Chapter 504: New page

Without much hesitation, William I agreed to the plan. Prussia has a limited family base and does not have the chips to trade. The cheques are all drawn now. Can you make the numbers bigger?
The international situation is ever-changing. A few years ago, Britain and France still fully supported Prussia's resistance to Russia. Soon, Britain and France will relax their relations with the Russians.
It is not that William I did not want to prevent all this from happening, it was in the face of interests, and it was not something he could stop at all.
The declining Russian Empire is no longer a competitor of Britain and France, and can naturally play happily together.
In the next Russian-Prussian War, even if Britain and France are on their side, the support will not be as great as the previous one. They can only win by relying on their own efforts.
The Russians are the lessons learned. Austria no longer supported them unconditionally during the Russian-Prussian war. The tsarist government that had not adjusted their mentality paid a bitter price for this.
Russo-Russian relations are getting colder and colder, in fact, the Tsarist government is dissatisfied with the support of the Vienna government in the Russian-Prussian war.
The Tsarist government was angry, and the Vienna government was uncomfortable. From the perspective of the Vienna government, it has done enough, fulfilled its obligations as an ally, and paid even more than the scope of the covenant, and it has to be complained by the Russians.
Both sides have considered their problems from their own standpoints, and the inextricable knot has become a hurdle between the Russian and Austrian alliances. The fact that the relations between the two countries have not been restored after the war is as proof that they have been.
As an onlooker, William I can calmly think about problems. But it's their turn, and it's different. Britain and France have made it clear that they just use them as chess pieces.
After the attack on the Russians, all the support came to an abrupt halt. The London government once wanted to support Prussia to balance France and Austria. After weighing the advantages and disadvantages, it was not implemented.
In the final analysis, it is because of the interests that continue to support the Kingdom of Prussia. The British have to pay too much, too little benefit, and face a fierce rebound from France and Austria.
Compared to the British, the French are more hateful and are still planning the Rhineland region. If it were not for the sudden annexation of the Italian region by the French, causing panic among European countries, the Paris government would not dare to act rashly, and perhaps the Rhineland region would also change hands.
With the inability to annex the German Federal Empire, the Rhineland region became a heart disease of the Kingdom of Prussia. William I was always nervous, afraid that the French would swallow it regardless.
In order to get out of the predicament, William I repeatedly proposed to join the German Federal Empire. There was no doubt that it was strongly resisted by Hanover.
How could the dove occupy the nest? How could it not be vigilant?
The Kingdom of Prussia is much larger than the German Federal Empire. It sounds good to join in. In other words, it is to annex the German Federal Empire.
The text is not good, the martial arts is even worse. Austria will certainly not agree to the Berlin government's action on the German Federal Empire. Once the strong man is in action, the Pu-Oh war will break out.
That was definitely the worst case, and at that point, the Kingdom of Prussia was truly the enemy of the world.
While fighting with Austria and the German Confederation, there are also Russians who cope with the downfall. Maybe the Nordic Federation has inserted a bar, and the French will also come to make fun.
There is nothing to say in front of interests, and everyone cannot resist the temptation. The geographical location of the Kingdom of Prussia is arguably one of the worst among the European powers, which determines that they must be careful when expanding.
The Prussian war was a challenge to Prussia, but also an opportunity. Prussia wanted to develop and grow. The best choice was to step on the Russians. This was decided by the first Russian-Prussian war.
In recent years, the Berlin government has not been idle. Even if the government has no money in their pockets, they are still trying to find ways to develop the economy. For example: using British and French capital to build railways on newly-occupied land, and even helping Polish people build railways.
In order to raise development funds, the Berlin government has also increased its exports of resources. A large number of mineral resources in the Rhineland region were exported to France and the German Federal Empire.
Relying on the export of industrial and commercial products and mineral resources, the Kingdom of Prussia achieved a trade surplus. Of course, the bigger reason is that the Kingdom of Poland has provided a dumping market for Prussian industrial and commercial products.
Under normal circumstances, a country has a trade surplus, and a large amount of funds flowing from the outside should not be short of money.
Unfortunately, Prussia is an exception. All of this wealth was used to repay debt, and economically had to be subject to British and French laws.
In order to repay the debt, the Berlin government reduced its expenses as much as possible. However, this does not include military expenditures. No matter how poor, the army cannot be poor. Even now Prussian military expenditures have never been lower than 45% of fiscal revenue.
In this context, it is not surprising that the Berlin government wants to take a paycheck and break up the Russian-Austrian alliance.
Only when the Russian empire is completely defeated can the Kingdom of Prussia have a stable international environment for development, can it suppress military expenditures, develop the economy with peace of mind, and get rid of the debt crisis.
The split of the Russian-Australian alliance is the first step in winning the war. William I was ready to start the war in advance. If the Tsarist government completed internal reforms, the scale of the war would fall to the Russians.
In the first Russian-Prussian War, Prussia won the war by virtue of its transportation advantage, and this advantage naturally had to be retained.
