Chapter 568: London Conference

1874 was destined to be an extraordinary year. In addition to the Near East War and the Russian-Polish War, the Asia-Pacific region was also unstable.
First, the French and the Annan government signed the Treaty of Peace between France and Annan, and then the Japanese invasion war broke out.
Needless to say, the latter naturally ends in failure. The "France and Annan Peace League Treaty" sounds very harmonious. In fact, it has a nice name and essentially serves colonial invasion.
The strategy has shrunk for so long that some people in France are not lonely. The world has been divided up, and there is a little scrap left. No matter how slow it is, nothing can be found.
In the struggle for the rights of the Paris government, inadvertently doing things outside, it still cannot stop the enthusiasm for colonial expansion at home.
Colonial expansion does not necessarily depend entirely on fighting. For example, the signing of a treaty with the Annans this time relies on diplomatic fraud, and even fooled the sign of the Annan government.
The seemingly ordinary treaty actually provided a legal basis for French interference in Annan's internal affairs. No matter what Annans think, anyway, the French only need to have a statement that is acceptable to European countries.
Britain, France, Austria and the three countries have allied, and the loose international situation has created opportunities for the French to expand in the Indo-China Peninsula.
The Indochina Peninsula is not within the scope of Austria's colonial plan and does not involve its own interests. Of course, the Vienna government will not jump out and act as a messenger of justice.
...
In the Palace of Vienna, Franz's attention was attracted to the Kingdom of Poland, turning into a crowd of melons, watching the performances of Russia and Russia.
Foreign Minister Weisenberg reported: "Two days ago, the reinforcements of the Kingdom of Prussia arrived at the front line, and there was a small-scale exchange of fire with the Russian army yesterday.
But both sides were very restrained and looked like they were doing drama. Now the Russians have occupied most of Ukraine, accounting for about a third of the Polish territory.
According to preliminary judgment, this should be the compensation promised to the Russians by the Berlin government. Next, the two countries will probably sit down and negotiate to make sure the agreed content.
Affected by this, this morning the British Minister issued an invitation to European countries, including us, to propose the formation of an international intervention alliance to mediate the war.
The London government can't sit still. The smoke bombs we released some time ago have already played a role. In order to curb our and the French's continued expansion in continental Europe, the British could not help but take action. "
The Russian-Polish war, the Polish throne elections, and France and Austria are watching this big issue in cold air. Is it no wonder that there is no problem?
It is not completely inactive, Franz is still appealing to everyone to exercise restraint, and sit down and talk slowly when something happens. The Paris government has also warned the two countries of Russia and Russia not to play with fire.
Specific actions? Unfortunately, France and Austria are very busy, and there is no time to intervene in these trivial matters.
It is possible for France and Austria not to intervene, and there is a natural interest behind this. A little analysis of the British can guess the content of the transaction, but it is not necessary to say that it must be destroyed.
Otherwise, it's still John Bull?
Franz ordered a bit: "At this point, we will face a lot of public pressure. The British are in the next big game.
The government must do a good job of guiding public opinion, but it must not let the British take the rhythm, or else there will be a big mess. "
From all indications, Franz judged that the British wanted to take the opportunity to provoke the conflict between France and Austria and at the same time divide the relationship between Austria and the German Federation.
This was an unavoidable conspiracy. The French wanted to annex the Rhineland region. For political correctness, the Vienna government could only stand up against it.
The German region has been divided for many years, and states are used to being the masters of their own. Under the pressure of nationalism, everyone was forced to look like they were in support of unification, but in fact they still wanted to keep their independent kingdom.
Austria has the strength to unify the German region. In order to protect their own interests, the high-level governments of various states have to move closer to the Vienna government.
But once they find that Austria cannot unite the German region under the restraint of the powers, or that they are strong enough to get rid of this threat, the situation will change.
Just like the current Prussian kingdom, simply withdraw from the German region, and do not self-respect as the German state, playing the great Prussian kingdom.
Knowing and knowing, in fact, Franz can only respond passively. Even if the conflict between France and Austria broke out, the two sides could not fight.
The only contiguous area is in Italy. Although the French have occupied the Kingdom of Sardinia for many years, they still have no mass base here.
This is the sequelae of Napoleon III's ugly eating without legal foundation. Ten years have passed, and the local people still do not agree with French rule
If they fought in Italy and Austria, they would go on expeditions with labor divisions, go deep into the enemy's borders, and not only have to fight the Austrian army, but also be careful of civilian guerrillas.
The boss of the Italian Independence Union is the former King of Sardinia, which is a ready-made pawn. If the French do not move, no one can do anything about them. As long as the battlefield is defeated once, the fragile Grand French Empire may collapse.
