Chapter 262 British and Russian Attitudes

The words of the Austro-Hungarian ambassador successfully angered a number of high-ranking 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 fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Italian region has been in a state of division for thousands of years. Except for the Papal States, its territory has been ruled by France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and other countries most of the time. For example, Corsica belongs to the Italian region, but it is French territory.

The sudden emergence of Napoleon awakened the national consciousness in Germany and also shaped the national consciousness in Italy. In essence, it was a group of local feudal nobles who huddled together for warmth, because France under Napoleon's rule was a relatively progressive force at the time.

Therefore, the words of the Austro-Hungarian ambassador were like adding fuel to the fire, and the two countries, which already had a bad relationship, fell into a state of life and death.

"Sir Christian, are you responsible for what you said? The Kingdom of Italy will never accept humiliation from your country." said Emmanuel II.

"Of course, I mean the Empire's opinion. Unless the Kingdom of Italy promises to forever give up the power to seek independence for the Papal States, 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 the Italian nation to unify."

“Let’s wait and see!”

The two sides parted unhappily due to the lack of agreement. The Kingdom of Italy immediately began to prepare strategic deployment to deal with the intervention of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the same time, Italy urgently asked the British Embassy for help.

British Embassy, ​​Florence.

"Ambassador Johnson, you must help Italy this time. If Italy is invaded by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the turmoil in the European landscape will definitely not be a good thing for your country," said Italian Foreign Minister Giuseppe.

Johnson was very entangled in this matter. He said to Giuseppe: "If your country gives up its claim to the unification of the Papal States, we in Britain can guarantee that the Austro-Hungarian Empire will not dare to invade Italy."

It's just a Papal State. In Johnson's opinion, there is no need for Italy to turn against Austria-Hungary over this issue. Now is not a good time for Italian unification. Although Britain itself supports Italian unification, now is a special period. The Franco-Prussian War is continuing, and it seems that Prussia and France are evenly matched. The French are not invincible as they boasted before the war, and Prussia's strength is also surprising.

In order to maintain the balance of the continental order, Britain had to focus its main attention on Prussia and France rather than the secondary region of Italy. Moreover, the Austrian Empire had suffered severe blows in recent years, while Tsarist Russia in the east had recovered under the reforms of Alexander II, so Britain did not want the Austro-Hungarian Empire to be further weakened.

"We are currently unable to divert our attention to supporting Italy because of the war between Prussia and France, so it is better for your country not to conflict with Austria-Hungary during this period of time."

Giuseppe found Johnson's words unacceptable. Italy's expectations for Rome were beyond words. Italy without Rome was incomplete, just like France losing Paris, which was unacceptable to Italian nationalists.

"Does your country intend to sit back and watch the reappearance of Shinra?" Giuseppe asked.

"Of course not, but as I said, our country does not have the energy nor the plan to interfere in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so I once again solemnly warn you on behalf of the United Kingdom not to act rashly." Johnson said seriously. As for the so-called reappearance of the Holy Roman Empire, it was pure nonsense.

If the Austro-Hungarian Empire really had the ability to revive the Holy Roman Empire, then Britain would naturally try its best to suppress it. However, this was impossible. From the moment the Austrian Empire became the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was destined to lose its dominance over the German region.

The Small Germany led by Prussia is possible, and Britain would be happy to do so. The Greater Germany has become an illusion, unless Prussia and Austria put aside their past grudges and unite. But how is that possible? There is no room for two tigers in one mountain, not to mention that there is also a Hungarian Kingdom within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Giuseppe returned disappointed, but failed to get the support of the British. The Kingdom of Italy decided to act on its own. After all, if it did not take over the Papal States this time, it might not have any chance in the future. The Papal States is located in the center of north-south Italy, which is a place that the Kingdom of Italy absolutely cannot give up.

On August 23, seeing that the Papal States ignored the demands of the Kingdom of Italy, Italy formally declared war on the Papal States, and then the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Papal States also declared war on Italy.

In an instant, public opinion on the European continent was boiling. The Franco-Prussian War had not yet been resolved, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy were fighting again. This was really exciting.

The most confused were the Russians. Alexander II convened an emergency meeting to discuss changes in the European situation.

"Why did Austria-Hungary suddenly declare war on Italy? Aren't their troops in the east guarding against us and Prussia?" Alexander II asked his subordinates in confusion.

The foreign minister said: "The essence of this matter is that Austria-Hungary cannot tolerate the complete unification of Italy. The unification of Italy will greatly threaten the security of Austria-Hungary, so the contradiction between the two countries is irreconcilable."

The Minister of War also spoke up: "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 its troops. Perhaps the Austro-Hungarian Empire believes that it does not need to use its main forces to deal with an opponent like Italy."

"Is that so? That's such a pity!" Alexander II sighed.

The fact that there were no changes to the Austro-Hungarian border troops meant that Russia had little chance of interfering in the war between Italy and Austria-Hungary, as Austria-Hungary was clearly on guard against the Russians.

Really no changes? Of course it was 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 direction of the Franco-Prussian War before the Franco-Prussian War and was preparing to take action against the Kingdom of Italy.

Now on the border of Prussia, Russia and Austria, the armies of both countries have actually been greatly weakened. Prussia directly transferred part of its troops, while Austria-Hungary exchanged its elite troops with ordinary troops, which led to no change in the number of Austro-Hungarian troops.

"Even so, it is a good thing for us. I don't believe that Austria-Hungary can easily defeat Italy without using its full strength. It would be best if Italy could drag Austria-Hungary into the quagmire of war. By then, Austria-Hungary, which has no way to solve the Italian problem, will inevitably compromise with us." said the Russian Foreign Minister.

As for supporting Italy, forget it. Both Tsarist Russia and Italy are notoriously poor countries, especially the current Tsarist Russian government, which still has a large debt to pay off. The serfdom reform is actually the government giving money to buy the garbage land in the hands of local nobles and landlords and distributing it to serfs. Although the results did not seem to be significant in the later period, the government debt was increasing. As for expecting to get the land and serfs to pay off their debts, there was no result. Under the joint operation of local Tsarist Russian bureaucrats and landlords, many of these "peasants" went bankrupt directly, the money was taken away by the local governments, and the serfs still existed in a different way. Their only contribution was to promote industrial and urban development.

Moreover, if Tsarist Russia really intended to take action, it would not choose the tough opponent of Austro-Hungary. The neighboring Ottoman Empire was Tsarist Russia's first target. Just like it did not take action against Mozambique in East Africa, there were still a lot of unowned land in the inland, so there was no need to conflict with other colonists.

The financial situation of Tsarist Russia is well known to everyone, which is why the Kingdom of Italy sought help from the British. Of course, the British could not send troops directly. At the beginning, the Kingdom of Italy went for money, but Italy already owed Britain a lot of debts, and this war was unprofitable for Britain and there was no strategic need for it, so Italy's idea failed.

Franco-Prussian focused on the war, Britain and Russia were indifferent, and the Italo-Austrian War started like the Franco-Prussian War. Most countries chose to remain neutral temporarily. The difference was that the Austro-Hungarian Empire played the role of the French before the war. It also did not allow the enemy to complete unification, also issued war threats in advance, and it was also a big country against a small country.

(End of this chapter)