Vienna, 15 July 2761 (1920).

On the square in front of the Reichstag, accompanied by the music of the Austro-Hungarian national anthem "God Save the Emperor", the "double crown flag" slowly fell. The flag was taken down and placed in the hands of Ferdinand V.

Those present noticed that Ferdinand V's expression was rather numb today. Subsequently, a new "red, white, red" flag representing the Austrian Empire was raised.

Yes, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is gone, officially dissolved today. The hearts of the people were scattered, the team was not easy to lead, Ferdinand V tried his best but could not save the situation, and after more than a month of fighting, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed.

On the basis of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, three new states appeared.

One was the Republic of Hungary, which the Hungarians had gained their independence after the Austro-Prussian War, had it not been for the compromise of the Vienna authorities. There is no Trianon Treaty on this plane, so this Hungary is much larger than the original plane, and is the "Greater Hungary" that includes Transylvania, half of Serbia, and part of Croatia, with an area of 350,000 square kilometers and a part of the sea to the sea. Hungary originally wanted to play with the monarchy, but the funny thing is that they did not have a king who could convince the people, coupled with the intensification of social contradictions, the magnates changed to a republic in order to reduce dissatisfaction. The first president was former Austro-Hungarian Admiral Horti Miklos.

The second is the Moravian Republic, where the Czechs and Slovaks, two good friends, had long wanted to separate from Austria-Hungary, and now they finally got their wish. Although the country is less than 130,000 square kilometers, the Czech Republic accounted for 80% of the total industrial output of the empire.

The third is the "Austrian Empire", Ferdinand V's political skills are finally okay, and after the Hungarians and Czechs are gone, he still has a way to solve the troubles in other places. After some compromise and concessions, Slovenia and parts of Croatia, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina, remained. But the new "Austrian Empire" also turned into a federal monarchy, with a high degree of autonomy for Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

After such a toss, Austria-Hungary, which was originally regarded as a second-class power, became three third-rate countries that did not belong to each other. And Austria has completely become the little brother of Germany, and there is no longer the same status as before.

But the division of Austria-Hungary was not a surprise at all, because in the eyes of most people it was only a matter of time. Being able to split up after the big war is already Ferdinand's strength.

The scourge of this division has been planted for a long time, and to be precise, the country has never been truly united.

The predecessor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the Holy Roman Empire, but this country is also quite strange, and Voltaire once spat that it was "neither sacred, nor Roman, nor imperial". Because it has no orthodox roots or names in history, and has nothing to do with the former Roman Empire. And its unification is only a superficial phenomenon, in fact, its rule is completely medieval, the emperor has no real power, the actual power is in the hands of more than 300 large and small lords, the rule is strictly zhòng divided, the national strength is very poor, in fact, it cannot be called an empire.

Beginning in the 13th century, the imperial throne was long occupied by the Habsburgs of the Austrian principalities. But this family did not rely on strength to achieve this status, but completely relied on the marriage of consecutive N generations, so the people of the rivers and lakes called the "lower body fort", which is well deserved. According to China's statement, this kind of country, which is completely built on the basis of small Ding Ding and Xiao OO, is a typical "unjust country", and no one is convinced. Europeans may not know this sentence, but it doesn't mean that they don't have the same idea.

In 1806, Austria was flown by Napoleon, and the Habsburgs were forced to give up the title of Holy Roman Emperor and retain only the title of Emperor of Austria. In this way, the underpants of the "lower body fort" were ripped off by Napoleon, and the rise of nationalism in the 20th century made those territories in the empire begin to be unstable. However, the Germans, the main ethnic group of Austria, accounted for only 23% of the population of the entire empire, less than a quarter, and they were not superior in culture or strength, so they naturally could not control the field.

Even if Austria-Hungary was later changed to a dual system, it was not useful. For the two peoples who dominated the two parts of the empire were not actually dominant: in Austria, the Germans were only 36 per cent, and in Hungary, the Hungarians were less than half.

The Czechs, Poles, Ukrainians, Slovenes and Italians in the Austrian part all tried to gain a greater voice. Meanwhile, in the Hungarian part, Romanians, Slovaks, Croats, and Serbs also challenged Hungarian dominance.

