Holy Roman Empire

On March 21, 1851, the tsar's government appointed Duke Alexander-Menshkov as a special envoy to travel to Constantinople to negotiate with the Ottoman government.

After hearing this news, the diplomatic community was in an uproar.Duke Alexander-Menshkov served as Governor of Finland, commanded wars with Persia and Ottoman, served as Commander of the Black Sea Fleet, and Minister of the Navy.

As the core figure of the ruling clique of the Tsarist government, the Duke Alexander-Menshkov served as the special negotiator for the negotiations, enough to see the attention of the Russians.

This emphasis seems to be sending a signal to the outside world that the Russians want to solve the problem through negotiation.

However, considering that the Duke of Mainshkov was a member of the main battle group, and also commanded the last Russian-Turkish war, it seems that this is again demonstrating to the Ottomans.

Before heading to Constantinople, the Duke of Mainshkov first went to Sarabia to review the troops stationed there, and then to Sevastopol to review the Black Sea Fleet.

Even Russia has done a landing exercise, and the target was abruptly Constantinople.After the exercise, the Duke of Mainshkov took the warship Thor to March 12 to Constantinople.

Menshkov is not a qualified diplomat. He despises diplomacy and etiquette. As the backbone of the main war, he opposes all compromises and concessions to the Ottoman Empire.

Franz is not optimistic about the Constantinople negotiations. The Russians have such a big appetite. Can the Ottoman Empire still compromise?

While the Russians were negotiating with the Ottoman government, the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also not idle, and diplomatic negotiations with the Ottoman Empire also began, but Franz did not pay attention to this negotiation and directly authorized the station in Constantinople. Minister Meister Sale is in charge.

Schonbrunn Palace

It was a sunny afternoon and Franz was fishing.It seems that his luck is good, the fish just don't bite.

In contrast, the neighboring father Duke Carl has harvested three of them, the largest of which weighed three catties.If nothing else, this unlucky egg fish will probably appear on the table tonight.

The maid's crisp voice sounded: "Your Majesty, Mr. Metternich begs to see."

"Take him to the gazebo, I'll pass immediately." Franz said lightly

When he was finished, Franz dropped the fishing rod and said to his father and several young brothers not far away, "You continue, I am going to work."

Grand Duke Carl blurted out without thinking, "Go, unlucky boy, may God wish you good luck!"

Franz was choked directly, and he wanted to say "fish eats bad luck".However, if you do n’t have this proverb in Austria, you ca n’t understand it.

Good upbringing made him filter out his father's words directly, but just gave a few fierce glances at the lively younger brothers.

Seemingly thinking of the days dominated by horrible homework, a few little guys smiled very well at the current affairs, and Franz left with satisfaction.

Grand Duke Carl didn't break, can't I pack a few little farts?In accordance with the principle that lonely music is not as good as public music, Franz directly copied the pain he had experienced to several younger brothers.

There is nothing more, that is, a person is stared at by more than thirty tutors, and there will always be endless classes and endless homework.

Franz is a good brother, he directly covered the education expenses.European nobles attach great importance to the education of their children, but no one can help them on this issue.

Then, the three little guys became well-behaved children. They were not school bullies. For a better life under the blue sky and white clouds, they decisively surrendered to the evil brother.

Otherwise, they are still nibbling at the books, where is there a chance to cultivate aristocratic temperament (fishing and playing).

Perhaps in the eyes of Grand Duke Karl, Franz is really a bad luck.What does the emperor do?Every day there are unfinished business tasks, and even leave will come to you.

Franz never commented on his father's views.If he had any ambitions, it would be him now sitting on the throne.

In the eyes of Grand Duke Karl, it is better to work hard to be an emperor than to eat, drink and have fun.

Under this concept, many times Grand Duke Carl's look at Franz is pity.

Franz could do nothing about it.It can't be said: without your own efforts, you, the Habsburg family of rice worms, will have no rice worms in a long time.

...

"Your Majesty, the news has just come that the French have intervened in Jerusalem, and the Catholic Church wants our support."

The news brought by Metternich made Franz only lament the power of historical correction.However, careful analysis is also an inevitable result.

If Louis Napoleon Bonaparte wants to be restored, it must win the support of the people.The current holy land crisis is a problem for others, but an opportunity for him.

Not only can the opportunity be used to increase France's external influence, but also the support of the Catholics. How can such a good thing of double benefits be refused?

As for the consequences of doing so, it is nothing more than offending the Russians and Ottomans.Others are afraid of bears, but he is not.Anyway, the German Federation is blocking it, and the Russians are not afraid of it?

The attitude of the Ottomans can be ignored. Now Ottomans are no longer Ottomans. Any European power can step on them.

Franz thought about it and said, "The French have already entered the field. It seems that the Russians are in trouble. This Russian-Turkish war is probably not easy to fight.

However, this has nothing to do with us. Since the French have already acted in Jerusalem, with their strong strength, we certainly don't need our help, just support them verbally."

help?It is impossible for the French government to let Austria intervene. But when Louis-Napoleon-Pona Barrao gained prestige, how could it be possible for Austria to join in the "credit" of thinning him?

