Chapter 470

It's not just the French who want to be fishermen. After the outbreak of the Anglo-Boers War, Prussia was also ready to move.

It's just that William I was more cautious and did not rush to emerge. Although Britain and Austria have worked in South Africa, they are secretive, and they are "friendly countries" on the surface.

There is no tearing of the skin, which means that both parties can compromise at any time. William I did not think that the South African problem was the dead end of the two countries.

However, his views are not equivalent to the views of the Berlin government. The Junkers aristocrats who have been unable to bear it for a long time have already begun to move.

Prime Minister Mao Qi said with surprise: "Your Majesty, this is an excellent opportunity. The conflict between Britain and Austria broke out, and the French people's attention was focused on the Italian region.

At this time, there is no one who can limit our efforts to the German Federal Empire and the opportunity to unify the North German region. "

The unification of the North German region is very important to Prussia. Once the German Federal Empire is annexed, it is not the three major powers that dominate the European continent, but the four major powers.

Although Prussia has now defeated the Russian Empire, in everyone's mind, they are still ranked after the Russian Empire.

It is recognized as a member of the great power club, but it is only a second-rate power, with a certain right to speak, but without the influence to dominate the European situation.

This is not a problem of false name, but a result of strength. Whether it is economic strength or military strength, the Kingdom of Prussia is still unable to compare with England, France and Austria.

After defeating the Russians, the confidence of the Junkers nobles exploded. If it weren't for the huge losses in the war, and they haven't recovered their vitality so far, they wouldn't be so peaceful.

To change this situation, unifying the North German region is the best choice. Of course, it would be even more perfect to be able to annex Poland.

Prime Minister Mao Qi is still on the IQ line, and there is no fool to want to do both. Prussia's strength is limited, and the consequences of taking into account the two are bound to be chicken-and-egg fights.

William I asked directly: "My Prime Minister, do you think the South African region is important for Austria, or the German region is important for Austria?"

Don't think about this issue, it is obvious that the German region is more important. Even if the gold mines in South Africa have been discovered, they are still less important to Austria than the German region.

It was politically determined that Franz could not give up the German region. Even if the German region could not be unified, the slogan of unification had to be shouted.

This is related to the legitimacy of the Shinra Empire, and the Vienna government cannot easily let go, otherwise it will not be able to explain to the people in the country.

Mao Qi replied: "Of course the German region is important, but from the performance of the Vienna government, their interest in the German Confederation is not too strong.

If they really want to annex the German Federal Empire, they don't have to wait until now, as early as a few years ago when we were fighting hard with the Russians. "

This is a fact. At that time, Prussia held the Russians in check, Austria attacked the German Federal Empire, and only the French were left with the ability to intervene.

The French have also set their sights on the Italian region, and France and Austria have exchanged interests, and the success rate of annexing the German Confederation is very high.

William I picked up the baton, pointed to the map of Europe on the wall and said: "The fact that the Vienna government will not do anything does not mean that it will let us do it.

Your Excellency Marshal, you are also a military man. You must be well aware of the strategic situation facing Austria's annexation of the German Confederation.

From a purely defense perspective, the current situation is in the best interests of Austria. The Russians in the east are licking their wounds, the Ottoman Empire in the south is dying, and we in the north cannot threaten them.

With the Albis Mountains blocking it, it is difficult for the French to beat it in the west. In addition to attacking from Italy, the French attacked Austria only through Belgium and the Rhineland.

The French are also busy annexing the Italian region, and it can be said that the situation there will not be stable for the next two decades. Attacking Austria from the Italian region, the French wanted to consider the partisans in the territory.

As for borrowing, it is even more impossible. At least we didn't have the guts to let the French in, and the French couldn't believe us, they'd rather fight all the way.

The possibility of a war between France and Austria has been reduced to a minimum, even lower than the probability of a war between us and the French.

Once the German Federal Empire was occupied, this strategic advantage ceased to exist in an instant. Not only the French threat, but also the maritime threat from the British.

Military threats aside, do the current Austrians really need the German Confederation?

There are more than 20 large and medium-sized states in the German Federal Empire, and they have annexed them. Isn't the Vienna government afraid that the imperial parliament will be too lively? "

The last reason is the crux of the matter. With so many states joining the Shinra Empire, the number of votes in the imperial parliament exceeds that of Austria, which will weaken the central government's control over the states.

Don't say that it is not allowed strategically. Even if there are no strategic issues, no one dares to do anything about the impact of politics alone.

When Franz reorganized Shinra, there was no way. Austria has insufficient strength, and the number of major nationalities in the country is seriously insufficient, so it can only choose to compromise.

So many years have passed, and after a series of measures such as compulsory education, planned cross-immigration, and assimilation, the internal ethnic conflicts have almost been resolved.

At this time, the Vienna government was naturally unwilling to add a bunch of other states. Otherwise, there is no need to use force at all, and the German Confederation will take the initiative to run over.

According to a state at least one vote

According to the principle of the German Federal Empire, so many small states in the German Federal Empire can directly become the masters of the empire by virtue of their advantage in the number of votes.

How is such a good thing possible? Not only Austria would not agree, but even several domestic states would not agree.

