Holy Roman Empire

Anyone will set the target. The Austrian Navy will target at 80% of the Royal Navy, and the French Navy will naturally not counsel.

As the world's second naval power, it must be better than the Austrian navy, for example, to reach 90% of the Royal Navy's tonnage.

Everyone is very face-saving and has no intention of challenging the British sea power. The shipbuilding plan is only close to the navy and navy, and there is no shouting to surpass.

Of course, this is just the view of France and Austria. It falls into the eyes of the London government.

Whether it is 80% tonnage or 90% tonnage, this has affected the hegemony of the Royal Navy.

Everyone is a world empire. The navy cannot gather together every day. In case someone is not subject to the rules and suddenly launches a sneak attack, the victory or defeat is really hard to say.

Even if the Royal Navy can win, it will also suffer heavy losses.After killing one challenger, there is no ability to solve another.

In this kind of war with both defeats and losses, the two army powers of France and Austria can afford to lose, and even if they fail, they will have a chance to make a comeback.

Britain will not be able to do it. Once the Royal Navy has suffered heavy losses, the enemies of the past will rush up to divide up their world empire, and there will be no chance of resurgence.

A real threat is imminent, and the British government, which proactively provokes an arms race, will naturally not be counseled at this time.

In the Downing Street government building, comparing the French and Austrian shipbuilding plans, Prime Minister Gladstone smiled and said: "It seems that our opponents have a high spirit!

Austria plans to build 5 battleships, and the total tonnage of various warships is close to 80% of our shipbuilding plan; the French build 6 battleships, and the total tonnage of various warships is almost 90% of ours.

An eight-point threat theory, a nine-point counterbalance theory, could they think that the navy is really just building warships?"

In the navy field, Britain has the confidence to despise any competitor.Although the French and Austrian navies have been around for many years, the core of the nature is still the land-power state.

This deep cultural influence cannot be changed in a day or two.As long as the core does not change, it is difficult to truly compete with the British Navy.

The way of performance is mainly reflected in the money, and other aspects can be found to make up for it. If there is insufficient military spending, then there is no way.

In recent years, the French navy ’s military expenditure has remained roughly at 55% of the Royal Navy, and the Austrian navy ’s military expenditure has been roughly 50% of the Royal Navy.

It is not that the governments of the two countries have no money, nor that the governments of the two countries do not want to continue to increase. The problem is that there is still a mainland army in the family to support.

Take Austria as an example. In recent years, the cost of the naval and military forces has been almost equal.As a pro-son army, the annual military expenditure is only one or two points higher than that of the navy.

Of course, the Austrian navy can maintain 65% of the naval tonnage at half the military cost of the Royal Navy, not to say that training has been discounted.

In addition to the slightly lower expenses for officers and soldiers, more overseas colonies are not as large as the British, the distribution range is not so wide, and the number of expatriate missions is relatively small.

Foreign Minister George: "Who knows? But the morale of the two peoples in France and Austria is very high, and the desire to build ships is very good.

According to news from the embassy in Paris, many private organizations such as the French Naval Federation and the French Naval Club are calling on the public to donate money to raise shipbuilding funds.

In just three days, more than 18 million francs were raised, and the cost of building a battleship came out.

Austria has not accepted private donations for the time being, but many organizations such as the German National Unification Council and the German Renaissance Federation are doing publicity.

If the arms race continues, they will most likely collect donations from the entire German region.

Affected by public opinion, the arms purchase case we had previously reached with the North German government was rejected by the state assembly.

The Hanover government hopes that we can provide them with shipbuilding technology to help them complete orders at their shipyards, otherwise this business will eventually fall into the hands of Austria."

This is not the first time that the National Assembly has rejected the purchase of British troops. To be precise, it has not been approved once since the formal establishment of North German.

The main reason for the frequent rejection of orders is nationalism. Most people believe that Britain is the culprit leading to the division of the German region and oppose military cooperation with the British in any situation.

In the face of monstrous public opinion, the weak North German central government naturally cannot bear it, and the state assembly is only a tool to push to the front.

After listening to this explanation, Prime Minister Gladstone's good mood disappeared at once, cursing: "It's damn nationalism again, this is definitely the biggest ideological tumor in the world.