On the whole, the greater French Empire existed for a longer time, which was more beneficial to Austria. Not only can it help Austria share international pressure, but it has also accelerated the national integration movement in Lombardy and Venesia.
At the time, when there were a large number of states in the Italian region, the Italians in Lombardy and Venezia also wanted independence, and the integration of the nation was not very smooth.
After the French annexed Italy, the national independence movements in Lombardy and Venecia fell into a low tide.
This round of social beatings has made many people sober. Instead of supporting the independence movement, local capitalists are moving closer to Austria.
In recent years, the popularity of the Austrian language has become faster. Street newspapers, books, and advertisements were all in Austrian, and traditional Italian was abandoned.
The social climate has changed, and the Austrian language will be despised. It is already difficult to move in cities, and no capitalist will hire non-Austrian workers.
Before the death of Napoleon III, he wanted to emulate Austria's national integration policy. Unfortunately, he was forced to give up just now.
The socialist emperor was also not good at raising social welfare benefits, and financial expenditure inevitably increased.
In addition to financial problems, there is resistance from Italian local governments. The French forced annexation of the Italian region, but there was no way to replace all local officials with French.
How can the policies of the central government be implemented without the cooperation of local officials?
This is different from Lombardy and Venesia. When Franz promoted national integration, there were hundreds of thousands of Germans and a group of nobles who were loyal to the Habsburg dynasty. They changed without obedience. supporter.
All Italians, how does this change the French government? Even after changing people, people are still passive. To build a local government loyal to the French empire can't be accomplished overnight.
Napoleon III's policy of national integration, which cannot be carried out, will now be more difficult in the hands of Napoleon IV.
It is impossible to truly achieve national integration, and Grand France is a gunpowder barrel that may explode at any time.
Weak enemies are not terrible. The French have such obvious weaknesses, and Franz will naturally not worry about France becoming bigger.
...
The German Federal Empire is a joke in its own right, and Franz never worried that the alliance would become a threat.
At that time, European countries wanted to forcibly upgrade them to empires. In addition to the existence of the kingdom within the German Federation, they were more worried about Austria's peaceful evolution and reunification.
No matter how provocative the British can be, they can't change the nature of the cultural homology between the two sides. The ruling class must also consider the feelings of the people. The Kingdom of Prussia has no way to escape the influence of German nationalism, let alone the German Federal Empire?
...
Called by the British government, on July 16, 1874, European countries convened an international conference in London to discuss the settlement of the ongoing Russian-Polish War and the Near East War.
In the Austrian embassy in London, Britain and Austria are talking in secret.
Marquis McLean, British Foreign Secretary: "My Excellency, this world needs peace, and a stable Europe is the foundation of world peace.
On the issue of maintaining European stability, the interests of our two countries are the same. Now you need to take more active measures to contribute to European stability. "
Austrian Minister Hummer smiled and put down the coffee in his hand: "Sir Minister, we are also happy to work for world peace, but the facts tell us that world peace requires everyone to safeguard it.
Maintaining the stability of the European continent is the responsibility of all European countries, not the responsibility of one or two countries. We have done enough for European stability.
The lessons of history tell us that sometimes doing too much can be counterproductive. Occasionally let go, and may have unexpected results. "
There is no doubt that Hummer was talking about the Metternich era. At that time, the Vienna government was an active defender of the European order. However, the best interests of Austria in maintaining European stability were taken away by the British.
After the anti-French war, Europe stabilized for thirty years, creating favorable conditions for British overseas colonial expansion. While struggling to maintain European order, Austria locked itself in the European continent and was unable to carry out colonial expansion.
It wasn't until Franz's succession that the Vienna government abandoned Metternich's European balancing strategy that it could catch the train of colonial expansion.
Macleans said he was unmoved and said: "That's not necessarily true. Laissez-faire situation is also risky. Once the situation gets out of control, everyone's losses will be even greater.
Rather than let the situation develop, it is better to take the initiative. Presumably your country does not want to see the French continue to expand.
If they were brought to the Rhineland region, I am afraid that Belgium would be difficult to preserve, and even the German Federal Empire would be cut by them. "
This is an inevitable result. With the resources of the Rhineland region, France's strength will be further strengthened.
At that time, it would be almost impossible to prevent them from annexing the territory west of the Rhine. For Austria, this has exceeded the bottom line of tolerance.
Hummer nodded: "None of Europe wants to see this happen, and we are no exception. I don't know what plan your country has, as long as it can prevent this from happening, we are happy to cooperate."
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