Rebirth of the Spanish Empire.

Chapter 35 Diplomatic Actions of the Russian Empire
  Because the Kingdom of Spain has no interest in the Near East crisis, it has always adhered to the principle of neutrality.

But this is not the case in other countries, especially the Russian Empire.

Prior to this, the Russians were defeated in the Crimean War that year, and Tsar Nicholas I even died of a stroke.

For this reason, the current Tsar Alexander II has endured it for more than 20 years, and now he has finally waited for this opportunity to wash away the shame of the year.

The local Slavic uprising in the Balkan Peninsula made Tsar Alexander II ready to take action, and he immediately expressed his support for the Slavic rebel army.

After learning from their previous failure in the Crimean War, Tsarist Russia began their diplomatic campaign in the Near Eastern crisis.

As one of the three most influential countries in the Near East, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's attitude towards this war is related to the success rate of Tsarist Russia in launching the war.

In the Crimean War that year, Tsar Nicholas I failed to win the support of Austrian Emperor Franz-Josef I, which led to the defeat in the Crimean War.

To this end, Tsar Alexander II ordered Prime Minister Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov to immediately begin a diplomatic visit to Austria-Hungary.

Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov was deeply influenced by Metternich, who presided over the European Vienna System and was known as the "European Prime Minister".

Therefore, the diplomatic views of the Prime Minister of the Russian Empire were the same as Metternich's back then.

He advocated using the Russian Empire as the center to coordinate the balance among the major powers in Europe, and rejected the Pan-Slavic diplomatic proposition proposed by Tsar Alexander II.

Because the Pan-Slavism of Tsarist Russia attracted opposition from too many European powers.

But as the ruler of the Russian Empire, he was unable to disobey the orders of Tsar Alexander II. For this reason, he had to come to Vienna, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to conduct the negotiations in person.

Gorchakov, the Russian Prime Minister, was the only diplomat who could compete with Bismarck. His name was as hated by the British Empire as Bismarck, the "Iron Chancellor" of Germany.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire took political diplomacy to the extreme, and the Vienna system led by Metternich, the "European Prime Minister", illustrates all this.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire's political diplomacy declined after Metternich's death, it should not be underestimated.

Because at this time, the person leading the political and diplomatic affairs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was Count Andrássy Gyla, who was also a ruthless diplomat who led the Alliance of Three Emperors.

"Count Andrassy, ​​the recent situation of our mortal enemy, the Ottoman Empire, is not very good. I think that the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as an ally, should give us corresponding support."

Gorchakov spoke first and clearly expressed the purpose of his visit.

Although Gorchakov was very resistant to the Pan-Slavism of Tsar Alexander II, as Prime Minister of the Russian Empire, it was his necessary task to win the support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

"Duke Gorchakov, I think it is best for your Russian Empire to stop interfering in the Balkans, because this will make our Austro-Hungarian Empire feel threatened."

Andrassy turned a blind eye to Gorchakov's words.

Although the two countries were consistent in facing the threat from the German Empire, the issue of the Balkan Peninsula was the diplomatic bottom line of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

“At this time, the atrocities of the Ottoman Empire were being inflicted on the Slavs in the Balkans. As the leader of the Slavs, the Russian Empire was intolerable to our Tsar.

Moreover, I believe that you, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, also hate the Ottoman Empire to the extreme.

In the sixteenth century, the Ottoman Empire cut off the possibility of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to unify the Holy Roman Empire.

In the end, the Kingdom of Prussia in the north could only take advantage and unify the German Empire. "

Although it is an undisputed fact that Austria-Hungary hated the Ottoman Empire, the threat from the Russian Empire was now significantly greater than that of the Ottoman Empire.

As for humanitarianism, in the dark era of the 19th century, humanitarianism was just a big joke.

The Russian Empire treats its own troops as cannon fodder, so how could it possibly engage in humanitarianism because of some Bulgarians and Serbs?

“We are deeply saddened by the situation of the Slavs in the Balkans.

But equally, we need to provide a safe and stable living environment for Germans and Hungarians in the country.

Your country's military operations are an invasion of the Balkan Peninsula, which will make our Austro-Hungarian Empire feel a serious threat. "

If the Balkans were really controlled by the Russian Empire.

Then the east, north, and south sides of the Austro-Hungarian Empire will be surrounded by the Russian Empire, which will pose a great threat to the border security of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

“Your Excellency, the Russian Empire has no intention of challenging the bottom line of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

We, the Tsar, promised that after liberating the Slavs in the Balkan Peninsula, we would return sovereignty to the local Slavs. "

The implication of Gorchakov's words is that the Russian Empire will not directly control the liberated countries in the Balkans.

However, in reality, the newly established Kingdom of Serbia and Romania were much closer to the Russian Empire than the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

"For the blank check proposed by your country, this is not what we want." Andrassy smiled disdainfully.

The two of them have been old friends for many years, so Andrash thought he knew Gorchakov quite well.

"Our country can promise to abandon the policy of establishing a Great Slavic state in exchange for the support of Austria-Hungary."

Gorchakov said seriously.

Prior to this, the foreign policy of the Russian Empire was to use Pan-Slavism in the Balkans to establish a Great Slavic country centered on Constantinople and protected by the Russian Empire.

