Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 369: The War of the Poor

In Vienna, Foreign Minister Wessenberg analyzed, While the Polish independence movement has struck a blow to the Russians, it has also ignited the flames of revolution across the European continent.

Influenced by the success of the Polish uprising, in recent times, revolutions have erupted frequently across the European continent. A new wave of revolution has arrived.

Starting from January, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Papal States, Spain, and Portugal have all seen uprisings. Switzerland, France, Ireland, and other regions have also experienced varying degrees of turmoil.

Most of these revolutionary organizations have recently returned to the European continent from the United States. The initial assessments suggest that this is a desperate move by the federal government; they have both the motive and the capability.

The decisive battle that President Lincoln pinned high hopes on ended up becoming a war of attrition because neither side could afford to lose and both chose to play it safe.

The federal government was concerned that countries would continue to divide the United States, so they chose this moment to sow chaos in the European continent to divert the attention of various governments.

Its no secret that the Americans have funded revolutionary parties, and their influence over them is self-evident. Its just that they havent caused any major disturbances, and this paper-thin facade has never been pierced.

Now that things have happened, it wont be long before the European countries react. At that time, the Americans are likely to abandon these revolutionary organizations as pawns in exchange for the understanding of various countries.

If the pressure exerted by everyone is significant enough, they might even be made to pay a price. However, by stirring up these matters, its unlikely that Britain, France, and Spain will be able to increase their military involvement in America in the short term.

With the alliances current strength in the Americas, it is not a big problem for the North and South to split. This is the result the Southern government has fought for.

Attempting to divide the United States again would be beyond their capabilities. At most, the Indian regions allied with the South might gain independence. However, this wouldnt affect the strength of the federal government; even after division, they would remain two medium-sized powers.

In terms of potential development, both the Union and the Confederacy have the potential to become strong nations.

In the Americas, they have no real competitors. The split will only delay the time for them to become powerful nations. As long as they have sufficient population, they can and will develop.

This American Civil War has really shocked many Europeans. The American Civil War, which was originally thought to be a farce, has surprisingly revealed a shocking war potential.

If no split occurs, the strength of the Americans would be almost on par with Spain, an almost invincible existence dominating an entire continent.

Just as everyone was conspiring to divide America, the defiant federal government ultimately made a last-ditch effort, disrupting the plans of all parties involved.

Prime Minister Felix added, Its not just chaos abroad. Many individuals in our country cant contain themselves any longer and are beginning to take action.

These people are doing things behind the scenes, and its estimated that before long, they will create a major stir. To capture all these individuals in one fell swoop, we havent disturbed the grass to avoid startling the snake.

With the outbreak of the Russo-Prussian War, weve been distracted by European affairs, which has consumed the majority of our resources. At this moment, with domestic issues arising, were also unable to increase our investment in the Americas in the short term.

They are openly conspiring, and despite every country knowing the Americans are responsible, there is nothing that can be done to stop them currently, and there is no need to worry about consequences down the road.

Internal contradictions run deep in Spain, and now that the opening act of revolution has begun, it is unknown when it will be quelled.

The Irish Independence Organization and the revolutionary parties are causing trouble, with the opposition parties exacerbating matters. These internal conflicts are enough to keep the British government busy for years.

As for France, with Napoleon IIIs style, he is likely to take the opportunity to extend his reach into southern Italy, and France and Austria may very well come into conflict over this.

With the Russo-Prussian War and the potential Franco-Austrian conflict, Franz doesnt dare to risk seeking retribution against the Americans at this time.

By the time everyone calms things down, the American Civil War will have long ended. If everything goes as expected, Lincoln will have run away by then, and even if countries seek retribution later, it will have nothing to do with him.

Fortunately, the army of the Northern government did not perform well, and they were unable to achieve the strategy of quickly defeating the Southern government. Otherwise, the strength of various countries in the Americas might not have been sufficient to compel them to compromise.

Franz thought for a moment and said, The Italian issue can be postponed. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies has not called for aid, and even if the French want to intervene, they dare not act at this time.

Napoleon III is not a fool. The joint defense treaty against them by various countries still stands. Continuing to expand their influence now would bring about the anti-French alliance sooner.

There must be no issues with the intervention coalition now. The Foreign Ministry should quickly coordinate relations; we cannot wait for the Americans to determine the outcome, lest we have more troubles.

At this point, both the North and the South have weakened considerably; splitting the United States is our top priority. Currently, the British share our stance, and the British government surely does not dare to wait any longer.

The European situation is changing too rapidly, and there is a possibility of changes occurring within the intervention alliance. Under such circumstances, it is highly unwise to continue attempting to weaken the United States as much as possible.

Even if the Confederacy wins the Civil War, the development potential of plantation economies is limited. Unless they can monopolize the worlds food supply, they will never become a world power.

Obviously, this is impossible, as there are too many regions worldwide suitable for food cultivation. While American agriculture does have advantages, these advantages are not sufficient to establish a monopoly.

No country is foolish enough to entrust its lifeline to the Americans. At least agricultural export countries like Russia and Austria would not purchase their grain.

Once the Union government achieves victory, the United States in history will reappear. Franzs plans in the Americas will at most delay the rise of the United States.

Even if there is no war on the European continent, in the 20th century, Americans will actively challenge the world order.

Given the relationships among European countries, Franz does not believe that everyone can cooperate sincerely. At least in the issue of the North American continent, everyone is happy to see the British become a joke.

Perhaps the next unlucky one will be Austria. Currently, Central America is inconspicuous, and Alaska is also worthless but it will be different in a few decades.

The combined interests in both places are second only to the British. However, Franz is not confident whether Britain and Austria can suppress the Americans in North America.

