Chapter 262 Anglo-Russian Attitude
The words of the ambassador of the Austro-Hungarian Empire successfully angered all the high-level officials of the Kingdom of Italy, especially the Sardinian royal family, because he completely denied the legitimacy of the existence of the Kingdom of Italy.
Since the demise of the Western Roman Empire, the Italian region has been divided for thousands of years. Except for the Papal State, most of its territory has been ruled by France, Spain, Shinra and other countries. For example, Corsica belongs to the Italian region, but France territory.
The birth of Napoleon awakened the awakening of the national consciousness in the German region, and at the same time shaped the national consciousness in the Italian region. In essence, it was a grouping among the local feudal nobles for warmth, because France under Napoleon’s rule at that time was a relatively progressive force.
So the words of the ambassador of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were like adding oil to the hot pot, and the two countries, which had a bad relationship, fell into a state of endless death.
"Your Excellency Christian, are you responsible for what you said? The Kingdom of Italy will never accept your country's humiliation." Emmanuel II said.
"Of course, what I mean is the empire. Unless the Kingdom of Italy promises to give up forever the power to seek the independence of the Pope, otherwise our Austro-Hungarian Empire will not sit idly by." Christian responded.
"Very good! Our Kingdom of Italy will never compromise, and no one can stop the determination of Italian national unity."
"Wait and see!"
The words were not speculative, and the two sides broke up unhappy. The Kingdom of Italy immediately began to prepare for the strategic deployment of the intervention of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the same time, Italy urgently asked the British Embassy for help.
Florence, British Embassy.
"Ambassador Johnson, you must help Italy this time. If Italy is invaded by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the turmoil in Europe will definitely not be a good thing for your country." Italian Foreign Minister Giuseppe said.
Johnson was very entangled in this matter. He said to Giuseppe: "If your country abandons its demand for the unity of the Pope, we, the United Kingdom, can guarantee that the Austro-Hungarian Empire will not dare to invade Italy."
It’s just a Papal State. In Johnson’s view, Italy does not need to turn against the Austro-Hungarian Empire on this matter. Now is not a good time for Italy to unify. Although the United Kingdom itself supports the unification of Italy, it is now a special period. It is continuing, and it seems that Prussia and France are evenly matched. The French are not as invincible as they boasted before the war, and the strength of Prussia is also surprising.
In order to balance the continental order, the United Kingdom must focus on France and Prussia, rather than the secondary region of Italy. Moreover, the Austrian Empire has been severely hit in recent years, but Tsarist Russia in the east has been slowed down under Alexander II's reforms. Therefore, Britain does not really hope that the Austro-Hungarian Empire will continue to be weakened.
"Because of the war between France and Prussia, we have no way to disperse our energy to support Italy, so it is better for your country not to conflict with the Austro-Hungarian Empire during this time period."
Johnson's words are unacceptable to Giuseppe. Italy's expectations for Rome are unspeakable. Italy without Rome is incomplete, just like France without Paris, which is unacceptable to Italian nationalists .
"Does your country want to sit back and watch Shinra reappear!" Giuseppe questioned.
If the Austro-Hungarian Empire is really capable of reappearing the Shinra, then Britain will naturally try to suppress it, but this is impossible. From the moment the Austrian Empire became the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria has already been doomed to lose its control over the German region. dominance.
Prussia-led Little Germany is possible, Britain is also happy to do so, and Great Germany has become a phantom, unless Prussia and Austria unite regardless of previous suspicions, but how is that possible, one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, not to mention the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Giuseppe returned disappointed, but he did not win the support of the British. The Kingdom of Italy decided to act on its own. After all, if it does not win the Pope this time, there may be no chance in the future. The location of the Pope is in the north and south of Italy. The center is a place that the Kingdom of Italy must never give up.
On August 23, seeing that the Pope ignored the request of the Kingdom of Italy, Italy officially declared war on the Pope, and then the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Pope also declared war on Italy.
In an instant, public opinion on the European continent was boiling. The melons of the Franco-Prussian War had not yet been eaten, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy were fighting again. This is really exciting.
The Russians were the most confused. Alexander II called an emergency meeting to discuss changes in the European situation.
"Why did the Austro-Hungarian Empire suddenly declare war on Italy? Aren't their troops guarding against us and Prussia in the east!" Alexander II asked his subordinates puzzled.
The Foreign Minister said: "This matter is essentially that the Austro-Hungarian Empire cannot tolerate the complete unification of Italy. The unification of Italy will greatly threaten the security of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so the conflict between the two countries is irreconcilable."
The Minister of War also said: "We have not found any large-scale military changes in the border areas of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and there has been no major change in the number of troops. Perhaps the Austro-Hungarian Empire believes that it does not need to use the main force to solve an opponent like Italy."
"Is that so, what a pity!" Alexander II sighed.
The border forces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire have not changed, which means that Russia does not have much chance to interfere in the war between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is obviously guarding against the Russians.
Really no change? Naturally, it is impossible, but it was completed a few months ago. After all, Prussia and Russia would not believe that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had predicted the trend of the Franco-Prussian War before the Franco-Prussian War and was ready to attack the Kingdom of Italy.
Now on the border of the three countries of Prussia, Russia and Austria, in fact, the armies of the two countries have been greatly weakened. Prussia directly transferred part of the army, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire exchanged elite troops with ordinary troops, which resulted in the number of troops in the Austro-Hungarian Empire Reason for no change.
"Even so, it's a good thing for us. I don't believe that the Austro-Hungarian Empire can easily defeat Italy without using all its strength. It would be best for Italy to drag the Austro-Hungarian Empire into the quagmire of war. At that time, there is no way to solve the Italian problem The Austro-Hungarian Empire is bound to compromise with us," said the Russian Foreign Minister.
As for supporting Italy, don’t even think about it. Tsarist Russia and Italy are notoriously poor countries, especially now that the Tsarist Russian government still has a large debt that has not been repaid. The reform of serfdom is actually the government sending money to buy local nobles and The garbage land in the hands of the landlords was distributed to the serfs. Although the results did not appear to be significant in the later period, the government debts were increasing. As for the expectation that the serfs would get land to pay back the debts, there was no result. Under the joint operation of the local bureaucrats and landlords in Tsarist Russia, Many of these "farmers" went bankrupt directly, the money was taken away from the local government, and the serfs still existed in another way, and their only contribution was to promote the development of industry and cities.
Moreover, if Tsarist Russia really intends to do something, it will not pick the difficult opponent of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Ottoman Empire next to it is the first target of Tsarist Russia. Just like East Africa did not attack Mozambique. Conflict with other colonists is necessary.
Everyone knows the financial situation of Tsarist Russia. This is also the reason why the Kingdom of Italy sought help from the British. Of course, it is impossible for the British to send troops directly. At the beginning, the Kingdom of Italy wanted money, but Italy owed a lot to the UK. Debt, and this war was unprofitable for Britain and also had no strategic needs, which led to the failure of Italy's ideas.
Franco-Prussian focused on fighting, while Britain and Russia were indifferent. The Italian-Austrian War began in line with the Franco-Prussian War. Most countries chose to be neutral for the time being. The difference is that the Austro-Hungarian Empire played the role of the French before the war and also did not allow the enemy to complete the unification. , it is also a threat of war in advance, and it is also a big country against a small country.
(end of this chapter)