After receiving the news from the Prussian government, the top of the Austrian government instantly felt bad.

Can the British do this? There is no doubt at all that John Bull's discipline is only so high.

At the last Frankfurt Conference, the British proposed the disintegration of the German Confederation. Now they put diplomatic pressure on the Kingdom of Prussia in order to implement this plan, which is completely normal.

Franz was also taken aback, it was the British who had every motive to do so, and this was determined by their national policy, the European Continental Balance Strategy.

According to this plan, the German Confederation would become one large country and two medium-sized states. They have a certain strength to prevent France and Russia from continuing to expand into Central Europe, but there is no possibility of threatening their position.

Such a European pattern is theoretically the most stable, and no matter which country of France or Russia expands into Europe, it will be resisted by at least two or more of them, and it is appropriate to add the support of the British.

Whoever wants to unify the German region must be prepared to take on the major European powers alone, and even if Austria has the support of the Russians, it will not be able to succeed.

It's not that Franz underestimated himself, and it is not a matter of concern that the scattered small German states are scattered, but once they merge into one country, even if they are scrapped, they can pull out three or four hundred thousand troops.

Coupled with the participation of Britain and France, unless Austria and the Kingdom of Prussia are carved up together, it will be Russia and Austria VS Britain, France and Prussia The small states of Germany, and there may even be armies of other European countries.

Franz had no doubts about the means of the British to pull allies. It is estimated that Belgium and the Netherlands will join in preventing the unification of Germany, and perhaps Switzerland will stab Austria with a knife.

What are the odds? Anyway, Franz didn't find out. Unless the battlefield is placed on the territory of Russia, it may be possible to freeze the enemy to death in winter.

Of course, fear is fear, but the Austrian government still did not instigate it.

The Russian Empire is also the hegemon of the European continent, and in everyone's mind, the Russians have no problem single-handedly fighting Britain and France on land, and Austria can also do it to level Prussia and Germany.

In their opinion, the only trouble geographically. I am afraid that Britain and France will let the Russians not fight, and they will catch Austria and beat them to death, and then they will be finished.

Confidence is always good, at least it proves that the Austrian Empire has not yet degenerated, the arrogance of the great power is still there, and if the government is instigated when he hears this news, then Franz really can't take it.

Metternich said angrily: "Your Majesty, in the present situation, it is necessary for us to give the Kingdom of Laprus, as long as they hold on, the sinister intentions of the British will not be realized." ”

Although he had been opposed to expansion into Germany, Metternich had slowly changed his position since the signing of the Russo-Austrian Treaty.

He knew that Austria could not turn back, and had no choice but to expand its power externally and increase its own strength as much as possible. Westward expansion into Germany is an indispensable part of this strategy.

Without the population of South Germany, Austria wanted to expand abroad, and it was estimated that it would take twenty or thirty years to digest the Balkan strategy alone.

For such a long time, I don't know how far the strength of various countries has grown. In this era of the jungle, once you fall behind, it means that danger is coming.

Prime Minister Felix thought for a moment and said: "This news was released by the Prussian government, and I'm afraid they don't want to compromise either."

Mr. Metternich, with your knowledge of the Kingdom of Prussia, what are the chances that he will agree if we now propose a joint partition of Germany? ”

Metternich analyzed: "It depends on how it is divided, but I guess it will be difficult to agree.

The defeat of the Prussian-Danish War dealt a blow to the radicals of the Prussian military, but they still had a great deal of influence over the government.

According to the original plan, we were going to annex the South German region, and the North German region could eat as much as it could, and even if we made concessions now, at most we would give up the North German region.

These interests may not be able to feed the radicals of the Prussian military, but many in the Prussian government should be satisfied, and not all of them are so ambitious.

If the British put too much pressure on them, perhaps someone in the Prussian government would force Frederick William IV to compromise with us. ”

Now the relationship between Austria and Austria will be settled, and everyone is secretly playing black hands against each other, but on the surface, they have not yet torn their faces, and everyone is still cooperating with each other on many issues.

According to the plan of the British, the Kingdom of Prussia was driven out of the German Confederation by almost not a single hair.

If you join forces with the Austrian government to divide Germany, you can also get rich North Germany and increase the population of the Kingdom of Prussia by half.

These gains would also allow the Kingdom of Prussia to go one step further and gain a foothold among the great powers, not as awkward as it is now.

Franz thought for a while and said: "Then first make secret contact with the Prussian government, they still don't know about the Russian-Austrian secret treaty."

Even if the news of the partition of Germany leaks out, as long as we refuse to admit it, Britain and France will not be able to do anything to us. ”

Archduke Louis proposed: "Your Majesty, would it be more advantageous for us if we did something now, and kicked the Kingdom of Prussia out of the game by the hand of the British?" ”

You can eat it alone, why take it out and divide it?

If Britain and France join forces to persecute it, Austria is in the dark hands, and Bavaria is a two-and-five boy, the Kingdom of Prussia may really not be able to withstand the pressure.

This time the Russians will certainly not support Prussia, for no other reason, the great Tsar His Majesty is vengeful.

With the and urine of the Russian bureaucracy, most of them will get things done first, and then report to Nicholas I.

For example, we can refer to the last Christmas gift, when the Russian representative forced the Prussian government to withdraw its troops before Christmas.

It's good to eat alone, but be prepared to be stabbed in the back by the Kingdom of Prussia. If Prussia can be suppressed, of course it can be done.

As long as the Austrian Empire was a little stronger and the Russian Empire did not really degenerate, then Franz would not mind eating alone once.

