France and Russia are closer to each other, not just lip service. Although Napoleon III is now only a test to gain more say in the Triple Alliance between Britain, France and Austria, he must also take concrete action.

On March 6, 1871, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire announced that Crown Prince Alexandrovich would visit the European continent, starting with France.

The cooperation of the Russians was surprising, and under normal circumstances, the crown prince would have to start with Vienna as the first stop on his foreign trip, or Denmark.

The order of the crown prince's visits seems to be insignificant, but in fact it also contains a strong political connotation, which is a political signal to the outside world.

Austria was the most important ally of the Russian Empire, and the only one with weight, occupying an important weight in diplomacy.

The Kingdom of Denmark was the in-law of the Russian royal family, and Crown Prince Alexandrovich married the Danish princess Maria Feodorovna.

Geographically, both countries share a border with the Russian Empire, and it is customary to visit Denmark first by sea and Austria at the last stop; Or by land, visiting Vienna first and Denmark last.

This is a normal process for diplomatic visits, which not only reflects the importance of diplomacy, but also does not lose courtesy.

Now the novelty starts in France, which is interesting. This is not a business trip, so many countries along the way are the objects of visit, and directly crossing over like this, Alexandrovich's travel route is obviously very awkward.

When it comes to politics, no matter how awkward Crown Prince Alexandrovich is, he has to go all the way, which is related to the foreign policy of the tsarist government.

It was widely believed that the tsarist government was expressing its displeasure with the Vienna government. Not long ago, the Austrian Foreign Ministry disrupted the tsarist government's "plan to pay off debts with grain," and it is natural for the St. Petersburg government to have opinions.

Problems have arisen in Russian-Austrian relations, and this is something that European countries are happy to see. Many people who eat melons are ready to watch the excitement, and the international media have also expressed their opinions.

Everyone was waiting for the Vienna government's reaction, which disappointed them. There was no reaction, as if nothing had happened.

This is just the opinion of ordinary people, and in the eyes of government dignitaries, no reaction is the biggest reaction.

Either the two parties have communicated in advance, then there is naturally no problem; Either that or the Vienna government doesn't care.

The former is irrelevant, the latter is not. If the Viennese government really didn't care about what the Russians were doing, there were only two reasons:

Either the relationship between the two countries is very good and they don't care about this little thing. This is obviously impossible, although Russian-Austrian relations are good, they are still far from being close.

Either the Vienna government has lost confidence in the Russian-Austrian alliance, or it is not interested. There is no doubt that this is the truth of the matter.

In this way, the tsarist government expressed its dissatisfaction, in addition to the appearance fee given by the French, and it was more likely to test the Vienna government and want to ask Austria for favors.

If there was no real money, Alexander II would not have given the French face like this, and with them in this play, the so-called traditional friendship between the two countries has never existed.

Crown Prince Alexandrovich's appearance fee was that France agreed to provide a loan of 500 million francs to the tsarist government.

This was not easy, since the tsarist government announced that it would default on its debts, and all international financial institutions had closed their doors to the tsarist government. Whether it was a bond or a loan, as long as it involved the tsarist government, no one would accept it.

There will be gains and losses, the promises of the French have not been fulfilled, and the Russian-Austrian alliance has a crisis first. The more the Viennese government showed indifference, the more worried the tsarist government became.

The Russian-Austrian alliance is not far from expiration, and if it is not renewed, the Russian Empire will face unprecedented diplomatic isolation when it expires.

The pressure on Alexander II increased, and there was a lot of criticism within the Tsarist government, and many believed that the Tsar had caused the alliance to break down.

This was a stain on the youth of Alexander II, who was pro-Prussian on the German regional issue and had a distinctly anti-Austrian tendency.

The Kingdom of Prussia was able to establish the German Empire, and Alexander II's personal political leanings also played a role.

It was normal to have political tendencies, and after succeeding to the throne, Alexander II did not compromise with Prussia because he was pro-Prussia; Nor did he alienate Austria because of his personal anti-Austrian attitude.

Even the inadvertent behavior at the beginning sparked speculation among his subordinates, which inadvertently caused relations between the two countries to cool, and Alexander II later repaired it.

It's just that the heroes all have arrogance, and at the beginning of Alexander II's succession, he was at the peak of the Russian Empire, so he was naturally more arrogant.

The defeat of the Russo-Russian War and the decline of the Russian Empire led to the decline of Alexander II, which made the subsequent repair of Russian-Austrian relations unsuccessful.

This test of Austria has made relations between the two countries even worse. It gave the conservatives who opposed the reform in the country an opportunity to take advantage of the opportunity to make political difficulties.

