It wasn't just the French who wanted to be fishermen, Prussia was also on the verge of action after the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War.

It's just that William I was more cautious and did not rush forward. Although Britain and Austria did it in South Africa, it was all secretly, and on the surface the two sides were "friendly countries".

Not tearing the skin means that both sides can compromise at any time. William I did not think that the South African question was a dead knot between the two countries.

However, his point of view is not the same as that of the Berlin government, and the Junker aristocracy, who have long been impatient, has begun to move.

Prime Minister Moltke was pleasantly surprised: "Your Majesty, this is a great opportunity. The conflict between Britain and Austria broke out, and the attention of the French was once again focused on Italy.

At this time, there was no one who could limit our opportunity to act against the Federal Reich of Germany and unify the regions of North Germany. ”

The unification of North Germany was crucial for Prussia, and once the German Federal Empire was annexed, it was not the three great powers that dominated the continent, but the four great powers.

Although now Prussia has defeated the Russian Empire, in everyone's minds they are still ranked behind the Russian Empire.

Recognized as a member of the club of great powers, but only a second-rate power, with a certain voice, but without the influence to dominate the situation in Europe.

It's not a matter of fame, it's a matter of strength. In terms of economic strength and military strength, the Kingdom of Prussia could not compete with Britain, France and Austria.

After defeating the Russians, the self-confidence of the Junker nobles exploded. If it weren't for the fact that the losses in the war were too great and they have not recovered so far, they would not have been so peaceful.

The best way to change this situation is to unify North Germany. Of course, it would be even more perfect to be able to annex Poland.

Prime Minister Moltke is still IQ online, and there is no stupid attempt to do both. Prussia's strength was limited, and the consequence of taking care of both at the same time was inevitably a chicken-and-egg fight.

Wilhelm I asked directly: "My Prime Minister, do you think the South African region is important to Austria, or the German region is important to Austria?" ”

Don't think about it, it's clear that the German region is more important. Even if gold has been discovered in South Africa, Austria is still less important than the German region.

Politically, it was decided that Franz could not give up the German regions, and even if he could not unify the German regions, the slogan of reunification would still have to be shouted.

This is related to the legitimacy of the HRE Empire, and the Vienna government cannot easily let go, otherwise it will not be able to account to the people at home.

Moltke replied: "Of course, the German regions are important, but judging by the performance of the Vienna government, they are not very interested in the German Confederation."

If they really want to annex the Federal Reich of Germany, they don't have to wait until now, they can do it a few years ago when we were fighting hard with the Russians. ”

This is true, at that time Prussia held the Russians in check, Austria attacked the Federal Reich of Germany, and the French were the only ones who could intervene.

The French set their sights on the Italian region, the interests of France and Austria were exchanged, and the success rate of annexing the German Confederation was very high.

Wilhelm I took the baton, pointed to the map of Europe on the wall, and said: "Just because the Vienna government doesn't do it doesn't mean that it will let us do it."

Your Excellency Marshal, you are also a military master. The strategic situation facing Austria's annexation of the German Confederation must be well known to you.

From a purely defensive point of view, the current situation is in the best interest of Austria. The Russians in the east are licking their wounds, the Ottomans in the south are dying, and we in the north cannot threaten them.

Blocked by the Albis Mountains, it was difficult for the French to fight in the west. The French attacked Austria only from Italy, but only from Belgium and the Rhineland.

The French are still busy annexing the Italian region, and it can be said that the situation on the ground will not be stable for the next twenty years. Attacking Austria from the Italian region, the French wanted to think about the partisans on the territory.

As for borrowing from the Tao, that is even more impossible. At least we didn't have the guts to let the French in, and the French couldn't have believed us, they preferred to fight all the way.

The likelihood of a major war between France and Austria has been reduced to a minimum, even less than the chances of war between us and the French.

Once the Federal German Empire was occupied, this strategic advantage ceased to exist in an instant. Not only the French threat, but also the British maritime threat.

Military threats aside, do the Austrians really need the German Confederation today?

There were more than 20 large and small states in the Federal German Empire, and they were annexed, and the Vienna government was not afraid that the Reichstag would be too lively? ”

The last reason is the crux of the matter. With so many states joining the HRE Empire, they have more votes in the Imperial Diet than Austria, which weakens the central government's control over the states.

Not to mention that it is not strategically impermissible, even if there are no strategic problems, no one will dare to do anything about the impact of politics alone.

When Franz reorganized the HRE, there was no way. Austria is not strong enough, and the number of main ethnic groups in the country is seriously insufficient, so it can only choose to compromise.

After so many years, after a series of measures such as compulsory education, planned cross-migration, and assimilation, the internal ethnic contradictions have now almost been resolved.

At this time, the Vienna government was naturally reluctant to add a bunch of states to come in. Otherwise, there would be no need to use force at all, and the German Confederation would have taken the initiative to run over.

According to the principle of at least one vote for a state, so many small states in the German Federal Empire can directly become the masters of the empire by virtue of the advantage of votes.

How is such a good thing possible? Not only Austria did not agree, but even several states in the country did not agree.

Everyone is credited to the fact that the empire has been able to develop to this point. It is not easy to share these benefits. And to give up the rights, no one can agree!

