Since the beginning of the 19th century, the world has become increasingly polarized. "The stronger the strong country, the weaker the weak country becomes", and the international pattern has undergone earth-shaking changes.

The old empires seized the opportunity of the industrial revolution, seized a large amount of resources first, and began to suppress the latecomers for their own interests.

The Anglo-Austrian move seems to be aimed at curbing the expansion of France, but in fact it is also a collision between the old and new imperialist countries.

Not every country is the United States, and there are abundant resources and markets in the country. If a new country wants to rise, it must seize enough resources and markets, and this is the contradiction between the old and new empires.

The Kingdom of Prussia was not weak, and it would be even stronger if it annexed the Kingdom of Poland. With enough strength but no matching resources, the Kingdom of Prussia will definitely be a challenger to order in the future.

It has nothing to do with whether the government is peace-loving or not. If they don't develop industry, once industry develops, raw materials and markets are the driving force that pushes them to challenge the world order.

The rise of the Second Empire was too fast, and the British overestimated the strength of the French, and by the time they reacted, it was too late, and they could only go down in person to fight a world war.

In contrast, the Americans who rose on the other side of the ocean were much luckier, rich enough in their own resources, and dressed themselves as "Uncle Sam" without a threat, successfully avoiding the suppression of the old empire.

After a long silence, Foreign Secretary Jeffrey Friedman: "There is something wrong with the situation, the Anglo-Austrian conspiracy should be highly secretive, how can it be so easy for us to find out?"

You know, it's not just about us, it's about the French. Even if the Paris government is internally unstable, it will not allow Britain and Austria to calculate them. ”

Intelligence comes too easily, and that's the biggest loophole. There are not necessarily more than ten people who know about such a conspiracy, and all of them are high-level state officials, and under normal circumstances, there is no possibility of leaking secrets.

William I's eyes lit up, and he asked expectantly: "Are you saying that one of the two countries deliberately leaked it, and this alliance is not solid, but only because of a temporary alliance of interests?" ”

Jeffrey Friedman shook his head: "No, Britain and Austria do want to take the Rhineland from us, but there may be disagreements over how to hand it over to the Federal German Empire.

The Federal Empire of Germany was scattered, and the Kingdom of Hanover, which dominated the central government, had limited strength and did not have the strength to integrate the country.

The territory of Hanover is only one-fourth of the size of the country, and its population and economy are less than one-third of the country's.

Due to the influence of the system, the Reichstag, the highest authority in the German Federal Empire, still retained the traditional one-state, one-vote. Whatever the central government wants, the Imperial Diet can easily veto it.

After all these years, the German Confederation is still the same. Hanover tried to integrate the country several times, but was vetoed by the Reichstag.

Germany has been divided for centuries, everyone has become accustomed to state politics, and it is almost impossible to change this situation.

However, it is different with the Rhineland, which is under the direct jurisdiction of the central government, then the balance of power will change.

Even if the Kingdom of Hanover alone wants to overturn the table, it is not an opponent for the following bunch of states to join forces, but with the Rhineland central government, it has an absolute advantage.

From the point of view of the Viennese government, there was no problem in giving the Rhineland to the Federal Reich of Germany, but it had to join as a state.

Making the Kingdom of Hanover bigger was not conducive to Austria's implementation of the strategy of German unification. This is exactly what the British want to do the most, and there have been serious differences between Britain and Austria from the beginning.

Probably, the talks between the two countries collapsed, and the Vienna government decided to sabotage the plans of the British and simply poked the news out. ”

This is close to the truth of the facts, and now that the news has leaked, it is impossible to complete the original plan.

Not only from the outside world, but also within the Federal Reich of Germany. The central government wants to govern the Rhineland, and the small states below will not only not pay, but will also use the Imperial Diet to legally veto the territorial deal.

Unless it is done covertly to create established facts, the German Federal Government will not even be able to handle it internally.

It was originally a loose federation, not much different from medieval Germany, and the vassal states below did not buy it, what could the emperor do?

With the strength of the Kingdom of Hanover, even if they wanted to unify the German Confederation by force, they did not have that strength. What's more, there is Austria eyeing it outside, and it is not good for one to put himself in.

William I rubbed his forehead, he was over seventy years old, and his energy was no longer so abundant, and this complex international situation was too wasteful.

Now he is very contradictory, on the one hand, he does not want to see the Federal Empire of Germany grow stronger and increase the pressure on the defense of the Kingdom of Prussia; On the other hand, they wanted the Federal Reich of Germany to become strong and cut off Austria's road to German unification.

