Christmas in 1879 was a particularly lively year, with the exception of the warring Prussia and Russia, and the people of Europe had a fat year.

As is customary, the Government of Vienna assigns annual tasks to the departments after the New Year.

The only exception is the Immigration Department, which everyone knows is a fantasy to complete the grand immigration strategy when the domestic economy is booming.

Therefore, the task of the Immigration Department in 1880 is still to continue the unfinished tasks of the previous year, and there is no punishment.

In this regard, the Austrian government is still very pragmatic, and the tasks of various departments are formulated after research and study in light of the actual situation, and will not act blindly in order to brush up on "political achievements".

Entering the new year, Franz felt the most that he was "one year older", and when he reached the age of knowing the destiny of heaven, he could not accept the old age.

Judging from the average life expectancy of this era, this age can be called a high lifespan. In the private sector, retirement is already possible at this age.

The countryside is better, but in the cities, the age is basically unemployed, and no factory will hire people of this age.

The decline in physical strength and the inflexibility of the hands and feet are not something that can be changed by the will of the individual. It's okay to be engaged in mental work, purely manual laborers, with the exception of a few positions, most of the work is insulated from them.

There is no need to worry about the pension problem, heavy manual labor + expensive medical system has helped everyone get through the "old age crisis".

"Franz, when do you think Frederick's marriage will take place?"

Empress Helen's voice pulled Franz back from deep thought.

"Isn't it too much of a rush so early?" Franz replied without even thinking about it

"Early, early!" As if sensing Franz's displeasure in her son's marriage, Helen complained: "Frederick is 24 years old, and Victoria is 18 years old. The Baden royal family has sent a telegram to Cui, can't you grow a little heart! ”

Franz was stunned, and he said casually! After being married for so many years, he had never seen Helen have such a big fire, but he didn't expect that the first one was actually for this matter.

Whether it is a woman's menopause or a mother's strength, Franz has no time to delve into it.

"What do you think, I mean it's just after Christmas, and I'm in a hurry to talk about marriage.

Moreover, the two countries are at war with each other, and the European continent is bleeding, and it is really unlucky to let Frederick marry at this juncture. ”

After being an emperor for so many years, Franz only today realized how strong his ability to make excuses was, as if he had returned to the time when he coaxed his girlfriend in his previous life.

The woman's inexplicable fire comes and goes quickly.

After listening to Franz's defense, Empress Helen extinguished her anger and still complained: "This damn war is really tiresome. ”

Then he pointed his head at Franz: "Why do you men always like to fight and kill, why can't you sit down and have a good talk?" ”

Franz, who was a little weak-hearted, rolled his eyes and replied without changing his face: "Because we want to support you!" ”

"The world is so big, the gifts of nature cannot meet the needs of all mankind, and everyone can only fight and grab in order to survive.

The Russo-Prussian War was the result of the sublimation of contradictions, no one could make concessions, and retreating would mean disaster. ”

This is not nonsense, but there is enough theoretical basis. According to the analysis of data collected by the Austrian government, sociologists generally believe that 70% of the world's population is currently hungry, which means that more than one billion people in the world do not have enough to eat.

There is no need to dispute whether it is accurate or not. It is a social reality that the majority of people are in a state of poverty and find it difficult to even make ends meet.

Not to mention the regions where industry has not developed, even the European continent, which claims to be a civilized world, has more than 200 million poor people out of a total population of 320 million.

Of course, compared with other regions, due to the impact of colonial dividends, the life of European people is still much better, and most people can barely fill their stomachs as long as they work hard.

The causes of hunger are manifold, including: exploitation by the ruling class, lack of regional food production capacity, colonial rule, ......

The problem of hunger for all mankind has not been solved in the 21st century, and it is even more impossible to solve it in this era.

What can be done is to sweep the snow in front of the door, and while developing the country, go out and plunder, and basically fill the stomachs of the people.

If we talk about the first Prussian-Russian war, there are still elements of the struggle for face and the struggle for will; The Second Russo-Prussian War was a complete struggle for living space.

The main factor that led to the outbreak of war was profit, and hatred had long since taken a back seat.

If the tsarist government wanted to restore its status as a great power, break out of the Baltic Sea, and regain its lost territory, it had to defeat the Pu-Po Federation.

And vice versa, if the Poppo Federation wants to go further, it can only expand eastward.

It can be said that the war was already doomed from the time the Berlin government decided to abandon the land and sea. This is determined by geographical location, and if it does not become a colonial empire, it can only expand to the east.

Although the strength of the German Federal Empire in the west is not good, but the geographical location of the people is special, and the westward expansion is equivalent to declaring war on Britain and Austria at the same time, or declaring war on Britain, France, Russia and Austria.

