Chapter 262 British and Russian Attitudes

Chapter 262 British and Russian Attitudes

The words of the Austro-Hungarian ambassador successfully angered many senior officials in the Kingdom of Italy, especially the royal family of Sardinia, because he completely denied the legitimacy of the existence of the Kingdom of Italy.

Since the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Italian region has been divided for thousands of years. Except for the Papal States, most of its regions have been ruled by France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and other countries. For example, Corsica belongs to the Italian region, but France territory.

The emergence of Napoleon awakened the national consciousness in Germany, and also shaped the national consciousness in Italy. It was essentially a grouping among the local feudal nobles for warmth, because France under Napoleon's rule at that time was a relatively progressive force.

Therefore, the words of the Austro-Hungarian ambassador were like adding fuel to a hot pot, and the two countries, which had already had a bad relationship, were completely in a state of unrequited struggle.

"Your Excellency Christian, are you responsible for what you said? The Kingdom of Italy will never accept your country's humiliation." Emmanuel II said.

"Of course, I mean the empire. Unless the Kingdom of Italy promises to forever give up its power to seek independence for the Papal State, our Austro-Hungarian Empire will not sit idly by." Christian responded.

"Very good! We in the Kingdom of Italy will never compromise, and no one can stop the determination of Italian national unity."

"We'll see!"

The two sides broke up unhappy after saying nothing. The Kingdom of Italy immediately began to prepare strategic arrangements to deal with the intervention of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the same time, Italy urgently asked the British Embassy for help.

Florence, British Embassy.

"Ambassador Johnson, you must help Italy this time. If Italy is invaded by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the turmoil in Europe will definitely not be a good thing for your country." Italian Foreign Minister Giuseppe said.

Johnson was very entangled with this matter. He said to Giuseppe: "If your country gives up its demand for the unification of the Papal States, we in the United Kingdom can guarantee that the Austro-Hungarian Empire will not dare to invade Italy."

It’s just a Papal State. In Johnson’s opinion, there is no need for Italy to fall out with Austria-Hungary on this matter. Now is not a good time for Italian unification. Although Britain itself supports Italian unification, this is a special period, with the Franco-Prussian War. It is continuing, and currently it seems that Prussia and France are evenly matched. The French are not as invincible as they boasted before the war, and Prussia's strength is also surprising.

In order to balance the continental order, Britain should focus its main energy on Prussia and France, rather than the secondary region of Italy. Moreover, the Austrian Empire has been hit hard in recent years, while Tsarist Russia in the east has recovered under the reforms of Alexander II. , so Britain does not want the Austro-Hungarian Empire to continue to be weakened.

"Because of the war between Prussia and France, we have no way to divert our energy to support Italy, so it is better for your country not to conflict with Austria-Hungary during this period."

Johnson's words are unacceptable to Giuseppe. Italy's expectations for Rome are beyond words. Italy without Rome is incomplete, just like France without Paris, which is unacceptable to Italian nationalists. .

"Does your country want to sit back and watch Shinra reappear?" Giuseppe asked.

"Of course not, but as I said, our country currently does not have the energy or plan to intervene in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so I once again solemnly warn you on behalf of the United Kingdom that it is better not to act rashly." Johnson said seriously, as for the so-called god Luo's reappearance is pure nonsense.

If the Austro-Hungarian Empire really has the ability to reappear the HRE, then Britain will naturally try its best to suppress it. However, this is impossible. From the moment the Austrian Empire became the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was destined to lose control of the German region. dominance.

It is possible to realize a small Germany led by Prussia, and Britain is also happy to do so. Greater Germany has become a phantom, unless Prussia and Austria unite regardless of their past grievances, but how is that possible? There is no room for two tigers in one mountain, not to mention there is a Kingdom of Hungary within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Giuseppe returned disappointed, but failed to win the support of the British. The Kingdom of Italy decided to act on its own. After all, if it does not win the Papal State this time, there may be no chance in the future. The Papal State is located in the north and south of Italy. The center is a place that the Kingdom of Italy must never give up.

On August 23, seeing that the Papal State ignored the demands of the Kingdom of Italy, Italy formally declared war on the Papal State, and then Austria-Hungary and the Papal State also declared war on Italy.

In an instant, public opinion on the European continent was boiling. Before the Franco-Prussian War had finished, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy were fighting again. This was really exciting.

The most confused were the Russians. Alexander II held an emergency meeting to discuss the changes in the situation in Europe.

"Why did the Austro-Hungarian Empire suddenly declare war on Italy? Aren't their troops guarding us and Prussia in the east!" Alexander II asked his subordinates in confusion.

The Foreign Secretary said: "The essence of this matter is that the Austro-Hungarian Empire cannot tolerate the complete unification of Italy. The unification of Italy will greatly threaten the security of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so the contradiction between the two countries is irreconcilable."

The Minister of War also said: "We have not found large-scale military changes in the border areas of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and there have been no major changes in the number of troops. Perhaps the Austro-Hungarian Empire believes that it does not need to use its main force to deal with opponents like Italy."

"That's it, that's such a pity!" Alexander II sighed.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire's border troops have not changed, which means that Russia does not have much chance to interfere in the war between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is obviously on guard against the Russians.

Is there really no change? Of course it was impossible, but it had been completed a few months ago. After all, Prussia and Russia would not believe that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had predicted the trend of the Franco-Prussian War before the Franco-Prussian War and was preparing to attack the Kingdom of Italy.

At the current border between Prussia, Russia and Austria, the armies of both Prussia and Austria have actually been greatly weakened. Prussia has directly transferred part of its troops, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire has exchanged elite troops with ordinary troops. This has led to the reduction of the number of Austro-Hungarian troops. There is no reason for the change.

"Even so, it is a good thing for us. I don't believe that the Austro-Hungarian Empire can easily defeat Italy without using all its strength. It would be best for Italy to drag the Austro-Hungarian Empire into the quagmire of war. There will be no way to solve the Italian problem by then. The Austro-Hungarian Empire will inevitably compromise with us." said the Russian Foreign Minister.

As for supporting Italy, forget it. Tsarist Russia and Italy are both notoriously poor countries. Especially now that the Tsarist Russian government still has a large debt that has not been repaid. The serfdom reform is actually the government sending money to bribe local nobles and nobles. The garbage land in the hands of landlords was distributed to serfs. Although the results were not significant in the later period, the government debt was increasing. As for the hope of obtaining land from serfs to repay the debt, there was no result. Under the joint operation of local bureaucrats and landlords in Tsarist Russia, Many of these "peasants" went bankrupt, their money was taken away by the local government, and serfs still existed in other ways. Their only contribution was to promote industrial and urban development.

Moreover, if Tsarist Russia really planned to take action, it would not pick a formidable opponent like the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Ottoman Empire next to it was Tsarist Russia’s first target. Just like East Africa did not take action against Mozambique, there are still a lot of unclaimed lands in the interior. Conflicts with other colonists were necessary.

Everyone knows the financial situation of Tsarist Russia, which is why the Kingdom of Italy seeks help from the British. Of course, the British cannot directly send troops. The Kingdom of Italy went there just to ask for money, but Italy already owes a lot to the British. Debt, and this war was unprofitable for Britain and had no strategic need, which led to the failure of Italy's idea.

The Franco-Prussian Empire was focused on fighting, while Britain and Russia were indifferent. The Italian-Austrian War started in line with the Franco-Prussian War. Most countries chose to be temporarily neutral. The difference was that the Austro-Hungarian Empire played the role of the French before the war and also did not allow the enemy to complete unification. , the same threat of war was issued in advance, and it was also a big country versus a small country.