Chapter 145 Worries about the future

Chapter 145 Worries about the future

Austria, Danube dams.

The melody of "Back to the Waves" is passionate, and the lyrics, although slightly sad, lack a lot of unnecessary moaning and are more likely to resonate with German workers.

The whole song is full of great German ideas, but it never mentions Germany, only the Holy Roman Empire and Austria. Even the wandering entertainers who play the music may not understand the true meaning of the song.

The Danube Dam was successfully completed, and First Laubin chose to reclaim wasteland for the royal estate. He was accompanied by many Germans who were allotted the same piece of land.

The royal family gave them food and tools, but they had to carve out a land of their own on their own.

After the dam was completed, some workers returned to their original countries with the money they earned from working, but what they brought back was not just money.

Ottoman Empire, Istanbul.

Palmerston never expected that Muhammad Ali would be so shameless. He clearly did not abide by Ottoman laws, but he had the nerve to say that he was an Ottoman minister and that Egypt was not independent.

And the Ottomans are really capable, even though the Egyptians are scared, they just don't dare to send troops.

In fact, only Britain and France cared about the troubles between the Ottomans and Egypt at first. Russia was watching the show, Prussia was indifferent, and Austria was studying which side to place its bets on.

Although the Austrian Empire is heavily in debt, its fiscal revenue is much higher than at the same time in history.

At this time, the fiscal revenue of the Austrian Empire was 216 million florins, compared with 140.61 million florins at the same time in history.

Prince Metternich hopes to use this Near East crisis to expand his influence in the Near East. Of course, he does not want to compete with Russia for hegemony, but rather he wants to continue to maintain relations with Russia.

Because he knew that the Tsar would not sympathize with the weak, but would only respect the strong. The treaties signed by Russia and the weak were as pale as paper. If you want to become Russia's ally, you must be strong enough.

Moreover, for centuries, Serbia has been stuck in Austria's throat like a fishbone, preventing the Austrian Empire from advancing or retreating in the Balkan direction.

The key to the Balkans is the gateway to Central Europe. Walking out of the Frushka Mountains from Serbia and crossing the Danube River is the Vojvodina Plain. Vojvodina in turn connects the Croatian and Hungarian plains.

The Ottomans used this road when they besieged Vienna twice, which made the Austrians always resent this area.

But in general, Metternich felt that it would be more beneficial for Austria to maintain the status quo of the Ottoman Empire and Egypt, or that the powers would carve up the Ottomans together, and Austria would take the opportunity to solve its Balkan worries.

Compared to the Balkans and the German regions, Prince Metternich wanted to continue the late emperor's last wish and let the Austrian Empire rule the Apennine Peninsula.

Count Korolaf hopes to join forces with Britain to completely defeat France, which is the best choice.

Of course, he did not hope to open trade with Egypt. As a Croatian, he had no desire to rescue his fellow Slavs trapped in the Balkans.

Count Korolaf even sneered at the cowards in Italy. What he wanted was to completely exclude French power from southern Germany, take the opportunity to bring it into Austria's sphere of influence, and then annex it when the time was right.

In fact, there is a third faction, that is, the military leaders headed by Count Latour. They feel that the Ottoman Empire is in decline and they should take the opportunity to launch a Turkish-Austrian War, just like the Russians did, expanding Austria's territory and marching into the Balkans.

It would be best to capture the two Danube principalities, so that Russia's road to the Balkans can be completely cut off, and the Austrian Empire can dominate the Balkans. For this reason, they designed a variety of combat plans.

Franz called the third type a death-seeking faction. Not to mention that Wallachia and Moldavia were Russian protectorates. Would Britain and France agree to Austria sending troops to the two Danube principalities?

At this time, the five major European powers, except Prussia, all had ambitions for the Ottoman Empire, and they would never sit back and watch Austria monopolize the Balkans.

The result of the disagreement between Metternich and Count Korolaf was that the Regency Council was in a state of uproar, while the Austrian military "secretly" mobilized troops and distributed supplies.

As a result, Russia and the Ottoman Empire responded quickly. The three countries gathered hundreds of thousands of troops near the Carpathian Mountains, resulting in a serious shortage of troops on the southern front of the Ottoman Empire.

Palmerston looked at the situation in front of him and was very upset. How could things become like this? The "Anglo-Turkish Commercial Treaty" did not bring much benefit to Britain.

Through the "Anglo-Turkish Treaty of Commerce", Britain wanted to obtain not the Ottoman Empire's market, but the Egyptian cotton origin.

Of course, it's not that the Ottoman Empire's market is not big enough, but that after Britain, European countries have signed business contracts with the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Empire, based on the principle of "don't worry if there are too many lice", signed new commercial treaties with European countries very smoothly.

As a result, goods from various European countries poured into the Ottoman Empire. Although it dealt a heavy blow to the Ottoman Empire's own industry and commerce, the increase in import and export taxes gave the Ottomans an illusion of prosperity.

For Britain, this is not what they want. Britain's industrial level ranks first in the world, but it cannot stand up to the shamelessness of other European countries. The crazy trade war has made British businessmen no longer want to do business in the Ottoman Empire.

In fact, it was not just Palmerston who was upset at this time, Mahmud II was also very upset. The protagonists of this Near East crisis should have been Egypt and the Ottomans. However, I don't know why the Austrian Empire and Russia suddenly gathered heavy troops in the north.

The Ottoman Empire could not withstand the joint attack of Austria and Russia in any case. All it could do was send troops to garrison in the north, saying that it would never give in easily and hoped that the other side would retreat in spite of difficulties.

Palmerston and Mahmud II both let out a long sigh, and then Mahmud II spoke first.

"Mr. Palmerston, why are Russia and Austria gathering heavy troops near the Carpathian Mountains?"

"The responses from both countries are normal movements and they have no intention of attacking your country." Palmerston replied calmly, although he himself did not believe this statement.

"Then can your country guarantee the territorial security of our country under the joint attack of Austria and Russia?" Mahmoud II continued to ask.

To be honest, if Austria and Russia join forces, it is impossible to meet their opponents in the Balkans, but Palmerston still said with a smile.

"Great Sultan, please rest assured that we in the UK are the most powerful country in the world and no one can defeat us."

"What about Russia, France, and Austria joining forces?" Mahmoud II continued to ask.

"What do you mean? Don't you trust us in Britain?" Palmerston asked.

"Please forgive me, I just want to ensure the security of my country. I do not intend to go to war with Egypt until Austria and Russia withdraw their troops."

Mahmoud II made it clear that he did not want to take any chances. Palmerston also wanted to know what Russia and Austria were planning to do, so he decided to go to Russia and Austria.