Before the Emperor left for the Kingdom of Spain, Ito Hirobumi was in a meeting with his entourage. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

"In the past period, we have made great progress in European diplomacy, but China's strength is still a head stronger than Japan's, so we must not relax." Ito Hirofumi pressed his hands on his thighs and said with a solemn face.

"Yes, sir." The retinue bowed their heads together.

Ito Hirofumi continued: "The Emperor's purpose is very clear, he wants to win over a country above the second strongest country in Europe as his backer, in order to resist the British order to withdraw from the Japanese island of Kyushu within a time limit, this is one of them, in addition, they also want to find a country to buy warships, develop a navy, sea power is very important for every country. The direction that China is working towards now is also the direction that Japan should strive for. After communicating with His Majesty the Emperor, I decided to purchase warships from Britain and France. We have limited funds, so we have to try to stop China's plan to buy warships while buying warships, otherwise, they have enough money and we will fall behind China's navy in the first place. ”

"Yes, sir." The expressions of the entourage were also solemn, and Ito Hirobumi was right, although the diplomatic situation for Japan is very good now, with the support of the British and French behind it, but no one dared to relax without waiting for China to really withdraw from Japan.

"The competition with China, including diplomacy and military purchase plans, is related to the fate and even survival of our Japanese Empire, so I will get rid of you." Hirofumi Ito bowed deeply, "We must not lose to Huaguo. ”

Everyone returned the salute together, "I will definitely not lose to Huaguo." ”

"Shigeru Moriyama, what kind of impact will this arms race with China have on Japan?" After Ito Hirobumi dismissed the meeting, he left Shigeru Moriyama behind.

"The power in Asia was originally led by Huaguo, and Huaguo is now rising rapidly under the leadership of the Chinese Emperor, and Huaguo now has a bad relationship with Britain and France, and their only choice is the German-Austrian countries, so we have come to Berlin, whether we can get the support of the Germans, or whether we can not let China get the support of the German-Austrian countries, which will play a vital role in our Japanese diplomacy this time." Shigeru Moriyama replied.

"Very well, the current forces in Europe are indeed divided into two major parts, we have won the support of Britain and France, and now it depends on whether we can win against China on the German issue! The power in Germany is mainly in the hands of Kaiser Wilhelm I and Chancellor Mr. Bismarck, Bismarck is a very difficult person to convince, I have dealt with him, and now, I can only see if I can convince Kaiser Wilhelm I, the idea of this eighty-year-old emperor is very important for us and China. Hirobumi Ito said through a bit of gritted teeth.

Shigeru Moriyama was familiar with Ito Hirobumi, and when he saw his appearance, he knew that Ito Hirobumi was going to use means, and asked worriedly: "I'm afraid that the emperor will not be able to use the methods we used to make friends with the ministers and nobles of the great powers, right?" The Kaiser was in his eighties and did not value either money or women. ”

Ito Hirobumi snorted coldly, "Remember, in this world, there is no one who doesn't value money, small people, what is important is small money, and big people value big money!" ”

"Yes." Shigeru Moriyama bowed his head and agreed, but in his heart, he still didn't agree with Ito Hirobumi's opinion, as the emperor, how much money does it take to be able to buy it? The king of a country must put the interests of his country first, right?

In the case that Britain and France already had bad relations with China, in fact, for the German and Austrian powers, it was certainly beneficial to have good relations with China, which is why Shigeru Moriyama was puzzled by Ito's attempt to prevent China's diplomacy by meeting with the German upper echelons.

"Ready, let's go at once, I'm going to see His Majesty the Kaiser in person." Hirobumi Ito stood up, "Prepare me a gift of one million marks." ”

Shigeru Moriyama leaned back in fright: "What? Sir, a million marks? ”

The Japanese diplomatic corps' offensive of fighting the Golden Yuan diplomacy in Europe this time has actually exceeded the budget, and how much courage does it take to come up with another million marks? Moreover, will the country support Hirobumi Ito's approach?