The Vienna government was afraid of eating and could not have blatantly broken the promises made that year, and the matter dragged on. But if they don't do it, they won't let anyone else do it.

Wilhelm I estimated that as soon as they started their hands on the front foot, Austria jumped out to pick peaches. It just so happened that they had eliminated these state governments, and Austria could directly turn these regions into provinces and municipalities.

The current Kingdom of Prussia does not have the strength to fight, even if it musters up the courage to challenge Austria, it must first consider whether the Russians behind it will stab the knife, and worry about whether France in the west will fall into the ground.

In the absence of Bismarck, these troubles were a headache for Wilhelm I, who had to go into battle himself.

The struggle for power was brutal, the military was too powerful, and now even the king, William I, could not do a word.

The Kingdom of Prussia was not without talents, but it was very difficult for them to be promoted, and many of them became the king's staff.

Not long ago, William I wanted to promote a foreign minister from a civilian background, but he was opposed by the Junker aristocracy for a very simple reason: no credit to the country.

This reason, William I could not refute. The system of appointing officials by merit, which the Junker aristocracy copied from Austria, and then changed.

Austria evaluates the performance of officials, while Prussia directly looks at the merits, and the political achievements are merits, and military merits are also merits. Under this rule of the game, a large number of Junker aristocrats were in high positions.

Having just won the battle against the Russians, the Junker aristocracy had no more than military exploits, and most of the power of the government fell into their hands.

The Prime Minister and the ministers were all Juncker nobles, and the power of William I was inevitably weakened.

If it weren't for William I's preemptive action, the division and disintegration of the Junker aristocracy, and the split of the group into several waves, he would have become a rubber stamp now.

They were all elites of this era, and although they did not have a good sense of politics, once the problem was put on the surface, Marshal Moltke reacted quickly.

Seeing Moltke's face change drastically, William I was very satisfied. It was precisely because Moltke's talent was limited in military and political capabilities that he made Moltke prime minister.

Otherwise, how to divide the Junker aristocracy? Now there is a strange circle in Prussia, and many people with military ability are serving in the government.

Of course, those who are full of political ability, who did not enter the army, would not have done anything to destroy the Great Wall.

After a moment of silence, Wilhelm I added: "Now the focus of the government is on the development of the economy, Prussia has just come out of the war, the country is ready to rise, and the people need to rest."

In recent years, the Russians have also carried out social reforms. In order to raise funds, Alexander II did not even hesitate to pay for it.

This enemy is so terrifying that we cannot afford to let our guard down for a moment. At most, there will be a war between Prussia and Prussia for twenty years. ”

The diversion of the topic was very successful, and the Russians made an outstanding contribution to the unity and stability of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was only in the face of this great enemy that all sectors of Prussian society were able to unite like never before.

The contradictions between Prussia and Russia could not be resolved, and Wilhelm I was not ready to reconcile with the Russians.

For this reason, everyone in the cabinet has no opinion. When you are an enemy of Russia, to provoke Austria and offend England is simply to seek death.

True, now the British are also opposed to the annexation of the German Federal Reich by Prussia. With France and Austria, it would be enough for the London government to keep busy, and the British would not be able to stand another strong Prussia.

Besides, the British still had a lot of interests in the German Confederation, and they were happy to keep the little brother in Austria when they had no interest in doing it.

In fact, any annexation of the European continent was a threat to the British. Due to the small size of the territory, the London government had to block any possible European unity.

To ease the mood, Chancellor of the Exchequer Ron proposed: "Your Majesty is right, our finances are not optimistic, and we are one step away from bankruptcy.

The Russians have not only lost their international credibility this time, but they have also lost almost all of their international markets.

This is a cost that we cannot afford, and it is now crucial to develop the economy, and it is necessary for the government to develop more active economic policies. ”

Regardless of the fact that they were all from the army and were not very familiar with political business, in fact the situation in the Kingdom of Prussia was still very stable.

They directly brought the model of managing the army to the management of the country, and the consequences are unknown, but at least in a short period of time, they still achieved positive results.

After the end of the war, the Kingdom of Prussia was out of the woods in less than three years. Of course, loot is also an important stimulus, otherwise they would definitely not recover so quickly.

By now, the Kingdom of Prussia has not only escaped the food crisis, but has also changed from an importer of grain to an exporter.

Remarkable results have also been achieved in industry, especially in the military industry, stimulated by the war, the Prussian military industrial system has been upgraded and is among the top in the world.

Economically, the Kingdom of Prussia also maintained high growth during the post-war recovery period. However, as time goes on, the rate of economic growth is now slowing.

The huge debt became an important factor restricting the continued development of the Kingdom of Prussia. Every year, more than half of the Berlin government's revenues are used to pay off its foreign debt.

Although this percentage was decreasing, it kept Prussia's finances on the verge of bankruptcy. If it weren't for the fact that they couldn't afford to pay their debts, they would have followed the Russians' lead long ago.

Of course, behind this, the Poles also played a great role. Selfless contribution to industrial raw materials, as well as product sales market.

Otherwise, the Prussian economy would not have recovered so quickly.