On October 7, 1866, the Sultan government handed over an ultimatum to the Russian minister, demanding that the Russians surrender Constantinople within 48 hours, otherwise it would be war.

This ultimatum to war, without waiting for 48 hours, the minister of Tsarist Russia, who received the ultimatum, replied directly: Then war!

The Ottoman Empire's preparations for war were so big, how could it be hidden from the Russians? As an archenemy, the tsarist government never relaxed its surveillance of the Ottoman Empire.

The Russian Foreign Ministry was also courting the Ottomans, but they could not come up with the benefits, and the result was naturally in vain.

Seeing the mobilization of the Sultan government, Alexander II knew that war was inevitable.

Open the map and look at it and it's confirmed. The Ottomans did not have many options, and there were three neighbors in the surrounding area.

The geographical location determines that Persia is not easy to fight, and even if it wins, there is not much oil and water, and there is no need for the Sudanese government in the chicken rib region to fight.

Austria did not dare to fight, or rather, could not touch it, and the border was the Sinai Peninsula, which was separated by a vast desert. Attacking the Balkans by sea was not enough to have more than enough heart, and there was no chance of landing.

Russia is left, the Black Sea Fleet was completely wiped out in the war in the Near East, and due to financial constraints, it has not recovered for so many years.

With the support of Britain and France, it was possible to attack either the Caucasus or Constantinople. It is too easy to seal the Bosphorus Strait, a few hundred meters wide, and it can be done directly with the shore artillery.

The pretext for war, painstakingly prepared by the Government of the Sudan, has turned into a farce.

Constantinople has gathered 80,000 Russian troops, and the total strength of the Russian army on the Russian Balkan Peninsula has reached 150,000, and the Caucasus is relatively speaking.

Both sides have declared war, and the battle will still be fought. This time, the Ottomans finally had an absolute superiority in troops, so they naturally had to do a big job.

St. Petersburg, receiving news of the Ottomans' declaration of war, Alexander II's brow furrowed even tighter. There are more and more enemies, and this is not a good thing.

The Russian Empire's war potential, in fact, was almost exhausted, limited by transportation and productivity, which was already the maximum force they could use.

The 560,000 or 600,000 troops in Eastern Europe are going to fight to the death with the Put-Polish coalition army, and there is no chance of winning the war at present, so in order to prevent Sweden from taking advantage of the fire and robbery, 50,000 troops have also been deployed in the Nordic region.

There are also seventy or eighty thousand troops deployed in the Far East, but because the area of rule is too wide, there are not many troops that can be put into ***.

More than 300,000 Russian troops in Central Asia are fighting hard with the enemy, or they are being pressed and beaten by others. This part of the army is basically recruited temporarily, and it is good to be able to stabilize the battle line.

The Balkans seemed to have plenty of troops, but in fact the 150,000 Russian troops could defend Constantinople at most, but fortunately the French sold the Balkan colonies to Austria, otherwise they would have one more potential enemy.

The Caucasus must now also increase its troops, and no one can guarantee that the Sudanese government will not attack the east and west, and if the Caucasus is lost, then the enemy can fight all the way to the Volga valley.

There was not enough troops, this was what Alexander II really felt. Millions of Russian troops are fighting the battlefield, and in order to support this war, the domestic economy has been seriously affected.

Fighting a war of attrition is the most painful, it is impossible to invest more troops, and the tactics of crowds cannot be brought into play, which is really a serious challenge to the Russian army.

To make matters worse, the European countries have clearly seen the reality of the Russian Empire, and the so-called million Russian troops are a joke, and the tsarist government cannot commit a million troops on any battlefield.

These changes also affected Russian-Austrian relations, with the Austrians feeling that the alliance was dispensable and the Russians feeling that the Austrian allies were not contributing.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Cristanval whispered: "Your Majesty, after the outbreak of war with the Ottomans, we will only trade with Austria.

This year's fiscal revenue is likely to hit a record low in 30 years, and it is likely to continue to decline next year. ”

Such a change made the Chancellor of the Exchequer really have no confidence to speak. Although the responsibility is not theirs, the problem falls on them when there is no money.

Fortunately, a sum was made from the Jews before, otherwise the tsarist government would have gone bankrupt long ago. Even so, Cristanval did not dare to let his guard down.

This kind of windfall cannot be made every day, and according to the current situation, it will not be long before they face a financial crisis again.

Alexander II asked indifferently: "How low will it be?" ”

"This year's fiscal revenues will fall to about 150 million rubles, and if the war continues, it may fall to 120 million rubles next year."

Chancellor of the Exchequer Cristanval replied in a quieter and quieter voice. You must know that before the outbreak of the war, the financial revenue of the tsarist government had exceeded 300 million rubles, and now it has been cut in half.

