War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Chapter 560 Louis Philippe is scared

In fact, there are indeed some members who joined the German Confederation as vassals or territories of other countries, such as Holstein and Schleswig under the Kingdom of Denmark.

Holstein is a German principality with a large number of Danes living in it. Schleswig is a principality in Denmark, mainly Danes, but there are also many German residents.

Historically, these two principalities were not formal members of the German Confederation, but Franz brought the two principalities into the German Confederation in order to open up the Danish market.

Denmark is naturally very willing to gain access to the vast market in Germany, so both parties feel that they have made a profit.

Franz likes this win-win cooperation model very much, after all, this is the field he is familiar with.

Archduke John expressed his welcome to the sudden application for joining. Now that the Austrian Empire has decided on this matter, other small states naturally have no reason to object. Even Prussia, which usually wants to compete with Austria for dominance, must restrain itself at this time.

After all, this crisis was strictly caused by Prussia. In theory, Austria could stay out and watch the excitement.

The happiest people now are those German nationalists. They all feel that they have witnessed a historic moment - the German nation has united and fought for the same goal.

Franz looked at the happy scene, silently stood up and left to hide his merit and fame.

If France had not temporarily intervened in the just-ended U.S.-Mexico War, I am afraid that even if the Americans did not cede territory and pay compensation, they would have had no choice but to admit defeat and return without success.

Franz understands the logic of the French's behavior. Austria has too many conflicts of interest with it, and the two must decide a winner.

So now it's Austria's turn.

In fact, from the outbreak of the Alsace-Lorraine crisis, the Austrian Empire's diplomatic system began to operate at full capacity.

Both Britain and Russia have been invited by the Austrian Empire, but before the Fourth Congress of Vienna can be held, Franz must first win on the battlefield.

In fact, Tsar Nicholas I really did not want France's power to continue to grow. Whether it was out of fear or hatred, in short, he was a staunch anti-French element.

After receiving the information from Austria, the Tsar himself even publicly told his ministers that France would never be allowed to make a comeback.

In Britain, Robert Peel was extremely dissatisfied with George Hamilton's previous handling of the Mexican-American War. The former felt that the latter had undermined Britain's long-standing policy of neutrality and allowed France to gain too many benefits.

Robert Peel believed that Britain should strictly adhere to a policy of neutrality, but Charles Canning had a different opinion.

Charles Canning was the youngest son of George Canning. He became a member of the House of Commons in 1836. At this time, he was the British Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs and was deeply trusted by Prime Minister Robert Peel. As a member of the Canning family, he also inherited the anti-Austrian characteristics. .

"Your Majesty Prime Minister, our mission in the UK is to maintain the balance of power on the European continent, but Russia and Austria have obviously achieved too many victories. Their excessive strength will inevitably lead to the collapse of the European structure, which we do not want to see."

Robert Peel: "Charles, believe me, France is far more terrifying than Austria or Russia. They have just acquired nearly 600,000 square kilometers of land in North America, which is larger than France in Europe.

Just because of our contempt for France, we later participated in more than one anti-French alliance. As for the Austrians, just look at North America and you will know that these landlubbers have absolutely no way to deal with colonial matters.

And believe me, Austria is a national prison. All it takes is a fire to detonate this bomb. When the time comes, it will be up to us to prevent it from becoming the second Poland. "

Robert Peel spoke with confidence. Charles Canning knew that the Prime Minister acted like this after receiving reliable intelligence, but he still fought for it.

"Your Majesty Prime Minister, then we should also warn the warring parties not to undermine the Vienna System to prevent either party from becoming too powerful."

Robert Peel: "That makes sense, let's do what you say. I still have to deal with the problems in the East. Damn it! These idiots in the Navy were actually attacked by Qing pirates."

Then France and Austria both received stern warnings from Britain, which made Louis Philippe very depressed.

Because he originally thought that the British would come to persuade them to make peace, but in the end, the British's warning seemed to say, "Fight as you like, but don't kill people (land)."

Although the news from Russia has not come, I also know that it will not be on my side.

The Declaration of War of the German Confederacy had arrived, to the effect that the members of the Confederacy were to be protected.

Louis Philippe: "Damn it, why did my territory become a member of the German Confederation!"

The British warning was like a piece of waste paper to the German states. After all, they no longer relied on British goods, and they were not afraid of a naval blockade. Even if they took a step back, the warning was written to Austria. .

Archduke Albrecht once again took command and went on an expedition. He felt that this time it should be a big battle. After all, the attack was on the French mainland.

Thanks to the railway system within the German Confederation, the Allied forces gathered nearly 200,000 troops before the official war began. Although the French fought on their own soil, they only gathered a force of 100,000 troops in the same period of time.

At this time, Louis Philippe discovered that France's power was already stretched thin. Spain, Morocco, Algeria, El Salvador, Guatemala, Texas, the new colonies of North America, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and South America were everywhere. It's pulling on its energy.

Although France is a large country, there are less than 300,000 local regular troops left, while the apparent strength of the German Allied Forces exceeds 1 million.

At the same time the more severe letter from the Tsar reached Louis Philippe. The Tsar said in the letter, "If France wants to relive its old dream, Russia will remind it of whom it was defeated."

Nicholas I's attitude was very clear. He would not only support the German Allied Forces spiritually, but would even send troops to join the new anti-French alliance.

This greatly angered the French Bonapartists, who still dispute whether it was the Russian generals who defeated the First French Empire or General Winter who defeated the First French Empire.

The Tsar actually used this to humiliate France, which made the French generals furious. Paris newspapers are also trying their best to build momentum for this war. After all, the July Dynasty has done too many things to hurt the feelings of the French nation.

(Mainly due to Guizot, he made concessions to the British in various diplomatic frictions. Selling out national interests to please the British during the Turkish-Egyptian War, the Viceroyalty of La Plata, and Central American events)

Then just as the two sides were at war with each other, Louis-Philippe gave up.

When he issued that fiery declaration, he completely forgot about Austria, the chairman of the German Federation, and he did not expect that the latter's revenge would come so quickly. The attitude of Britain and Russia was the last straw that crushed him.