After all, with that kind of social system in the United States, without full confidence, they will find it very difficult to take strategic gambles.

Looking at history, after the end of World War I, they already had the strength to dominate the world but endured until after World War II before unleashing it.

Franz simply ignored the domestic contradictions. The net has already been laid, just waiting for the fish to take the bait. If there are still problems, it would mean he has failed as emperor.

After this wave, the last obstacle hindering national integration will no longer exist. No matter how fierce nationalism is, it still takes time to spread.

Even if there are survivors, after experiencing this wave, if they dare to secretly cause trouble, those would truly be the brave ones.

In St. Petersburg, Alexander IIs temper has been increasingly fiery lately, with vases and jars in the palace suffering as a result.

The poor performance of the Russian army on the battlefield has left him utterly disappointed. Fortunately, due to budget constraints, the Kingdom of Prussias early military reforms did not go smoothly, and only a scaled-down version of the reforms was completed before the outbreak of war.

Overall, the two sides fought to a stalemate. This result was already enough for the Prussian government, as they were originally prepared to bleed the Russians to death.

With England and France backing them, there was no need for risky decisive battles with the Russians. If they rashly launched an attack and defeated the Russian army, the infuriated Russian government would surely fight them to the bitter end.

For the Russian Empire, losing hundreds of thousands of troops is not a big deal. However, for the Kingdom of Prussia, its a different story. They really cant afford such losses.

The Russian army is not an easy opponent, and as long as the commanders dont make fatal strategic mistakes, the exchange ratios on the battlefield wont be too disparate.

The Near East War is an example where field battles between the Anglo-French coalition and the Russian forces typically saw ratios of 1.5:1, while situations of 3:1 or 4:1 were frequent during defense battles.

If they were to recklessly charge in, they would find that defeating the enemy army is easy, but completely annihilating them is difficult. In an era without airplanes, tanks, and machine guns, once infantry leaves the fortress, encountering cavalry on the plains is almost inevitable.

The current situation involves 546,000 Russian troops versus 328,000 Prussian troops and 231,000 Polish insurgents. Both sides ended up evenly matched, with the Russians even suffering a slight disadvantage.

Can anyone tell me what kind of war were fighting?

As the enraged Tsar glared at them, everyone tacitly lowered their heads.

They had originally thought they could easily win this war, but more than a month into it, not only have they failed to bring the flames of war into Prussian territory, they have even been forced to withdraw from Poland.

Minister of War Nicholas Cage reluctantly explained, Your Majesty, the Polish region is teeming with rebels. While engaging the enemy, weve had to allocate a significant portion of our forces to transport strategic supplies.

General Menshikov chose to retract our front line because Warsaw was not suitable for a battlefield. To avoid giving the enemy an advantage, he decided to shift the battleground to East Prussia.

TN: Yes, you read that right. Its the man, the legend, Nicholas Cage. This is the raw: -

Currently, guerrillas are everywhere in Warsaw. Fighting here, the Russians do not enjoy the advantages of fighting on home soil but are instead trapped in the vast sea of a peoples war.

From a military perspective, temporarily giving up Warsaw and directly shifting the strategic focus to East Prussia is not a problem.

Compared to the Polish rebels, the Kingdom of Prussia is the real threat. Once the Prussians are defeated, the Polish insurgents will not last much longer.

Moreover, the Polish uprising was jointly launched by multiple revolutionary organizations. In the face of crisis, they can cooperate wholeheartedly, but once the Russian threat diminishes, they will fall into infighting.

After the uprising broke out, the temporary Polish provisional government promised to attract more people to join by distributing land for free and implementing labor protection laws, among other conditions.

These provisions seriously undermined the interests of capitalists and nobles and did not gain their approval. From the very beginning, the insurgents were divided.

Mere verbal promises aside, if these conditions were to be fulfilled, internal strife within the insurgents would be inevitable. Regardless of which faction emerges victorious, the strength of the insurgents would be significantly weakened.

If the proletarian faction were to fail, these conditions would remain unfulfilled, leading to an immediate dissipation of morale within the uprising forces. If the nobles and capitalists were to fail, the Russian government would gain collaborators.

While this choice is correct militarily, it is a mistake politically. Conservative nobles within the country continued to cause trouble for Tsar Alexander II, attributing the battlefield defeats to his reforms.

Alexander II is not a fool solely pursuing political victories; he is acutely aware that short-term gains and losses are inconsequential, and that the ultimate outcome of the war is the most important.

Humph! Tell General Menshikov that, regardless of the cost, he must quickly spread the flames of war into the territory of the Kingdom of Prussia.

If the main force cannot break through the enemys lines, then dispatch small groups to go in and cause disruptions, weakening the enemys war potential as much as possible.

The Prussians have gained the support of England and France, and want to drag out the war. We cannot give them this opportunity.

For the poor, war can only be fought swiftly. As long as the war drags on, it spells failure for the Russian government.

Due to this war, Alexander II had to temporarily halt his next round of reform plans and exert all efforts to raise funds for the war.

Financial shortages largely caused the early setbacks of the Russian army. Engaging the enemy in Warsaw and the significant losses of supplies during transportation exceeded the Russian governments capacity to endure.

Faced with pressure, Menshikov decided to abandon the Warsaw region due to logistical supply issues. With a shortage of funds and limited strategic supplies, subsequent batches would be difficult to procure in a timely manner once losses occurred during transportation.

Under the implicit guidance of various government departments, Menshikov had no choice but to make this decision. Alexander II was well aware of these matters, but despite his knowledge, he could not intervene.

The funds the Russian government has currently raised are still less than half of what was raised before the Near East War, making it very difficult to sustain a prolonged war.