Franz shook his head and said: "It's not that easy, at such a critical moment, it is better to have one more friend than one more enemy."

After the annexation of South Germany by Austria, our strategic objectives had been achieved, and the North German States gave up, and so did they.

Too greedy is easy to choke. Our hole card is the Russo-Austrian Secret Treaty, but the Russians may not be so reliable.

In case they don't work hard and don't suppress the Kingdom of Prussia, we'll have to fight on two fronts. ”

Under normal circumstances, the Prussian government would not agree to Austria's distribution plan, but once the news of the Russian-Austrian secret treaty came out, the Prussian government would certainly compromise.

This is the reality, and no matter how much Britain and France make promises, it will have no effect.

Who brought the Kingdom of Prussia and Russia and Austria too close? If they dare to get involved with Britain and France, it is estimated that they will not be able to wait for British and French reinforcements, and they will end early.

The alliance of the three Nordic courts was actually determined by geopolitics, Austria and Russia joined forces, and the Kingdom of Prussia did not want to be in a dangerous situation, so it had to join this alliance.

Otherwise, after the conclusion of the Russian-Austrian Secret Treaty, Nicholas I's first reaction would not be the accession of the Kingdom of Prussia, which is not a good relationship between everyone, but the possibility of the Kingdom of Prussia joining.

Because of the Prussian-Danish War, the Tsarist government had to temporarily abandon this tempting plan, and the Russians were still worried that the Prussian government would leak the news.

If Britain and France could not be caught by surprise, it would be difficult for the Russians to succeed in their strategy. If there is a blood transfusion from Britain and France, the combat effectiveness of the Ottoman Empire can not be underestimated.

This is also the key to the success of the Austrian government's westward expansion strategy, after all, they are following the Russians, and Austria will not act until the British and French teams go over and start the PK with the Russians.

Thanks to the Vienna system, the military strength of the French was greatly weakened, and now they have a large army, but the mobilization mechanism has been broken.

In order to avoid the suppression of European countries, Emperor Philip did not have many troops on his homeland, let alone a large reserve reserve.

The French had more than 300,000 active troops, and once they sent out more than 100,000 to fight the Russians, they would not have much to do with the Austrian army.

Mass production caused a qualitative change, as long as Austria was well prepared and mobilized enough, if the French intervened, they would just beat it back.

The defeat of the French is basically about the same, and then Napoleon III will not have time to extinguish the fire at home, where can Austria be taken care of?

As for the Kingdom of Prussia, Franz prepared for the start of the operation, first placing 500,000 troops on the Austro-Prussian border, and then tempting the Russians with strategic materials to concentrate the troops on the Eastern Front on the Prussian-Russian border.

If Austria had eaten alone, perhaps the Kingdom of Prussia would have taken a military adventure and made a fortune. But now that Franz had left them a favor, the Prussian government had no choice but to compromise.

Everyone has a family and a job, and the person who is in charge of the Prussian government is not a second-year teenager, how can he take risks blindly?

Even if it is a radical, it is estimated that they will choose to eat the North German region first. As long as this bait was eaten, the Kingdom of Prussia would have to stop digesting the fruits of the war.

……

The Prussian government, which had already intended to unite with Austria, naturally would not refuse the olive branch thrown by the Austrian government.

As it turned out, the Austrian government had misjudged the Kingdom of Prussia, and after the defeat in the Prussian-Danish War, many in the Prussian government lost confidence in the strategy of unifying Germany.

This is the sad thing about small countries that cannot afford to fail. After the failure, everyone's confidence is gone.

You must know that as soon as the armistice treaty between Prussia and Denmark was signed, the internal contradictions of the Prussian kingdom broke out, and the revolutionaries revolted again, but the uprising was quickly suppressed by the army.

Against this backdrop, it was too late for Frederick Wilhelm IV to consolidate his power, and the strategic plan to unify the German regions had long been thrown out of the clouds.

Historically, after the thwart of the plans of the Kingdom of Prussia, it also fell into a low ebb. It was not until after the iron-blooded prime minister came to power that he won the second Danish war through a series of joint efforts to save morale.

Thanks to Bismarck's efforts, the Prussians summoned up the courage to challenge Austria, and after winning the Austro-Prussian War, the Prussian army completed its transformation.

Many experts and scholars believe that after Prussia won the war, the Prussian government let Austria go as a diplomatic arrangement to avoid Austria stabbing in the back in the future Franco-Prussian War.

and Bismarck's fear that the annexation of Austria would lead to an increase in Catholics in the nascent German Empire, leading to religious conflicts at home.

Franz didn't see it that way, even if he couldn't annex Austria, wouldn't it be possible to pay reparations for land cession?

You must know that in the historical Austro-Prussian War, Austria lost the war, and the main losses were still reflected in politics, and the actual price paid was not large.

It was in this era that Franz learned how bad the financial situation of the Kingdom of Prussia was. Combined with the situation at the time, Austria was not without the strength to fight a war.

After the defeat in the decisive battle, the mobilization of reserves in Austria was almost complete, and if the Kingdom of Prussia did not receive it, it would become a protracted war.

After looking at the shriveled wallet, Bismarck naturally chose to accept it decisively.

Interests are fought for by strength, and since Austria's strength still exists, the price to be paid is naturally not large.

If the Austrian government had broken the jar at that time and chose to fight with the Kingdom of Prussia to the end, perhaps it would not have to pay anything, and when the Kingdom of Prussia ran out of money, it would naturally withdraw from the army.