The establishment of the North German Empire detonated public opinion in Europe at the same time as polarization within the German nationalists.

Optimists believe that this is a further step in the process of regional reunification of Germany, from a three-point world to a two-strong force, and the next step is only one step away from reunification.

The pessimists believe that this is the beginning of the disaster, and after the merger of Pud-Germany, the strength has become stronger, coupled with the intervention of the European powers, and the reunification has become a "flower in the mirror, the moon in the water", which can be seen and touched.

In order to appease the people's agitation, Franz also personally sent a congratulatory telegram to George I, and by the way, he wrote a "Road to Unification".

It is clearly pointed out that the Prussian-German merger is a small step in the process of regional unification of Germany, and the next step is the return of North Germany to the arms of the HRE Empire.

Naturally, the text is indispensable for thanking the British, greatly commending the London government's contribution to the Pud-German merger, and Franz encourages them to continue their efforts.

What the British thought, Franz did not know, anyway, anti-British sentiment rose in Germany.

By the way, George I's coronation ceremony became particularly chilling, and most of the monarchs of European countries sent representatives to mean it, and the monarchs of the German region were even more absent en masse.

Including King Frederick III of Prussia was absent due to ill health, and only the Gotha dynasty's own family members went to support the scene.

There's no way, the atmosphere is too weird. France and Russia directly objected, but Franz sent people to send sincere blessings, but the effect seemed to be reversed.

The European continent is still under the control of France, Russia and Austria, and no matter how awesome the British are, it is only at sea, even if the newly formed North Germany is added.

At such a sensitive moment, any action is likely to be interpreted politically.

The monarchs of countries with online political ability naturally know how to stand in line. Moreover, everyone is also envious and jealous of the two crowns on the head of George I.

To date, most of the nobility of the European world does not recognize the legitimacy of George I's throne. There is no way, there is really no legal basis.

Turning over history?

Franz is the legal system of the HRE Empire, and Hanover wants to obtain the legal system from the HRE, so he will first overthrow Austria.

Electoral legitimacy?

The electoral system of the German region is based on the "Golden Seal", and Hanover is not even an elector.

Even if you barely grab a number, it is stipulated in this code that the Pope must be crowned "King of Germany" before succeeding to the emperor.

This is even more tragic, unless the Roman Catholic Church is crazy, otherwise they cannot say anything to recognize a Protestant emperor.

In the original time and space, Prussia was not recognized by everyone because of the illegal means of military superiority, and William I could only take a parallel throne to make up the number.

The crown on George I's head is even more watery, and the value of existence is probably more face-saving in the title, which is basically not recognized in the official documents of various countries.

No matter how parallel the throne is, it is also the emperor. For the nobles with good faces, this is enough for everyone to be jealous.

As soon as Franz stirred up the situation, the London government became embarrassed.

The European media are praising the London government for its clever tactics and the completion of the great strategy of killing three birds with one stone.

Sounds good, a great diplomatic victory. It's just that there are a few people who have accidentally offended, and the British government has been diplomatically isolated.

Anglo-French alliance?

Naturally, it doesn't exist anymore, it has just been put on the table, and if Napoleon IV is still allied with the British, it will be a brain in water.

After this lesson, Napoleon IV fully understood why his father, who had always been pro-British and Austria-phobic, preferred to unite with Austria, which he hated, than to team up with the British, who were close to him.

Regardless of what the London government thinks, the French government has labeled them as "no credibility and cheating allies".

Every time he saw a newspaper boasting about the London government's diplomatic methods, Prime Minister Gladstone felt a headache.

Although the above content is true, there are some things that cannot be said, and things have been provoked, so what do the quasi-ally French think?

Every time it is reported, it is pouring salt on people's wounds, and the more public opinion praises, the more the French government will not be able to step down.

Gladstone: "The North German Empire was established, but it was a little out of control.

My efforts to put an end to Austria's unification of Germany were misinterpreted by the outside world, and both France and Russia felt that we were targeting them.

This puts us in a very awkward position internationally, and if it is not resolved in a short period of time, we will again fall into a state of diplomatic isolation. ”

It is not the first time that the London government has experienced the diplomatic isolation of European countries, but the current situation is somewhat different.

At that time, they were isolated by the European countries, which was voluntarily organized by the London government, and at that time they were too busy opening up overseas colonies to participate in European affairs.

With the situation on the European continent stable, it is natural for the London government to do more than less.

The situation is clearly different now, and the countries of the European continent have become unbalanced in their strength. France, which is at a disadvantage, is still obsessed with the glory of the past and cannot extricate itself.

To make matters worse, France and Austria were both colonial powers, and there were many areas where there were many conflicts of interest with Britain, and the tsarist government was obsessed with Central Asia.

