France and Russia have secretly been in contact, and Britain and Austria have not broken contact either. It's just that everyone tacitly pretends not to see it.

If it's true, then there will be no friends.

International relations in the late 19th century have become a mess. France and Austria are antagonistic on the issue of China and Europe, but they are the same on the issue of Central Asia.

Although their motives differed, both aimed to provoke a war between Britain and Russia and weaken their rivals.

On the other hand, Britain and Russia are about to fight, and the positions of the two sides on the Sino-European issue are almost the same: let France and Austria pinch each other, and there can be no situation in which one dominates.

……

London

Although it was known that France and Russia had been secretly eyeing each other for a long time, the news that the French were issuing bonds for the Russians still aroused strong dissatisfaction from the British government.

Prime Minister Gladstone frowned and asked, "What do the French want to do at this time to issue bonds for the Russians?" ”

The timing is too sensitive, and it is no problem to issue bonds for the Russians earlier and later, but it is too obvious to choose the moment when Britain and Russia turn their faces.

"The French are retaliating by promising to support their expansion into Central Europe, but when the French were seeking coal interests in Belgium and Germany, the government chose neutrality," explained Foreign Secretary Georges. ”

Is it really just "neutral"?

The answer is: no!

If the British government had not contributed to the fire and secretly dragged the French back, the anti-French wave in Europe would not have erupted so easily.

Perhaps in the eyes of the British government, if it does not directly jump out to oppose it, it can be regarded as the greatest support for France.

Secretly cheering up the two countries and sending warnings to the French government, these behaviors are all professional habits and nothing at all.

In the face of such an ally, the French government does not react violently, and that is the problem.

Originally, they were using each other, and no one really regarded each other as allies, so it is not surprising that they secretly cheated on each other.

In fact, from the very beginning the British dug the pit. Supporting the French in "expanding their sphere of influence" is not the same as supporting the French in expanding their territory, which are two very different concepts.

Perhaps during negotiations, diplomats will be vague or verbal in order to fool people. But what fell on paper was absolutely no support for the expansion of the French territory into Central Europe.

The current French Empire is already very strong, and if they continue to expand and make up for the last shortcomings, there will be a new round of skyrocketing strength.

Britain and France are only separated by a strait, so if France continues to grow, Britain really can't sleep.

Prime Minister Gladstone rubbed his forehead, this explanation left him speechless, standing on the side of Britain, there was no problem in pulling the French back.

The Anglo-French feud for hundreds of years cannot be resolved by a paper covenant. Curbing the growth of France has always been the top priority of the British government.

Although Russia and Austria are also enemies, because of the distance, the British government does not feel it deeply.

If it weren't for the tsarist government's focus on Central Asia, which threatened India's security, the two countries would not have faced each other directly.

After a moment of hesitation, Prime Minister Gladstone made a request: "Find a way to find something for the French to do."

We must not let them be idle, lest we be held back, and at the same time they must be kept in a bind to Austria. ”

To meet these two requirements, the only way to do this is to let France and Austria pinch each other. Sowing discord has always been the British's forte.

With the current relations between France and Austria, it seems that there is no need to continue to stir up trouble, as long as the contradictions are intensified.

After thinking about it, Foreign Secretary George nodded: "There is no problem, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will find something for them to do as soon as possible."

However, in this way, the two countries were completely pushed to the side of Austria. With the ability of the Habsburgs to pull allies, the French were afraid to suffer. ”

Once the contradictions escalate, the two countries, as the center of the storm, will not be able to get out at all.

Even because the French government did not pay attention to their appearance, their international reputation fell again, and it is impossible not to worry as their neighbors.

In this context, once the situation in Europe is tense, even if Austria does not move, European countries will push Austria out to counterbalance the French.

In the absence of a war, France and Austria fought, and the weak French government would certainly suffer.

As for the actual fight, George can't judge the outcome. After all, the prestige of the French is very strong, and Austria is strong and has many potential allies.

Prime Minister Gladstone sneered: "If you don't let them suffer a little, how do you know our importance."

As soon as the alliance was concluded, he hurriedly stretched out his hand to the Central European region, not even knowing how to choose a good time.

The French have gone so well over the years that they have become carried away and arrogant. ”

……

In fact, Franz was more nervous about France and Russia getting closer than the British government.

This was geographically determined, Austria was caught between France and Russia, and once France and Russia were brought closer, Austria would face too great a strategic danger.

It's just that there are some more lessons from history, and Franz chooses to hold back for the time being, pretending that he doesn't know anything.

Not only did it not interrupt its loans to Russia and take revenge on both ends of the tsarist government, but it also suppressed the voice of the government in Russia.

"The Russians' affairs have come to an end for the time being. Whatever the tsarist government did, now we should act as if nothing had happened.

The Foreign Office may appropriately express its dissatisfaction, and all other issues will be discussed after the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian war. ”

There must be a post-autumn reckoning, but the prerequisite must be the post-autumn post-autumn.