Although on the plane, Austria-Hungary followed Germany to release satellites, and released Ukraine and Poland, so that the unstable situation in the country has been improved to a certain extent. But this also does not solve the problem fundamentally, and if it is usual, there may be a way to integrate slowly. But Austria-Hungary did not have this opportunity, because of several years of European wars and plagues, the social contradictions and ******** of Austria-Hungary also intensified to the limit.

The Germans forget it, but other peoples are not very willing to give their lives to the "lower body fort". Well, if it's a tailwind or a short time, it doesn't matter, but this European war is just a tug-of-war and a war of attrition, and I can't stand it after a few years. Add to that the dreaded Spanish flu, and the situation is even worse.

The most important thing is that the "lower body forts" have exhausted the prestige they have accumulated over hundreds of years in the war, and a large amount of national wealth has been consumed in the war, without reparations and compensation. The Austro-Hungarian economy experienced a sharp downturn after the war, which led to a series of internal problems, especially the ******** which began to become more intense than ever.

First of all, Hungary was divided, and then Bohemia followed suit, and other nationalities followed suit. Emperor Ferdinand is now a leader of the three greats, and he knows very well that if this matter cannot be handled, the empire will be completely divided and disintegrated.

But he is also powerless to solve it now, Austria-Hungary is only a second-class power, the national strength is limited, and the war and plague have been exhausted, where is there still energy and money to solve this kind of thing.

So the Austro-Hungarian Empire finally couldn't hold it anymore, and everyone broke up.

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However, now countries don't care about Austrian jokes, and there are still a lot of bad things in their homes.

The first is that the Spanish flu pandemic is still ongoing, and although the situation is better than the outbreak between the end of last year and the beginning of this year, it is still not only taken lightly, and God knows if it will kill the horse.

The second is the post-war reconstruction, and all the participating countries have suffered heavy losses, especially Britain and France, the two leading brothers, and Italy, the unlucky guy who is on the wrong side, whether it is a colony or a homeland, the losses are far greater than the same period of history in the original time and space. Russia aside, Britain, France, and Italy suffered the heaviest losses on their homeland, and they were occupied by the enemy in their respective elite areas.

The Great Capital Regions of England and France were in ruins, and Erdezi had removed all the valuable and useful things of London and Paris and the surrounding areas. Even the factories were not spared, and the shipyards in Portsmouth and London were demolished by the Germans and packed away.

Although the capital of Italy was retained, their most important northern industrial area fell into the hands of the Japanese locust army. This is a veritable army of locusts, and the Germans still have a little face, just grabbing valuable things, and they don't look down on the food, clothing, and daily necessities of the civilians. But the poor and crazy Japanese robbed everything, whether it was the means of production of the state and enterprises, or the clothes, food, and furniture of the common people, as long as they could move them, they robbed them all. Wherever the Japanese locust army passed, it was as clean as washing.

Among other things, the reconstruction of these areas alone, as well as the resettlement and return of refugees, is a huge priority. These are not dozens, hundreds, but millions! Moreover, those troops conscripted from the colonies, as well as the expeditionary forces of the United States and Japan, must also be sent away in a hurry, and this is a long-distance transportation of millions of people.

Germany, Austria, the United States, and Japan, which have not been hit by the enemy, are relatively easy, but they are not much better. After several years of war, the domestic economic situation has deteriorated extremely, and at the same time, the long-term emphasis on the military industry has also caused a strict imbalance in the domestic industry, which requires a lot of energy to adjust. The bereavement of many fallen officers and soldiers and the resettlement of wounded and disabled officers and men are all very troublesome matters, and there must be no problems at this critical juncture. You know, now the dissatisfaction of the people has accumulated to the extreme, and if you are not careful, you may explode.

But if you want to talk about headaches, it's still the British who have the most headaches. The war has brought nearly 10 million casualties to the homeland, which is a real death of a generation. And that's not all, isn't the plague still going on, and God knows how long it will last. There is also the issue of colonies, although the indigenous monkeys have stopped for the time being, but it is all for the sake of the plague, and when the plague passes, it will definitely be a scene of fire everywhere.

