The sudden outbreak of the Russian Navy to occupy the Baltiysk region stunned the entire European world with the news, and many believed that the Kingdom of Prussia was going to end.

If you open the map, you can see that the coastline of the Kingdom of Prussia is in the Baltic Sea, which is the sphere of influence of the Russian Navy.

From the beginning of the war, the Danish Navy blocked the Prussian sea transport routes, and the strategic materials supported by Britain and France could only be transferred by land.

In the early stage, the tsarist government ignored the role of the navy, did not attack the coastal areas of Prussia, and simply confronted on land, and the Kingdom of Prussia still had the strength to fight.

Now it was different, there was a delay in breaking through on land, and the Russians turned their attention to the sea, using naval superiority to strike at the Kingdom of Prussia.

It was an unsolvable conundrum, the Russians could launch a landing operation at any point, while the Prussians could not defend it in full.

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At the Vienna Palace, Foreign Minister Wessenberg said: "Yesterday afternoon, the Russian minister made us a new loan application, and they are ready to use the Prussian Saxony region as collateral for a loan of 30 million Aegis. ”

Taking the enemy's territory as collateral loans, this is what the tsarist government can do. No, this may not be a mortgage, it may be a sale.

With the financial situation of the tsarist government, it was very unlikely that it would be able to repay the loan on time, and it was very likely that the collateral would be sold to pay off the debt.

The prerequisite was that the Russians won the battle and tore this piece of flesh from the Kingdom of Prussia.

Franz asked with concern: "What is the opinion of the Saxon government?" Are they interested in paying for the land back? ”

Prussian Saxony was assigned to Prussia at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Now that the Kingdom of Saxony is part of the new Holy Roman Empire, this part of the land will naturally be returned to the Kingdom of Saxony.

Prussian Saxony occupies 40% of the territory of the Kingdom of Saxony, which has always wanted to reclaim it. When they joined the New HRE Empire, Prime Minister Felix made a promise.

Now that the opportunity has come, can the Saxon government hold back?

Franz was very skeptical.

If the Saxon government can't help it, then the Vienna government can't stop it on this issue, after all, Franz also has to consider the will of the people.

The price of 30 million Aegis is not unaffordable for the economically developed Kingdom of Saxony. As long as they are willing to find a way, they can raise it.

Chancellor Felix replied: "The Saxon government should be inclined to finance the purchase of Prussian Saxony, and Chancellor Fressel will arrive in Vienna this afternoon." ”

Franz thought for a moment and said, "Calm them down first." Now these lands are still in the hands of Prussia, and the promises of the Russians simply cannot be counted.

We have to have other collateral to reduce the risk of the loan.

A promise could be made to the Saxon government that the Russians would agree to sell the Prussian Saxony region at a precondition that the Russians agree to sell the Saxony region at a price agreed in advance. ”

The matter was very troublesome, and it can be said that the Russians chose a good time.

Most people now believed that the Russians would win the war, and the use of Prussian Saxony as a bait was not for the Vienna government to refuse.

The mortgage of the loan was fake, and the real purpose of the tsarist government was to raise funds to continue the war.

As soon as the news spread, the people of Saxony would demand that the land be bought back, and the Saxon government could not refuse, and Vienna had to cooperate.

Franz didn't want to be the culprit. If the Russians have already won the war, then don't say 30 million Aegis, even 50 million Aegis he will come out.

But now it's just an unknown. In the event of the defeat of the tsarist government, or the failure to cede the land from Prussia, the loan would most likely have gone down the drain.

Moreover, mortgage and sale are two different concepts. Now the tsar is very short of money, and in order to raise military expenses, he naturally does not dare to open his mouth, so as not to scare away the financiers, and the future is not certain.

When the time comes, take advantage of the people's eagerness to reclaim the Prussian Saxony region, and not sell it for a sky-high price?

Foreign Secretary Wessenberg said worriedly: "Your Majesty, since the Russians have thrown out Prussian Saxony, I fear that they may promise the Rhineland to the French in exchange for loans." ”

Franz's face changed, it was not possible, but very likely.

Lack of money, what can't the tsarist government do?

Besides, it's still generous to others. Once the French were tempted, would the government of Paris be so dedicated to supporting the Kingdom of Prussia?

The Berlin government could not promise the same conditions, not everyone was Bismarck and dared to make empty promises to the French.

Diplomatically, there could be no unwarranted promises, and if it weren't for Bismarck's skill and luck, the Rhineland would have fallen into the hands of the French.

The Rhineland, as part of the German region, had long been regarded as a property of the Vienna government, so how could it be easily obtained by the French?

Sabotage, it is necessary to sabotage the Franco-Russian deal!

This was Franz's first reaction, and then he had another headache, how to sabotage a possible Franco-Russian deal.