Ito Hirobumi nodded coldly, "I know what you want to ask, domestic affairs, you don't have to worry, we can borrow from European banks, in the name of the Japanese Empire, remember, only by winning Huaguo, we will have a way to live, no matter how big the cost, it is worth it." ”

"Yes, sir." Shigeru Moriyama bowed deeply and stood up.

How did relations between Britain and France suddenly change for the better in the 19th century?

France, Louis XIV, Napoleon and England have fought many times, not to mention the deep hatred of the Hundred Years' War, and Britain has also formed several anti-French alliances.

But after Napoleon's defeat, France never fought with Britain again, and joined the Holy Alliance, and then worked with Britain to fight the Manchu Qing, Lucia, and Germany, and became good friends.

Two neighboring world superpowers, how to say good.

Colonization in both the Manchus and elsewhere was a petty one.

The Crimean War was also only a manifestation of the continental balance of power policy.

What really changed the UK's national policy was the sincere agreement.

From the perspective of posterity, it was a compromise of British diplomacy, a victory of French diplomacy and a defeat of German diplomacy.

Bringing the whole of Europe to war, to destruction.

Britain pursued a policy of "continental balance of power, glorious isolation".

On the European continent, no one can be better than the other. He will always oppose the boss of the European continent, and unite with 23456 to oppose the boss, which is the national policy of the British, and from the perspective of the world, the British are also the same policy.

Therefore, Hua Huang often thinks that the British do not have the temperament to be a big brother.

Before the rise of the British, the most powerful country on the European continent at that time was France, so seven anti-French alliances were formed to defeat Napoleon.

After Napoleon's defeat, the Russian Cossack cavalry was the first to storm Paris, so Russia called itself the "gendarme of Europe" and did whatever it wanted.

Britain was so troubled that it had to unite with its former enemy, France, to fight against its former ally, Tsarist Russia.

The national policy of Britain since Elizabeth I, as a maritime country, the highest pursuit of international politics is "glorious independence", independence from Europe, who dominates in Europe is like a whack-a-mole to a hammer, to be an offshore balancer.

After defeating Napoleon, Tsarist Russia became the gendarme of Europe at that time, so of course Britain had to turn the spearhead and make friends with France.

The same history can be compared to Britain's appeasement of Germany after World War I, also based on an offshore balance.

In the words of the Germans, Britain would not ally with anyone sincerely, but only to find someone in Europe to block his bullets.

Britain wants to maintain the continental balance of power. As the saying goes, there are no eternal friends and no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.

Before the 19th century, whether it was the Sun King or Napoleon, France was the hegemon of the European continent, and it was not necessarily just past the time when Austria and Russia were together.

Napoleon had played a continental blockade policy against England!

In the mid-to-late 19th century, France was instigated, and Prussia began to be bullish, no longer called Prussia, but Germany.

So the British felt it was time to change their allies.

Peace under British rule was, to put it bluntly, during this period of time, British world hegemony was truly established.

So much so that no country wanted to go to war with such a powerful Britain, including France.

Gloriously isolating Britain does not directly use its own strength, but uses it as a weight to press on the balance of the European continent's diplomacy, allowing other countries to contribute and pressing the position in the back, trying to ensure the balance of power.

In response to such an approach by Britain, it would be wise to welcome Britain's support and seek closer relations with Britain, not confrontation, and this includes, of course, France.

On the way to Spain, the Emperor had been thinking about this question, but when the Emperor discovered that the British had regarded China as their greatest threat in the Pacific, the Emperor no longer had illusions about getting closer to the British.

Otherwise, Huahuang does not want to come to this point.

It was also difficult for the Emperor to understand that the British had repeatedly connived at Germany to become stronger and stronger, and wondered whether Germany would eventually be able to support China's competition with Britain and France in Asia.

What was Britain doing in the years of Germany's rise in the 19th century?

What was Britain doing at its peak in the second half of the 19th century?

Britain has not intervened in the war in Europe since the Crimean War in the 1850s.

From the beginning of the Prussian-Danish War, Prussia, which was probably the fourth in line at that time, defeated the third (Austrian) and the second (French) in only 7 years.

Why didn't Britain intervene or sanction Germany in its early years?

