Chapter 730： Here comes the crisis (1/2)

The Russian-Prussian negotiations have ended, and the Vienna Peace Conference has entered the most critical moment, disarmament and the establishment of a new international order.

Disarmament has progressed relatively smoothly, and everyone agrees that disarmament is necessary. The core of the controversy is focused on how many troops are retained.

Just a small country, its own army is limited, and it does not threaten anyone, and the impact of disarmament is not great.

The core contradiction lies in the three countries of Russia, Austria, and France. Austria has proposed a comparison of military forces at 10: 10: 7, that is, Russia and Austria maintain a total army strength of 500,000, and France maintains 350,000 army.

French representative David Proval strongly opposed: ”As a great power, this is an insult to France.

We cannot accept this ratio. France must have an army that matches its strength. I propose that the three countries, France, Russia, and Austria, maintain an army of equal size! ”

Austrian Foreign Minister Weissenberg shook his head and laughed: ”Her Excellency, the essence of disarmament is to save military expenditures, maintain a continental military balance, and avoid war.

Your army has the highest combat effectiveness in the world. Under the same force, who is your opponent, how can this balance be maintained? ”

This touted explanation calmed the anger in David Proval's mind, but still insisted: ”No!

There are many colonies in France that need to be maintained. We cannot simply consider the combat effectiveness of the army. We must comprehensively consider multiple factors. ”

In this age of weak meat and strong food, strength is the manifestation of status. Now it is not just the troop share, but also the voice of continental Europe.

If you get the same number of troops as Russia and Austria, and rely on the advantage of combat effectiveness, even if France is not the European supremacy, it is also the uncrowned king.

”Fighting advantage”, okay, the French ’s self-confidence in this regard is really bursting, and they have always claimed themselves as the world ’s first army.

Perhaps the French Army was really the number one in the world, but the Italians joined in. Now it is the number one in the world, and no one knows it.

There is no specific interest involved. Austria did not antagonize the French on this issue. They shouted for a long time and everyone defaulted.

Weissenberg nodded: ”His words are not unreasonable. Indeed, we need to consider all aspects.

But there are too many aspects involved, such as population, economy, number of colonies, territorial area, national defense pressure, and so on.

Which one do we use as the reference standard, or do we consider them all to calculate a comprehensive value? ”

This is a depressing topic, and France is at a disadvantage regardless of any of them.

David Proval carefully calculated and found it awkward to mention the colony.

Now the world's first colonial empire is Britain, followed by Austria, and France can only rank third. And the gap between this third and second is very different, not even half.

With the colony as the standard, wouldn't the British keep the world's largest army?

European countries may not have an opinion. John Bull thinks it is impossible to agree, which will make them change from a sea power country to a land power country.

In terms of population, economy, and territorial area, France does not have the same advantages. According to these data, maybe they can't even get 70% of Austria's military share.

Not to mention the pressure on national defense. France has always put pressure on others. David Proval is really embarrassed to mention it.

After hesitating for a while, David Proval replied stubbornly, ”Of course, comprehensive calculations have been taken into account, but regional military balance can be considered as a priority.”

British representative Edward: ”I propose that regional military balance be considered on the premise of meeting needs.

Taking France as an example, it is not enough to keep only 350,000 troops. ”

The usual style of **** sticks seems to be good to meet the demand. The question is how to define the standard of this demand?

First, to meet the military needs of all countries, and then consider military balance, it can only be calculated at a high level. The maximum limit of 500,000 will definitely not be maintained. Finally, disarmament will become expansion.

The British conspiracy was not easy to succeed. Other countries have a few more soldiers. Perhaps the problem is not big. The Russian Empire cannot afford them.

Russian representative Nikita Titov immediately countered: ”Sir, we are a disarmament conference, not an expansion conference.

If you meet the military needs of all nations, are you sure you can still disarm? ”

Disarmament, why disarm?

From the standpoint of the British, the European countries are best in maintaining the current situation. Consuming a large amount of military expenditure on the army one by one, they will not be able to compete with them for maritime hegemony.

If, according to Austria's proposal, the number of French and Austrian armies is suppressed to 350,000 and 500,000, respectively, this means that the governments of the two countries can save tens of millions of pounds in military expenditure every year.

This money will certainly not lie in the bank to generate interest, most of which will flow into the Navy, which will have a very great impact on British maritime hegemony.