Everyone deserves credit for the empire's development to this point. It is not easy to be willing to share these benefits. You have to give up your rights, no one can agree to it!

The Vienna government was scruples and could not blatantly violate the promise of the year, and the matter was dragged down. But they don't do it, and they won't let others do it either.

William I estimated that as soon as they made their forefoot, Austria jumped out to pick peaches. It happened that they killed these state governments, and Austria could directly turn these regions into provinces and municipalities.

The current kingdom of Prussia does not have the strength to fight in a war. Even if you muster the courage to challenge Austria, you must first consider whether the Russians behind it will stab the knife, and worry about whether the French in the west will fall into the trap.

In the absence of Bismarck, these troubles made William I a headache and had to go into battle himself.

The struggle for power is cruel, the military is too powerful, and even now, even the king, William I can't make a single word.

The Kingdom of Prussia is not without talents, but it is very difficult to promote these people, and many people have become the king's staff.

Not long ago, William I wanted to promote a civilian-born foreign minister, but he was opposed by the Junkers aristocrats, and the reason was very simple: no credit to the country.

For this reason, William I could not refute it. The system of appointing officials by merit, which the Junkers had copied from Austria and then changed.

Austria evaluates officials' performance, while Prussia looks directly at merit. Political performance is merit and military merit is also merit. Under the rules of this game, a large number of Junkers aristocrats occupy high positions.

They just won the battle against the Russians, and the Junkers aristocrats have more military merit than others, and most of the power of the government falls into their hands.

The prime minister and ministers were all of Junker noble origin, and the rights of William I were inevitably weakened.

If it wasn't for William I to take the lead, the division and disintegration of the Junkers aristocracy made the group split into several waves, and now he would be a rubber stamp.

They are all elites of this era. Although they have a poor political sense, once the problem is put on the bright side, Marshal Mao Qi quickly reacted.

Seeing Mao Qi, whose face changed greatly, William I was very satisfied. It is precisely because of Mao Qi's limited ability in military and political aspects that he made Mao Qi the prime minister.

Otherwise, how to differentiate the Junkers aristocracy? Now there is a strange circle in Prussia, and many people with high military capabilities are serving in the government.

Of course, people with great political ability have not joined the army, and William I will not do anything about self-destructing the Great Wall.

After being silent for a while, William I added: "The focus of the government's work now is to develop the economy, Prussia has just emerged from the war, the country is waiting, and the people need to rest.

In recent years, the Russians have also carried out social reforms. In order to raise funds, Alexander II even refused to pay.

This enemy is terrifying, and we cannot let our guard down for a moment. For at most twenty years, there will be a war between Prussia and Russia. "

The diversion was very successful, and the Russians made an outstanding contribution to the unity and stability of the Kingdom of Prussia. Only in the face of this great enemy can all sectors of Prussian society be able to unite like never before.

The contradiction between Prussia and Russia cannot be resolved, and William I is not ready to reconcile with the Russians. It is right to throw them at the problem.

For this reason, everyone in the cabinet has no opinion. When Russia is an enemy, to provoke Austria and offend England, it is simply courting death.

Yes, now the British are also opposed to Prussia's annexation of the German Federal Empire. Having France and Austria is enough for the London government to keep busy, and the British can't stand another strong Prussia.

Moreover, the British still have a lot of interests in the German Confederation, and if they have no interest in doing something in Austria, they are happy to keep this little brother.

In fact, any annexation in continental Europe would be a threat to the British. Constrained by its small size, the London government had to block any possible European unification.

In order to ease the atmosphere, Chancellor of the Exchequer Ron proposed: "Your Majesty is right, our finances are not optimistic, and we are only one step away from bankruptcy.

When the Russians defaulted on their debts this time, not only did they lose their international credibility, they also lost almost all of the international market.

This kind of price is not something we can afford. It is very important to develop the economy now, and it is necessary for the government to formulate more active economic policies. "

Don't think that they are all from the army, and they are not very familiar with political business. In fact, the situation in the Kingdom of Prussia is still very stable.

They directly brought the model of managing the army to managing the country. The consequences are still unknown, at least in a short period of time, they have achieved positive results.

After the war, the Kingdom of Prussia was out of the woods in less than three years. Of course, the loot is also an important stimulus, otherwise they will never recover so quickly.

Up to now, the Kingdom of Prussia has not only got rid of the food crisis, but has also changed from a food importer to an exporter.

Remarkable achievements have also been made in industry, especially in the military industry. Under the stimulation of the war, the Prussian military industry system has been updated and ranked among the top in the world.

Economically, during the post-war recovery period, the Kingdom of Prussia also maintained rapid growth.

long. However, the rate of economic growth is now slowing down over time.

Huge debt became an important factor restricting the continued development of the Kingdom of Prussia. More than half of the Berlin government's fiscal revenue is used to repay foreign debts every year.

Although this ratio is constantly decreasing, it still puts Prussia on the verge of bankruptcy. If they hadn't been unable to bear the consequences of default, they would have followed the example of the Russians long ago.

Of course, behind this, the Poles also played a great role. Selfless contribution to industrial raw materials, as well as product sales market.

Otherwise, the Prussian economy would not recover so quickly.