Allowing Germany to sit on the throne indirectly led to the great losses of the First World War and the decline of the British Empire.

Hua Huang thought the British were ridiculous.

On the military level, naval Britain is certainly invincible.

The Army, with Britain as the boss, from 1866 to 1871 when Germany was founded, these 5 years should be enough to catch up with military inventions.

At the legal level, with a disputed territory like Heligoland, it should not be difficult to find an excuse.

Moreover, in the dispute between Prussia and Denmark, Britain intervened unsuccessfully to mediate, so this is also a reason to support Denmark to regain lost territory in the future, right?

In terms of prestige, did Britain, as the boss, allow the Balkan Conference to be held in Berlin in 1878, and this not only contributed to the prestige of the new Germany?

In the 18th century, Britain, which fought the Hundred Years' War, fought only one Crimean War in Europe after the establishment of the Vienna system.

The Holy Alliance, which Metternich had fostered, was so strong that Britain gradually saw no need to interfere in the internal affairs of the continent.

Moreover, people of insight at that time had already foreseen that the really important European continental power in the future would be Russia, and if there was any country in the world that could compete with it, it might be the United States on the other side of the ocean.

Therefore, Britain's most important goal in Europe was to prevent Russia from expanding to the point of breaking the balance of power in Europe.

The entire world political landscape of the 19th century was basically a great game between Britain and Russia.

Britain believed in the early 19th century that Russia would threaten its colonial rule in India.

But at that time, Britain and Russia had to work together against Napoleon, so the game in this period was mainly spies and merchants, and did not develop into actual war.

Beginning in 1838, the two countries launched a series of wars on a long line of fronts from Central Asia to West Asia to Eastern Europe, and although these wars were not necessarily fought directly by Britain and Russia, their main purpose was to control the countries in the local buffer zone.

These wars included: Russia-Persia vs. Afghanistan in 1838, Britain vs. Afghanistan (First Anglo-Afghan War), and by 1842, Britain withdrew from Kabul, neither side achieved its strategic objectives.

In 1853, Britain and France launched the Crimean War to prevent Russia from taking control of the Turkish Straits.

In 1856, Russia instigated Persia to attack Afghanistan and threaten India.

Britain then declared war on Persia, forcing it to cease hostilities.

In 1857, a major uprising broke out in India, and British expansion in Central Asia shrank.

In 1865, Russia took control of Tashkent.

In the same year, Russia supported Aguba's independence in Xinjiang, and Britain immediately tried to control Aguba's regime through the Ottoman Empire.

Both Britain and Russia gained a large number of rights in the country until Zuo Zongtang eliminated them.

In 1868, Russia took control of Samarkand.

In 1878, Russia sent another mission to Afghanistan, and Britain demanded that Afghanistan accept the British mission.

After being refused, Britain launched the Second Anglo-Afghan War.

Britain became the world's No.1 after two industrial revolutions and a constitutional monarchy, with the largest number of colonies and 400 million subjects among the great powers, dominating the world.

At this time, the world theme is peace (big country) and slavery (small country).

However, after the Franco-Prussian War, Germany, which consisted of several German Confederations, suddenly became awesome and broke the balance of Europe, and because it had not been able to grab many colonies in the past, it was not convinced by Britain, and wanted to break the current balance and form an alliance with Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey; In order to maintain its position as the world leader, Britain enlisted France, Russia and other Entente countries to balance the German alliance.

There is a frantic arms race on both sides.

The hostility caused by the uneven division of interests has led to a frenzied arms race, which has caused both sides to be highly nervous and tense. This was the fundamental reason for the outbreak of the First World War.

Hua Huang felt that his brain was thinking a little sore, and there was only one purpose in his repeated calculations, would the British directly attack Hua Guo militarily?

He stood up, took a few steps back and forth, and let out a long sigh.

Another question on the Emperor's mind was whether Germany would ignore British pressure and be friendly with China.

The emperor, who had gone around Europe for most of the circle, now believed that it would be difficult for other German-Austrian countries to throw an olive branch without finally gaining the friendly attitude of Germany.