Chapter 465 Quasi-alliance
After driving Ferdinand away, Franz called his staff to discuss whether it was necessary to form an alliance with East Africa, but to be on the safe side he decided to discuss it with the Austrian government first.
"Why should we form an alliance with an African country? Are we going to let other countries on the European continent laugh? To be honest, even an alliance with the pagans in the Middle East has a much better reputation than joining forces with an African country, except of course Egypt." Austria. said the Prime Minister of the Government.
"But as far as I know, the Hechingen royal family in the East African Kingdom has a lot of power in the empire. They control some important areas of the empire's economy, such as railways, steel, food, and electricity. They are very important to stabilizing the kingdom's economy and political power. Importantly, if we don't choose East Africa, it will inevitably affect our relationship with the Hechingen royal family, and we also have our own practical interests in East Africa, so we have a basis for cooperation." the finance minister retorted.
“If the Empire and East Africa unite, I believe the Hungarian government will be the first to object!” said the Prime Minister.
Franz agreed and said: "This is why I found you. Cooperation with East Africa is indeed not good for international reputation, and if we form an alliance with East Africa, will it affect the international situation? Britain, France and other congresses will not misjudge our impact on Africa." Having thoughts, leading to overreactions, etc.”
"Your Majesty, this will definitely happen. Every move of the empire will be watched by other countries. If we show interest in East Africa, it will probably cause a chain reaction. The problem is that we do not really want to colonize Africa. plans and capabilities, which is completely opposite to our general direction of focusing on the European continent." The Prime Minister replied affirmatively.
"Well, but the growth of the East African Kingdom's strength cannot be underestimated, especially in terms of navy. The Hechingen royal family has ordered many warships in Austria, and because of Princess Karina, the royal families of the two countries are actually related. Not bad.”
“But this doesn’t mean anything. The relationship between countries is still based on national interests. What benefits can we gain from forming an alliance with East Africa?” the Prime Minister asked instead.
Franz said: "We know too little about East Africa. The location of East Africa determines that it has never been taken seriously by Europe. But what is the overall strength of East Africa? How powerful is the Hechingen royal family in controlling Africa? "
"Your Majesty! Don't you know?" In the Prime Minister's view, the Hechingen royal family and the Habsburg royal family are related by marriage, so the royal family should be very aware of the national conditions of East Africa. After all, the East African naval commanders are their own.
Franz shook his head and said: "I may have a general understanding of the situation in East Africa a few years ago. At that time, East Africa had a certain size, but too much time has passed now."
“Judging from the Kingdom of East Africa’s ability to purchase steel and warships from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, East Africa’s national strength should not be bad.” The Finance Minister analyzed.
"That's different. The wealth of the Hechingen royal family should be viewed separately from that of East Africa. Take the navy as an example. If the Rothschild family is willing to do this, I believe they also have the strength to form their own private navy. Many upstarts in the United States I'm afraid they also have this ability." The Prime Minister denied. In fact, in the eyes of the Prime Minister, the Hechingen royal family is also such a nouveau riche. However, after all, the Hechingen royal family is also a traditional noble family, so it is a little different.
And why the Hechingen royal family is so rich? This question can be understood by looking at the companies established by the Hechingen royal family in the German region. The Hechingen bank alone is as rich as any other country.
In fact, many nobles are envious or even jealous of the wealth of the Hechingen royal family, but this is limited to this. First of all, the rules between nobles must not be broken. Secondly, the Hechingen consortium is not dead. His size is too big. It is so huge that it affects the whole body, and it is related to the food and clothing of millions of workers and farmers.
The Hechingen Consortium is different from Jewish capital in that it really attaches great importance to industry. These industries not only create value for the Hechingen royal family, but also create value for Germany and Austria. Therefore, before moving to the Hechingen Consortium, we must first He cut himself with a knife, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire obviously could not accept this method. Any disturbance to this ancient empire might be damaging to its muscles and bones. No nobleman was willing to let 1848 happen again.
