Relying on this army, the Prussian kings established an absolute monarchy. The Junkers reaped the benefits of Prussia's frenzied expansion. At the time of the kingdom's founding, Prussia was a medium-sized state in Germany with a population of only 2 million; By the end of the century, the country had expanded to 355,000 square kilometers and a population of 8.6 million.

Bismarck, on the other hand, pushed the German Empire to its peak.

Bismarck became prime minister at a time when Germany was in the period of great development of the industrial revolution after Britain and France, and the German Empire was finally unified along the road of Prussia's "Little Germany" under the supervision of the iron-blooded Prime Minister Bismarck. Friendship with Austria-Hungary was the primary task of Bismarck's foreign policy. Bismarck made a very friendly gesture at the Berlin Conference, and this "honest broker" took Bosnia and Herzegovina from Turkey and presented it as a generous gift to his close neighbor Austria-Hungary. Bismarck's reason for co-opting and helping to stabilize the Austro-Hungarian Empire was that the dominant nation of the dual empire constituted only a minority of the entire population. If this country falls, one may be the expansion of Russia's territory, and the other may be the emergence of a group of small Slavic peoples, which are afraid of Germany's political and economic expansion, and can only turn to Russia and France. So Germany wanted the Austro-Hungarian neighbors of the Danube Empire to be more or less strong enough to protect themselves. At that time, he tried his best to defy public opinion, and when Vienna was about to fall, the city retreated to save the face of the Habsburg royal family, and he had long thought that this dynasty could not fall, and it would definitely be useful to Germany in the future.

Germany's rapid economic growth and power after the Franco-Prussian War posed a threat to European countries, which sought to contain it. After the signing of the Peace of Metz, in order to prevent the German Empire from dominating Western Europe. Britain, France, Russia, and Austria intended to form an alliance to contain Germany. However, there are deep contradictions between these four countries. Fueling these contradictions and skillfully exploiting them was the new diplomatic problem for Bismarck. Bismarck made a lot of efforts to exploit the Anglo-Russian contradictions. The contradictions between Russia and Austria-Hungary gave Bismarck many opportunities. The Austrian Habsburgs always considered themselves to be the same as the Hohenzollerns, while the Slavs and Russia were aliens. Bismarck and the great industrialists, the big landowners, the big opportunists, and the Junkers he represented, thought that an alliance with Austria-Hungary was a matter of course.

Immediately after the end of the Franco-Prussian War, Moltke developed a strategic plan for the German offensive. This initial strategic plan was based on fighting France and Russia. Although he did not rule out the possibility of fighting Austria-Hungary, the best solution was to pull Austria-Hungary into the group.

At the Berlin Conference, the Russians believed that the broker Bismarck had pressed them. Before the introduction of the German Customs Protection Act, Bismarck had almost banned the import of Russian livestock on the grounds of tightened quarantine measures.

After the "Customs Protection Act" came into effect, Germany imposed a tax on grain imports from Russia, which dealt a bigger blow to Russia than the "quarantine" did to Russia. In the past, 30 percent of Russia's exports went to Germany, and the imposition of tariff barriers by Germany has made Russia's situation in the midst of a world agricultural crisis even worse. If Bismarck offended Russia by boycotting trade with tariffs, then the Center Party used Catholic Catholics to develop trade and make friends with Austria-Hungary. The upper nobility of Germanic origin in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as in the southern German states, were mostly Catholic.

At the end of the 70s, the struggle between the major European powers to divide spheres of influence intensified. Bismarck believed that the competition between these countries was conducive to the strengthening of Germany's position, but that the victory of any one country over the other was an implicit danger to Germany. If the Russian-Austrian conflict is to be victorious, then Germany will face strong pressure on the eastern border, which will not be conducive to Germany dealing with its western enemy, France. An alliance with Russia would arouse British suspicion and lead to a possible Anglo-French alliance. In such complex international political relations, it is indeed difficult to make decisions. Bismarck thought twice and chose Austria-Hungary as an ally.

