Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 368

Not only is the London government trying to help the Prussians raise money, the French are also not idle.But they are not raising money, but are busy pulling their skins.

In terms of economic development, Napoleon III can be said to be excellent.In the past ten years, the French economy has maintained rapid growth.

This is particularly evident financially. In 1851, French fiscal revenue was 1.273 billion francs. By 1864, French fiscal revenue was close to 2 billion francs.

This is still not the result of calculating the Kingdom of Sardinia, otherwise it can increase by hundreds of millions. The most prosperous area in Italy is not blown out.

After joining the French family, the market problems that plagued the capitalists of the Kingdom of Sardinia were finally resolved, and the local economy began to develop rapidly.

There are advantages and disadvantages, and French capitalists have also killed them.The weak local capital of Sardinia is clearly not French capital, and can only use the advantages of the ground snake to compete with it.

These struggles were covered up under the circumstances of the great economic development.After all, earning more money, even if the competition is more brutal, pockets can't fool people.

The financial income of nearly 2 billion francs is equivalent to nearly 80 million pounds. At this time, the financial income of the United Kingdom is less than 70 million pounds, and the income gap between the two sides is as high as 10 million pounds.

Of course, this does not mean that the French economy has surpassed the British.In this era, the fiscal revenues of all countries were only local fiscal revenues, and colonial revenues were not calculated.

Moreover, the fiscal distribution of the central government and local governments must be considered. Different taxation methods also affect the level of fiscal revenue.

However, these data can still prove that the French economy is developing rapidly.Before Napoleon III's succession, France's fiscal revenue was even lower than that of Britain, and now it has achieved a lead.

With the substantial increase in fiscal revenue, the Paris government not only got rid of the financial crisis, but also had the ability to play Franc diplomacy.

Economically capable of supporting Prussia, Napoleon III wanted to replace the European hegemony of the Russians, does not mean that the French really want to support Prussia.

Whether to support Prussia in this war within the French government, there have always been two voices:

Some advocated assistance to the Kingdom of Prussia, and they took over the Russians to reinvent the Russians and lay the foundation for France to seize the European hegemony.

Another group of people advocated watching the defeat of the Prussians in order to seize the opportunity to seize the Rhineland region, increase the industrial strength of France, and make up for the lack of resources.

Of course, both of these propositions must be punished by Russia, so before the war broke out, the French government supported Prussia, and even helped an interest-free loan of 50 million francs in advance.

Now that the war has broken out, whether to continue to support it has become the focus of contention between the two sides.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Allen proposed: "The strength gap between the two countries is too large. Even with our support, it cannot change the outcome of the war. It is a waste to continue to invest precious funds in the Prussian government.

Now our strategic objectives have been achieved, and the Russian-Russian war has broken out.Nothing needs to be done, just wait to receive the Rhineland region after the war."

Foreign Minister Abraham objected: "No, it is now the weakest period of the Russians. Even if the Prussian kingdom is weaker, they have assembled more than 700,000 troops.

Coupled with the outbreak of the Polish independence movement, which contained a large number of Russian troops, the tsarist government may not be able to defeat the Kingdom of Prussia in one fell swoop.

As long as the war continues, the Russians will terminate domestic reforms because of the war.

This is what all European countries hope to see. The Vienna government will not provide too much support to the Russians at this time.If the war can be delayed for a year or two, the tsarist government will be undefeated in the end because of finances."

Finance is the shortcoming of the Russians. The reform of Alexander II is in progress, and the social dividend brought about by the reform has not yet had time to feed back to fiscal revenue.

Because the Near East War consumed a lot of financial resources, the end of Nikolai I's ruling was working to smooth out the losses of the war, and did not leave enough for Alexander II to support a war.

It was because of the Russian shortcomings that the Junker nobles dared to plan this war.It is also for this reason that British talent will support Prussia.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer shook his head and said, "What about the 700,000 troops of the Kingdom of Prussia? Needless to say? The maximum combat strength is not more than 400,000.

The only countries in Europe that can afford 700,000 troops are us, Russia, and Austria.No matter how poor the Prussian kingdom is, the national strength also limits the upper limit of their military strength.

The Russians have more than one million active military forces. They can not even mobilize to defeat the Kingdom of Prussia.

Regardless of the relationship between the Russian-Austrian alliance, as long as the tsarist government makes great profits to Austria, the Vienna government will provide them with loans, anyway, these benefits are cut from the Prussians.

Even if Austria ’s financial resources are not as good as ours, they are not far behind. It is enough to support the Russians to defeat Prussia.

Moreover, is there really nothing about the Russian Empire?As a veteran empire, as long as the tsarist government is willing, it is still possible to collect more than one billion francs in war funding.

Putting hope on the financial collapse of the Russians, I think it is more practical to pray to God to bless the Prussians to sustain it."

The prerequisite for supporting the Kingdom of Prussia is that they can win, at least they must also be able to hit the Russians, this investment is not in vain.

If the Kingdom of Prussia was settled by the Russians in threes and twos, all these investments would be lost.Don't expect Prussia after the defeat to have the ability to repay the debt. Whether you can keep the country depends on whether countries will continue to support them.

...

To speak publicly and reasonably, and to say that her mother is justified.The indecisive Napoleon III has a headache. Both views are very reasonable, and it is really difficult to make a decision.

