Chapter 673
At this time, because the riots in the Indian subcontinent involved too much British power, Robert Peel had to begin to re-examine his foreign policy.
It didn't matter. He found that the foreign ministers under him were all useless. Palmerston, the "King of Understanding" who causes fights everywhere, is better than these crooked melons and jujubes.
The foreign policy towards the Austrian Empire seemed somewhat inappropriate. In comparison, Russia and France seemed to pose a much greater threat to Britain.
In fact, there is another name for this era, that is, the "Great Game Era", also known as the "British-Russian Great Game Era", which shows the great threat Russia posed to the United Kingdom at that time.
Another background is the rise of France. Due to Franz's manipulation, deliberate guidance and a series of accidents, France at this time is far, far stronger than the recovering France in history.
Looking at Austria, any leader with a little political and military knowledge knows how awkward its geographical location is.
The center of Europe is indeed true in a certain sense, but it can also be considered the center of the encirclement network.
This place of four battles could be attacked by a group of people at any time. Except for Britain, whoever wanted to dominate would have to beat Austria.
But now it is Britain that has been really confronting the Austrian Empire. The former made many concessions before, but some people in the latter are still dissatisfied.
As a result, the Austrian side turned from retreat to confrontation and began to compete with Britain in various fields. Although the scale of this conflict was very limited, the blow was amplified countless times when Britain was at odds with Russia, France, and the United States.
Especially when the Austrian Empire extended its hand to the Near East, Britain immediately took countermeasures - sending troops to the Strait of Otranto.
As long as the Adriatic Sea is blocked, the overseas trade of the Austrian Empire can be completely interrupted, but can it really be done?
As for Britain's foreign relations at this time, except for Sweden and Prussia, which remained neutral towards the former, most of the other powers were hostile to Britain.
Five of the seven major powers, Russia, France, Austria, the United States, and Spain, were at war with the United Kingdom. Among the other secondary powers, the Netherlands, Egypt, and Denmark were at war with the United Kingdom, while Brazil and the Sikh Empire were at war with the United Kingdom.
Robert Peel couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"What have the idiot pigs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs been doing all these years!"
Home Secretary James Graham added another layer of fuel to the fire.
"Your Majesty Prime Minister, in fact, I have just received some reliable intelligence recently indicating that the Foreign Secretary, the Earl of Aberdeen, has been accepting bribes from other countries."
In fact, accepting bribes was very common at that time, but Robert Peel, who was in anger, could not control that much. He directly put all the blame on the hapless foreign minister.
When the foreign minister was dismissed, the happiest person was the deputy minister. Stratford Canning was excited at the thought that he could continue his strategy against Austria after taking office.
That's right, he planned to launch a direct attack on Austria's colonies, cut off its overseas trade channels, plan several riots in the country, and deprive the Austrian Empire of the leadership of the German Confederation.
However, Viscount Stratford's impassioned speech did not impress Prime Minister Robert Peel. On the contrary, he was dismissed by the latter as deputy minister and assigned to the Ottoman Empire.
Countering him is Palmerston, a "King-King" who has always advocated tough foreign policy. However, "King-King" is very flexible in his stance and knows how to assess the situation.
Palmerston did not think that it was wise to confront the Prime Minister at this time. At the same time, he did not think that the anti-Austrian policy that had been continued since the old Canning period had any value.
Most of Austria's overseas interests have little conflict with Britain, and Tranquiba in India is just a small area, and it is far away from the core area of Indian rule, and it cannot hinder British plans at all.
As for the vicious competition in the Near East, as a former ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, he knew the ins and outs of these things.
However, it was due to the greed of some British businessmen who broke the rules first, and some excessive actions by the British government that the Austrian Empire fought back.
Palmerston felt that these were trivial matters in the face of British hegemony. With the rise of France and Russia's struggle for hegemony, it seemed inappropriate to continue to suppress Austria.
Palmerston's thinking was very clear. He felt that if Britain wanted to continue to maintain its hegemony, it should divide the Holy Alliance and then win over France and Austria to fight against Russia.
At the same time, create conflicts between France and Austria, and then support the United States in North America to create more conflicts and strengthen ties with the Kingdom of Prussia and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Only keeping the Italian region and the North German region in a loose state is most suitable. British interests.
Support Austria's eastward expansion, especially by taking advantage of the special relationship between the two Danube principalities and Russia to force Russia and Austria to turn against each other.
As for the Ottomans, they are really unable to hold up the wall. If they can be combined with Persia, they may be able to fight against Russia, but that is simply impossible.
The Ottomans and Persians regarded each other as heretics and had a long history of ethnic hatred.
Palmerston felt that at this time, the best strategy should be to repair the relationship with the Austrian Empire and France first, and let them turn their guns towards Russia.
Because Russia in this generation did not sign the Straits Convention, the Russians still nominally have control of the Black Sea Strait (the "Winkar-Iskelesi Treaty").
Therefore, when Russia strives for hegemony in the future, it may have to pass through Austria's territory, so it is very important to have a good relationship with it.
At the same time, in the east, the Austrians opened the door to Japan, but did not allow it to trade with other powers. This kind of behavior of eating alone is despising.
Britain can definitely enter Japan as an ally of Austria and then seize the market. After all, in the eyes of "Knowing King", Austria's industrial and agricultural development level is far inferior to that of Britain.
Coupled with the fact that Britain is relatively close to Japan, Britain can easily capture the market captured by the Austrians.
Austria and France have many overlapping colonies, so it is very easy to provoke disputes between the two countries.
Whether in Central America, West Africa, North America, or Asia, overseas operations require a large number of soldiers and materials.
Only Britain in the world has enough ships and strength to send these things where they want to go, so if they want to gain an advantage in the competition, they must have a good relationship with the British Empire.
By that time, Britain will be able to completely change its passive diplomatic situation, and even profit from it by provoking a war. This is the path that is most suitable for Britain.
Palmerston's theory was very much in line with Robert Peel's wishes, who felt that it would be too much of a loss for Britain to end the war in person, and that it would be better to let the great powers fight each other.
The objective reality is that at this time, the British military forces are too scattered and the institutions are too bloated, making it difficult to form unified mobilization.
In fact, Palmerston has a very vicious vision. The strategies he gives in the book are very consistent with the character's character and are also in line with the British diplomatic style at this time. Of course, they are certainly more complete and more reasonable than the British diplomatic strategies in history.
(The characters and countries in the book have been strengthened to a certain extent, and the historical strategies may not always be continued.
So please don’t take your seat on some things)