Chapter 203

In short, the purpose of Austria's entry into the war was to oppose Prussia's independent annexation of Schleswig and Holstein

This intention is no secret in Europe.

The British support operations at sea, which made many Danes happy, only saw the thunder and rain, and the British obviously did not want to offend the German Confederation.

This also made Christian IX and the Danish government feel the crisis.

On August 12, 1864, Danish Prime Minister Monrad once again reminded the countries that were not the German Confederation that if they could not support Denmark to escape the threat of the German Confederation, this would have devastating consequences for the strategies and interests of the countries on the European continent.

According to the interview news of the "European Times", Monrad told the "European Times" after a meeting on German-Denmark war security in Copenhagen that day, "If Denmark is threatened, and Denmark is invaded and the countries turn a blind eye, the world will turn a blind eye. The echoes of this shock will be felt everywhere, Europe and the world will hear these echoes, London, Paris, St. Petersburg and Moscow, and even the Far East of America, etc. If people think that aggression is rewarded, It is correct to have strength, and it is correct to recognize that a large number of troops formed by Prussia and Austria have appeared on the border of Denmark, and it is correct to try to invade Denmark. Then, the future development of Europe is definitely not even God wants to see, because that is Dark hour, I do not understand the intentions of William I and Joseph I, but now there are worrying omens"

With the release of Monrad's interview, various countries have attracted a lot of questions about the legality of the German Confederacy's move to enter Holstein and station troops on the Schleswig border. Although Denmark itself violated the agreement at first, it is still with Denmark. The threat of the German Confederation will have spillover effects, threatening the security of European countries, as the Prime Minister said.

Although Prussia's successful crocodile-Austria alliance, she still started working with European countries early on.

Therefore, Denmark still hopes to get the support of European countries like the first Schleswig War, but this time, except for the British second lieutenant who sent a navy to make a sense of presence, the countries let Denmark know that this They may not be so lucky again.

.....

French Empire, Paris.

"Where is the combined army formed by the German Confederation now?"

Napoleon III checked the recent political affairs in various places in France. This was his usual practice. Every week, the Prime Minister of the French Empire, Olivier, needed the document signed by the king to bring it over to Napoleon III for confirmation.

The two talked and talked, and they talked about the German-Danish war that is now the most concerned about in Europe.

Olivier: "Schleswig has been reached. I heard that Prussia suggested that the German Confederation may attack the eastern town of Lübeck in Schleswig in the past two days"

Napoleon III looked away from the document when he heard the words, he raised his head and glanced at Olivier,

After a while, he lowered his head to continue the search operation, but said, "It seems that Prussia has already compared Austria."

Olivier smiled bitterly: "No way, now Prussia is obviously stronger and stronger, Austria has begun to gradually lag behind Prussia both economically and militarily, and the members of the North German Customs Union are expanding in the German Confederation. , and has even gradually penetrated to the south."

"Austria has chosen a truce in the Austro-Public economic war?"

Olivier was stunned when he heard the words, then quickly understood what he meant, nodded, and said: "Yes, the government of the government of Grand Duke Rainer Ferdinand has obviously compromised temporarily, and by really trying to prevent Prussia from robbing the German Confederation on its own, Dominance in foreign affairs and win the hearts and minds of members."

Napoleon III put down the document and sighed: "It's a pity, such a good opportunity, it's a pity that we are in a quagmire in America"

When Olivier heard the words, he also showed his unwillingness and pity.

At this time, France was caught in the quagmire of the Mexican War, and was intrigued with Austria in northern Italy, and the French Empire was also in danger.

Precisely because of this situation, Napoleon III had no time to take care of the disputes on the Jutland peninsula, and hoped to get compensation from the German Confederation and give France a blood transfusion as the price of France's acquiescence to the free actions of the German Confederation led by Prussia.

In fact, Bismarck had already hinted at the French ambassador to Berlin two months earlier that Prussia was willing to discuss Schleswig and Holstein at a conference chaired by Napoleon III, and raised the possibility of In the near future, the area on the left bank of the Rhine will be ceded to France, which is friendly to Prussia.

Napoleon III was naturally moved by this, and he didn't have to send troops to the mainland of Denmark to fight to the death, and he could also gain territory. This naturally made Napoleon III ready to no longer support Denmark's interests in the two places without thinking about it for a long time.

In exchange for his interests elsewhere, so when Prime Minister Monrad of Denmark called on countries to support Denmark and prevent the German Confederacy from invading, Napoleon III made it clear that Francois had no intention of military intervention.

...

Tsarist Russia, St. Petersburg.

