In the early morning of October 25, 1864, Franz, who had just woken up from his sleep, was stunned by the news that the Prussian government had declared war on the Kingdom of Denmark.

To be exact, the two countries declared war yesterday afternoon. When the news reached Vienna, it was already late at night, and the nimble-minded staff waited until Franz got up to report it.

Without the slightest recruitment in advance, the two countries suddenly went to war. As for the Prussian pretext for the declaration of war to "liberate the German compatriots", it was directly ignored by Franz.

Historically, the Prussians still carried the banner of defending German sovereignty, and under Franz's butterfly effect, the Berlin government no longer dared to resist this banner.

With the revival of Austria, the slogans and slogans of "German unity" gradually disappeared from the official documents of the Prussian government.

Especially after the Paris Conference, both the Kingdom of Prussia and the newly established German Federal Empire were very tacitly suppressed the idea of great unification.

Everyone is not stupid, if they continue to advertise, they are making a wedding dress for Austria.

Once the idea of great unification is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, they become the objects of unification. For the people, unity may be a good thing, but for the rulers, it is completely different.

Don't look at the great power of the governments of the states in the new Holy Roman Empire, but the power of the rulers is still greatly reduced compared to being the masters of their own affairs.

Under the influence of interests, the international agreement of the Paris Conference to divide the German regions became the legal basis for Prussia's secession from the German regions.

Dejurely, the Kingdom of Prussia was an independent state like Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

Now, if we continue to carry the banner of safeguarding the sovereignty of the German region, will we not tell the outside world that the Kingdom of Prussia is still part of Germany, and provide a legal basis for Austria to annex them?

Such a stupid thing will not be done by the Berlin government. The reason for the liberation of the German compatriots, although somewhat sufficient, is better than planting a political bomb.

The Prussian-Danish war involved the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, and the Vienna government certainly needed to take a stand.

After a brief breakfast, Franz convened a cabinet meeting in the palace.

Foreign Secretary Weisenberg analyzed: "Your Majesty, according to the information we have gathered, we can preliminarily judge that the Prussians had premeditated this war, including the Polish independence movement that occurred not long ago, and they are inseparable.

The Berlin government dared to declare war on the Kingdom of Denmark, and most of them had the shadow of Britain and France, and they wanted to take this opportunity to attack the Russians.

Now the situation of the tsarist government is very bad, domestic reforms are still underway, the war in Central Asia has begun, and the Polish independence movement has broken out again.

With so many things happening at the same time, it was difficult for the finances of the tsarist government to support another big war.

If they intervened in the Prussian-Danish War, Britain and France would support Prussia in a proxy war with them, further depleting their national power and interrupting the reforms of the tsarist government.

If the tsarist government had chosen to make concessions, their international reputation would have plummeted. The little brother of Denmark cannot be saved, and the Russians are not qualified to claim to be the hegemon of the European continent.

Whichever choice the tsarist government makes, it will pay a huge price.

Perhaps the British were more inclined to fight a proxy war to weaken the Russians; The French, on the other hand, were more interested in taking the opportunity to pull the Russians out of their position as supremacy. ”

From the bright side, the Prussian government suddenly declared war on the Kingdom of Denmark, it must have been the collusion of Britain, France and Prussia, otherwise where would the Prussian government have the courage to challenge the Russians.

There are only a few people in the know, and it is impossible for these people to spread it to the outside world.

Many people, including the Prussian military, believed that this was an operation planned by the king, the cabinet and the military, and no one thought that it was the decision of the military top brass at their own discretion.

Of course, only high-level planning of this operation will close the most basic loopholes. If it had been planned by the bottom of the army, it is estimated that they would have launched an attack with the slogan "For the unification of the German nation" in a stupid manner.

This is also the fact that Franz did not perceive the Prussians' movements in advance, otherwise he would have used the secret line and attacked the Danes with the slogan of unifying Germany.

Who would have thought of the political implications of this slogan. As long as it's passionate enough and inspiring, that's fine!

Political propaganda slogans cannot be shouted indiscriminately, and once the slogans are shouted, they cannot be taken back.

Prime Minister Felix asked suspiciously: "But why did the Prussian government take the fire for Britain and France?"

Just for the sake of the two principalities of Schleswig-Holstein, they have formed a mortal enmity with the Russians, and even if the tsarist government does not take care of them now, it will definitely retaliate in the future.

Even if the Prussian government is ruled by anti-Russians, they can't ignore the difference in strength between the two countries and blindly make enemies with the Russians, right? ”

The situation is different now than in history, when the Russians lost their hegemony in Europe during the Crimean War, and the importance of the Kingdom of Denmark to the Tsarist government has declined, and it is only a matter of face.

At this time, the Kingdom of Denmark was not only a matter of face for the Russians, but also their status as the hegemon of the European continent.

