Chapter 238： Terrible disease (1/2)

Versailles Palace

Foreign Minister Auvergne said: ”His Majesty, the Minister of the New Holy Roman Empire in Paris sent us a diplomatic note, and they proposed that our two countries act jointly on the Greek issue.

It seems that the Vienna government is worried that the British will take the opportunity to annex the Greek kingdom and threaten their interests. ”

The population of Greece in this era has just exceeded one million. After the war, Greek young people suffered heavy losses.

If the British intended to turn the Greek kingdom into their colony, it would not be difficult.

This worry is obviously not superfluous. The annexation of Greece strategically can bring a lot of benefits to the British, which can not only block the entrance of Russians into the Mediterranean, but also increase their right to speak in the Near East.

In this case, the Paris government is also very worried. The cakes in the Near East are so big. If the British take more, they will inevitably squeeze their local interests.

Napoleon III thought for a while and said, ”The British annexation of the Kingdom of Greece is very unfavorable to our strategy in the Near East. Send someone to talk with the Austrians, as long as everyone's conflict of interest is not serious, take action with them.”

Against the British alone, Napoleon III was still very encouraging, but he was not afraid to go with Austria. In this era, the power gap between Britain, France, Russia, and Austria has not yet widened. Even if the British have an advantage, they cannot achieve one enemy and two.

Common interests are always the basis of cooperation. France and the New Holy Roman Empire have a struggle for continental hegemony. The two sides should reasonably be in conflict.

However, the current European overlord is still a Russian. Before the fall of the bear, both countries were just substitutes, and it was not time to turn their faces.

Affected by the anti-French war, France's every move on the European continent will be closely watched by everyone.

In this context, any external expansion action of France on the European continent may be misinterpreted by the outside world and met with resistance from everyone. At this time, the Paris government has to keep a low profile.

The new Holy Roman Empire is also hiding its power, although Austria has developed in Franz's hands for more than four years, but this development has only made Austria keep up with the times and has not formed an advantage for countries.

After the annexation of the South German region, the newly established new Holy Roman Empire entered the period of internal integration. In the short term, there was no energy to do things. Franz has no plan to compete for continental hegemony.

Both were very peaceful, and the time when the conflict between France and Austria naturally did not ignite, this undoubtedly created favorable conditions for the next cooperation.

Home Secretary Persini analyzed: ”Her Majesty, the purpose of the Austrians may not be so simple.

According to what we know, since the unification of the German region failed, the calls within the Vienna government to open up overseas colonies began to rise.

Now that the situation on the European continent is stable, the Austrians' road to unify the German region has been broken, and the Balkans Russia and Austria should have reached an agreement.

Regardless of the outcome of the Near East War, the Austrians' expansion on the European continent was at its limit. Even the benefits they have gained in the Balkans can be eaten in the end is a question mark.

In this context, the Austrians are likely to abandon the national policy of the Metternich era and restart the overseas colonial strategy.

We need to prepare in advance, and there will be a new opponent in the future. ”

It was not long ago that the Paris government decided on the next national policy of temporarily abandoning expansion on the European continent and focusing on developing overseas colonies.

Now that Austria joins overseas colonial activities, the French naturally need to be vigilant.

Now it is the era of sailing. The navies of various countries have not yet reached an epoch-making distance technically. It is not difficult for the big European powers to break the navy to despair.

Of course, this does not mean that Austria joined the overseas colonies, and the French were afraid. On the contrary, the French had an absolute advantage over Austria in colonizing abroad.

However, there is not only one Austrian competitor for overseas colonization. Everyone has many opponents. Usually, everyone fights for colonies.

As long as it is not a battle for core interests, it is basically just a game of power in a certain region, and rarely will it do its best to fight.

If you don't agree with each other and start playing, then the winner takes all. Obviously this is impossible. With so many competitors, one will be suppressed, and new countries will emerge.

If you continue to toss this way, you are busy suppressing your opponents, and you still have the energy to open up a colony. There is also a limit to colonial expansion. Blind expansion is likely to lose ground.

Not all lands have colonial value; even in the same area, the benefits ultimately derived from the rule of different countries are not the same.

Colonies without strategic value and ordinary economic value are usually the ones who have taken possession of them first. If the colonies with high strategic value and rich interests are indispensable, then it will be inevitable for them to compete.

After the middle of the 19th century, various countries had disputes for overseas colonies, but very few wars between the colonial empires were triggered by the struggle for colonies.

The reason is that the most fertile land has been divided up by everyone, and the remaining land is not worth the war. In the final analysis, everyone is for the benefit, and no one is trading at a loss.

After pondering for a moment, Napoleon III confidently said: ”For us, this should be a good thing. The Austrians started overseas colonization and it is necessary to increase the development of the navy.

As a result, the military pressure on our homeland will be much less. Compared to the Austrians, our advantage at sea is much greater than on land.

Due to the geographical location, the Austrians were at a natural strategic disadvantage in the overseas colony competition.

Unless they are only developing in the Mediterranean to the African continent, if they are going to develop in other regions, they will have to pass under our eyelids and also under the British eyelids.

The greater the strength they invest overseas, the less they dare not turn their heads at us in diplomacy in the future, otherwise we can jam their necks at any time. ”

After that, Napoleon III looked dark. The situation in Austria is indeed, as he said, opening up overseas colonies at a disadvantage, exposing weaknesses to them.

But why didn't the English people who control the straight Putuolu Channel get their necks stuck? In the event of a war between the two countries, the British can split the French navy at any time and keep them from looking at each other.

Why did the Austrian government abandon the opening of colonies overseas? Is it really that they are not interested in the benefits of the colonies?