I bet: if one day the situation in Europe gets out of control, it will definitely be caused by nationalism.

Leave them alone, what is the difference between giving them shipbuilding technology and giving them directly to the Austrians?

Tell the North German government that we can not order these warships, but they must not fall into the hands of Austria, or they will be at their own risk."

There is no way, the German region was originally the cradle of European nationalist ideas, not to say that it can be controlled.

The princes have been fighting for hundreds of years, and everyone has long been tired.It was because of the spread of nationalism and peace of mind that Prussia could easily annex many German states.

It is almost the same now, even because the powers interfered with the reunification of the German region at that time, the people thought that they were humiliated, and nationalism was a few points higher than the same period in history.

With the help of Austria, anti-British has become the mainstream thought in the German region, and the younger brother of Hanover supported by this influence is not so obedient.

It is not that the British government has not fought back, but unfortunately the effect is not very good. Not only do the people not buy it, but even the rulers have little interest.

If the Austrian threat theory was promoted before the rise of nationalism, it would certainly be effective, but unfortunately the time is now wrong.

In the minds of nationalists, the Austrian threat theory is similar to the Austrian unity theory, and it can't scare people at all.

Against this background, it would be too difficult to expect the shipyards of North Germany to keep British shipbuilding technology secret.

It ’s no surprise that Prime Minister Gladstone is angry. In the face of a young man who only sees input, sees no rewards, and has a vacillating position, he will have opinions about who he is.

...

Secretary of the Navy Sir Astley Cooper Kee: "My Excellency Prime Minister, the Navy ’s new shipbuilding plan has been drafted."

Prime Minister Gladstone took over the document, but just glanced at the number and cost of shipbuilding. As for the specific parameters, this is not something that his layman needs to consider.

"Adding six more battleships, is this too much, and in case the two countries are scared away, how can this game continue?"

The issues worried by Prime Minister Gladstone make sense.Face is important to a country, but face cannot be eaten as a meal.

If Britain is playing too hard, it is normal for France and Austria to retreat, after all, it is the two land powers.

If you lose the naval arms race, you will lose.Anyway, is there a referee? In other words, anyone can claim the winner.

Hearing this number, Chancellor of the Exchequer Xiaozhi Childers said first: "This year's budget has been allocated, and even next year's budget has gone.

Both France and Austria have plans for shipbuilding for three or five years, and we have no need to worry.The Navy's shipbuilding plan is worse than two years later."

In fact, most of the Royal Navy ’s shipbuilding plans are carried out separately. This time it was only for the purpose of seizing the people first that a “six battleships” were started in front.

The effect is naturally bumpy, and Britain showed the world their powerful shipbuilding capabilities, which shocked the world again.

With the exception of Britain, no country in the world has any record of starting construction of six new battleships at the same time.

However, the world's number one leader also has to pay a price, that is, the money is spent particularly fast.

Although a sum of money was made from the Jews, the ability of the bureaucrats to spend money was unquestionable. In just a few months, the money spent reported by various departments exceeded the total.

In order to control the speed of government spending, the foresighted Xiaozhi Childers chose to reduce government debt early.

Except for the approval of some important plans, most of the plans have been put on hold indefinitely. If you want to implement them, wait until the year you think about them!

In this respect, the current British government is excellent, at least in the sense of responsibility.

Astley Cooper Kee frowned, and met the Chancellor of the Exchequer for a while, but finally lost helplessly.

No way, the money bag can't afford it.Even if the funding for shipbuilding is allocated, the military expenditures to be increased later must also be supported by the Ministry of Finance.

Astley Cooper Kee retired and said, "The shipbuilding can be postponed, but I think the plan is better announced earlier.

To consume the financial resources of France and Austria, we have to put more pressure on them. If they are as tepid as they are now, they will have no effect at all."

It is indeed tepid, and the arms race is only theoretically started.Shipyards in various countries have not fully started construction, building two or three battleships every year. Is this also an embarrassment to say an arms race?

You should know that in normal years, Britain builds two or three battleships every year.Otherwise, the gap in the Royal Navy ’s battleship retirement cannot be covered.

...

As the British continued to overweight, the arms race began in full swing.Looking at the wonderful performances of the British, French and Austrian governments, Alexander III seemed extremely lonely.

