What did the British Empire rely on for 300 years? Some say it was the power of the first industrial revolution, some say it was due to a strong economy and finance, and some say it was due to the British Royal Navy, which dominated the oceans. If these are the material factors for the British Empire to dominate the world, then flexible diplomatic tactics and exquisite strategic layout are the internal conditions for the British Empire to dominate the world.

Let's take a look at the history of the British Empire, before the British Empire ascended to the throne of the sea, there was a country called Spain that took most of the Americas under its control (note that this America is a guide to the United States, Canada, and North America). The British, who live in a corner, naturally can't go head-to-head with this country that has already stepped out of the sea, but it doesn't matter, people can find allies, the pirates of the Caribbean and the sea beggars of the Netherlands have become allies of the British, and the pirate general Drake is because he did too well to rob the Spaniards, and he directly bleached into a nobleman! At the same time, the British Empire and the Dutch raided the Spanish silver fleet. This piracy accumulated the first pot of gold for the development of Britain, and at the same time laid the foundation for the development of the British Navy.

When the Spanish armada finally collapsed, the British and Dutch clashed over sea power. When the British defeated the Netherlands through several Anglo-Dutch wars, the French rose again, and the Sun King Louis XIV actually said? Then the prelude to the Anglo-French maritime hegemony officially began. After the overthrow of the Bourbons, the British swept away the combined Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar with great ease, and when France and Spain were at loggerheads. The British helped Spain and Russia against France, and when Napoleon was finally defeated, the British began to think about restricting Russia. In the end, it was to unite France and Russia against Germany!

Flexible foreign policy and continental balance-of-power were the only way for the British to win. But now, it seems that something is wrong, the British suddenly found that in Europe, their own side does not seem to have an advantage compared with the other side, not to mention the army, France and Russia should not be able to defeat Germany and Austria. Now even the Navy posed a frontal challenge to the British fleet. Britain calculated that the naval strength of Germany, Austria and Italy was very close to that of Britain and France combined. And there is also a Turkey entrenched in the Middle East. As for the Russians? There were indeed a few more Russian warships, but they were all trapped in the Baltic Sea.

And with the development of the times, the British were keenly discovered. In addition to Europe, there are also two major powers that can influence the situation in the world, one is China and the other is the United States. The Chinese government was now clearly inclined towards Germany. And the scope of power has rushed to the cornerstone of the British Empire in the Far East - Singapore! Now it is impossible to say that it is impossible to co-opt them against the Germans. The British were still very afraid of this powerful country with the largest military power in the Far East. Now you can guarantee that you will not become an enemy, and you can do business safely and steadily, and don't think about anything else.

The United States, another big country, can be considered, the United States has still become the world's largest power in this plane, but it does not have the military strength to match it. Historically, the U.S. imperialist fleet was the third level in the world before World War I, and by the end of World War I in 1918, it was the second level in the world in the world, but in this plane, because of the U.S. imperialist war, the battle fell too hard. So the Americans have become quite conservative and powerful about outward expansion. But there must also be determination to achieve one's strategic goals. What the United States lacks now is the courage and determination to confront it head-on.

The Americans hated China quite a bit for the Far East, which had played a black hand in the naval war in the western United States and was dominant in the Far East, but the Americans still did not have the determination to get an ocean-going fleet to go to the Far East to challenge China's maritime supremacy, and they adopted a curved strategy. By providing the Russians with a lot of money and warships to fight against the Chinese, it was expected that even if Russia could not get the Huaxia, it would be able to cripple the Huaxia fleet, but the reality was cruel, except for the loss of a bunch of warships that could already take a back seat, the main Chinese fleet had almost no losses, which made the Americans too disappointed, they not only failed, but also lost too long. For what? In the past few years, it has only given Russian man-made warships, and the expansion speed of its own navy is limited! Moreover, the victory of the Huaxia Navy has greatly shaken the determination of the politicians to take tough measures against Huaxia, after all, the two sides are doing business now, and there is nothing that cannot be passed. Running tens of thousands of kilometers to fight a war in the Far East with almost no chance of winning, the Americans are not so stupid.

Direct confrontation is unlikely, but the Americans still want to expand their sphere of influence by other means. At this time, the British came to the door and said that the British could give some privileges to the Americans and American goods in their colonies and dependencies. And said that it can continue to increase loans to the United States. No one has a hard time with real money. In addition, there is nothing that cannot be solved between the United States and Britain, and the two sides are still of the same language, (well, although the White House was burned by the British.) In addition, Britain, as the world's largest power, has put down its body, wants money and money, and wants face. The Americans felt that at least the two sides could cooperate. Multifaceted cooperation, not only economic, but also military.