However, if the plans of the Russian Empire were followed, the Balkans would become a unified Slavic state.   And for the Austro-Hungarian Empire: it was to establish a large Slavic state on the Balkan Peninsula, which could have been easily expanded.

This would pose a great threat to the security of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so Andrassi would never agree.

After the establishment of the German Empire in 1871, the Austro-Hungarian Empire basically lost hope of expanding to the north.

The weak Ottoman Empire in the south of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is now the best expansion target of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

"But our country prefers to see a weak Ottoman Empire controlling the Balkan Peninsula, which means that there will be no threat to the rear of our Austro-Hungarian Empire."

Andrassi bluntly stated what Austria-Hungary wanted to see.

The proposal of the Russian Empire is entirely based on the advantages they possess.

If the Russian Empire's proposal is really followed, then the Austro-Hungarian Empire will never get any benefits in the end.

The diplomatic bottom line that Tsar Alexander II gave Gorchakov was only this, so the diplomatic talks between the two sides broke up unhappily.

News of the Russian Empire's visit to Austria-Hungary spread quickly to various European countries.

The negotiations between Russia and Austria reached a deadlock, so when the Austrian-Hungarian media revealed this news, the media in various European countries also began to report it.

As the direct parties involved in this incident, the senior leaders of the Ottoman Empire were naturally relieved.

However, the sense of crisis for the Russian Empire prompted them to step up contact with Britain and France to prevent the Russian Empire from launching a sudden attack.

Gorchakov naturally reported this situation to St. Petersburg. Without practical benefits, it would be really difficult for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to relent.

The negotiations between Russia and Austria have reached a deadlock at this time, which means that the needs of the two sides cannot be reached, and the German Empire, as one of the Three Emperors Alliance, naturally cannot stay out of the matter.

“The German Empire does not have any interests in the Balkans, so we will not be involved in this Near East crisis.

The debate between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire on this matter gives us a very headache.

However, if a conflict breaks out between Russia and Austria in the Near East, the German Empire will have to make a choice between St. Petersburg and Vienna.

Therefore, the German Empire sincerely hopes that Russia and Austria can sit down and negotiate calmly. "

However, if the interests of Russia and Austria cannot be consistent, then the German Empire is willing to be the mediator and will support all actions of Russia and Austria in the Near East. "

Bismarck, Prime Minister of the German Empire, publicly spoke on this matter.

Bismarck's words alluded to the Russian Empire: if a conflict really broke out between Russia and Austria, the German Empire would support the weaker Austria-Hungary.

But in this passage, there is no real accusation against the Russian Empire.

If Bismarck's attitude is too fierce, it will push the Russian Empire to the French Republic, the mortal enemy of the German Empire.

This will put the German Empire into a dilemma of being attacked from both sides. Therefore, the only purpose of the German Empire this time is to get Russia and Austria to reach an agreement on the issue of the Balkan Peninsula.

Russia and Austria were naturally happy to accept the fact that the German Empire, one of the Three Emperors Alliance, served as the mediator of this incident.

Although both Russia and Austria are unwilling to make concessions on the Balkan Peninsula issue, the two countries do not want a real war to break out over this issue.

Although the overall strength of the Austro-Hungarian Empire weakened after 1848, it was still enough to make the Russian Empire drink a pot.

Therefore, in this regard, the two sides once again planned to hold diplomatic talks: with the German Empire as the intermediary, the second negotiation on the Balkan Peninsula was prepared to be held in Vienna, Austria-Hungary.

The Russian Empire's diplomatic actions are rapidly unfolding, and the Osmango Empire also quickly started diplomatic actions on this matter.

The British Empire, which has huge interests in the Mediterranean, has always maintained its attitude toward the Ottoman Empire by ensuring its territorial integrity and firmly containing the Russian Empire in the Black Sea to ensure that its interests in the Mediterranean are not violated.

Therefore, the British Prime Minister Disraeli publicly issued a diplomatic condemnation of the Russian Empire as soon as he received the news.

The Russian Empire's greed for the Balkans was obvious, even though Tsar Alexander II did not have the support of the major European powers.

Therefore, there has been no major action, but once the negotiations make substantial progress, the Ottoman Empire will instantly be in danger.

But now the silence of the French government has left the British Empire somewhat helpless. At sea, the British Empire was truly unrivaled.

But everyone knows the level of the British Empire's army, and it can defeat the Indians.

So on land, the absence of France as a thug did make British Prime Minister Disraeli feel a little helpless.

However, it was announced that in this incident, the Kingdom of Spain, which had adhered to neutrality, suddenly received news of a visit from the Prime Minister of the British Empire, Disraeli.

Therefore, the purpose of Disraeli's visit this time is naturally self-evident.

Let the Army of the Kingdom of Spain act as thugs instead of France against the gray beasts of the Russian Empire.

It is impossible for Alfonso to agree, but he can try to talk about cooperation between the two countries. After all, this time it is the British Empire and the Kingdom of Spain that are asking for help.

In this crisis in the Near East, if the British Empire lacked the support of the Royal Spanish Army, they would not be able to prevent the Russian Empire from attacking the Ottoman Empire.

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(End of this chapter)