While Europe was isolated, Britain was also at risk of retaliation from the three countries. At the same time, with one enemy and three enemies, let alone the army, even the Royal Navy may not be able to hold it.

Foreign Minister George replied with a wry smile: "This is a mistake on our part, ignoring the sensitivity of France and Russia to the establishment of the North German Empire."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will try to repair relations with other countries as soon as possible, but this will take some time.

In addition to this, we also discovered that the contradictions between Austria and France and Russia were not as great as we had expected.

France, Austria and Russia are indeed contenders for continental hegemony, and they are each other's biggest competitors, but competition does not mean that they will be hostile immediately.

The Russian Empire is still recovering and will not be able to compete for hegemony for a long time to come.

In order to protect its own interests, the tsarist government will most likely follow Austria's pace in diplomacy in a short period of time.

The war in the Near East was a Russian-Austrian spoils conference, and the Vienna government tied up the Russians with Ottoman interests, and it was very difficult to drive a wedge between Russia and Austria.

Franco-Austrian relations are incomprehensible. It stands to reason that both French emperors had anti-Austrian tendencies, and relations between France and Austria should be very bad.

However, the reality is quite the opposite. Two countries with serious conflicts of interest and long-standing historical hatred have mostly emerged as allies.

Including the recent civil strife in France, the Austrians did not fall into the ground, but ran to start the war in the Near East.

If the Viennese government had sent troops to deal a blow to the French at that time, most of Italy would have become independent.

An opportunity to take out the French was wasted, the Viennese government did not suffer, the old enemy Ottoman Empire was about to end, and Franco-Austrian relations were relaxed.

By all indications, Napoleon IV's anti-Austrian tendencies were no longer so pronounced, and hostility towards Austria within the French government was not so strong.

This is a dangerous signal, and if Franco-Austrian relations continue to warm up, the Vienna government is likely to push for an alliance between France, Russia and Austria to jointly dominate the European continent in an alliance situation. ”

Is it really only "domination of the European continent"?

The impact of the alliance between France, Russia and Austria is not much weaker than that of the previous British, French and Austrian Triple Alliance.

There are two reasons for forming an alliance: either they share common interests; Either having a common enemy.

The world has been almost divided, and the remaining leftovers will definitely not satisfy the appetite of the Three Kingdoms, so they can only go to the hands of the fourth party to take it.

In this context, Britain, which received the greatest interests of the colonial era, naturally became the target of public criticism.

In addition to interests, Britain can barely be regarded as the common enemy of the three countries. In a sense, the friendship between France, Russia and Austria depends on Britain.

Gladstone nodded, his expression solemn: "This situation has to be prevented, Russia and Austria are already close together, and the French must not let Austria pull over again."

It is not to say that the previous diplomatic strategy was wrong, but the main thing is that the international situation has changed and many strategies have become outdated.

There was no problem with the continental balance, but there was a problem with the imaginary enemy setup. It is indeed effective to suppress who is strong, but the consequences are also serious, which directly leads to the deterioration of relations between us and the major European powers.

Anglo-French relations, Anglo-Russian relations deteriorated against this background, and now it is the turn of Anglo-Austrian relations.

The Habsburgs were the best at dancing their sleeves, and their prestige in the European world was very high, and they were always more allies than enemies.

In particular, after Franz succeeded to the throne, Franco-Austrian relations were improved, and after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Austria had no mortal enemies on the European continent.

We must be doubly careful to play games with such enemies, and we must not allow them to form an anti-British alliance. ”

There is no problem in suppressing competitors, but the means must be paid attention to. The strategy of killing three birds with one stone must first consider whether it will cause public anger.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Childers: "Actually, if you think about it in another direction, things are not that bad.

Austria was not as belligerent as the Russians, no French could fight, and their strength lay in domestic and foreign affairs.

The North German Empire has been established, and its strength is almost equal to that of the former Pupo Confederation. As long as the Austrians were wary of peaceful evolution, the unification of the German regions by force was simply unrealistic.

Without the unification of Germany, Austria did not establish absolute superiority over France and Russia. However, Austria was strategically limited between France and Russia.

In order to avoid being targeted by a coalition, the Viennese government had no choice but to replicate the Vienna system after 1815 and rely on diplomacy to maintain the balance of the parties until absolute superiority was established.

The European continent is stable, and even if we are excluded, Britain's core interests will not be compromised. ”

Compared with France and Russia, two countries that play with guns and artillery to show off their might, the risk of Austria becoming bigger is indeed the smallest.

Once again, it turns out that image is important, and if you look at the reaction of European countries, you can see that everyone is much more wary of France and Russia than Austria.

The Vienna government is indeed following its own personality, relying on diplomacy on the European continent to win the world, and the use of force is overseas.

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