Alexander II also looked at the telegram for help from Denmark with a distressed face, and was distressed.

Since he succeeded to the throne in 1855, numerous reforms have been carried out, focusing on the military, social and judicial, and administrative systems.

In the social field, it has increased investment in education and health care. Since 1863, the universities of Tsarist Russia have been autonomous, and the academic atmosphere has been gradually liberalized.

Like other countries in Europe, with the full implementation of the universal secondary education in the Netherlands in 1862, in 1863, Britain, France, Pau and other major countries promulgated and joined the national constitution.

So his signature took effect, and starting from the second half of 1864 this year, the secondary education institutions of the Tsarist Empire also began to accept students for the whole society, changing the previous practice of only accepting children of nobles.

Even, St. Petersburg has just opened the first women's middle school in the Russian Empire, and women have also obtained the right to receive higher education and medical professional education, which makes the status of women in the Russian Empire higher than other countries in Europe, which makes him in the Russian Empire. There is a lot of support in the country.

However, Tsarist Russia has encountered difficulties in recent diplomacy, which made him very dissatisfied and helpless.

After the Crimean War ended in 1855, Tsarist Russia had a bad relationship with Britain, France, Austria and other countries, and was in a situation of diplomatic isolation, and its domestic economy almost collapsed.

It was under such circumstances that Alexander II came to power.

He faced the worsening of people's livelihood from all over the world because of economic difficulties, and the domestic dissatisfaction with the Romanov royal family began to hoard.

Although he later suppressed the crisis, diplomacy became more and more difficult to perform, and finally he enabled Gorchakov to alleviate it.

However, in 1863 last year, the Polish duchy broke out against the rule of the Russian Empire, which caused Alexander II to have a headache. Because Britain, France and other countries, out of political considerations, even expressed sympathy for the Polish activists under the banner of humanitarianism, Alexander II was very troubled by this.

It was under such circumstances that Prussia took advantage of this opportunity, and took advantage of the Polish uprising in 1863 to make a deal with the Tsarist Russian Empire. When Britain and France supported Poland and made Tsarist Russia isolated among the great powers, Bismarck, the Prussian Prime Minister, They sent people to St. Petersburg to sign a pledge to help Tsarist Russia suppress Poland, in exchange for Tsarist Russia taking the lead in taking the lead in the Prussian dispute and even war against Denmark, which is about to break out this year, to take a neutral stance.

"A good Bismarck, worthy of being the most trusted and capable subordinate of William I of Prussia, he is indeed very powerful."

Alexander II was envious,

If our Tsarist Russia does not support Prussia, it is possible for Prussia to join the anti-Tsarist Russia group, which will be a huge diplomatic disaster for Tsarist Russia.

So Tsarist Russia readily agreed to Prussia's request, and even after France was apparently drawn to Prussia and expressed its support for Prussia, even a week ago, Tsarist Russian Foreign Minister Gorchakov immediately defended France's position and strongly suggested that the Danish government should not act in the Netherlands. Revolt in the situation of Stein and Schleswig.

"However, compared to the Tsarist Russia Empire, the former rival of Tsarist Russia, Karl XV, is also very distressed now that he wants to come."

...

Yes, the current King Carl XV of Sweden is a very uncomfortable group.

Since the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden has expressed to Europe after 1815 that Sweden pursues a policy of neutrality and will not send troops at will. UU reading www.uukanshu.com

But the first Schleswig War (1848-1851) was an exception, because due to the prevalence of Scandinavianism in northern Europe at that time, Sweden sent 15,000 soldiers to defend Denmark, which cost the family two relations between countries.

Even at last month's meeting between Sweden and Denmark in Skarsberg, Karl XV promised to ensure that at least 20,000 Swedish-Norwegian soldiers would be sent to Schleswig to defend Scandinavia. The southernmost outpost in Asia. , However, this promise he made in the past week turned out to be rejected by the Swedish parliament.

Even Carl XV found that at the Swedish-Norwegian joint intergovernmental meeting held at Ulista Palace, a group of liberals headed by the Swedish Chancellor of the Exchequer Johann Gripenstadt rejected Carl XV's promise. Much to the annoyance of Karl XV.

These guys said at the meeting that a decision could only be made when Britain and France intervened in the Schleswig and Holstein issues, but Britain and France did not intervene, and Russia even sided with Prussia.

Although Sweden has the heart to support Denmark, it has Prussia and Tsarist Russia looking around at the eastern and southern ends of the Baltic Sea, and its own weakness makes it afraid to move, so finally last week, Karl XV chose to compromise and gave up supporting Denmark. .