The war in the Near East became intense, and apart from the attention of politicians, it did not attract the attention of the melon-eating masses in the slightest.

The Habsburgs and the Ottomans were feuding, the Tsarist government was the same as the Ottomans, and even Greece and Montenegro were the feuds of the Ottoman Empire.

Having a common enemy, it is normal for the four countries to form an anti-Turkish alliance. If you open the history books, you will know that these countries have fought with the Ottomans every once in a while.

The Ottomans had already fallen, and as early as the First Near Eastern War they were forced to withdraw from the Balkans, and Asia Minor was still too far away from everyone.

The focus of public opinion was still the French Revolution, and although the Paris Commune came to an end, the political impact was far-reaching.

The destruction of the Palace of Versailles seemed to be a venting revenge, but in fact it pulled the majesty of the monarch off the altar.

The revolutionaries, unwilling to accept defeat, seized on the last fallout and vigorously propagated revolutionary ideas, while governments were busy putting out the fires.

These seems to have nothing to do with the anti-Turkish alliance, the newspapers have always followed the sales, and the news that happens around them is far more interesting than the news overseas.

The attention of the people of Europe was focused on the revolution, while the attention of the people of the four countries of the anti-Turkish alliance was fixed on the war in the Near East.

Humans have always been the most vengeful creatures, and the villain Ottoman has managed to attract everyone's attention, so much so that everyone has no time to care about revolutionary ideas.

Fortunately, the information has not been transmitted all over the past few years, and everyone's understanding of the outside world is not so detailed, otherwise if this news spreads, it will definitely cause an uproar.

It is perfect to find an old enemy to fight and be able to deflect internal contradictions and avoid the spread of revolutionary ideas.

Of course, this approach does not necessarily apply to France. Their old enemies are all a little too strong, and none of them are easy to mess with.

The premise of the law of war transfer contradiction is that it must be won, and if it loses, it will be a calf.

……

At the Royal Palace in Berlin, Frederick III was engaged in a final ideological struggle over whether to join forces with Hanover to form the North German Empire.

Every time he thought of this, he couldn't help but complain that his father was cheating on his son.

Back then, Metternich proposed the division of Germany by Prussia, but because of a series of factors such as the uneven distribution of spoils and the opposition of Britain and France, it was decisively rejected by the Berlin government.

Who could have known that thirty years later, the question of the establishment of North Germany would once again be returned to because of a mistake in the government's decision-making.

The same North German Empire, in fact, was completely two species. The territory of the German region was not lost, and it was even larger than the partition plan proposed by Metternich that year, but unfortunately Prussia was reduced by half.

As a result, Prussia, which was supposed to dominate North Germany, was now a vassal of Hanover.

What anti-guest is the main thing, it is all nonsense to fool people, and Frederick III will not believe a word.

God bless to be able to guarantee the independence of Prussia. You must know that Hanover was the son of Britain, and Prussia was at most a godson, at least in the Victorian era.

In this era when the great powers dominated the world, the importance of the background was self-evident, and there were not many options left for the Berlin government.

In the relationship of the Russo-Prussian War, the tsarist government in the east must be the enemy, and if it is not to cause trouble for them, even if it is luck, support it is not to think about it.

The formation of North Germany will definitely offend Austria, don't look at what the Vienna government did not do, Frederick III knew that there must be something wrong here.

France, which had been pinned on high hopes by the Berlin government, suddenly made a revolution without waiting for them to come over.

Every time he thought of this, Frederick III secretly rejoiced that he had not taken this step, otherwise even the English boss would have offended.

Prime Minister Léo von Caprivi proposed: "Your Majesty, since you can't figure out the plans of the Austrians, it is better to have a showdown with them."

The Viennese government was certain that it wanted to unify the German region, but they were not ready for it now, fearing a boycott from the European countries, so they did not take this step.

Now that France in the west has been greatly weakened by the influence of the revolution, and the Ottomans in the south are about to be finished, if the Vienna government can stabilize the Russians, the chances of their unification of Germany are not low.

In our current situation, we can only stand on the side of the winners.

Many of the states in Germany were co-opted by the Austrians, and the Vienna government was slow to make an offer to us, presumably because they could not trust us. ”

People change, and under the beating of society, the idea of Greater Prussia has disappeared.

Even the Junker nobles, who were so awesome, had to go into hibernation because of the defeat in the war.

After politicians came to power, the government in Berlin was less radical and more pragmatic.

Frederick III shook his head: "It's not that simple, the French didn't really hurt their vitality, and they were able to recover after three or five years."

No matter how good the relations between Russia and Austria are, they will not be able to withstand the test of national interests, and perhaps in a short period of time, the tsarist government will be forced to accept the unification of Austria in Germany and become the hegemon of the European continent.

But there will always be a day when they will recover, and will the Russian Empire, which has recovered in ten or twenty years, still be willing to accept Austria's exclusive hegemony over the European continent?

There are British, do you think it's still far from the anti-Austrian alliance?

Napoleon was defeated by the union of European countries, and with Franz's cautious nature, how could he take the risk?

The unification of Germany was not only the beginning of the pinnacle, but also the prelude to the end of the world.

Austria would not have done it without complete certainty, or they would have unified the German regions long ago. ”

With that, Frederick III pointed to the map and then kept silent.

The people who know you best are not your friends, but your enemies.