To the south is the stronger Austria and to the north is the Nordic Confederation. Geographically, the Berlin government was also on the way north against the Russians.

Empress Helen was not interested in politics, and she usually did not participate unless she had to. In her opinion, these issues are far less important than holding her grandson sooner.

"You can do it, and if Frederick complains, I'll tell him what you mean."

In the end, she still felt sorry for her son, and Queen Helen didn't want Frederick to be wronged. It is nothing for ordinary people to get married when Europe is bleeding, but as the Austrian crown prince, it is inevitable that marriage will be affected at this time.

As long as she thought that the guests attending the wedding were not here to send blessings, but were busy chatting about the Russo-Russian War, that embarrassing scene, Queen Helen felt disconnected.

Franz smiled slightly, and made a judgment very confidently: "Don't worry, the Russo-Prussian War won't last long." If it goes well, it will be done by the end of this year, and it will be delayed until 1882 at the latest. ”

Prussia and Russia have divided the winners and losers, then the war may end at the end of the year; If we can't tell the winner, the war will drag on for two years, and then it will be over.

It has not yet entered the 20th century, and if it wants to last for four or five years like a world war, the national strength will not be able to support it!

There is no parent who is not in a hurry to hold his grandson, and Franz is also forced to be helpless when he drags his son's marriage. Being in the royal family, marriage must serve politics.

In this case, it is natural to maximize the benefits. If he sacrificed so much and did not make a huge amount of political resources, Frederick would have lost a lot.

The end of the Russo-Prussian War and the great changes in the situation in Europe were the best time for Austria to penetrate into the German Confederation, and Frederick's marriage happened to be an opportunity for all parties to contact each other in a bright and bright way.

The things that have been negotiated can also be taken advantage of the opportunity to be brought to the surface, and the final political results are indispensable to Frederick's party.

He contributed to the unification of the German regions and gained political prestige, which was very important for Frederick's future succession to the throne.

The second generation of emperors is not easy to be, especially the father is particularly awesome. The outside world will compare them, but how can political achievements be so easy to make?

Franz was in the era of change, and he came to power in this special period, and there was no way to replicate the achievements he had made.

……

While Franz was worried about his son, the Prussian battlefield also changed, and after a lot of hardships, the Prussian army finally gained the upper hand on the Ukrainian battlefield.

Moltke, who was good at fighting on the outside line, gave full play to the advantages of the fast speed of the Prussian army, and adopted a series of tactics such as encircling points to send reinforcements and attacking the east and west, constantly mobilizing the Russian army, and concentrating superior forces to fight a decisive battle with the Russians in the movement.

After a series of operations that could be included in military textbooks, in the months from the end of 1879 to the beginning of 1880, the Prussian army annihilated more than 200,000 Russian troops, which was called the "Great Victory of Volyn" by the European media.

Tactically the Prussian army was successful, strategically only slightly superior, the Russians lost most of Volyn, but kept the strategic Brest, Moltke Kiev offensive was not fully successful.

A small regret is nothing, anyway, the south has won, and the other battlefields are much worse. In particular, the northern coast was attacked by the Russian navy, and several port cities were reduced to ruins under artillery fire, with heavy losses.

The central battlefield was not much better, although there were no losses on the battlefield, but the Russian army continued to send Cossack cavalry deep into the sabotage, which made the Berlin government distressed.

I don't know if it's because of talent, the combat effectiveness of the Cossack cavalry on the frontal battlefield is not much stronger than that of the Prussian cavalry, but once it turns into a bandit, its combat effectiveness skyrockets as if it were open.

Once, after a robbery, a Cossack cavalry regiment accidentally fell into the encirclement of a Prussian cavalry regiment and two infantry regiments, as a result of which they managed to defeat the Prussian cavalry regiment and broke out with part of the booty.

Although this had something to do with the haste of the Prussian army and the fact that the encirclement did not have time to be tightened, the combat effectiveness of the Cossack cavalry was still a great shock to the Prussian army.

This is not an isolated case, as a careful analysis reveals that the Cossack cavalry was always able to perform at a high level when it came to protecting their own booty.

In order to combat the arrogance of the Russians, the Prussian army also set traps many times and successfully ambushed these robbers.

The benefits are impressive, and no amount of risk can stop the Cossacks from dreaming of making a fortune.

Moreover, the tsarist government was very generous this time, not only did it go to itself with all the loot, but also offered a generous reward, which was 3 rubles for participating in the robbery.

Looking at the summary of the war losses between Prussia and Russia, Franz came to the conclusion of a "draw".

The Russians suffered more casualties among the soldiers, and the civilians of the Pop-Po Federation suffered more casualties. The photographs published in the newspapers are proof of this, and the corpses and burning houses everywhere tell the story of the evil of barbarism.