Chapter 309 Checks and Balances
Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.
Franz dressed up early and came to Madam Sophie's palace, but the latter chose to avoid seeing her. People in the palace began to speculate about what the mother and son were up to.
The reason was that Franz planned to go sailing with Friedrich and test the performance of the new warship. Of course, this reason was unconvincing to Mrs. Sophie. She felt that the eldest son, who always went his own way, must have taken risks again, otherwise he would never come to say goodbye to her.
But Franz was no longer the child who had just left the children's room. Not only did he have his own ideas and insights, he even cultivated and managed his own power.
So even the fierce and domineering mother couldn't get over with a spanking like in the past, so the two sides ended up in a stalemate.
After a cup of tea, Franz got up and left. After all, he had other things to do and didn't have much time to stay here to drink tea.
This voyage has been planned, but before Franz leaves, he still needs to entrust his subordinates to deal with matters that check and balance the three biggest unstable factors, Britain, France and the United States.
As for what kind of bloody turmoil the three parties will cause in Central and North America, it is none of Austria's business; after all, this was the case in the colonies in the 19th century. Some people would eat one more bite, and some would eat less; some countries would not be satisfied if they could not have enough food for a long time. Dissatisfaction will cause friction, and escalation will lead to war.
Historically, it was not the Monroe Declaration that maintained peace in the Western Hemisphere, but the British Empire's colonial policy in Latin America that allowed the great powers to reach a delicate balance.
When the Holy League held a conference in Verona, Austrian Italy in 1822, it authorized France to send troops to suppress the Latin American independence movement in the name of the Holy League.
What stopped all this was not the piece of paper, but the powerful ships and cannons of the Anglo-Saxons. Of course, John Bull is not a messenger of justice, and the reason why he does this is not because of the word "profit."
Looking at Austria's industrial development, which had just started, Franz was troubled by various resource problems and even planned to take risks. Think about Britain as the world's factory. Their demand for raw materials and markets is endless.
Latin America had a large amount of exclusive resources and no industrial base, which provided the British with another option, economic colonization.
On the one hand, Britain seized a large amount of cheap American resources in the form of loans and aid, and on the other hand, it dumped large quantities of cheap industrial products to America, destroying its economic foundation.
The most famous of these is Argentina, which did not repay the money it owed the British until the end of World War II.
When the Holy Alliance intended to interfere with the American independence movement, Britain had already established extensive trade ties in the Americas and was in an absolutely dominant position. How could it give up this advantage?
The man behind the plan to have the French intervene in the American independence movement was Metternich. This was also the beginning of the diplomatic conflict between Austria and Britain.
Some people think that Metternich is just a cross-dressing boss, but this is not the case; this "European Prime Minister" did carry out a lot of planning, but it is a pity that in view of the weak national power and lack of real rights, he encountered several powerful politicians one after another. , which made him somewhat exhausted; but he still brought decades of precious peace to the war-torn European continent.
But things are different now. The British's front lines around the world are too long, they have chosen too many places to start the war, and their enemies are countless.
The war in Afghanistan has cost Britain 15 million pounds at this time, which is equivalent to the total cost of all British wars after the Napoleonic Wars, excluding the Turkish-Egyptian War.
The UK's cost of the opioid war was only £4.215 million.
What's even more terrible is that Russia has not signed the Straits Convention, which means that they still have hegemony over the Black Sea and can shut out the British at any time, directly threatening the interests of the Near East.
According to London's estimates, to deal with the Russians they would need at least a 200,000-strong land force, one-third of the Royal Navy's strength, and a period of five to ten years to ensure victory in the war.
John Taylor of the United States was not an incompetent president. On the contrary, he had been seeking opportunities to drive the British out of Oregon, and he resolutely fought back against the provocations of the Canadian colonial government.
At the same time, he increased investment in the navy and promoted the reform of its military system, accelerating the pace at which a number of battleships were approved for construction.
(All 3200-ton Pennsylvania class)
The North American politician's set of punches left his northern neighbors at a loss, and they had no choice but to turn to their home country for help. Although the angry British wanted to intervene, due to the opposition of domestic capitalists and the excessively hostile attitude of the United States, they had no choice but to express their helplessness.
Because at this time, the United States was Britain's largest source of raw materials, and Latin America, which was very inefficient, was completely unable to replace its position.
A famous American cotton merchant once said.
"As long as American cotton is not delivered to the UK for three months, their factories will have to stop production. If it is not shipped to the UK for half a year, the world's number one position in the textile industry will change. If the supply of American cotton to the UK is stopped for a year years, they will kneel down and beg us.”
In fact, the British also understand this deeply, so they continue to open up new cotton producing areas in order to reduce their dependence on the Americans.
Therefore, London had nothing to do against Washington at this time. It could only give a verbal warning and did not dare to use blockade and embargo measures, because it was no different from sanctioning itself.
In addition, Belgium, an emerging industrial country, is also unsettled. They have been flirting with their neighbor France. Of course, the French were not only very happy to see this situation, but even allowed the Belgians to invest and develop in the French colonies.
In fact, this is not difficult to understand, because Guizot has always wanted to form a Franco-Belgian alliance and take the opportunity to control the entire lowland area.
But the lowlands of the Netherlands were off-limits to the British, so when the French proposed building a friendly railway from Paris to Brussels, the British were the first to object.
Although the French finally gave in, this also made the British uncomfortable.
Austria's expansion in Italy and its attempt to retake Belgrade displeased the British.
But in the face of the overwhelming number of global affairs, the number of British officials has always remained only around 3,000. At this time, the number of civil servants in France was as high as 100,000, and in Austria it was close to 80,000.
Many people may not understand this concept. To give a simple example, the number of civil servants in the United States will be 19.68 million in 2021, accounting for 6.5% of the U.S. population.
At this time, the UK controlled a population of nearly 400 million globally, and its civil servant population accounted for only about 0.00075% of the total population. Therefore, in the face of such a complex international landscape, it could only rely on a large number of temporary workers.
As a result, their administrative efficiency can be imagined. Moreover, compared with formal officials, these temporary workers with different backgrounds are more likely to be bribed, and they are also more likely to betray their country's intelligence.
It was precisely because of this that Franz knew the British intelligence very well and made corresponding strategies to counter it.
Of course, in addition to Britain's own problems, France reawakened the colonizer's genes after acquiring the Texas colony, which was also an important reason.
After all, as long as a hungry wolf has tasted the taste of flesh and blood, he will remember it.
Thanks to book friends Zhixian Ling and Tang Monk for the reward of Rejoice 00 for shampooing, as well as all book friends for their support. , thank you.