The reality is so cruel, the Russian Empire is now also embattled, except for the Arctic Ocean, which is safe, there is war all the way from Eastern Europe to the Far East.

Overseas trade has shrunk sharply, and the huge profits from grain exports in the past are no longer there.

In contrast to the smaller export trade, the volume of import trade is growing sharply. Russia's foreign trade was settled in gold and silver, and this change led to a large outflow of gold and silver from the country.

The consequences of the loss of wealth were soon reflected in the economy, and deflation became a social problem that the tsarist government could not avoid.

"It seems that the Austrians have made a lot of money again."

Alexander II's seemingly unintentional words have already exhausted the transformation of Russian-Austrian relations. I'm unlucky that you get rich, and no matter how good your friends are, you will be estranged, and the same will be true when it comes to national relations.

No one answered this sentence, and the Russian-Austrian friendship is still politically correct. Neither red-eyed nor jealous could change the fact that the Tsar could not do without Austria.

……

Alexander II was not wrong, Austria has indeed earned a lot lately. Because of the war, the Bosphorus was blocked, and Austria naturally monopolized trade with Russia.

Sweden in the Nordic region also made a small fortune, but their national strength is limited and they can not export many goods.

In addition to trade with Russia, another benefit is Austria's increased share of the agricultural market. The Russians can only export grain to Austria first, and then sell it to the international market after processing.

This hit another wave of competitors, and enterprises that originally bought Russian grain for finishing now had to rush to buy on the international market because of the lack of raw materials.

After the Russians and the Ottomans went to war, in a short period of time the prices traded on the international grain market rose by another ten points. This is just the beginning, and as long as supply and demand are not resolved, food prices are still likely to continue to rise.

In the mid-19th century, half of the world's population was hungry, and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, died of hunger every year.

Against this backdrop, it is clear that the food shortage in Europe will not be solved in a short period of time. Increasing grain production is easy to say, but it is difficult to put it into practice.

There is no shortage of land in the major colonial empires, but the problem is that the initial investment in cultivating grain is not small, and the market rate of return is not high enough.

If there is a good harvest of grain, there is a high risk that it will rot in the ground. It's not that people don't need food anymore, but on a bigger problem, many people can't afford it.

In this era, only European countries have market purchasing power, and other regions are self-sufficient, and those who cannot be self-sufficient can only starve.

Purchasing power limits production capacity, and in the event of an emergency, food prices will naturally rise in the short term. Maybe everyone has reserves in their hands, but if the capitalists want to make money, ultra-high food prices are also one of the means.

This has little to do with Austria, and no matter how international food prices change, as the world's largest grain exporter, domestic food prices are very stable.

As one of the beneficiaries, Franz's wallet bulged a lot. This has not aroused Franz's interest, and at the critical moment of the industrial revolution, it is obvious that new industries have more "money".

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg frowned and said, "Your Majesty, the Russian Minister has informed us that they are going to raise their duties because of the war. ”

Franz frowned, raising tariffs will inevitably affect the trade volume between the two countries. But does the current Russian Empire really have the capital to raise tariffs?

It was not clear what the tsarist government was planning, and Franz did not bother to pay attention to it.

"Maybe it's time for the price of our exports to go up!"

Wool comes out of sheep, and rising tariffs lead to higher commodity prices, which is a normal law of business.

Perhaps the increase in tariffs could protect certain Russian industries. However, it is the war years, and the biggest trade commodity between the two countries is strategic goods.

This was a necessity, and the tsarist government had to accept the price increase. Doesn't raising tariffs now give the capitalists an excuse to raise prices?

This price increase will definitely exceed the increase in tariffs, and it is the tsarist government itself that suffers in the end.

Franz was sure that this decision was certainly not made by Alexander II. Obviously shooting himself in the foot, Alexander II was not such a fool.

Either the tsarist government had financial problems, and the bureaucrats rushed to the hospital to formulate stupid policies; Either it is pushed by the domestic capitalists in an attempt to obtain greater benefits.

The truth was covered up, and no one could have imagined that Alexander II's exclamation would make his bureaucrats associate themselves with a stupid decision that would end the honeymoon period between Russia and Austria.

If Alexander II had known, he would have definitely regretted it.

This decision has indeed protected many domestic industries. On the surface, it seems to be a good policy, but at the beginning of industrial development, the protection of national industries is conducive to the development of domestic industry.

However, the benefits did not materialize, the consequences had already happened, and the tsarist government soon paid a terrible price for it.

Because the price of imported goods from Austria increased due to tariffs, the bureaucrats of the tsarist government chose to purchase supplies from local enterprises in order to save money - the sinkhole was about to be born.

……