Chapter 410: Chapter 97, England and Russia’s Reaction
 

Despite the fact that the Six Articles Treaty merely exposed the tip of the iceberg, the London Government was already losing sleep. Now, Prime Minister John Russell developed a headache just by looking at the map of the Mediterranean, where French troops had landed on Sicily, under the pretense of helping to suppress a rebellion.

With Austria suddenly letting go, was there anyone left who could limit French expansion in the Italian Area?

The answer was brutally simple: no.

The Italian Area had always been a focal point of competition between France and Austria; however, now that they had chosen to compromise, the natural conflict between them ceased to exist.

“Cooperative win-win” might be useful in resolving international disputes, but for the Great Britain Empire’s balance of power policy in Europe, it was utterly toxic.

Inside the Downing Street Prime Minister’s Office, John Russell solemnly stated, “Over the past decade or so, the power of France and Austria has grown rapidly, and they now possess the strength to threaten us.

Look at this latest map of Europe. Austria has annexed the South German Region and has been expanding extensively in the Balkan Peninsula. After their deal with the French, their homeland has nearly doubled in size.

The French are no less ambitious. A few years ago, Napoleon III took the opportunity, while we were suppressing the rebellion in India, to annex the Kingdom of Sardinia. Now, they have extended their reach to the Southern Italy.

Since France and Austria teamed up to dig the Suez Canal, they have been crowding us out of the Mediterranean. If we don’t find a way to stop them from drawing closer, we will soon find no foothold in the Mediterranean.”

John Russell’s statement might have been an overstatement; the so-called crowding out was utterly baseless. Their spheres of influence had expanded and collided, and naturally, they vied for their interests.

Regrettably, in the new round of struggle, the British had been at a disadvantage.

For the sake of ensuring the successful progress of the Suez Canal project, the British Suez Railway project and the strategy of promoting cotton cultivation in Egypt went bankrupt under the joint intervention of France and Austria.

Aside from that, British interests in locations such as the Ottoman Empire and Greece were not affected, and ejecting them from the Mediterranean was not in the plans of the two countries at all.

It wasn’t that Franz didn’t want to act; the crux was that the French were too timid when facing the British. Unless there were significant benefits involved, it was not easy to persuade Napoleon III.

However, there was only so much interest to go around, and Austria would not work for nothing; there simply wasn’t enough for both to share.

Navy Minister Edward, pointing to the map on the wall, said, “The French have stretched their tentacles to Sicily and have also brought Tunisia under their protection. It won’t be long before we will have to look to the French’ faces when entering and leaving the Mediterranean.”

Without a doubt, Edward was putting pressure on the Foreign Office. The Royal Navy was in charge of the Strait of Gibraltar, and until the Suez Canal was opened, it was the most crucial region in the Mediterranean.

Foreign Minister Reslin, with a grim face, replied, “France and Austria drawing closer together is indeed a responsibility of the Foreign Office, but isn’t it also due to the pressure we’ve been exerting on them?

In recent years, to limit France and Austria, our continuous actions have already aroused their vigilance.

The ongoing Prusso-Russian War is also one of the reasons that prompted the two countries to ease their relations.

For a common interest, I have reason to believe that France and Austria are preparing to form an alliance, or they have already done so.

The compromise on the Italian issue is definitely not that simple. The French desire to annex Italy is no secret, and Austria’s wish to unify the Germany Region is likewise not a secret.

In the current situation, with countries mutually restraining each other, none can achieve their objectives. However, if France and Austria formed an alignment and took action together, we would be powerless to intervene even if we wanted to.”

The colors drained from everyone’s faces as they thought of more. In recent years, the conflicts between England and France, England and Austria have escalated, and in an effort to limit their expansion, the London Government has made unceasing moves.

Prime Minister John Russell affirmed, “The Prusso-Russian War cannot continue, Russia has been weakened enough. If Prussia and Russia keep bleeding each other, there will no longer be any force on the European Continent capable of checking France and Austria.”

Undermining the Russian Empire was British policy, and the London Government had done very well, except they had overlooked the rise of France and Austria while they were preoccupied with targeting Russia.

Now, the power dynamics among the three great empires on the European Continent had undergone astonishing changes. Russia, previously first, had dropped to last, and it would be very difficult for them to recover in the next decade or two.

The rapid expansion of France and Austria meant that any one of these countries now possessed the potential to challenge the dominance of Great Britain.

Foreign Minister Reslin objected, “It’s too late now to stop them, Prussia and Russia are genuinely at loggerheads.

Having sustained such losses, the Tsarist Government will not let the Prussians off easily; and the Kingdom of Prussia will not cease hostilities with Russia either, for if they miss this opportunity, their empire dreams will be shattered.

Given the circumstances, why not just cripple Russia for good, and save ourselves the threat to India once they recover?