“So it is still the Hechingen royal family. It is not an exaggeration to say that East Africa is the private property of the Hechingen royal family. The question is whether we choose to cooperate with the Hechingen royal family.”
Chancellor of Finance: "I personally support cooperation, because cooperation with East Africa will help stabilize the empire's economy. I believe the Imperial Navy has the same attitude. Without orders from East Africa, the Navy's two ironclad ships cannot be created out of thin air."
Prime Minister: "Cooperating with East Africa is indeed beneficial to us, but East Africa is so uncharacteristically seeking imperial asylum. It is obviously asking for help from the empire, and there must be a reason for the Hechingen royal family to do this. What is their reason?"
Franz was stunned when he was asked this question, right! Why didn't the Hechingen royal family make this request before, but now that they have developed, they have changed their attitude?
The Prime Minister continued: "This time the East African Kingdom is seeking cooperation, which means that they have encountered a threat that they cannot deal with... Britain, France, or Portugal are relatively powerful countries in Africa!"
"If that's the case, it makes sense!" "Then should we do this? What if it is really Britain, France and other countries that have intentions towards Africa, will we be dragged into the water?"
Franz also fell silent. If it is true as the Prime Minister said, it is indeed a difficult choice.
East Africa certainly faces such a threat, but it is not as serious as the Austrian monarchs thought. This is a misjudgment caused by improper intelligence.
“Is there a way to maintain a friendly relationship with the royal family of Hechingen without being dragged into the water?” Franz decided to let his subordinates waste their time.
After thinking for a while, the finance minister said: "If this is the case, we may be able to carry out limited cooperation to win over East Africa while ensuring that we will not fall into a right-and-wrong area like Africa."
“How to implement limited cooperation law.”
"We do not cooperate with East Africa in the name of the empire, but only ally with East Africa in the name of the Austrian government. Austria cannot fully represent the empire, so when conflicts arise between East Africa and other countries, the empire can look on with cold eyes. After all, Hungary's attitude also determines the empire. The royal family of Hechingen can’t say anything about the direction of the situation.”
The Austrian Finance Minister’s idea is that the benefits will go to Austria, but Hungary will bear the blame.
“Ahem, don’t say anything that is not conducive to unity in the future, but your Austrian government can do it alone to form an alliance with East Africa.” Franz said.
Prime Minister: "If this is the case, it is indeed a feasible solution for us in Austria and East Africa to negotiate individually, but it does not represent the overall attitude of the empire."
…
June 1876.
The Austrian government separately signed the Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance between the Kingdom of Hechingen and the Kingdom of Austria with the Kingdom of East Africa, and the two parties concluded a quasi-alliance.
The actions of the Austrian government have aroused dissatisfaction from the Hungarian side. What are you doing? Why don't you discuss it with me?
The Austrian Prime Minister said to the Hungarian Prime Minister: "This is due to the needs of Austria's economic development. The business groups in Austria and East Africa have common interests that cannot be ignored."
Hungary: "Then how can the treaty you concluded be a quasi-alliance treaty? Just sign an economic treaty!"
“The Austrian government has its own plans in this regard. The content of the treaty is limited to the Kingdom of Austria and will not have any negative impact on Hungary.”
“In other words, the content of the treaty does not represent the will of the empire!”
"Of course, if I represent the empire, I must discuss it with you!" the Austrian Prime Minister said with a laugh.
This answer is quite satisfactory to the Hungarian side. The Hungarian side mainly prevents the Austrian government from representing the empire as a whole. So what is the difference between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the previous Austrian Empire?
If it were just the Kingdom of Austria's separate diplomatic activities with other countries, Hungary would not react much. After all, Hungary also has its own diplomatic department.
In fact, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has three governments, the central government, the Austrian government and the Hungarian government. Both Austria and Hungary have certain autonomy, so Austria can bypass Hungary and East Africa to form a nondescript alliance, so the two sides are considered an alliance, and Not fully aligned.
(End of this chapter)