At this time, he regretted very much, if he was willing to take the risk back then, and Austria divided the German region, the current pattern would be very different.

"Alas!"

Sighing, Wilhelm I: "We have little choice, and it is probably not only Britain and Austria who want to take the Rhineland from us now.

It is estimated that the government of Paris has the same idea, after all, whether the Rhineland region is independent, or falls into the hands of the German Federal Empire, or merges with Belgium, it is easier to get hold than to remain in our hands.

What do you think is in our best interest to do now? ”

Prime Minister Moltke: "First of all, exclude the sale to France, if it falls into the hands of the French, the balance will be upset."

I am afraid that Austria will not be able to contain the French at that time, and no one knows whether that Napoleon IV is the second Napoleon, and it is too dangerous to let France grow.

All that remains is to make the Rhineland region independent, or sell it to Belgium, the Federal Empire of Germany in exchange for a sum of money.

The latter also involves the Anglo-Austrian dispute, which is another standing. As things stand, it is too dangerous for us to take sides among the great powers.

I think it is more in our current interests to sell to Belgium in exchange for a sum of money, and the most important thing at the moment is to annex Poland, and then digest it, and prepare for war with the Russians. ”

That's right, it's the "interests of the present", and in the long run, it is certainly in Prussia's best interest to keep the Rhineland.

However, this is impossible, and the old empires are not stupid, unless they give up the annexation of Poland, otherwise Britain and Austria, which are good at playing balance, will not give up.

In the long run, even if the Rhineland region became independent and secretly controlled the Rhineland, it would be more in Prussia's interests than to sell it.

In the short term, it will be different, the Berlin government is so poor that even if it can secretly control the Rhineland, it will be a matter of the future, and it is better to solve the fiscal crisis first.

To sell to the German Confederation, it is necessary to take sides. Now the Berlin government owes the British a lot of debt, and can only stand on the side of the British.

Now it's refreshing, but if you offend Austria, what will happen to the future Russo-Prussian War?

According to the plan, the Berlin government was ready to win over Austria and completely crush the Russian Empire. Without solving the sworn enemy of the Russians, Prussia will never be able to live in peace.

Secretary of War Ron: "It's not that simple, don't forget the French. What should we do if the government in Paris risks sending troops to occupy the Rhineland?

I don't think Austria is going to fight the French for the Rhineland, and if they want to, they will do so when France annexes Italy.

I don't think the strategy of the Vienna government was to unify the German regions, and Austria was already large enough and populous enough that it lacked nothing at all.

Judging by the approach of the Vienna government, this is more like one of their political slogans. Austria had already occupied most of the Balkans and was now attacking the Ottoman Empire.

If the peninsula of Asia Minor is well occupied, the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea is their territory, which is simply the second in the Byzantine Empire. ”

The rebuilding of the Byzantine Empire was no less ambitious than the unification of Germany. Austria did not clamored for the rebuilding of the Byzantine Empire, but the territorial boundaries could not be ignored.

Wilhelm I interrupted: "What Austria wants to do, we cannot stop. If they really have that much ambition, it's a good thing for us.

To recreate the Byzantine Empire, the Russians and the French were the ones who had the greatest conflict of interest. Judging from the Vienna government's laissez-faire French annexation of Italy, the Russians should be the first to be targeted.

Until the fall of the Russian Empire, we could all cooperate. But the Habsburgs excelled in diplomacy, not military affairs.

Franz was one of the best of them, and I don't think they would suddenly become so aggressive with the continued expansion of Austria's diplomacy after the succession, and it was probably a smoke bomb that they deliberately put off. ”

……

The Berlin government is tangled, and the Paris government is lively. There were constant factional strife in the government, and the republicans, Orleanists, and orthodoxes, who had been suppressed by Napoleon III, were all active.

Napoleon IV did not have the prestige to suppress the political forces of all parties, so he could only play a balance among the factions according to the plan left by Napoleon III.

The imperial power is guaranteed, but the party struggle has become serious. It is unfortunate that the party and the opposition are brought into the work of the government, and it is even more common for the sake of opposition for the sake of opposition.

The French Empire, which was feared by all sides, was unable to make a decision at this time, which was a great headache for Napoleon IV.

If it weren't for his father's explanation, he would have acted arbitrarily and made decisions directly. Fortunately, he held back, otherwise he would soon know how low the bureaucrats' lower limit was.