Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 501: A New Page

William I didn’t hesitate for long before agreeing to the plan. Prussia had limited resources and didn’t have many bargaining chips to trade. The promises being made now were all empty checks, so why not fill in larger numbers?

The international situation was ever-changing. Just a few years ago, Britain and France were fully supporting Prussia against Russia. Now, in the blink of an eye, Britain and France were about to ease relations with the Russians.

It wasn’t that William I didn’t want to stop all this from happening, but in the face of interests, there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

The already declining Russian Empire was no longer a competitor to Britain and France, so they could naturally play together happily.

In the next Russo-Prussian War, even if Britain and France stood by their side again, the level of support would not be as great as before. Winning the war would depend on their own efforts.

The Russians were a cautionary tale. In the Russo-Prussian War, Austria no longer supported them unconditionally, and the Russian government, which didn’t adjust its mentality, paid a heavy price for it.

The cooling relations between Russia and Austria were essentially due to the Russian government’s dissatisfaction with Austria’s restrained support during the Russo-Prussian War.

The Russian government was angry, and the Austrian government was also displeased. From the Austrian government’s perspective, they had done more than enough, fully fulfilling their obligations as an ally, even exceeding the treaty’s stipulations. And yet they still faced complaints from the Russians.

Both sides were thinking from their own perspectives, and the unresolvable knot became a stumbling block in the Russo-Austrian alliance. The post-war relationship between the two countries had never returned to its former state, proving this point.

As a bystander, William I could think calmly about the issue. But when it came to himself, it was different. Britain and France clearly treated them as mere pawns.

After dealing with the Russians, all support and assistance abruptly stopped. The British government once wanted to support Prussia to keep France and Austria in check, but after weighing the pros and cons, they ultimately did not implement it.

In the end, it was still because of interests. Continuing to support the Kingdom of Prussia would cost the British too much, offer too few benefits, and face fierce backlash from France and Austria.

Compared to the British, the French were even more hateful, as they were plotting to take over the Rhineland. If it weren’t for the French suddenly annexing Italy and causing panic among the European countries, making the French government hesitant to act rashly, the Rhineland region might have changed hands by now.

Unable to annex the German Federal Empire, the Rhineland region became a constant worry for the Kingdom of Prussia. William I was always on edge, fearing the French might swallow it up in one gulp.

To escape this predicament, William I repeatedly proposed joining the German Federal Empire. Unsurprisingly, this was met with strong resistance from Hanover.

How could they not be vigilant against such a blatant attempt to usurp power?

The Kingdom of Prussia was much larger than the German Federal Empire. Saying it was joining sounded nice, but another way to put it was that it wanted to annex the German Federal Empire.

They couldn’t do it through diplomacy, and they couldn’t do it through force either. If the Prussian government made a move against the German Federal Empire, Austria would certainly not have agreed. If they forcibly acted, an Austro-Prussian War would break out.

That would be the worst-case scenario. If it came to that, the Kingdom of Prussia would indeed be enemies with the entire world.

Fighting Austria and the German Federal Empire simultaneously, they would also have to deal with the opportunistic Russians. The Nordic Federation might even intervene, and the French could join the fray as well.

When it comes to interests, there is no room for compromise, everyone is tempted. The geographical position of the Kingdom of Prussia was undoubtedly the worst among the European powers, determining that their expansion must be cautious.

The Russo-Prussian War was both a challenge and an opportunity for Prussia. To grow and strengthen, the best choice was to rise by stepping over the Russians, a fact established by the first Russo-Prussian War.

In recent years, the Prussian government has not been idle. Even with an empty treasury, they sought ways to develop the economy. For example, using British and French capital to build railways on newly occupied lands and even helping the Poles build railways.

To raise development funds, the Prussian government also increased resource exports. A large amount of mineral resources from the Rhineland region was exported to France and the German Federal Empire.

Relying on the export of industrial and commercial products and mineral resources, the Kingdom of Prussia achieved a trade surplus. Of course, a major reason for this was that the Kingdom of Poland provided a dumping market for Prussian industrial and commercial products.

Under normal circumstances, when a country has a trade surplus and a large influx of funds from abroad, it should not lack money.

Unfortunately, Prussia was an exception. All this wealth was used to repay debt, making the economy dependent on Britain and France.

To repay the debt, the Prussian government cut expenditures as much as possible. However, this did not include military spending. No matter how poor they were, they couldn’t cut military spending. Even now, Prussia’s military spending has never been less than 45% of its annual revenue.

In this context, it’s no surprise that the Prussian government wanted to break up the Russo-Austrian alliance from the root.

Only by completely defeating the Russian Empire could the Kingdom of Prussia have a stable international environment for development, reduce military spending, focus on economic development, and overcome the debt crisis.

And breaking up the Russo-Austrian alliance was the first step to winning the war. William I was already prepared to start the war early. If they waited for the Russian government to complete its internal reforms, the balance of war would completely tip in favor of the Russians.

In the first Russo-Prussian War, Prussia won due to its advantage in transportation, an advantage they naturally wanted to maintain.