Soon, the British said they could share some data and techniques with the United States on the fire control system. You must know that even when the U.S. Navy broke out in history, the Americans could be called the world's first-class in terms of warship design and armored firepower and other factors, and New Mexico could definitely fight with Bavaria just by looking at the hardware level, and it was not a big problem to kill the pride of the British Empire! Even the American armor-piercing shells of 1916 were actually worse than the Germans.

But because the fire control is not good, so in actual combat, the 12 14-inch 50L main guns in New Mexico may not be able to beat the 8 15-inch 45L main guns in Germany, but if you talk purely about power, the 14-inch 50L main gun may not be worse than the German 15-inch light bullet gun! Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that the British are anxious about the needs of the Americans, and it is not an exaggeration to send charcoal in the snow. Although the British imperialists had not yet tied the American imperialists to their chariots, relations between the two sides had become much better, and the British imperialists hinted that they would help the Americans expand their power in the Far East when the time was "right." It's not true, but Americans think it's funny. Moreover, the Americans believed that Britain also needed the strength of the United States to limit the development of China!

If the relationship with the United States needs to be cultivated slowly, then for Belgium and the Netherlands, two small countries, it is almost a force to pull in! In the face of the low-lying countries between the two superpowers, Germany and France, Belgium and the Netherlands seem to have little choice, and for the aggressive Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, the two small partners, joined the side of Britain without much speech. Don't underestimate the accession of these two countries, with the accession of these two countries, the northern section of the French defense line finally knows how to repair the road!

Originally, the French were still struggling with whether to build along the border between France and Belgium, or to think of other ways, but now the French finally stopped tangled, and intuitively decided to build along the borders of Germany with Belgium and the Netherlands, of course, the two countries will share part of the cost, and after the completion of this defense line, it will greatly improve the land defense of France. There is depth, there is an offensive, at least the speed at which the Germans want to penetrate the Netherlands and Belgium from the north and directly attack the French mainland will be delayed, France and Britain have plenty of time to concentrate troops and materials, and when it comes to the state of positional warfare, Britain and France, which have more money and more runs, will not suffer any losses.

In addition to improving France's land defenses, the British also added some strength to their own navy. The Netherlands and Belgium are naturally not wealthy. Especially the Netherlands, after experiencing a great defeat in the Far East and almost losing the colonies, but the Netherlands and Belgium are also European countries after all, and the family can still squeeze out some surplus money, and this is still a period of life and death, once the war starts, the first country attacked by the Germans on the Western Front is the Netherlands! Maybe sooner than Belgium! So after some consultations, the Dutch said that no later than 1908 they would begin to consider the construction of a new class of capital ships.

And in order to prevent their warships from being destroyed again like cannon fodder in the Sino-Russian war, the Dutch expressed the desire for their fleet to be put into secondary theaters, not in the North Sea. After all, in the face of the superior German fleet in the North Sea, even if the British Imperial fleet had the advantage, it was impossible to avoid a few unlucky warships being killed by the opponent's concentrated fire. The Dutch thought it was safer to be on the secondary battlefield. If you can't beat it, at least you can run, and you don't have to worry about being shot by N more battleships. Now the Dutch have to think first of all about how to defend the ship rather than attack. The battle in the Far East made them a little frightened.

In addition to pulling outsiders, the British Empire also put its hand into the wallets of its subjects, and Canada, Australia, and New Zealand could not run away! The governments of these countries also said that if there was a surplus of finances, the governments of the three countries could order new dreadnoughts in Britain, and once war broke out, the warships of the three countries were willing to fight against the German, Italian and Austrian navies together with the Grand Fleet of the British Empire. After some operation, the British Empire has faintly increased its strength by a few points. As of the current position, the camps of the two sides of the First World War have been basically clear.

Britain, France, Russia, Belgium, and the Netherlands, plus the Commonwealth countries, and Greece formed an alliance, in which the United States was ambiguous and could join Britain on the one hand, while Germany, Austria, Italy, Turkey, and Romania on the other. The latter was joined under the coercion and inducement of Germany and Austria, after all, Romania is a little close to Germany and Austria. To disagree is to die. And the Chinese side is inclined to Germany and Austria. Excluding the two great powers, the United States and China, the situation in Europe can basically be called a balance of power.

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the tip~~~. (To be continued......)