To make this decision, Franz also had to do it as a last resort. The Austrian army had just suppressed a domestic rebellion, defeated the Kingdom of Sardinia, and intervened in the Papal States once.

Now he has hundreds of thousands of veterans who have seen blood, and anyone with a little military common sense knows how precious veterans with rich combat experience are.

This meant that the Austrian Army was at its peak in combat effectiveness, no worse than that of any other country of its time.

If this time is missed, and when the veterans who have seen blood are retired, then the combat effectiveness of the Austrian army will slowly decline.

No matter how rigorous the training is, it is not as effective as getting soldiers to go to the battlefield. After a few victories, he became a proud soldier.

With such a big advantage, how could Franz give it up? Moreover, the veterans of the Austrian military are already old, and if they don't fight them, they won't even have a chance to show their spare heat.

For example, Marshal Radetzky is more than eighty years old, and even if he is old and strong, Franz is not worried about letting him go to the front to lead the troops.

At this time, these old guys can still dispatch and command in the general staff, and if it is another ten or eight years, Franz will have to accept the reality of the withering of the famous Austrian generals.

This is a reincarnation, and no country can stay at the top forever. If you don't complete the layout at this time, the risk of doing it again in the future will be greatly increased.

It is not that there were no successors in the Austrian army, the problem is that the famous generals were fought on the battlefield. A general who has not proven himself on the battlefield, who knows if he is really capable, or if he is on paper?

In the case of uncertainty about the strength of the generals, the best way is to fight in a daze, use the national strength to delay the past, and do not give the enemy a chance to take advantage of it.

This was proved in the world war, the Germans had the best generals in the world, the most famous generals, but in the end they still lost, and this was the case in both world wars.

It is clear that Austria will not have that advantage until the South German region is digested. It may be possible to crush Prussia with national strength, but if you want to crush the French, you should not dream.

As a result, in 1851 Austria's military budget increased again, from the original 73,957,200 dong to 112 million dong.

Such expenditures, if there were no war, would have lasted for three or five years at most, and the Austrian government would have had to give up.

These increased military expenditures are all for the army, and the navy should not be counted on, whether it is westward into the German region or south into the Balkans, there is no opportunity for them to perform.

As a direct consequence of the increase in military spending, Austria's active army was expanded to 512,000, and at the same time the civilian sector began to form a training reserve, this time with the goal of increasing the reserve not by 200,000 a year, but by 350,000 in 1851.

If we add the existing 586,000 reserve troops, there are 936,000 reserve troops in theory. In fact, this is impossible, and every year twenty or thirty thousand people in the reserve forces are old enough to withdraw from it.

These reserve units cannot be trained in a year. Based on past experience, it takes more than three years of training for reserve forces to be comparable to recruits who have been in the army for one year.

Of course, there must be a veteran belt in this, otherwise this time will be greatly extended.

Young people who participate in reserve training naturally have preferential treatment, for example: they are exempted from agricultural taxes on 3 hectares of land, and those who have accidents during training can enjoy military pension benefits......

The Austrian government's sudden military expansion was naturally not chaotic, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also informed the Russians that since everyone is an ally, these issues still need to be communicated.

saint petersburg

After receiving the notification from Austria, Nicholas I knew that his strategic intentions were exposed. There is no way to do this, how can it be kept secret when the movement of war preparations is so big?

This is not a myth, from the expansion of armaments, material preparations, to the final launch of the war, involving millions of personnel, how can it be kept secret?

Even if the tsarist government used the Far Eastern strategy as a pretext, it did not work. The Trans-Siberian Railway had not yet been built, and hundreds of thousands of troops were sent to the Far East, and it was estimated that they would almost starve to death on the way.

If you open the map, you can see that the only place that can afford the Russians to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops to do things is the Ottoman Empire.

Nicholas I asked suspiciously: "Didn't the Austrian government say that they should recuperate and not use force for ten years, why did they not hold back so quickly?" ”

Foreign Minister Karl Wassel replied: "Your Majesty, Austria has come out of the civil war, and even because of the suppression of the rebels, the government has issued a sum and confiscated a large amount of property.

Our preliminary judgment is that the Austrians are prepared to take advantage of our attack on the Ottoman Empire, and it is uncertain whether they are plotting against the South Germans or the Balkans. ”

To put it simply, he did not dare to say that the Austrian government had made a fortune by raiding the homes of nobles. In case the tsar became interested, he was in bad luck.

The Russian Empire was also an aristocracy, even more conservative than Austria. Therefore, the propaganda in Russia was that the Austrian government had raided the rebellious capitalists, and the participation of local nobles in the rebellion was brushed aside.

Nicholas I said indifferently: "This is a good thing, the Austrians move, and they can also help us share a little of the pressure, and see if the British can take care of that side." ”

Nicholas I had this proud capital, and the reason for the stability of Europe in recent decades, in addition to the constraints of the Vienna system, was more due to the joint efforts of European countries to suppress Russian expansion.

No matter how confident they were, they didn't think they could single out the whole of Europe, so the Tsarist government in the Vienna era was quite peaceful.

