The Rise of the Empire

"This is a copy of the treaty, Your Majesty, please have a look." In the Winter Palace, Russian Foreign Minister Gilles sent the text of the "Reinsurance" treaty to Tsar Alexander III.

"Very well, the Germans finally chose the right path. They did not offend the mighty Russia because of a weak ally." Alexander III nodded in satisfaction.

Although the content of this treaty is far from the treaty signed between Germany and Austria, it can only be regarded as a preventive or even neutral clause, but relying on this treaty, the Balkans can maintain the status quo. Without the support of the Germans, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would be at a disadvantage in its struggle in the Balkans, and they would not take the initiative to attack, while Russia, which has drawn its strength, can put all its experience on the decaying empire in the Far East. There is the last piece of the world that has not been carved up, and Russia is determined to win here!

"That place is too big. Even if Russia does its best, it will take hundreds of years to conquer it, but at least we must control it!" The tsar pointed to the northeast corner of the Qing territory.

"Although we have solved the troubles in Europe, the battle in the Far East has just begun. We need to face Britain and that restless small country! It seems that they may tear off a piece of the decaying empire of the Qing Dynasty before the empire makes a move. And our current military power in the Far East can't deter potential opponents at all, and strengthening the power in the Far East requires a lot of money and the support of allies." The Chancellor of the Exchequer Witt said respectfully.

"Well, let me tell you what you think. Do you have any new ideas?" The Tsar asked in a good mood.

"We owed 2.6 billion francs to the Bank of France last year, and if we want to build a trans-Eurasian railway system, we need more money, which only the French can give us." Witte said tentatively.

From the perspective of his own job, maintaining a good relationship with France is of great significance to improving Russia's fragile financial situation and at the same time meeting His Majesty's military expansion needs, but the problem is that he has just signed the " If the Reinsurance Treaty is closer to the French, will it cause a German backlash? So he could only say it in a somewhat euphemistic tone.

"The empire has already given the French an order for 500,000 rifles. This reward is already very generous. It's not that the empire cannot manufacture rifles. The French should understand what we mean." The Russian Prime Minister said with some dissatisfaction. As a conservative, he naturally hopes that the Russian-German friendship can be consolidated. And those domestic capitalists and the spokespersons of the capitalists naturally hope to obtain a large amount of loans from the rich French.

"It is necessary to maintain cooperation with the French, but in the case of the continuation of the "Reinsurance Treaty", the relationship between us and Germany should also be eased. The relaxation of relations with Germany can allow us to win in the process of negotiating with the French. greater advantage." Gilles immediately came out to smooth things over.

"The Germans have what we need, and this thing is only available in Germany, not the French!" General Makanov, who was relatively low in the ranking, finally spoke after being signaled by the Prime Minister. "They have developed a hardened armor. It is said that the bullet resistance is 150% higher than ordinary nickel steel armor. If our new warships can be equipped with this armor, the performance will be greatly improved."

"Let's leave it to the ambassador to Germany, Pavel Shuvalov. I believe he can persuade the German central government to give us armor first." Alexander III said calmly. In his view, ordering armor is an act of giving money to the manufacturer. It would be very convenient if the Russian government came forward to negotiate, and if the German government provided help, it would be almost guaranteed.

"I'm afraid it will be difficult for Mr. Pavel to solve this matter alone. Because the company that produces this armor has a very strong background, the Bavarian royal family almost completely controls this enterprise,

And they have already received an order from the Navy to provide at least 10,000 tons of armor steel to the German Navy in the next 4 years! In addition, they have also received orders from the United Kingdom and Italy. If we follow the order, our position will be relatively late. "Gills said with some embarrassment.

"The Wittelsbach family?" Alexander III couldn't help but frowned. As the tsar, he naturally knew the relationship and historical origins between the Bavarian royal family and the Austro-Hungarian royal family. Whether the new type of armor steel can be bought is one aspect of the problem, and whether the closeness between the two families will affect the relationship between Russia and Germany is a more important issue! A pure state royal family does not have this power, but if a state and Vienna act together, then the German center may really have to reconsider its relationship with Russia. Although the treaty has been signed now, the relationship between the two countries is not the same. There is no actual improvement, the trade war between the two sides has just ended, and the relationship is actually relatively fragile!

"I think it is necessary for us to contact the Kingdom of Bavaria alone. In addition to armor, they also designed a very good cruiser. I think it has a good reference for the development of our navy. In addition, from the maintenance of the treaty From the perspective of stability, it is also very necessary to divide the Wittelsbach family and the Habsburg family," the prime minister said.

Although the "Reinsurance Treaty" guarantees that as long as Russia does not move, Austria-Hungary will not get help from Germany in changing the status quo in the Balkans, but what should Austria-Hungary do if Russia takes the initiative to challenge after the main force of Russia moves eastward? And this treaty is just a continuation, an extension of 3 years! If Germany does not sign after the expiry date, will I stop or not to stop my half-prepared Dongjin business?

Although the Tsar recognized Bismarck's ability and believed that he could control the political situation in Germany, he was only a prime minister after all, and he was just a bystander after the opening of the Federal Parliament. The Kaiser's wife is the Great Princess of England, and the relationship between Britain and Germany is also good now. Austria-Hungary is the younger brother of Germany, and Britain and Austria are not friendly to Russia. Russia is also very isolated now. It is not that the tsar did not think of Russia and France getting closer, but if that happens, Russia will become enemies with Britain, Germany, Austria, and Italy! The price is too high!

"Let's get in touch first. In addition, we can inform the ambassador in Berlin that the trade war between Russia and Germany can be considered over, and our tax rate on special steel can be lowered to the previous baseline." Alexander III thought for a while and said, Russia People have always been willing to spend money on their own army construction. Since 1890, every battleship has used hardened armor. Harvey hardened armor was used in history, but this time, the Russians used KC three years in advance! Well now it's called Bavarian Hardened Armor!

And when the Russians were thinking about how to make the relationship between Russia and Germany closer, so as to ensure that no one would disturb them when they moved eastward, the reaction of Vienna was much stronger than that of the Russian court! After all, the signing of the "Reinsurance Treaty" means that Germany is still in a nearly neutral position in the dispute between Russia and Austria. In the Balkans, Austria-Hungary still has to face Russia's pressure independently. This was undoubtedly a very bad result for the old King Fritz. When he saw the note sent by the German Foreign Ministry, the king said angrily: "The Austro-Hungarian Empire has never had friends! The Austrian-Prussian War is like this! It is still like this now!"

The prince’s suicide in 1889, the crisis in Romania and the betrayal of Serbia caused the king to suffer too much. Since the Austrian-Prussian War, Vienna accepted the two-yuan imperial condition proposed by the Hungarian nobles. The old king felt more and more The powerlessness and fragility of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Now the seemingly huge Austro-Hungarian Empire cannot withstand the weight of other big powers. Before the external pressure crushes the country, the empire may fall apart first!

"We have to change and find some strength we can rely on!" Old King Fritz said through gritted teeth. Looking at the silent big country in the north and the growing separation from Germany in the Balkans, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was once again pushed to the forefront!

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