Metternich frowned and said, "Your Majesty, things are not that simple. Not only the Russians are in trouble, but we are in trouble too."

Franz froze for a moment, but he didn't realize that this had anything to do with Austria.

Metternich explained: "Your Majesty, the French intervened in this conflict, which means that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is ready to seize power, and we will hear the disappearance of his restoration soon.

At that time, an absolutely pro-British French government will appear.In international affairs, Britain and France will further cooperate in depth.

There has been a bipolar pattern in the world, the Russian-Austrian alliance and the British-French alliance.With the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War, the contradiction between the two major alliances will become deeper and deeper, and will even go to war.

The United Kingdom and Russia have geographical advantages, and the possibility of a full-scale war between the two countries is unlikely, at most it is a local conflict.

But we and the French are different. Under the contradiction between the two major alliances, it is very likely that the two countries will directly wage war in the future."

Franz froze, and Metternich's analysis made him wonder who was the traverser.

He also considered the possibility of war between Austria and France, but he always thought it was the Italian issue. Now it seems that the contradiction between the two alliances is the fuse for the future Austria-France conflict.

Against this background, Austria has only two ways to go.Either join forces with the Russians and hit the French in the next war.After this thug, the British will counsel.

Either do nothing and wait for the escalation of the Franco-Prussian conflict.The French have been staring at the Rhineland region, not one day or two. With the deepening of industrialization, the Prussian government has paid more and more attention to this land, and the possibility of concessions is almost zero.

The power of German industry in later generations, the contribution of the Rhineland region is huge, and the mineral resources here are indispensable and irreplaceable for the Kingdom of Prussia.

As for the possibility of compromise between the two countries?Franz can answer clearly-impossible, don't look at Bismarck's many promises to cede the Rhineland region to the French in history.

But in the end, the Prussian government still preferred military adventures and decisive battles with the French, and did not really give up this area.

This is the future of the Kingdom of Prussia. From the beginning of industrialization, the Prussian government has realized the importance of this place.If the Kingdom of Prussia gave up this area, then the Ruhr industrial zone would be cold.

Franz frowned and said: "It seems that we can do nothing now. The French are caught in the Russo-Turkish war, which is very beneficial to our strategy of going west.

Once the westward strategy is completed and the Southern German region is integrated, the strength comparison between Fao and Au will change.Even if there is a war in the future, we have a great chance of winning."

This is not Franz confidence, but fact.With the integration of Austria in the South German region, the increase in strength is definitely not a bit of the surface.

Many people overestimated France in this era. That was the shadow of Napoleon's sweeping across the European continent, ignoring today's France, he was not the same as that of France.

Whether in terms of comprehensive national strength or military combat effectiveness, they are not the first powerful country that trembles the world.

Metternich had a phobia of law. As long as there was a war with the French, he was pessimistic, as if Napoleon had returned.

Franz can do nothing about this problem.Metternich was a politician who came over from that era. He personally participated in the anti-French war and was cast a shadow by Napoleon. There was no solution at all.

Fortunately, the performance of the Austrian army was not too bad. The two sides fought with each other and were not taken away by the French. The generals who came from that year did not counsel.

The hardliners headed by Marshal Radsky were very dissatisfied with the defeat that year and wanted to find a chance to get it back.

If the military is not tough enough, Franz will actually counsel.Who made the impression of the later Austro-Hungarian army give him the impression of waste?

Franz, who had personally understood the Austrian army, is very clear that the Austrian Empire is definitely not equal to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Whether it is in the morale of the army or in the training of soldiers, it is much stronger than the Austro-Hungarian period.

Metternich shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, a France with constant internal strife is indeed not a cause for concern. But once the Louis-Napoleon-Bonaparte restoration is carried out, the French government ’s internal strife will be suppressed.

At that time, we must take into account the situation of joint Franco-Prussian law.As long as we put enough pressure on them, it is possible for the two countries to reach a compromise."

Franz was shocked that if Austria annexed the Süddeutschland, the power would change dramatically.

Then both France and France will feel threatened. In order to solve this threat, as long as one side makes concessions and joins forces to give Austria a sudden ruin, it seems not impossible.

As Franz shook his head again, this question was considered too early.The French are very proud, and it is almost impossible for them to make concessions to the Kingdom of Prussia before experiencing failure.

To be sure, even after winning Austria, the French could not allow Prussia to unify the German region.So is it necessary for the Prussian government to take risks?

If Fao singles, or Pu singles, the Russians may go to the theatre and use their power to weaken Austria; if Franco joins forces, as long as the Russians do not want to be isolated, sending troops will become inevitable.

The French were far away and could not feel the threat of the Russians. The Kingdom of Prussia was not too close.Maybe in the end, Austria was jointly disabled by Franco-Prussian, and the Kingdom of Prussia was wiped out by the combination of Russia and Austria.

Franz thought for a while and said, "It seems that next, we have to converge a little bit. If we are to be feared by all countries, then it will be in trouble."

No matter what kind of alliance, it is necessary to speak with interests.Once conflicts of interest occur, flipping a face is faster than flipping a book.

To avoid the worst, Franz chose to pretend.