Puo is also an old adversary, and the Berlin government has always attached great importance to the collection of intelligence on Austria, including the study of Franz's character.

Knowing more, Frederick III was basically able to judge the thoughts of the Viennese government.

They have all used diplomatic and military means to solve the enemies on both the north and the south fronts, so why not wait for the remaining enemies to be killed before taking action?

Looking in the direction of Frederick III's finger, Leo von Caprivi couldn't help but blurt out: "India! ”

After saying that, as if aware of the gaffe, Leo von Caplevi fell into silence, with only one idea in his mind: the Austrians made a move.

The terrible thing about Yangmou lies in this, everyone can see it clearly, but they can't help the temptation of benefits.

As early as the First Near Eastern War, the Russians were pitted by Austria, but even if they were trapped, Russian-Austrian relations remained unaffected.

The reason is very simple, the Russians got the benefits promised by the Vienna government, and they were willingly pitted.

No matter how heavy the losses are, can they compare to Constantinople?

As long as the benefits are in place, the loss is nothing at all. In essence, the potential power of the Russian Empire has also grown, but it will take time before it can be transformed into national power.

To know, the Berlin government did not mean to warn the British. Some time ago, they just put the British together, and the Anglo-Prussian relationship is not so harmonious.

……

The Berlin government has analyzed it, and the London government can also analyze it, of course, the two are in different positions and come to different conclusions.

The Berlin government suspected that Austria would encourage the Russians to annex India, while the London government believed that Austria was targeting India.

After all, it was the richest colony in the world, richer than the other colonies combined, and there was no reason why the Vienna government should not be ambitious.

While supporting the Ottoman Empire, Gladstone also abandoned his own policy of "glorious isolation".

Here are the six principles he put forward before he became prime minister:

1. Establish a good government in the country;

2. Maintain peace abroad;

3. Maintain coordination among the European powers;

4. Not to form alliances with other countries;

5. Recognition of the equal rights of all nations;

6. Sympathy for freedom.

The basic points of these six principles are twofold: first, coordination and mediation among the countries of the European continent in order to establish a so-called "coordinated Europe";

The second is to avoid alliances with other European countries in order to maintain their freedom of movement and achieve "glorious isolation".

However, the plan did not change quickly, and before these policies of Gladstone could be realized, the international situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

If before the outbreak of the war in the Near East, the policy of glorious isolation was the best option for the government in London, then after the outbreak of the Paris Revolution and the establishment of the anti-Turkish alliance, it was no longer feasible.

In the face of the increasingly severe international situation, the British urgently needed allies to contain Austria on the European continent in order to ensure the security of India.

Looking at the whole world, there are only three countries that are so pitiful that can contain Austria, except for Britain itself, there are only France and Russia that are not in a good state.

Gladstone put his hands together on the table and said solemnly, "Everyone, it's time for multiple-choice questions.

Britain needs a weighty ally to deal with the next international changes, so let's choose one of France, Russia and Austria now! ”

There is nothing wrong with it, and Austria is also one of the options. In the British dictionary, friend or foe can be converted.

When a country is so strong that it cannot be suppressed and cannot be an enemy, turning enemies into friends is also one of the choices.

Foreign Secretary George was the first to reply: "Prime Minister, this is a multiple-choice question, and we don't have a choice.

With the fall of France and Russia, the situation on the European continent has become clear, and Austria has become our greatest threat at the moment.

Of course, it is not excluded that the Austrian Empire was also papier-mâché.

It's just that this possibility is very small, and this great revolution that will affect all of Europe, Austria will not be in chaos, and I do not think that in a short time they will have internal problems.

At this time, our alliance with Austria will undoubtedly further fuel their arrogance.

The Russians were also not a good choice, and the interests of Russia and Austria were too closely linked, and it was difficult for the tsarist government to stand in opposition to Austria until it regained its strength.

Moreover, the credibility of the Russians is too poor, and we do not have the ability to collect debts by force, and giving them blood transfusions is a loss of money.

In fact, we are left with only one option – France.

Judging by my personal senses, the ambitious French are likewise not a good ally.

Supporting them requires a lot of risk, and the possibility of backlash is very high, so we must grasp this degree. ”

Both wanted to pull allies, but also worried that allies would take the opportunity to become bigger, and the London government was also heartbroken for the sake of European balance.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Childers objected: "Isn't it good to encourage the arrogance of the Austrians?

You must know that this is a different enemy, after the outbreak of civil strife in France, Austria has become the de facto hegemon of the European continent.

However, this hegemon was different from the previous European hegemons, the Austrians dominated European affairs through the Vienna system, and did not have the habit of stretching out their hands indiscriminately, including the civil strife in France.

This act of restraint gave the Austrians a good international image in front of the European countries, and even they maintained good relations with every European country.

In the face of such an enemy, containment is the worst option, no one knows how many allies they will be able to pull out, and the best option is to let them make mistakes themselves. ”

"Stick killing" is the lowest cost option, but the premise is that it must be able to kill, otherwise only "stick" remains, and then the loss will be large.

After a moment of hesitation, Gladstone shook his head: "The success rate is too low, we can't hope that the Austrians will make mistakes."

If they don't make a mistake, we'll release a monster with our own hands, and then we will eat ourselves.

No, Austria is already a man-eating monster, and it is still a monster that is good at camouflage.

We had been deceived by their disguised appearances before, so much so that we only now realized their threat. ”

……