"To tell the British, although the development of the Rhineland region has slowed down in recent years, the rich resources and industrial base of the local area are still there, and once it falls into the hands of the French, it will soon cause qualitative changes.

France is already very strong, and if it grows stronger, the government of London will not be able to sleep. ”

This is a source of misfortune. The Russian-Austrian alliance is still there, and the Vienna government does not do a lot of things against the Russians.

Prime Minister Felix proposed: "Your Majesty, shall we push and simply let the Russians lose this war?" ”

It was simple for the Russians to lose the war, as long as Austria suddenly imposed a material embargo. At present, most of the strategic materials of the Russian army on the front line are produced in Austria.

Even if the tsarist government wanted to buy it somewhere else, it was too late, not to mention that they could not find a buyer.

Only Britain, France and Austria have this production capacity in Europe. If it was possible to pull the Russians out of the hegemon, how could Britain and France refuse?

The Franco-Russian compromise was also based on the victory of the tsarist government. Napoleon III was not going to help the Russians win the war and consolidate the enemy's hegemony.

This is also the reason why countries are afraid of the Russian-Austrian alliance, and the two countries have formed an alliance to complement each other's resources, and the strength that can break out has been 1+1>2.

Franz shook his head and said, "No, we can't make a move at this time."

The Prussians still had the strength to fight, and as long as Britain and France were a little more generous and let the Prussians arm the youth of the whole country, the Russians might not be able to win.

Have you noticed that Alexander II's reforms have been suspended, and that after the war the tsarist government is still capable of continuing reforms? ”

In order to survive the war, Alexander II had to compromise with the conservatives at home to ensure stability at home.

This compromise will make it difficult to reform in the future. At least in the face of the same problems, the difficulty of reform has increased dramatically.

From the point of view of long-term development, this Russo-Prussian war has already achieved its strategic goals. An imperfect reformed Russian empire was what Austria needed.

Now that the strategic goal has been achieved, there is naturally no need to continue targeting the Russians. The Russian-Austrian alliance has not yet come to an end, and the things that pull hatred can only be done by others.

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Plans could never keep up with the rapid changes, and the tsarist government, while negotiating with Austria, also opened negotiations with the French.

Versailles, to the olive branch thrown by the tsarist government, Napoleon III hesitated.

There can only be one European hegemon, and in this matter, the Russian Empire is France's greatest rival.

Lending money to the tsarist government now is undoubtedly financing the enemy.

In the opinion of Napoleon III, the biggest difficulty in gaining the Rhineland was not military, but political.

The annexation of the Kingdom of Sardinia was enough, and the European countries created a joint defense circle against them, and if the Rhineland was annexed by force, it would inevitably lead to the intervention of various countries.

At this time, the French needed allies. Unlike the mortgage loan in Prussian Saxony, the Tsarist government pledged to support the French in their annexation of the Rhineland.

This is determined by geopolitics, no matter how powerful the tsar is, it is impossible to cross the German Confederation to occupy the Rhineland, and the mortgage is naturally impossible.

With the support of the tsarist government, France would not be politically isolated. Coupled with some exchange of interests with other countries, the success rate of annexing the Rhineland is very high.

Foreign Secretary Abraham proposed: "Your Majesty, whether or not to lend money to the Tsarist government, I think the key is to see the final outcome of this war."

Now the Russians have a very good chance of winning, and I can't think of how the Prussians can turn the tables. Even without our loans, the tsarist government could have raised money from elsewhere.

In this case, it is better to simply carve up the Kingdom of Prussia with the Russians and maximize our interests. ”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Allen objected: "No, the Russians are too creditworthy to repay the loan with their financial means."

Our money is not blown by the wind, and it cannot be wasted in vain. The same can be done to divide the kingdom of Prussia without giving loans to the Russians.

In the event of the defeat of the Kingdom of Prussia, we can use the demand for debts as an excuse to temporarily administer the Rhineland and create a given fact.

And then slowly public relations, exchange interests with other countries, and get them to recognize our occupation of the Rhineland.

It doesn't matter if the Russians support us or not, we have to make deals with the countries with or without their support, and even if the tsarist government is against it, they are not in a position to intervene.

Why spend all this unjust money? ”

Foreign Secretary Abraham retorted: "Earl Allen, this is not a waste of money. With the support of the Russians, it is much easier for us to gain the acquiescence of the countries.

If the Russians did not support it, and then all the European countries would oppose it, and even if we ate the Rhineland, we would still spit it out in the end. ”

The support of European countries may not be important, but the support of the great powers must be there.

Except for Spain, which can ignore the five major European powers, the remaining few must obtain the support of at least one of them.

The lessons of history have taught the French that it is not possible to go it alone, and even more so to be reckless.

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