I returned to Changchang in the afternoon, and I took time to change the chapter first. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

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After attending the funeral of Emperor Franz Joseph I, monarchs and dignitaries from various countries spent several days in Vienna waiting for the coronation of the new Austrian Emperor Karl I. In this short period of time, the world-famous music capital has become a rare political focus in the world. Today, Austria-Hungary is not strong in war, its national power is declining, and its influence is much less than before, but as a pillar of the Central Powers, its position plays a very important, if not decisive, role. As the aftermath of the Portuguese crisis remains, the United States and Britain, two quasi-allies, are increasingly on the opposite side of the German-led Allied bloc, while the United States alone outperforms the Allied bloc in a number of industrial and economic indicators. However, military politics stresses strategic deterrence and diplomatic public opinion, and Germany's defeat in the Portuguese crisis does not mean that the United States and Britain occupy the military and political high ground; in fact, most of the European continent and the Mediterranean coastal region controlled by the Allied camp are the center of modern civilization and the center of the world in the traditional sense, and they have unique advantages in the field of public opinion and spirituality.

Due to the stiff relations with the Allied camp during the Portuguese crisis, the number one boss of the United States and Britain did not visit this time, which more or less provided a handle for the public opinion of the Allied countries, but it was not completely inconsistent. U.S. President Wilson was too busy with a new presidential election to be separated, and King George V was said to be too ill to make the long journey across the continent, so both countries sent heavyweights.

Visiting celebrities, giving banquets, giving speeches, and holding meetings, US Secretary of State Robert Lansing arrived in Vienna with extraordinary vigour, backed by the great economic and financial power of the United States, and his temptations for this dualist monarchy were real -- the revitalization of the country's industry, the promotion of foreign exports, and even the improvement of the economic structure and social welfare -- the prospect of development in which the upper class was interested, and the middle class and the people at the bottom were very yearning, in the context of the country's longing economic slump, The spicy American secretary of state easily captured the favor of the Austrian populace, and the Hungarians showed acceptance of the friendly American.

Compared with Robert Lansing's high-profile, the British **** Edward and the eldest princess Mary and their entourage seem low-key and mysterious, but they frequently enter and exit the Habsburg family's palace, as if they became the honored guests of Karl I, and what they conveyed to the country is the will to resolve old grievances and seek common development, and the vision of cooperation in several fields such as oil trade, industrial technology and colonial development - after losing the oil resources of the Persian Gulf, Britain has turned its attention to other oil producing areas, The oil fields of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are currently the largest oil producing areas in Europe, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire wants to avoid the advantages of the Germans in the industrial fields to seek development, and the British do have a set of proven technologies......

When a new emperor ascends the throne, he generally does not immediately make major adjustments to the country's administrative system and operational structure, but it is not difficult for those who are well versed in the way of governing and political rules to see the special features of Karl I: before he was 27 years old, he was not cultivated as a prince in his youth when he formed an independent personality thinking, and he was far away from the power circle of the country for a long time, and was relatively less influenced by traditional statecraft ideas; In the more than two years that he became the crown prince of Austria-Hungary, the country was mired in war for half of the time, and the other half was spent trying to escape its economy and society********. In addition, the status of the victorious powers did not bring the expected gains to Austria-Hungary, and although the territories ceded from Poland and Ukraine were rich in grain, the management of these territories, especially the inhabitants living here, was no less of a headache for Austrian and Hungarian government officials, and the African colonies plundered from France and England were basically barren lands, from which a considerable amount of construction money had to be invested in order to extract usable resources, But Austria-Hungary did not enjoy the support of its German allies after the war as Ireland...... If Karl I did not want to rule by inaction, he had to come up with some unconventional and effective means to free his country from a situation of accumulation of evils, internal and external difficulties.

Because of this, the United States and Britain actively co-opted, trying to keep Austria-Hungary away from the core of the Central Powers, at least to maintain good intentions and neutrality when certain disputes arise, and even to become a restraining force against Germany. In the same vein, Germany, the traditional ally of Austria-Hungary, resorted to various tricks to try to keep it tightly tied to its chariot. In addition to the cards of affection, comrade-in-arms, and morality, Wilhelm II and his ministers also threw out temptations in the field of economic interests, such as helping Austria restore industrial facilities in Silesia, investing in the African colonies that Austria-Hungary had acquired after the war, and even allowing Austria-Hungary to share the trade rights it had acquired in the Far Eastern ports. In addition, the German Emperor also tried to arouse the ambition of the young monarch with his grand plan of global strategy, and he once again proposed the Grand Allied fleet plan, which had been shelved by the old Austrian Emperor, and proposed that Germany provide funds and technology to refit and upgrade the active ships of Austria-Hungary, and that Austria-Hungary be included in the German-Irish joint shipbuilding system, and that ships of interest to the Austro-Hungarian Navy be built in the ports of Pula and Bum.