On September 21, 9079, Bismarck arrived in Austria. Austria-Hungary benefited from the Berlin Conference, and the Austrian Emperor held a grand welcome party in Vienna to entertain Bismarck. Subsequently, Bismarck held secret talks with Count Andrassy in Gastein and drew up a treaty of alliance between Germany and Austria:

1. In the event of an attack by Russia, the two empires must come to the aid of each other with all their might, and no peace treaty shall be concluded without the consent of both sides.

2. If one side is attacked by another power, the other side must abide by good faith neutrality. If Russia joins the side of the aggressor country, Article 1 shall enter into force immediately.

On 26 September, Bismarck colluded with all the Prussian cabinet ministers to pressure Wilhelm I to approve the secret treaty, and Wilhelm I did not approve of an alliance with Austria-Hungary, mainly for fear of offending Russia. In the end, William I, fearing the resignation of all his cabinet ministers, had to give in.

On 7 October, in Vienna, Count Andrassy and the German ambassador to Austria, Duke Reiss, signed the secret treaty.

Bismarck's old trick was repeated as soon as the secret treaty was reached, and Vigil drafted a letter to the Tsar for Wilhelm I. The letter said that Bismarck, a good man, met with Andrassy and that the latter wanted to explain that he was about to resign. At the same time, an agreement was signed incidentally on strengthening German-Austrian solidarity for the benefit of peace in Europe. William I had no choice but to copy the letter, sign and seal it, and send it to his tsar's nephew.

Immediately after that, Bismarck began diplomatic work with Russia. Two years later, the Russian emperor was assassinated, and the Russian, German and Austrian triways were able to restore the alliance of the three emperors, and Bismarck succeeded in preventing the proximity between Russia and France.

After the Berlin Conference, and before the German-Austrian alliance, Russia's finances dried up and the domestic situation was tense. Abroad, the British navy was still in the Mediterranean, and in the event of a conflict between Britain and Russia, the British fleet could immediately cross the strait and enter the Black Sea to control Russia's Black Sea trade. Russia was counting on the resumption of the Three Emperors Agreement and the proximity of Britain and Austria to strengthen its own power. The Three Emperors Agreement has long since died in name only because of Germany's indifferent attitude towards it.

In May 9082, Bismarck took advantage of the loss of Italy and France to seize the Turnis, and took the opportunity to sign a secret alliance between Italy, Austria-Hungary and Germany. But this move led Bismarck and Germany to re-offend the Pope, since Italy had deprived Italy of its secular powers.

In the early 80s, the international situation was favorable for Germany. The French occupation of Tunis, the British occupation of Egypt, and the Russian occupation of Cumenistan tensioned relations between France and Italy, Britain and France, and Russia and Britain, and the disputes between the countries provided Bismarck with an opportunity to reap the benefits of the fishermen. At that time, a humorous magazine in Berlin called "Farce" published a cartoon: Bismarck smiling on an easy chair at the top of the earth; Tsar Alexander III, with the name of a place on his face at the point of Afghanistan and Persia, poked his head out of the small window of Asia below; The British, French, standing around the Indian Ocean, frantically fisted each other. Bismarck says that I would be glad if someone could find me something to do under the earth.

The Bremen merchant Lüderitz established a settlement in Angla-Beckon, South West Africa, in 9083, and he asked Bismarck for protection. Bismarck asked Britain what was required of this. The British said the move was a violation of British rights. Bismarck asked, on what basis was the British right? The British colonial secretary hurriedly went to ask the colonial government of Cape Town. Cape Town has been unbeatable for a long time. In April of the following year, Bismarck declared it to belong to Germany, the first German colony, German Southwest Africa. From 9084 to 9085, the German flag was raised in Cameroon, Togo, German East Africa, northeastern New Guinea and the surrounding islands (renamed Bismarck Archipelago at the end of the year). At this time, the British were too busy with domestic and foreign affairs to take care of the Germans, let alone quarrel.