Hegemony is not only about strength, but also about gaining everyone's recognition.

A small kingdom of Prussia could challenge their hegemony, and if it could not be suppressed, why would the Russian Empire become the hegemon of Europe?

Even if Alexander II endured it for the sake of domestic reform, in the future, as long as the Russians want to compete for European hegemony, they must take the flag of the Kingdom of Prussia.

In this respect, the Prussian government's approach was very unwise. Even if you get benefits in the short term, the future will be full of disasters.

If it was unlucky, the tsarist government would come to the door without hesitation. Even with the support of Britain and France, even if they win this war, it will be a big loss.

After a moment's pause, Franz replied: "I am afraid that the Prussian government has regarded the Russians as mortal enemies from the very beginning, and it does not matter whether to offend or not."

I remember that in the Russian strategy of European expansion, the first target was Prussian Poland.

Prussian Poland occupied 46.3% of the Prussian kingdom, and there was no possibility of compromise from the Prussian side.

Faced with a powerful Russian Empire that could be attacked at any moment, they could only move closer to Britain and France.

Now the two bosses, if they jump out to trick the Russians, the reward is the two principalities of Schleswig-Holstein.

The Berlin government also did not want to see the Russians succeed in reforming, and since there were supporters, it would strike first and catch the Russians by surprise.

They are not without a chance of winning, as long as they risk defeating the Russians once, they can not only eat the two principalities, but also make Russian Poland independent, become a buffer between the two countries, and change their strategic passivity in one fell swoop. ”

Franz's level of brain supplementation is still very good, and many people in the Prussian government think so, but they are getting farther and farther away from the truth.

The Junker nobles who were in charge of planning this operation could be assured by the glory of their families that they had not thought that far ahead at all, and were only fighting for their own interests.

Defeat the Russians, which is simply not within the scope of their plans.

Moltke's strategic plan was only to defeat the Danes as soon as possible, and then be able to hold the border fortress under the attack of the Russians.

Anyway, the tsarist government is now a poor ghost, and there are conservatives in the country who oppose reform, and as long as it drags on for a few months, the Russian army will collapse without a fight.

Moreover, there are Polish independent organizations on top. Before suppressing the Polish rebellion, the Russian army sent troops to attack the Kingdom of Prussia, and there was a possibility that the rebels would cut off the back route at any time.

In the eyes of many, by the time the tsarist government suppressed the Polish rebellion, the wallet would have been drained long ago, and where would there be money to continue the war?

There is no direct causal relationship between the truth of the matter and the decision of the Vienna government. Even if the Prussians suddenly got into the water, it would not affect Austria's decision-making.

After trying to convince himself of the Prussian idea, Prime Minister Felix spoke: "Your Majesty, since Prussia and Prussia are going to face each other, then we must also make a choice.

The Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein was involved, and we had to support the Prussians in the Prussian-Danish War.

However, because of the Russian-Austrian alliance, we will have to support the Russians in the next possible war.

Now that we've been pushed to a crossroads, it's a difficult choice to make.

I propose to kick the ball to the Russians, and if the Russians want Austria to help, then Russia and Austria divide Prussia.

The Russians get Prussian Poland, we get Prussian Germany. The difference in interest that we can compensate for with cash.

If the Russians differ from the terms of the partition, then we will declare neutrality and will not participate in this Francisco-Russian dispute. ”

Franz rolled his eyes, where is the division of Prussia between the two countries, and it is clear that the Russians are expressing their support for Austria to unify the German regions.

If you open the map, you can see that if Austria occupied the Prussian German region, the Federal German Empire would be surrounded by the HRE.

If Franz could not divide and gradually annex the German Confederation by political means, he would not be embarrassed to claim to be the master of the Habsburgs.

Although the remaining German territories are not large, most of these lands are fertile land, and the level of economic development is among the highest in Europe.

In addition to the economy, these areas are also quite populated. Without Prussian Poland, the remaining half of the Kingdom of Prussia plus the German Federal Empire would have a population of seventeen or eight million.

Combined with the current population of 60 million in the new Holy Roman Empire, the combined HRE Empire directly surpassed the population of Britain and France combined. If you only count the local area, the total economic volume also surpasses John Bull.

Unless the tsarist government was in the water of the collective brain, such conditions were not negotiable at all. Isn't it asking for trouble to release a Central European giant?

Prime Minister Felix's real purpose was to silence the Russians and prevent them from asking Austria for help.

Otherwise, the tsarist government took the covenant of the Russian-Austrian alliance and constantly asked Austria for loans and aid, and the Vienna government would not give it?

If it is given, it is easy to arouse the disgust of the German nationalists; If you don't give it, you break the covenant again, and it is morally unjustifiable.

Now the question is raised, as long as the Russians refuse to support Austria in the unification of Germany, the tsarist government will not be able to justify any more requests for assistance.