To disrupt the camaraderie of France and Austria is simple. With Russia having lost the title of European hegemon, the next contender will emerge from France and Austria, and the seeds of discord are already sown.”

Finance Minister Agawar questioned, “What if they have already formed an alliance?”

Reslin proclaimed with authority, “Then we join the alliance, and then we break up the alliance.”

…

The outcome of this meeting deeply wounded Reslin. Perhaps due to considerations of strategic security, the Cabinet decided to act first and seize the Tunis region, not following his plan.

From a military standpoint, this was the best move. The French Army had already landed on Sicily, and the Royal Navy had lost the chance to control the Mediterranean’s largest island.

Since that was the case, the only option was to target the Strait of Tunis. With Malta and Tunis in the hands of the Royal Navy, they still had control over the Mediterranean.

As for offending the French, that was not a concern for the group. Ever since the French annexed the Kingdom of Sardinia, Anglo-French relations had never been good.

Apart from a brief honeymoon period during the Near East War, most of the time the two nations appeared as adversaries.

Reslin had no time to dwell on this issue, for his current task was to break up the Russian-Austrian Alliance. As long as this Alliance existed, it posed a threat to the hegemony of the Great Britain Empire.

Who knew if, after an expansion failure on the European Continent, the Tsarist Government would turn back to the Central Asia and expand towards the Indian Subcontinent?

Just because the Russians had suffered great losses didn’t mean they had no strength for expansion. Should the Austrians be willing to pay and provide support, such a scenario could become reality.

In the face of escalating conflicts between the Anglo-Austrian two countries, if Vienna could compromise with the Paris Government, why couldn’t they support the Russians?

In an era where Canada, Australia, and South Africa were undeveloped, if India were lost, what kind of hegemon would the Great Britain Empire be?

If that occurred, it would take less than ten years for the sea supremacy of the Great Britain Empire to be replaced by France and Austria.

The world factory was built on a dual framework of raw materials and markets. Without cheap raw materials from India and a vast consumer market, the British industrial dominance would immediately be lost.

As the Industrial Revolution progressed, the British had lost their technological advantage, with the industries of England, France, and Austria gradually on the same level.

…

In St. Petersburg, Alexander II was much more composed. Whether France and Austria were drawing closer now was irrelevant to him.

The Prusso-Russian war was still ongoing, and due to logistic constraints on the number of troops deployed, the Russian Army had yet to make any significant progress, nearly turning his hair white with worry.

Theoretically, the Russian Empire would be the last victor if the war dragged on. However, this victory was questionable.

While Sweden had been stabilized, the Central Asian battlefield was deteriorating, and a new storm was brewing in the Far East; they were already too busy to manage.

Foreign Minister Clarence Ivanov reported, “Your Majesty, the Austrians have given their reply. They agree to relinquish most of the territory in the French Balkan Islands, but at a cost to us.”

This didn’t surprise Alexander II. Although there were provisions in the secret Russian-Austrian treaty, the French-Balkan Peninsula was bought by the Austrians with money, and naturally, they wouldn’t hand it over for free.

Even blood brothers settled accounts clearly, let alone allies.

Alexander II asked with concern, “What do they want?”

Despite having missed the best time to enter the Mediterranean, the strategic position of the Dardanelles Strait was still crucial. If the Austrians’ demands were reasonable, he wouldn’t mind getting hold of it.

Foreign Minister Clarence Ivanov answered, “During preliminary negotiations, the Vienna Government believed that in this land trade, in addition to economic aspects, they had also sacrificed political interests.

Their quote was very high. If we were to finance the purchase, we would have to pay 200 million Divine Shields at once. They are open to land exchanges, requesting a five to one area exchange ratio.

If we agree to this deal, even if we end up reducing the final negotiated price by half, we will have suffered a great loss.”

Obviously, Foreign Minister Clarence Ivanov was opposed to such a deal, as the Russian Empire had no power to enter the Mediterranean in the short term.

Moreover, with the Mediterranean littoral almost entirely partitioned, they couldn’t even find a foothold.

The only choice left for them was the Ottoman Empire, a tough bone that they were simply unable to swallow at this point.

After pondering for a moment, Alexander II made a decision, “In that case, let’s keep grinding over the price with the Austrians. We’re not in a hurry; delaying for three to five years is also fine.”

He was aware this was the Vienna Government’s attempt to drive a hard bargain, or perhaps the Austrians didn’t want to see them enter the Mediterranean and compete for territory, as the Mediterranean was already divided by England, France, and Austria.

Adding another competitor would inevitably disrupt the balance of the Mediterranean. Because of the Russian-Austrian Alliance relations, Austria couldn’t stay unaffected. This would put the Vienna Government in a passive position in diplomacy, especially when France and Austria grew closer.