Since receiving the news from the Prussian government, the top leaders of the Austrian government felt bad for a moment.
Can the British do this? No one doubted that John Bull's integrity was only so high.
At the last Frankfurt meeting, the British proposed to break up the German Confederation. Now, in order to implement this plan, they are exerting diplomatic pressure on the Kingdom of Prussia, which is completely normal operation.
Franz was also taken aback. It was really the British who had the motive to do so, which was determined by their national policy, the continental balance strategy.
According to this plan, the German Confederation becomes one large country and two medium countries. There is a certain strength to prevent France and Russia from continuing to expand to Central Europe, and there is no possibility of threatening their status.
Such a European structure is theoretically the most stable. No matter which country France or Russia expands to Europe, it will be resisted by at least two of them. With the support of the British, it is appropriate.
Anyone who wants to unify the German region must be prepared to face off against the major European powers. Even if Austria has the support of the Russians, there is no possibility of success.
It's not that Franz underestimated himself. The scattered small German states are nothing to worry about, but once they merged into one country, even if they were scrapped, they could pull out 300,000 to 400,000 troops.
Coupled with the participation of Britain and France, unless Austria joins the Kingdom of Prussia to carve up this new country together, then it will be Russia, Austria, England, France, and Prussia + the small German state, and there may even be troops from other European countries.
Franz has no doubts about the means by which the British draw allies. It is estimated that Belgium and the Netherlands will join the ranks of preventing the unification of the German region, and maybe Switzerland will stab Austria.
Where are the odds? Franz didn't find it anyway. Unless the battlefield is placed in Russia, the enemy can be frozen to death by winter.
Of course, fear is fear, and the Austrian government is still not cowardly.
After all, the Russian Empire is also the hegemon of the European continent. In everyone’s mind, the Russians have no problem in single-handedly fighting Britain and France on land. Austria can also do it with Prussia and Germany.
In their opinion, the only troublesome location. If Britain and France let the Russians not fight, they will catch Austria and beat them to death, and then they will be finished.
Confidence is always good, at least it proves that the Austrian Empire has not fallen, and the arrogance of the great power is still there. If the government will be cowarded upon hearing this news, then Franz will really not be able to take it.
Metternich said angrily: "Your Majesty, in the current situation, we need the Kingdom of La Prussia. As long as they hold on, the sinister intentions of the British will not be realized."
Although he also opposed the expansion to the German region before, but that was before, since the signing of the Russian-Ozomi Treaty, Metternich has slowly changed his position.
He knew that Austria could not turn back, and had no choice but to expand its power externally and strengthen its own strength as much as possible. And the westward German region is an essential part of this strategy.
Without the population of the South German region, if Austria wants to expand abroad, it is estimated that it will take twenty or thirty years to digest the Balkan strategy alone.
For such a long time, the strength of each country does not know how far it has grown. In this age of the weak, once you are left behind, it means that danger is about to come.
Prime Minister Felix thought about it and said: "This news is released by the Prussian government, I am afraid they do not want to compromise.
With what you know about the Kingdom of Prussia, Mr. Metternich, if we propose to join forces to divide the German region, what are the chances of him agreeing? "
Metternich analyzed: "It depends on how to divide, but I guess it is difficult to reach an agreement.
After the defeat of the Prussian War, the radicals of the Prussian military were hit, but they still had a lot of influence on the government.
According to the original plan, we were going to annex the South German region. The North German region was as much as we could eat. Even if we made concessions now, we would at most give up the North German region.
These interests may not be able to feed the radicals of the Prussian military, but many people in the Prussian government should be satisfied, not everyone is so ambitious.
If the British put too much pressure on them, maybe someone in the Prussian government will force Frederick-Wilhelm IV to compromise with us. "
Now the relationship between Puo and Austria is still to come, and secretly everyone is playing tricks on each other, but the face has not been torn apart, and everyone is still cooperating with each other on many issues.
According to the British plan, the Kingdom of Prussia was expelled from the German Confederation without even a single hair.
If you join forces with the Austrian government to carve up the German region, you can also gain the wealthy North German region and increase the population of the Kingdom of Prussia by half.
These gains can also make the Kingdom of Prussia go a step further and gain a firm foothold among the great powers, instead of being so embarrassed now.
Franz thought for a while and said, "Then contact the Prussian government secretly first, they still don't know about the Russian-Austrian secret treaty.
Even if the news of the partition of Germany leaks out, as long as we refuse to admit it, it is impossible for Britain and France to do anything to us. "
Grand Duke Louis proposed: "Your Majesty, if we do something now and use the hands of the British to kick the Kingdom of Prussia out of the game, will it be better for us?"
You can eat alone, why take it out and divide it up
If Britain and France join forces to persecute, Austria is under the black hand, and Bavaria is the second or fifth child, the Kingdom of Prussia may really be unable to withstand the pressure.
The Russians will certainly not support Prussia this time, for no other reason, the great Tsar's majesty is vengeful.
With the feces and urine of the Russian bureaucracy, most of them will get things done first, and then report victory to Nicholas I.
For details, you can refer to the last Christmas gift, the Russian representative forced the Prussian government to withdraw its troops before Christmas.
It is natural to eat alone, but be prepared to be stabbed in the back by the Kingdom of Prussia. If you can suppress Prussia, of course you can.
As long as the Austrian Empire is as strong as one or two points, and the Russian Empire is not really degenerate, then Franz doesn't mind eating alone.