This debate continued for many days before Napoleon III made up his mind.

"Okay, I decided to provide loans to the Kingdom of Prussia, but they will use the sovereignty of the Rhineland region as collateral to ensure the safety of our loans."

This is a compromise solution, which not only supports the continued war of the Kingdom of Prussia, but also creates an excuse for the capture of the Rhineland region.

The Kingdom of Prussia won the war, and the strategy of hitting the Russians was realized, bringing France one step closer to the continental hegemony.On the contrary, the defeated Kingdom of Prussia has no money to pay its debts, and they can take away the collateral directly.

On the surface, this is the best choice, and no matter what the outcome after the war, they will not suffer.In fact, this is just wishful thinking of Napoleon III.

European countries cannot watch them succeed.The British did not want to see the birth of the European hegemony, the Russians fell to the hegemony, and the three countries of France, Austria, and Russia were mutually restrained, and no one could achieve an overwhelming advantage. That is what they wanted to see.

Geopolitical relations, even if Franz is not prepared to compete in continental Europe, he will not let the French become the new overlord.

The good neighbors of France, such as Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, the Italian states, the German Federal Empire, and the Kingdom of Prussia, are also reluctant to see France grow again.

The common defense treaty against France is the best weapon to contain them.How can a country that is hostile to its neighbors become a continental hegemon?

Just rely on strength?It seems that the French are not so powerful.The Russians can use millions of armies to maintain their hegemony, which the French cannot do.

An overlord without a younger brother, what is the overlord?Unless you have the strength to crush the European continent, you can only close the door and play at home.

...

Berlin, William I did not know that there had just been a quarrel in Paris that determined their destiny.The Pu'er War that broke out on the European continent is completely different from the historical Russo-Japanese War.

The power that the Russians can put here will definitely not be only two or three layers.If only the British support, the London government will also be unable to eat.

With good luck, supporting the Kingdom of Prussia can achieve tens of millions of pounds. If you are unlucky, you will end up paying hundreds of millions of pounds, which is not surprising.

Even if it is a loan, we must consider whether the Kingdom of Prussia can pay it back.In short, it is impossible for the London government to meet all the needs of the Prussians.

Recently, the Berlin government has applied for loans to almost every European country. Even if the mosquitoes are small, they are meat. Even if some small countries can only provide loans of tens of thousands of pounds, they are not dismissive.

Foreign Minister Mike Kate frowned and said, "On this morning, the Swiss government notified us that the two countries' joint defense treaty was officially lifted, and they will announce it to the outside world tomorrow.

It happened so suddenly that the Swiss government had a sudden attack, which did not leave us time to recover.It seems that they are very determined and want to draw a line with us."

This is clearly not good news. The Puri Joint Defense Treaty is undoubtedly aimed at Austria.It was only disbanded in history in 1866, when Austria lost the Puja War and was unable to plot the Swiss region.

Switzerland is suddenly about to dissolve the Joint Defense Treaty. There must be an inside story.No need to think that they also know that this is the hand of the Vienna government.

William I sighed and said: "Forget it, we can't take care of these small problems. The priority is still the Russian-Russian war, and now the front-line troops have been fighting with the Russians.

The financial assistance promised by Britain and France did not arrive on time.The focus of the next work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to coordinate with Britain and France so that they can fulfill their promises as soon as possible."

No way, pit teammates seem to be talented in Britain and France.The London government did not coordinate with the domestic consortium in advance, and it is still trying to help them raise money; the French government is delaying the fund-raising process because of rash.

In the face of life and death, the Swiss disbanded the joint defense treaty against Austria, which is not worth mentioning at all.

William I understood the Swiss government very well, and now Prussia is playing with fire, and the Swiss worry that it is normal to catch fire.

In case Austria was dragged into the water because of the Russian-Austrian alliance, would n’t they also be dragged into war because of the joint defense treaty?

The status of eternal neutrality was hard-won, and it was finally recognized by various countries.If they were dragged down, the French could annex the Kingdom of Sardinia, and Austria could annex Switzerland.

The Swiss and Habsburg families are a feud, but the strength gap between the two sides is too great, the Swiss government simply cannot afford the courage to fight against Austria.

The Vienna government asked them to dissolve the joint defense treaty, and the Swiss government naturally followed suit.Anyway, since the outbreak of the Russo-Prussian War, even if a joint defense treaty exists, it will not play any role.

Understand and understand, William I was still very angry about the downfall of the Swiss government.It's just that they really don't have the energy to manage so much. All problems will have to wait for the war to be won, and lose everything.

Foreign Minister Mike Kate replied confidently: "Relax, Your Majesty. Britain and France will not watch us defeated because of insufficient funds. Now they are delaying time, but they are just worried that our defeat will cause investment to float.

As long as we did not fail on the battlefield, the aid they promised will be fulfilled, and the big deal will be paid to us in installments."

As a vanguard of the anti-Russian factions, McKate always believed that the Russian empire had decayed, and it would collapse with just a push.

The Polish uprising that broke out not long ago, the Russians spent more than two months not only did not settle down, but intensified, spreading the war to the Belarus area, which confirmed McKate's judgment.

These understandings are very different from William I's views, but since we are going to fight the Russians, we must naturally replace these confident anti-Russian factions.

If a group of Russian-phobia patients is appointed and every day wants to compromise with the Russians, how can this battle be fought?