In the more than two years since he became crown prince, it is unknown whether the young Karl has been carefully taught by the old Austrian emperor and whether he has inherited the most valuable spiritual wealth from his life experience that spanned more than half a century and has been weathered, but if the vast and decrepit ship of Austria-Hungary wants to sail in the midst of strong winds and waves, its helmsman must have sufficient wisdom. Before leaving for Budapest for the coronation of the King of Hungary, Karl I received distinguished guests with courtesy, and did not refuse to discuss various intentions of cooperation, but did not easily show his inclinations. The more this happened, the more curious people became about the new monarch, and somehow news spread that the new Austrian emperor would have a private meeting with the King of Ireland at Pula Military Harbour.

In the field of economy and trade, Ireland and Austria-Hungary have very little cooperation, and each other's import and export trade accounts for only a small share of the country, but just like selling shoes to people who are used to being barefoot, it seems hopeless, but in fact there are huge business opportunities, the key is to make barefoot people like the feeling of wearing shoes - Ireland has cheap cars and high-quality dairy products, Austria-Hungary has high-quality artillery and firearms and abundant food supplies, and both have their own achievements in aviation and shipbuilding. If we can work closely together, it will not be difficult to achieve a complementary and win-win situation.

At the beginning of December, Karl I, who completed the coronation of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, came to the port of Pula, and in this port with a particularly complex ethnic composition, he was warmly welcomed by all the people, but what happened to Archduke Ferdinand carved a deep scar in the hearts of the Habsburgs, and people were afraid of repeating the mistakes of the past, so since the outbreak of the Great War, the old Austrian emperor rarely appeared in the public eye, and after Karl I's royal convoy entered the port of Pula, it only rushed through the downtown area, He didn't even wave to the crowd through the car window.

The port of Pula was the main base of the Austro-Hungarian navy, and it was no surprise that Karl I went to inspect the fleet, but it was semi-public, only a few guests were invited, and the scale of the show was not comparable to that of King George V in 1911, but it was much better than when Wilhelm II ascended to the throne, when the German Empire did not have a few decent capital ships.

At the heavily guarded naval base in Pulaport, King Karl I sat face to face with the King of Ireland, a Hohenzollern royal family, as there was no language barrier and no third person in the room.

"I am an admirer of Your Majesty, and I have never dreamed of becoming a successful person who is respected and worshiped by the world like you."

As soon as the new Austro-Hungarian emperor spoke, Xia Shu should feel secretly happy, in the monarchy, whether it is a **** or a democratic system, the monarch's influence on a country's political and diplomatic strategy is not to be underestimated - even decisive, if Karl I does have such a psychological impression of himself, then the cooperation between Ireland and Austria-Hungary can be twice as effective with half the effort, but Xia Shu did not lose his mind because of the other party's seemingly sincere statement, he calmly thought about the private relationship between the two. In fact, as early as eleven years ago, the two had already met, when the immature little Carl was still a shy teenager, and Natsuki was already a celebrity with the halo of Hohenzollern's genius, and the two also had a gap in identity, but they still spent a pleasant afternoon together, but after that, the two had few opportunities to meet. Living a completely different life under a completely different situation, and now sitting as an equal as a king, the process can't help but make people sigh. After the death of Archduke Ferdinand, Natsuki knew that this bright-eyed young man would sooner or later become the helmsman of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but the war came as scheduled, he not only had to be busy with internal affairs, but also worried about the country's strategic level, and then he devoted himself to the overall situation of Ireland's independence and development, and had little energy to take care of anything else. There seem to be few common topics that interest each other.

In recent times, unconfirmed information has been circulating in diplomatic circles in Vienna that the Austro-Hungarian Navy is interested in the heavy cruiser and aircraft carrier construction technology that Ireland has mastered. For a country with a complete shipbuilding industry system, they will not be willing to order warships of such specifications from foreign countries, but must hope to purchase technology by the Austro-Hungarian Empire's own shipyard to undertake the construction project, and Ireland can reap the technology transfer fee, so that its own technical personnel can further accumulate experience and improve technology in the process of Austro-Hungarian ship construction, which is a win-win cooperation, and the biggest problem at present is that Germany is using the old trick of coercion and temptation to implement the "binding" strategy against Austria-Hungary. Until this is done, all the key technologies are a condition for instigating Austria-Hungary to move closer to itself, and it will never be easily transferred. Although the United States and Britain have similar ship technology, after the naval battles of Jutland, Flanders, and the Faroe Islands, Germany's shipbuilding technology has occupied an overwhelming advantage over the British system in the minds of people all over the world, and the main warships cost a huge amount of money, and no country has the ability to start construction as it pleases, and their number and performance are directly related to the strategic interests of the entire country.

(End of chapter)