Now, for the first time, the British feel that they have grabbed too much territory. After such a brutal World War I and the death of a generation of opium cattle, there is no longer the confidence that once suppressed the world.

British Somaliland and British East Africa (Kenya and Uganda), which were seized by the Allies during the war, have been recaptured by the Chinese. But now there is a problem, for the territory originally belonging to the British, the Chinese are willing to return to Britain according to the agreement, of course, the British must also allow China to explore minerals and mining locally, and pay taxes according to the regulations.

But Italy belongs to Somaliland, and China refuses to give it. They claimed that they had fulfilled their obligations as members of the Entente, repelled the Allied forces, and helped Britain recover the occupied colonies, which was enough to fulfill their obligations as members, so that Italian Somaliland was rightfully a spoils of war from China. Of course, China has agreed in advance not to expand its territory in Africa, but it can make Italian Somaliland independent.

Of course, the British do not do it, although the Chinese say it is very reasonable, but the territory of Italian Somaliland is not small, and Britain is absolutely unwilling to hand it over to China. China has already expanded a lot, and if it expands further, it will still be able to do somaliland independence? Let me fool you if this is true, even if it is independent, it is not yet a satellite country. How can this kind of trick be concealed from Niu Niu? Moreover, Niu Niu himself wants this piece of land.

So the two sides were arguing over this matter, and China's later condition was: We can give you Italian Somaliland, but we must exchange it for other territory. It's not okay not to expand in Africa, but we have to compensate for it elsewhere, otherwise we will never hand over the spoils!

"Your Excellency Balfort, this is absolutely impossible! Italian Somaliland is a spoils that we have made many sacrifices to get, and you want to take it away with a word?" said Chinese Foreign Minister Cavour unceremoniously.

"Your Excellency, we can exchange the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands. British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour said.

"The Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands are going to be part of Somalia, and you're too good at doing business......," Cavour said sarcastically, "the Malay Peninsula is acceptable." ”

Balfour shook his head and said, "Your Excellency, you know that this is impossible, and the British Empire will definitely not give up the Malay Peninsula...... Andaman Islands, this is the bottom line of the empire......"

"No, the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands are definitely not enough, something else has to be added. "Cavour isn't that easy to bluff.

"Up to the Cocos Islands and the Seychelles ......"

"It's ridiculous, it's impossible!"

Then the two sides began to bargain tensely. The British exchanged the Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands, Cocos Islands, Seychelles, Amirette Islands, Chagos Islands, and Christmas Islands in the Indian Ocean, and the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu, Fiji Islands, and Tonga Islands in the Pacific Ocean for the Chinese-occupied Italian Somalia.

At this time, the countries of the world were far less concerned about islands than later generations, although they would not have too much, but if they had a choice of mainland territory, then they would never choose islands.

Even during World War II in the original time and space, the British used 50 islands to exchange for the same number of old destroyers in the United States, although this deal had the intention of dragging the United States into the water, but they did not use an inch of mainland territory to do the transaction, which shows that in the eyes of the British, the important process and value of the continental territory is much higher than that of the islands, and the islands are all chicken ribs and things that can be exchanged, which is the limitation of history. Of course, this island can't be too big, for example, New Zealand, they won't take it out anyway.

And the British are now taking out small islands, which together are less than one-tenth the size of Somaliland. Besides, post-war Britain now has no energy to care about these small islands. In fact, if you think about it, you can understand the British thinking, these islands are scattered across two oceans, and it is too tiring to develop, and there is nothing to develop. In the past, it could have been used as a stopover and supply point for long-distance voyages, but now ship technology is no longer needed. The most important thing is that Britain believes that it has a mainland base near these islands, and the absence of these islands does not affect the overall situation at all.

So, the deal was struck. To the great joy of both sides, the British finally kept China's tentacles out of the continent, and at the cost of a bunch of islands, they gained the long-coveted territory of Italian Somalia, so that their territory in East Africa was completely connected.

And Wen Deji also thinks it is a good deal, after China gets these islands, it will have a stronger grasp of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. As for places like Somalia, it's better to leave them to the British. Places like Africa are not so well developed, or they won't be much better until the beginning of the 21st century.