Franz shook his head and said, "It's not that easy. At this critical moment, it's better to have one more friend than one more enemy.
After Austria annexed the southern German region, our strategic purpose has been achieved, and the northern German state has given up, and it has also given up.
Too greedy is easy to choke. Our trump card is Russia's secret treaty, but the Russians may not be so reliable.
If the time comes when they fail to work hard and do not suppress the Kingdom of Prussia, we will fight on two fronts. "
Under normal circumstances, the Prussian government would not agree to the Austrian distribution plan, but once the news of the Russian-Austrian secret treaty came out, the Prussian government would definitely compromise.
This is the reality, no matter how much promises made by Britain and France, it will have no effect.
Who brought the Kingdom of Prussia and Russia too close to each other? If they dare to mix with Britain and France, it is estimated that they will end early without the reinforcement of British and French troops.
The Northern European Three Court Alliance is actually determined by geopolitics. Austria and Russia have joined forces. The Kingdom of Prussia does not want to be in danger and can only join this alliance.
Otherwise, after the conclusion of the Russian-Austrian Secret Treaty, Nicholas I's first reaction would not be that the Kingdom of La Prussia joined the alliance. This is not because everyone has a good relationship, but it is very likely that the Kingdom of Prussia will join.
Because of the Prussian War, the tsarist government had to temporarily abandon this tempting plan, and the Russians were still worried that the Prussian government would leak the news.
If Britain and France cannot be caught off guard, the Russian strategy will hardly succeed. If there is a blood transfusion from Britain and France, the combat power that the Ottoman Empire can break out is also not to be underestimated.
This is also the key to the success of the Austrian government's westward strategy. After all, they are following the Russians, and Austria will not act until the British and French teams go to PK with the Russians.
Benefiting from the Vienna system, the military strength of the French has been greatly weakened. Now they have a lot of troops, but the mobilization mechanism has been broken.
In order to avoid the suppression of European countries, Emperor Philip did not have many troops in his homeland, let alone a large reserve.
The French have an active army of more than 300,000 people. Once they send hundreds of thousands to fight against the Russians, they will not be able to intervene in the Austrian army.
Mass production has caused qualitative changes. As long as Austria is fully prepared and mobilized enough troops, if the French intervene, they can just beat them back.
If the French lose once, it will be almost the same. Napoleon III will not have time to put out the fire in the country. How can Austria be taken care of
As for the Kingdom of Prussia, Franz was ready to start the operation. First, he put half a million troops on the Prussian border, and then used strategic materials to lure the Russians and concentrate the troops on the Eastern Front to the Prussian border.
If Austria eats alone, there is a chance that the Kingdom of Prussia will have a military adventure to break an axe into a boat. But now that Franz has left them a favor, the Prussian government can only compromise.
Everyone has a family and a business, and it is not a middle-aged teenager who is in charge of the Prussian government. How could it be possible to take risks blindly
Even the radicals would probably choose to eat North Germany first. As long as this bait is eaten, the Kingdom of Prussia can only stop to digest the results of the war.
…
The Prussian government, which was interested in uniting with Austria, naturally would not reject the olive branch offered by the Austrian government.
Facts have proved that the Austrian government's judgment on the Kingdom of Prussia was wrong. After the failure of the Prussian War, many people in the Prussian government lost confidence in the strategy of unifying Germany.
This is the sad part of a small country that cannot afford to fail. After the failure, everyone's confidence is gone.
You must know that as soon as the armistice treaty between the two countries was signed, the internal contradictions of the Kingdom of Prussia broke out, and the revolutionaries launched an uprising again, but the uprising was quickly suppressed by the army.
In this context, it was too late for Frederick-Wilhelm IV to stabilize his regime, and the strategic plan to unify the German region was long overshadowed by them.
Historically, the Kingdom of Prussia also fell into a low ebb after the plan of the Kingdom of Prussia was frustrated. It was not until after the Jagged Prime Minister came to power, that he won the second Danish war through a series of vertical and horizontal cooperation, and his morale was restored.
With the efforts of Bismarck, the Prussians plucked up the courage to challenge Austria again. After winning the Austro-Prussian War, the Prussian army completed its transformation.
Many experts and scholars believe that after Prussia won the war, it was a diplomatic arrangement for the Prussian government to let Austria go, so as to avoid a stab in the back of Austria in the future Franco-Prussian war.
And Bismarck worried that after the annexation of Austria, the increase of Catholics in the new German Empire would lead to domestic religious conflicts.
Franz didn't see it that way. Even if Austria could not be annexed, wouldn't it be okay to cede land and pay indemnity
You must know that in the history of the Prussian-Austrian war, Austria lost the war, and the main loss was still reflected in politics. In fact, the price paid was not large.
Only in this era did Franz realize how bad the financial situation of the Kingdom of Prussia was. Combined with the situation at the time, Austria was not without the strength of a World War I.
After the defeat of the decisive battle, the mobilization of the reserve forces in Austria is almost completed. If the Kingdom of Prussia is not settled, it will become a protracted war.
After looking at the shriveled wallet, Bismarck naturally chose to take it as soon as possible.
Interests are all won by strength. Since Austria's strength still exists, the price to be paid is naturally not large.
If the Austrian government broke the jar and chose to fight to the end with the Kingdom of Prussia, maybe it would not have to pay anything, and the Kingdom of Prussia would naturally retreat when it ran out of money.