant to death.

What's more, the French army was not so capable of fighting, and the performance of the French army in overseas colonies had already made many high-level government officials doubt the combat effectiveness of the French army.

One-on-one can win, there is no value, once a continental war breaks out, they will have to face at least twice as many enemies, or even three or four times as possible.

Foreign Secretary Karel Kadlec interrupted: "Ladies and gentlemen, you have gone too far. It was as if we were to start a continental war as long as we were allied with the British.

In fact, it's two things entirely. All that is being discussed now is whether or not to form an alliance with the British, and as for expansion into Central Europe, that is a matter of the future.

Personally, I am in favor of an alliance with the British. For France to emerge from isolation, it needs more allies.

Perhaps the British have ill intentions and are allied with us at this time only to counter the pressure that Russia and Austria put on them in Central Asia.

But we have no better option than the British.

The British were not expected to really support our expansion into Central Europe, as long as they did not join the anti-French alliance when we moved eastward.

Besides, an alliance with the British does not mean that we really have to cooperate with them.

Austria had no interests in Central Asia, and its participation was entirely due to the Russian-Austrian alliance, and they could not have gone to war with the British for the benefit of the Russians.

The British want us to contain Austria, so let's make a symbolic appearance. Anyway, the Austrians also wanted to bring about the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian war, and we could fully cooperate. ”

The reality is cruel, but it must be faced. France is indeed powerful, and it is so powerful that it has no friends.

The promises of the British may not be fulfilled, but with the addition of this ally, the diplomatic environment of the French government will be greatly improved.

In essence, the two sides just take what they need and don't hold them back, so they are worthy of this paper covenant.

……

Vienna Palace, since receiving the news of the intention of Britain and France to form an alliance, Franz has not been good.

It seems that Europe has formed two opposing camps, but in fact the geographical position determines that the Russians can hide in the rear, and Austria must bear the pressure of the two powers alone.

The threat on land is not yet obvious, the combat power is still the French, and the British are negligible.

It's a different story at sea, seeing that the Austrian Navy is about to have the strength to threaten the Royal Navy, and with the alliance between Britain and France, it is about to be a man with its tail between its legs again.

This meant that Austria would once again be at a disadvantage in overseas competition, unable to compete with Britain and France.

Not only that, Franz was thinking more. As France and Austria continue to grow, the British are already feeling the pressure.

Against this background, it is not impossible that the British conspired to provoke the Franco-Austrian war, and it was not impossible to use the war to weaken the two enemies.

The confrontation between Britain and Russia and the mutual containment of each other will not create an opportunity for France and Austria to turn their faces?

Don't look at the severity of the Anglo-Russian conflict, even if a war really breaks out between the two countries, once the situation on the European continent gets out of control, it is still possible for the two countries to unite.

provoked a war between France and Austria, and when the two countries were almost fought, they pulled the Russians to intervene and prevent the two countries from separating the winners and losers.

Franz would have done the same in the position of the British. Otherwise, if France and Austria continue to grow, where will there be opportunities for Britain to intervene in the European continent in the future?

Speculation is always just speculation, and Franz did not dare to jump to conclusions until it happened.

The French are not fools, and it is obviously not in their own interests to come to a decisive battle with Austria against the background of a fisherman on their side.

The same is true of Austria, unless it is in the water of the brain, otherwise the Vienna government will not be stupid enough to run against the French.

……

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg: "After much verification, the Foreign Office has determined that Britain and France are negotiating an alliance.

The exact content of the negotiations is unknown, but what is certain is that there will certainly be something aimed at us.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly tried to sabotage the Anglo-French alliance, but with little success. Even our proposal to reorganize the Triple Alliance was rejected by Britain and France. ”

If you can't destroy it, you will find a way to join it, and then split the alliance from within. This kind of tried-and-true diplomacy will not work here.

However, it also corroborates the fact that Britain and France formed an alliance against Austria.

Prime Minister Karl: "If you can't stop the Anglo-French alliance, then the importance of the Russian-Austrian alliance will greatly increase."

From now on, it's not just the Russians who need us, we also need the Russians.

In the ensuing war in Central Asia, we had to make great efforts to support the tsarist government.

The four great powers of Europe are now divided into two alliances that oppose each other. I am afraid that the international situation will be in turmoil for a long time to come.

Once the confrontation escalates, it may even trigger a new round of European war. From now on, it's time to plan ahead. ”

There is no way, the international situation is not dictated by the will of individuals. Despite Franz's efforts to avoid it, there was a confrontation between the two major alliances.

In a sense, this result is not too bad, two against two is better than one against three.

Britain and France were now allied, and the first to be hit were the Russians, and the relations between Britain and France with the Russians deteriorated, the Russian-Austrian alliance became more consolidated, and Austria's eastern front was secured.