The internal pressure made Alexander II anxious. To be honest, Alexander II was not very responsible for diplomatic problems, and the cold relations between Russia and Austria were more caused by conflicts of interest.

The diplomacy of the tsarist government has always been known for its "roughness", which is not at all what the Russians are good at. For the vast majority of the time, the tsarist government's diplomacy was a failure.

Unfortunately, Alexander II was not a diplomatic strongman, and his main achievements in the original time and space were only internal reform and external expansion, and there were not many achievements in diplomacy.

This visit to Europe was requested by Aleksandrovich himself. Alexander III, the famous former time and space, has a significantly more powerful vision for diplomacy.

Aleksandrovich's own route map for his visit was Denmark - the Nordic Confederation - the Federal German Empire - the Netherlands - Belgium - Portugal - Spain - Britain - France - Greece - Montenegro - Austria.

Leaving out Prussia and Poland, the two sides have become enemies, and as the crown prince, naturally they cannot visit the enemy country. Without Switzerland, the country is not important and not in the hinterland.

This geographically arranged road map, which seems to be inconsequential, is actually the best choice, taking into account the face of all parties.

Starting with France, this means that many countries will have to give up halfway through. As the crown prince representing the Russian Empire, Aleksandrovich could not have gone on a curve and turned back.

If you really want to do that, the importance attached to France is reflected, but the kneeling and licking component is too strong, and the face of the Russian Empire is also lost.

Aleksandrovich tore up the road map in his hands, he was very dissatisfied with the approach of the Foreign Ministry, or rather, with the approach of his father Alexander II.

Just because of the loan of 500 million francs, this trip to Europe will start with France, and the original plan to use this opportunity to repair relations with other countries will now have to be reconsidered.

Dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, Aleksandrovich only vented his emotions in private. Now he still knows how poor the tsarist government is, the people are poor and the country is poor.

Alexander II's plan to open up the land certainly solved the land problem of the peasants, but the price paid was to spend money like water.

The grain that has been grown cannot be sold now, and it is difficult to get a return in a short period of time.

Now, in order to develop industry, the government is vigorously carrying out infrastructure construction, and at the same time construction of a number of railway lines.

All of this costs money, and the money from raiding homes in the early stage has been exhausted, and the tsarist government is now eager to mix every penny into a few halves.

In the Winter Palace, the itinerary was suddenly changed, and Alexander II had to calm his son's emotions. Otherwise, the son was angry and announced that he would not go, which would be terrible.

The crown princes in Europe still have a lot of right to speak, and they have done a lot of work against the emperor. Although Aleksandrovich is not so extreme, politically the differences between the two are very large.

"I'm sorry, Alexandrovich. This time the situation is special, you know how short of money the government is now. The French offered the conditions, we could not refuse. ”

Looking at his embarrassed father, Alexandrovic's anger subsided. Nicholas I the Great seized Constantinople and brought the Russian Empire to its zenith, while also leaving behind a mess.

Unfortunately, this glamorous empire was punctured in the last war.

Alexander II paid a lot for the reforms, and the whole person looked at least ten years older than his actual age.

Aleksandrovich replied calmly: "There is no need for this, although I do not agree with your approach, but I understand your decision." For the sake of the national interest, it is normal to make certain sacrifices as the crown prince.

But I have to warn you that this is playing with fire, and that it is very dangerous to get closer to the French now. If it is not handled carefully, it is likely to bring disaster to Russia.

The Austrians have already made their position clear with practical actions, and it seems to us that this is not that they really do not care about the Russian-Austrian alliance, but that they are warning us not to move closer to the French.

Once the Viennese government senses threatened, they are likely to strike first. The target of the action may be the French, but it is more likely that we will be the target.

When it comes to national strategic security issues, the Russian-Austrian alliance is insignificant. If it continues, I think that the Vienna government will probably not renew the Covenant when it expires. ”

Listening to his son's words, Alexander II nodded, and he also thought about these questions. It was just a miscalculation of the Vienna government's reaction.

"yes, I see. You still need to make more preparations for your visit to Europe. The visit is accompanied by a field trip to the development of each country and to learn what is useful to us.

Compared to European countries, Russia has lagged behind many years. Especially the three countries of Britain, France and Austria, their strength is very terrifying.

Don't look at the time of the Near Eastern War, we also defeated the Anglo-French forces and captured Constantinople from them.

In fact, that war was a game between Russia and Austria and Britain and France. Russia sent people, Austria sent materials and equipment, and finally paid a heavy price to force Britain and France to back down.

After so many years, Britain, France and Austria have made great progress, and only we have opened up a gap with them.

In the last war, the Russian Empire lost not to Prussia, nor to the multinational coalition, but to ourselves. ”

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