After so many years, the Russians have long been impatient. At this time, Austria abandoned its previous position and agreed to their expansion into the Ottoman Empire.

After the signing of the Russian-Austrian Secret Treaty, the last shackles that hindered their expansion had been opened, and the tsarist government could no longer bear it.

In alliance with Austria, the Russians did not expect military assistance from Austria, and His Majesty the Tsar had no shortage of soldiers, so Austria only had to be a good nurse.

This is the position that the Russians gave Austria, and the alliance between the two sides also did the same, in the east Russia and Austria joined forces to suppress the Kingdom of Prussia, and in the south to deal with the Ottoman Empire, which could completely fight each other.

Neither Austria nor Russia had the slightest psychological pressure to bully the Ottoman Empire, and did not think it was necessary to form an alliance.

In fact, geographically, the two sides were not suitable for organizing coalition forces, which involved the issue of post-war spoils.

Don't think that a secret contract can be done, these loot still have to be fought by yourself to be more reliable. Otherwise, there was an accident on the battlefield, and the originally booked territory was not taken, and the original agreement was still valid?

If it is a territory that one party has beaten alone, then there is nothing to say, whoever fights it belongs to whom, if it is fought together, everyone has contributed, and there will be disputes when the spoils are divided.

In order to avoid this situation, both sides have made an agreement that each will fight according to its own sphere of influence, and if it crosses the line, it will be in vain.

Contrary to what later generations proclaimed, the tsarist government had no ambition to unify the European continent, not only the Russians, but even Napoleon was not ready to unify the European continent, and all they wanted was to establish a consolidated European hegemony.

It's not that they don't want to unify the European continent, but they simply can't do it. With the exception of ancient Rome, the European continent has never been unified.

Napoleon, who was bombarded, only expanded his territory, and then supported the pro-French regime, and did not unify the entire European continent, and Nicholas I naturally did not think that Russia had the strength to unify the European continent.

This is also a prerequisite for the establishment of the Russian-Austrian alliance, if the tsarist government wanted to unify the European continent and the Hungarian revolution broke out in history, the Russians would not help Austria suppress the rebellion, but directly defeat Austria.

……

The Russians didn't care, they didn't care about the Austrian reaction, but some couldn't help it.

The person who knows you best is not necessarily a friend, but more likely an enemy. The Ottoman Empire was undoubtedly tragic, and they had a feud with Russia and Austria.

Looking at the reaction of the two neighbors, the Sudanese government is already in a hurry. Abdul Mejid I dared to swear in the name of *** that these two neighbors were definitely uneasy and well-intentioned.

There's no way, whoever changes his position will think so, after all, they are all old enemies for hundreds of years, who doesn't know whom? Russia and Austria are traditional allies, and with them as traditional enemies, what is the problem with joining hands to deal with them?

Don't say that the two families came together, even if it was a one-on-one confrontation with Abdul Majid I, he couldn't stand it.

Don't think that after the reform, the Ottoman Empire is a European power. His family knew his own business, and the core problems of the Ottoman Empire were never solved.

On the surface, they were also a modern country, but in fact, because of the internal contradictions, the strength of the Ottoman Empire was only fat.

Of course, their two enemies are actually not too strong. Whether it is Russia or Austria, the strength shown on the outside is stronger than their real strength.

Everyone is a typical example of a strong foreign country and a middle-class cadre, but the internal contradictions between Russia and Austria have been suppressed, and this aspect is stronger than that of the Ottoman Empire.

Regrettably, even in terms of apparent strength, the Ottoman Empire was much weaker. Compared with the vast majority of small European countries, they are considered to be powerful countries, and they are "cups" on the coffee table compared to any other power.

Abdul Mejid I asked with concern: "What do the British and French say?" ”

The Foreign Secretary's face sank, at such a distance, and there was no connection between wires and telegrams, how could he know about things that were thousands of miles away?

However, Abdul Mejid I was not easy to mess with, and compared with other European countries, the ministers of the Ottoman Empire were the most insecure, and if they provoked the sultan, they would lose their heads.

"Your Majesty, there is no news yet. However, the Russians we had previously informed the British that they were preparing for war, and the London government had already replied that they would be on our side if the Russo-Turkish war broke out again. The Foreign Secretary said with an idea

This news made Abdul Majid I's nervous mood a little better, but worry was still indispensable.

Even if the British support them, they still can't stand it? With one enemy and two enemies, the Ottoman Empire at its peak said that there was no pressure, and now they really can't stand it.

"How's our preparation?" Abdul Mejid I continued to ask

The Minister of War hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty, so far, we have expanded the army to 530,000, and we expect to expand it to 800,000 in the next three months.

Once war breaks out, we can mobilize another 300,000 troops, which is enough to deal with any contingency on either side. ”

If there really were so many regular troops, then in the Crimean War, the Ottoman Empire would not have been pressed and beaten by the Russians.

As an old empire that has degenerated, it embezzles and takes bribes, eats empty noise, and resells military supplies...... This series of problems is the same as that of the Ottomans.