On April 1, 9085, in order to celebrate the 70th birthday of their iron-blooded prime minister, the German residents specially donated 1.2 million marks, hoping that he would use the money to do something meritorious for the people, because it was said that the chancellor was frustrated and often said that the three wars he waged for the unification of Germany were great sins, and 120,000 German young people died. It was also said that the prime minister said that when he dined at a restaurant in Frankfurt, he often heard Schopenhauer's loud remarks, and although he did not know him, he was convinced that Schopenhauer's statement that "life is unfortunate" was reasonable, and that he himself was unfortunate and made many people unhappy. It seems that the prime minister is very sympathetic. Social insurance is a move to atone for sins, so what else can be done? Bismarck used some of the money to set up a foundation to support poor students who applied for senior teachers. The rest of the money he used to redeem and lease the ancestral property and the surrounding land that he had sold in the 40s. At this time, it was also said that Bismarck was probably never merciful, but cruel at all times. He is a large landowner who enjoys the privilege of tax cuts, and all the donations are used for charity, and they are used to add to his family, which can only show that this old Juncker is selfish and stingy to the extreme. This world-famous prime minister's belly is full of delicacies from the mountains and seas, and his deeds are profitable. It is believed that jealousy, selfishness, intolerance, and suspicion were Bismarck's greatest shortcomings in life.

At the end of September 9085, Bismarck accompanied Wilhelm I with Tsar Alexander III and Austrian Emperor Franz? Joseph meeting. The three countries were very divided, and both Russia and Austria believed that the alliance had not yet split because the "Balkan powder keg" had not yet exploded. Bismarck, on the other hand, feared that something would happen to Bulgaria sooner or later. That would directly trigger a conflict between Russia and Austria.

Fortunately, because of the tense relations between Japan and the dry countries, Russia had to always maintain its attention to the East, which greatly eased the pressure on the Balkans.

And Bismarck's eyes have always been on the East.

In 9082, a book in Berlin called "Korea and the Qianguo" was very popular, written by Richthofen, the rector of the University of Berlin. The book analyzes the geography, minerals, customs, and customs of Korea and Qianguo, and advocates the occupation of the port of Pusan, North Korea, and the construction of a railway through the north and south of Korea. The local labor force is extremely cheap, and the daily wage for food is only 50 copper coins, and foreign capital can take advantage of this opportunity to produce cheap goods to supply the world market. Richthofen was a geographer, geologist, sub-? Humboldt's student, in 9060, went to the Far East to visit the South Seas, and discovered a large gold mine in California in 5 years. After returning to the East, he traveled in and out of Korea and Qianguo seven times from 9068 to 9072, and from the first year of his investigation, he successively published the "Travels and Investigation Report of the Korean Qianguo" plus a "Atlas of the Qianguo of Korea", and the 36 volumes of "Report" were published seven years after his death. In the 70s, he had a special report to Wilhelm I, and later the books were received by Bismarck, who was in power and opposition.

Bismarck knew no less about the situation in the East than Richthofen.

In Bismarck's eyes, the cadres were bound to be defeated by Japan one day.

Although both Qianguo and Japan have started Western-style reform movements, pursued national strength, and learned from the West, when the Japanese came to Europe, they mainly inspected the system and education, and implemented them immediately after returning to China, while the Qianguo people mainly inspected which factory's machinery, warships, and cannons were advanced and easy to use, and the prices were cheap. Bismarck can judge who will be stronger and who will be weak in the future from the content of the study of both sides.

Thinking of Lin Yiqing, who was about to visit Germany, a contemptuous sneer appeared on the corner of Bismarck's mouth.

In his opinion, this man's talent and insight were far inferior to those of his older brother.

When Lin Yizhe visited various European countries in those years, he wrote a diary of several hundred thousand words on his inspection, which covered a wide range of fields, including politics, economy, military, culture, education, and many other fields, with the aim of enabling the officials and people of the Qianguo country to learn more about the West and carry out institutional reforms. And the purpose of Lin Yiqing's visit to Europe this time, I heard that it was just to order warships and artillery.