Even with the expansion, the territory of the Kingdom of Prussia and Poland is far less than that of the Russians, which means that they can complete the railway first.
The current plan is going very smoothly. The railway construction progress in Prussia is not comparable to the Russians at all.
Although Alexander II had worked hard, Russia was too big, and the thousands of kilometers of railway were not worth mentioning for this empire.
Strategically, the Russians need at least 300,000 kilometers of railways to get out of traffic difficulties. Even if the territories in Asia are ignored, considering only some European territories, it will also take 150,000 kilometers to barely meet the demand.
In contrast, the Kingdom of Prussia would be much better. Even if the Kingdom of Poland were added, they would need to build another 20,000 kilometers to meet the needs of war.
Of course, there is still a long way to go before reaching the level of the German and German empires. The Germans did the railroad to every town.
In a land area of ​​only 540,000 square kilometers, more than 60,000 kilometers of railway have been constructed, which can be said to be a must-see railway within five kilometers. The railway coverage set by the Germans was an unbreakable world record until the 21st century.
Of course, this special situation was created by the times. After the automobile industry developed, many railways lost their economic value and exited the stage of history.
The problems facing transportation were also clear to Alexander II. The tragedy is that no one wants to attract foreign investment in railways.
It is useless to give even more favorable conditions. Many bundled railways in Austria have killed many capitalists. Many railway companies have suffered losses for more than ten years. Who dares to jump to the Russian pit?
Now the British and French capital invests in the railways of the two countries. They are only investing in economically important trunk roads, and the branch railways are not involved at all.
Not to mention the Russian railways. Even if the railways from St. Petersburg to Moscow were tendered, no railway company would dare to take risks.
This is not just an economic risk. The main thing is that everyone has doubts about the credibility of the Tsarist government. In case the railway is completed, the tsarist government announces that the railway is state-owned.
It is worth mentioning that at present the Russian railway is still state-owned and the high operating costs make private capital daunting.
An Austrian railway company once visited Russia and concluded that the total operating cost of the Russian railway is three times that of the Austrian railway.
It's all winter. With the exception of a few regions, the Russian Empire is a country of ice and snow. In this era of limited technology, railways are not only risky for winter operations, but also require significant maintenance costs.
The cost is high, the key is to return the land to a sparse population and the economy is backward. Both the cargo flow and the passenger flow are insufficient, and this point simply cannot satisfy the operation of the railway company.
Without additional strings, who wants to risk building an unprofitable railway?
Unable to make profits, private capital refused to invest, and the responsibility for Russia's railway construction fell on the shoulders of the government. The construction progress was naturally slow.
Even in the 21st century, Russia's transportation has nothing to do with convenience, the European part is still passable, and the Asian part of passenger transport is still marginal. Large-scale freight transportation is still a problem.
Not to mention in this era, the total railway mileage operated by the vast Russian Empire was less than 10,000 kilometers, specifically 7,876 kilometers, less than half of the Kingdom of Prussia.
Less than in the same period in history, these are the aftermath of war. The lack of financial resources of the Tsarist government has delayed construction of the railway.
...
When William I was about to dig the wall, Alexandrovich also arrived in London. The strange smell of the oncoming, gray sky, made Alessandrovich frown.
Known as the world's largest city, London is actually this scene, it is really disappointing.
The only pleasing beauty is probably the towering chimney, the thick smoke rising from the sky, dancing in the wind, like a paradise on earth.
Oh, these beautiful sights can only be viewed from a distance, not playful. In case of being stung, no one will be responsible.
London in this era is the best portrayal of the beauty of industry. One of the most polluted cities in the world, the haze in the haze world.
Alexandrovic had good luck. He didn't come in the winter, otherwise he could feel the most lethal biochemical weapon of this era.
It is autumn, and the weather in London is still in order. Visibility is still a few hundred meters, and there will be no large-scale poisoning deaths.
It is not the first time that they have met Alexandrovich, the Crown Prince of England. The two are also relatives, and the European royal family is the same.
They have a common husband and father, King Christian IX of Denmark, who is respected as "the father-in-law of Europe".
Facts have proven once again that the European royal family is not easy to mess with, and even the small king's family can't hold up the relatives and friends.
One rule of the European royal family is very good, that is, relatives return to relatives, and war returns to war. Even if you fight on the battlefield, everyone can still be friends in private ... Friends, should not be "relatives".
This relationship between the two has not affected the diplomacy of Britain and Russia. Alexandrovich is better, he has begun to participate in government affairs, and has a somewhat political say.
Edward was miserable, because his life was unruly and sometimes missed the checkpoint, so Queen Victoria had never allowed him to take charge of any affairs related to actual politics.
In other words, it is a bearish crown prince. Except for a noble identity, there is no political room for him to intervene.
After a courtesy greeting, the two took a horse-drawn carriage and left the noisy port. History seems to be turning a new page at this moment.
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