If Austria had an attack now and made trouble for the Russians, how could the tsarist government have the confidence to fight for Afghanistan with the British?

If the Russians lose the war, they will definitely lose a lot, and if they do not do so, they will also lose the national fortunes that have been gathered in recent years.

Don't look at the current Russian Empire seems to be very strong, but don't forget the previous wars, this old empire has been hit hard.

The loss of millions of young people cannot be made up for in a day or two.

Compare the population growth rate of the Russian Empire in the last thirty years to see how much damage the war had.

Especially after the Second Russo-Prussian War, the population of the Russian Empire continued to grow negatively for many years, and now it can only keep the population from declining.

Against this background, if another 1.8 million people were to be added to Central Asia, and the war was lost, the foundation of the tsarist government would be shaken.

Of course, winning the war is a trivial matter that is not worth mentioning. Victory can suppress all discontent, take the region of Afghanistan, and the whole tsarist government will work together for India.

The problem is that it is easy to take Afghanistan, but it is not so simple to digest the Afghan region.

Unless Austria's indigenous migration policy is followed, the natives are relocated away.

Otherwise, with the guerrillas plundering inside and the British outside, the Russians will never be at peace.

Austria only needs to push it at the right time. Although it is a bit despicable to cheat the allies, but this is also the first time that the Russians hooked up with the French.

……

"Your Majesty, judging from the information collected by the Ministry of Agriculture, the food self-sufficiency plans of Britain and France have achieved phased results.

In particular, the French ranching program began to develop rapidly in French Africa after the French government replaced a number of colonial officials.

If nothing else, France's staple food deficit this year will be reduced to less than 1.8 million tons, and it won't be long before they can achieve food self-sufficiency.

However, it is said that the French farms in Africa are expensive to run, and only a small number of farms are able to break even, and most farms rely on financial allocations. ”

This result did not surprise Franz.

The lack of food in France is mainly due to the fact that the Italian region actually has enough food to eat.

In order to reduce foreign exchange expenditures, in recent years, farms have been established in Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and other regions to make up for the food shortage.

As for the high cost of running farms, that is a predestined result. There are very few areas in French Africa that are suitable for agricultural development.

There are many places where there are masters, so you can't drive them all away, right? You must know that the owners of many local lands have long since become French colonists.

In addition to grabbing some of the indigenous land, most of the farms were opened up by the French government itself, and the natural conditions of many farms were not the best, and they could only be said to be barely passable.

If the water conservancy facilities are perfected, the problems behind should not be big. However, this will take time, and it will not be possible to do it in a short time.

In the short term, these farms will depend on the weather for food, and the grain production will naturally not be much higher. Coupled with the management of the bureaucracy, a lot of additional costs are added, and it is normal to operate at a loss.

Franz nodded: "The time is almost up, and it will take time to promote potash fertilizer, so there is no need to continue to hide and pinch." ”

At this time, the biggest loss from the promotion of chemical fertilizers is definitely not Austria.

Austria has been reducing the area under cultivation of staple grains in recent years due to the fall in international food prices.

In addition to satisfying domestic consumption, it has rarely been exported to foreign countries. Domestic grain processing enterprises have also begun to vigorously import Russian grain.

In a sense, the fact that the Russian economy was able to recover against the backdrop of falling international grain prices was also caused by Austria's policy of reducing grain production.

It's just that this kind of good life is about to be gone forever. No matter how much production capacity is cut, Austria's agricultural volume is all here.

Even today's potash fertilizer is not as effective as that of later generations, and grain production has only increased by five percent, which is enough food ration for six or seven million people.

The increased output must be digested by the market.

Against the backdrop of self-sufficiency in Britain and France, the international grain market is not only not growing, but gradually shrinking.

In order to increase domestic grain production, Austria must take care of itself first, and it will be difficult for the Russians to find buyers for their grain.

The situation should be even worse, potash is not kept secret, and European countries will follow suit.

As the grain production capacity of various countries increases, the international grain market will shrink sharply, and prices will continue to fall.

In a sense, this is what is used to smash the pot. Austria could find a way to increase its food consumption and survive the agricultural crisis, and the Russians would be out of luck.

As soon as the Anglo-Russian war ended, an agricultural crisis broke out, which doomed the tsarist government to tighten its belts for many years to come.

Franz can swear to God that this tactic of killing a thousand enemies and losing a hundred at the expense of a hundred was definitely not aimed at the allies in the first place.

It was originally planned, but when the British and French food self-sufficiency plans were completed, they began to smash the pot and drag everyone into the era of food cost.

However, the plan did not change quickly, and when it came time to implement it, it suddenly became clear that the Russian Empire was the biggest victim.

For no other reason, Britain, France and Austria are all industrial countries, supported by industrial chains in the country, and only the tsarist government is heavily dependent on agriculture.