At such an important moment, the Russian Empire was actually absent.

You know, even the small countries like Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, which are in decline, gritted their teeth and announced their shipbuilding plans.

Although the scale was a little smaller, or a symbolic building of a brush existed, after all, I still participated.

It's not that the Russian Empire is so poor that even the money to build a warship can't be paid, the point is that they have no technology!

Several major shipyards in Russia have not received orders for warships for decades, and the technology has long been abandoned, not to mention the new battleships, even if they have not built the original armored ships.

The so-called shipbuilding information is still in the era of sail warships.Without any accumulation of technology, is it a joke to step into the pre-Dreadnought era?

Alexander III asked with concern: "How about, do the Austrians agree to transfer shipbuilding technology?"

This year, shipbuilding technology is basically the highest scientific and technological level of a country, and everyone is strictly confidential.

Foreign Minister Oscar Jimenez: "The Austrian government has agreed to the transfer of technology, but the specific costs require us to talk to the shipyard ourselves.

Our people visited the heads of several warship manufacturing plants in Austria, but the results were not optimistic. They asked for bundle sales, and the quotation far exceeded our affordability.

The lowest-priced Venetian shipyard, the latest battleship technology transfer conditions are also up to 8 million Aegis, plus 4 battleships, 10 destroyers, 6 cruisers, and 36 auxiliary warship orders."

This is no longer a technology transfer.But there is no way, there are just a few countries that master these technologies.

There are less than 20 shipyards with new battleship shipbuilding technology in the world, and they are willing to sell less technology.

In fact, Oscar Jimenez didn't say anything, then the lowest-priced Venetian shipyard never built a new battleship.

How advanced is the so-called advanced technology? No one can answer this question.

In fact, many shipyards in Austria can build warships, but their main business is to build civilian commercial ships.

To participate in the manufacture of warships, the main goal is to create a signboard for yourself, which is similar to advertising.

Generally speaking, the standard recognized by the outside world is: a shipyard that can build a battleship for the military is a first-class shipyard;

Shipyards capable of building destroyers and cruisers are considered second-rate shipyards;

Shipyards that can only build affiliated warships are Sanliu Shipyard;

Shipyards for warships that cannot be built, that is small family workshops, no matter how large the scale is.

Just like this Venice shipyard, it was given to pk during the bidding process, and still did not give up related technology research and development.

Originally planning to continue bidding for the next time, I heard that the Russians wanted to introduce technology, and they were ready to take the lead.

As for the several other shipyards participating in the quotation, of course, they jointly raised the price together.If the business is completed, the Venetian shipyard will have to give everyone a compensation.

Expecting shipyards to lower prices due to competition is all too much thinking, and no one will have trouble with money.

Alexander III was surprised and said: "How could it be so expensive?"

Foreign Minister Oscar Jimenez explained: "It is mainly because there are very few factories that master these technologies, and it also involves the core technology of the enterprise. Generally speaking, it is not sold.

If it were not for obtaining orders from our navy, these shipyards would not even report prices."

Alexander III nodded, no one wanted to sell technology, and deliberately quoted a sky-high price to scare them off, which is quite normal.

Outsourcing warships, this option has never existed.If the most advanced shipbuilding technology is not available, more warships have no meaning to the Russian Empire.

After contemplating for a while, Alexander III said bitterly: "Speak slowly! We are not in a hurry. Anyway, this arms race has nothing to do with us.

If you can't get the most advanced shipbuilding technology, you will retreat to take the second place and take the relevant technology of these warships in our hands."

If it were not for Austria to send a bunch of warships to the door, Alexander III would definitely not have the idea of ​​buying shipbuilding technology.

There is currently no way to buy technology from Austria, and to maintain the warships later, the ship must be driven to an Austrian shipyard.

The Russian navy can only make a turn in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, and it is impossible to split the fleet into the Baltic Sea.

As for the Russian shipyard, there are quite a few volunteers who say that they can do good maintenance later, but the Admiralty ca n’t believe it, worrying that these baby bumps will be harmed by them.

Not only the navy did not believe, in fact Alexander III did not believe.He had a new style of education, and he knew how complicated the navy was.

There is a problem with the maintenance of warships. In ordinary times, it may be inconspicuous, and it can kill people at a critical moment.