Even after the expansion, the combined territory of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Kingdom of Poland was far smaller than that of the Russians, which meant they could complete their railways first.

Currently, the plan is progressing very smoothly. The progress of Prussia’s railway construction was far ahead of the Russians.

Although Alexander II had worked very hard, Russia was too vast, and a mere few thousand kilometers of railway were insignificant for this empire.

Strategically speaking, the Russians would need at least 300,000 kilometers of railway to overcome their transportation difficulties. Even if they ignored their Asian territories and only considered their European part, they would still need 150,000 kilometers to barely meet their needs.

In comparison, the Kingdom of Prussia was in a much better position. Even if they included the Kingdom of Poland, building an additional 10,000 to 20,000 kilometers of railway would be enough to meet their wartime needs.

Of course, achieving the level of the Second German Empire in the original timeline was still a long way off. Only the Germans managed to extend the railway to every town and village.

In a territory of just 540,000 square kilometers, they built over 60,000 kilometers of railway, meaning there was a railway within five kilometers almost everywhere. The railway coverage rate established by the Germans remained an unbroken world record well into the 21st century.

Of course, this special situation was created by the times. Once the automobile industry developed, many railways lost their economic value and exited the stage of history.

Alexander II was also well aware of the problems faced in transportation. The tragedy was that he wanted to attract foreign investment in railways, but no one was interested.

No matter how many preferential conditions were offered, it was useless. Austria’s bundled railways had already bankrupted many capitalists, with many railway companies losing money for over a decade. Who would dare to jump into Russia’s giant pit?

Currently, British and French capital investment in the railways of Prussia and Poland only targeted economically valuable main lines, avoiding branch lines entirely.

As for Russian railways, it was even worse. Even if the Saint Petersburg to Moscow railway were put up for bidding, no railway company would dare take the risk.

It wasn’t just the economic risk. The main issue was that people doubted the Russian government’s credibility. What if, after the railway was built, the Russian government nationalized it? Investors would suffer huge losses.

It is worth mentioning that Russian railways are currently state-owned, and the high operating costs deter private capital.

An Austrian railway company once conducted an inspection in Russia and concluded that the overall operating cost of Russian railways was three times that of Austrian railways.

Winter was to blame. Except for a few regions, the Russian Empire was a land of ice and snow. Given the limited technology of this era, the winter operation of railways was not only risky but also required significantly higher maintenance costs.

High costs were one thing, but the key issues were the vast, sparsely populated, and economically backward regions. Neither the freight volume nor the passenger flow was sufficient, and the revenue was far from meeting the railway company’s operating costs.

Without additional incentives, who would risk building an unprofitable railway?

With no profitability and no willingness from private capital to invest, the responsibility for railway construction in Russia fell to the government, naturally slowing the construction progress.

Even in the 21st century, Russian transportation was far from convenient. The European part was passable, and the Asian part barely managed passenger transport, but large-scale freight transport remained a challenge.

In this era, it was even worse. The vast Russian Empire had less than 10,000 kilometers of operational railways, specifically 7,876 kilometers, less than half of the Kingdom of Prussia’s.

It was even less than the same period in history, which was the aftermath of the war. With the Russian government lacking financial resources, railway construction progress was also delayed.

...

As William I was preparing to undermine Austria and Russia, Alexandrovich arrived in London. The strange smell and the gray sky made Alexandrovich furrow his brow.

The sight of London, reputedly the largest city in the world, was quite disappointing.

The only pleasing sight was probably the tall chimneys and the billowing smoke rising into the sky, dancing in the wind, resembling a fairyland.

Oh, but these views were only to be admired from afar. Getting too close could suffocate you to death, and no one would take responsibility for that.

London at this time epitomized industrial beauty, being one of the most heavily polluted cities in the world and a champion of smog.

Alexandrovich was lucky not to have arrived in winter. Otherwise, he could have experienced the most lethal biochemical weapon of the era.

It was autumn now, and London’s weather was still bearable. The visibility was a few hundred meters, and there wouldn’t be any large-scale poisoning incidents.

Alexandrovich was welcomed by the British Crown Prince Edward. This was not their first meeting. They were relatives after all, proving that the European royal families were indeed one big family.

They shared a common father-in-law, King Christian IX of Denmark, who was known as the “Father-in-law of Europe.”

Once again, it was evident that European royalty was not to be trifled with. Even if they belonged to small countries, their extensive network of relatives made them formidable.

There was a nice rule among European royalty: personal relationships were separate from wars. Even if they fought fiercely on the battlefield, they could still be friends—or rather, “relatives”—in private.

This little relationship between the two didn’t affect the diplomacy between Britain and Russia. Alexandrovich was slightly better off, having begun to participate in state affairs and having some say in politics.

Edward was less fortunate. Due to his informal lifestyle and occasional indiscretions, Queen Victoria never allowed him to handle any real state affairs.

In other words, he was a nominal crown prince with no real political influence, apart from his noble status.

After some formal pleasantries, the two left the bustling port in a carriage. It seemed that history was turning a new page at that moment.