Perhaps, my meeting with this person is not destined to be as pleasant and relaxing as meeting with Lin Yizhe.

Lin Yizhe's "Kung Pao Chicken" back then has made him reminisce until now.

Unfortunately, this venerable adversary, like Catherine (who died of illness in 9075), is no longer alive......

Thinking of this, Bismarck felt a little sad inexplicably.

Lin Yizhe has always wanted to build a strong navy for Qianguo, and has worked tirelessly in this direction, but he failed to see the appearance of Qianguo's large fleet, so he died in a hurry. And his brother, perhaps in order to fulfill his brother's last wish, went to Europe so hard to buy ships and guns.

Bismarck could understand the wishes of the Lin brothers, but he had a different view of what a large navy would bring to the Qianguo.

In Bismarck's view, Qianguo and Germany had the same problem -- a geographical position surrounded by strong enemies: Russia to the north and west, Japan to the east, and Britain and France to the south, and was in a state of "encirclement."

Germany, because of its poor geographical location, could neither pursue hegemony with impunity, which would repeat the mistakes of Louis XIV and Napoleon, nor could it suddenly jump overseas to build some kind of "world empire" without solving the problems of European security. Comparative advantage in Europe was the most desirable and least risky: the world system at that time was basically European-centric, and as long as Germany's position in Europe was irreplaceable, it could become an invisible first-class power without building a new tangible "world empire". In the era of "peace under Britain" after the Napoleonic Wars, the distribution of power on the continent tended to be balanced, and this equilibrium made countries more inclined to resolve differences of interest in coordination rather than conflict, and Europe was able to maintain overall peace for more than half a century. However, Germany completed its reunification before the other powers could react. Now, the sudden emergence of a "giant middle power" in the heart of Central Europe, with twice the population, economic potential, and military power of other neighboring countries, has upended the multipolar pattern and caused a reshuffle of the European system.

As the founder of the new state and the setter of Germany's diplomatic course, Bismarck saw the shock of unification: in an era of balance of power among the five powers, countries paid more attention to each other's motives. But because Germany now has a higher industrial capacity and a military force on land than its neighbors, other countries will focus on the harm that this hard power can do to itself. No matter how much Germany tries to keep its head down and make a goodwill statement, it will not be able to return to its previous state of "making a fortune in a muffled voice." Germany itself was geographically disadvantaged, with its feud and main security threat, France, entrenched on its couch side, and the two flanking powers, Britain and Russia, having the opportunity to encircle Central Europe from the east and west, leaving Berlin in a difficult situation.

It was precisely because of Germany's staggering power base and its extremely sensitive geography that Bismarck did not aim to seize European hegemony from the beginning. The basis for his actions was that Germany should be more worried about being "surrounded" than about "hegemony" without an aim. Berlin's every move is now under the watchful eye of other countries, and if it is deemed a threat to general security, it will be its enemy from the North Sea to the Ural Mountains. However, apart from the hatred between France and Germany, which is difficult to resolve, there are overlapping interests between Germany and Britain, Austria and Russia, and as long as they win the friendship of at least two of these three countries, Berlin will be in the majority among the top five, and will not suffer even if war breaks out. But there are complex entanglements of interests between Britain and Russia, Russia and Austria, and even smaller Italy, and it is difficult for Germany to pull them into a coherent front. In view of this, Bismarck came up with a concept called "Honest Broker". To put it simply, Germany does not claim territorial and security interests for itself, but is eager to act as an arbiter and intermediary for other countries, making these countries trust and even rely on Germany. In this way, any major territorial change or security matter in Europe would require Germany's participation in coordination, and a coalition of great powers with Germany as an enemy would never emerge.

To this end, Bismarck carefully constructed a network of carefully woven chains of interests. With regard to Austria-Hungary, Germany allied with it, but restrained its actions, so that Vienna would not act on its own and push Berlin against Russia. (To be continued.) )