Chapter 338: The British Reaction

It is not just Germany and Russia that are facing difficult choices; in fact, there are also the British, who have nothing to do with this war.

As early as the day the Austro-Hungarian Empire issued an ultimatum to Serbia, the British government urgently convened a meeting to discuss the pros and cons of this event's direction for Britain, and what position Britain should take in this event.

According to common sense, if the Austro-Hungarian Empire's ultimatum could trigger a great war between it and Russia, it would certainly be good for the British.

Britain only needs to support the Austro-Hungarian Empire from behind to be able to weaken the military strength of two major powers at the same time. Especially weakening Russia's military strength is what the British value most.

As long as Russia can be defeated, for at least 10 years in the future, Russia will no longer have the ability to expand in East Asia and the Balkan Peninsula region.

But with the relatively tough stance of the Germans, the British government had to discuss what new changes would occur in the European situation.

Because Britain has always advocated a regional balance policy, this has also led to the British government's diplomatic stance always being in flux. Whichever country is powerful, Britain will turn to support the weaker side.

If it were just a war between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia, Britain would naturally support the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which is weaker and has no major contradictions with Britain.

But what if there is also a powerful German Empire behind this Austro-Hungarian Empire? In the case where Russia has no allies, the British would rather sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, letting Germany and Russia fight until both are hurt.

But the struggle between Germany and Russia has to involve another European power, which is France.

In Britain's balance policy, Germany is a relatively important link. The German-French struggle for hegemony is an important means for Britain to maintain the balance of the European continent, which also means that Germany cannot suffer too heavy losses in this war, otherwise it will be surpassed by the French again.

If France becomes the European hegemon again, the threat that the French bring to Britain will be even higher than that of the Russians. This is something the British have to consider; how to ensure that this war will not affect the current European situation after it ends is a relatively difficult problem.

Inside the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street, British Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil was having a private meeting with several important cabinet ministers.

The content of the meeting was naturally the impact of this war on the European situation and what position Britain should take to get through this war.

First, let's talk about the current British Prime Minister, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil; he is a complete conservative and also a keen practitioner of Britain's "Splendid Isolation" policy and regional balance policy.

In the few years he has served as Prime Minister, Britain has downplayed its influence on the European continent, has always pursued the "Splendid Isolation" policy, and has carried out regional balance on the situation in Europe and even the whole world.

Precisely because of his "Splendid Isolation," the British government has had sufficient energy to conquer colonies outside of Europe. During his tenure, the land expanded by Britain in terms of colonization has reached millions of square kilometers, which is equivalent to the area of several British mainlands.

"Gentlemen, let's talk about it. Currently, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has declared war on Serbia. According to the reactions of Germany and Russia at present, these two countries are also very likely to join this war.

If the situation really develops like this, just because of a small border conflict, it is possible to create a super war with several powers participating.

What position should we maintain in this super war? Should we join one side, or continue to pursue our isolationism?" Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil looked at the several important cabinet ministers attending the meeting.

British Secretary of State for War William Henry Smith was the first to stand up and express his point of view without any avoidance: "Prime Minister, please allow me to describe the point of view of the Army Department."

After seeing the Prime Minister nod, Minister William continued: "If Germany and Russia both participate in the war one after another, the scale of the war might reach the highest in history.

Germany and Russia both possess hundreds of thousands of standing armies, and they also both have the ability to mobilize hundreds of thousands of reservists to join the war.

And what about us? Our mainland army only has 130,000 people, and the reservists are less than 500,000. For us, this will be a war that cannot be interfered with at all, and the direction of the war can only be decided by the input intensity of various countries in the war."

What Minister William said is actually also Britain's old problem, which is investing more in the navy and less in the army.

Under the premise that the British Navy has always maintained the world's number one position, the scale of the British Army is the smallest among power-level countries, with only 130,000-plus mainland standing troops.

Currently, Britain has the fewest standing armies in all of Europe; the only ones that can have fewer standing armies than Britain are the United States on the other side of the ocean.

Although Britain still possesses hundreds of thousands of colonial troops in colonies spread across the globe, these colonial troops clearly cannot be invested in the battlefield of the Balkan Peninsula.

Those fighting on the Balkan Peninsula are countries with relatively strong armies like Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Russia; if colonial troops were used, they would really become cannon fodder, and the kind that wouldn't even make a splash.

The meaning of Secretary of State for War William's words is also very simple, which is to remind the Prime Minister that the current British Army is unable to interfere in this war that broke out on the European continent, and the British government should also consider its own position and ability before making decisions.

Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil nodded with an unchanging face; he clearly also knew about Britain's shortcomings in the army.

It cannot be said to be a shortcoming; after all, Britain is an island country wandering outside the European continent. As long as they can guard the North Sea and the English Channel, no country can threaten Britain's mainland.

This is also the reason why Britain only builds the navy and ignores the army. After all, the enemy can't even fight to their mainland, so what can maintaining so many regular armies do? It will only increase the consumption of military spending.

On this point, it can be said that the United States, which can be said to be Britain's son, learned Britain's ideas and surpassed them.

While the United States' industry and economy were growing rapidly, the United States' military strength has always been at the bottom among the powers. Especially in terms of the army, because there are no powerful countries in the north and south, and two oceans in the east and west, the number of the United States' army has always been pitifully small.

That is, during the American Civil War, the United States' army was instantly expanded to millions of people, but then it quickly declined. Up to now, the United States' regular army only has a pitiful tens of thousands of people, not even a fraction of the European countries.

Insufficient number of standing armies will lead to poor combat effectiveness of the rapidly expanded army when a large-scale war breaks out, and even the military system will be quite chaotic, thereby affecting the outcome of the war.

But from another point of view, with fewer troops, more manpower can be invested in industrial and civil production.

The reduced military spending can also be transferred to other departments of the government, or at the very least, it can be invested in the livelihood department, increasing subsidies for various industries and enterprises, and promoting the development of industry and economy.

Don't look at the fact that the number of troops only differs by 100,000 or 200,000; the gap in military spending in between is a quite huge number.

Currently, Spain's annual military spending is as high as hundreds of millions of pesetas, which is also the reason why Spain can maintain more than 200,000 mainland standing troops plus a large number of colonial troops.

If they could reduce the number of troops to the scale of the United States, Spain's annual fiscal budget could have more than 100 million pesetas. Of course, for Gao Da, it is impossible to reduce the army to such a small scale at any time.

Spain is not like the United States and Britain; Spain is a part of the European continent, which also means that Spain must guard against enemies from the direction of the European continent.

"Prime Minister. What I am worried about is not the scale of this great war; what I am worried about is that in this war, Russia already has a trend of leaning toward France.

Currently, it seems that Russia is still quite afraid of the German-Austrian alliance. If they form an alliance with France to cope with the German-Austrian alliance, this will be a quite terrible situation for us.

Judging from comprehensive national strength, we, France, Germany, and Russia are the four most powerful countries on the European continent. Once the Franco-Russian alliance becomes a reality, our advantage over various European countries will also cease to exist.

Germany still has the Austro-Hungarian Empire as an ally, and what about us? We don't have a single ally on the European continent (in terms of powers).

This great war might have nothing to do with us, but if the next great war of the same scale breaks out, and this great war is closely related to us, what can we do?" The Secretary of State for the Colonies put forward his point of view.

This problem is actually the essence of Britain's "Splendid Isolation" and regional balance policy, which is that Britain maintains an advantageous position over other countries with the posture of being number one in the world and the world hegemon.

Whether it is France, Germany, or Russia, they are all slightly inferior when facing Britain.

But if the Franco-Russian alliance is established, Britain's advantage when facing Germany-Austria or France-Russia will not seem so obvious.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the comprehensive strength of either the German-Austrian side or the French-Russian side might not be weaker than Britain's.

Really letting them unite together, Britain's "Splendid Isolation" will really be isolated. This is not what Britain wants; Britain's "Splendid Isolation" is to avoid being implicated while still being able to maintain the right to speak on the European situation.

But if they are isolated by the united European powers, then let alone the right to speak, perhaps even Britain's mainland will be implicated.

"Germany-Austria, France-Russia," Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil looked at the European map hanging in the conference room, and then shifted his gaze to the European powers outside the scope of the conversation.

Spain? Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil shook his head decisively.

Not to mention the bad relationship between Spain and Britain, if Britain wanted to form an alliance with Spain in terms of strategy, it would mean that the current ally, Portugal, would be the side to be abandoned.

What does Britain abandoning Portugal represent? It represents that Spain will annex Portugal. A unified Iberian Peninsula will explode with great threats; this is something the British are unwilling to see.

And although Spain has achieved rapid growth in comprehensive national strength through reform and has achieved good results in industry and economy.

But the problem is, Spain has a congenital population deficiency, which is the biggest shortcoming for a powerful country.

Other countries possess tens of millions of people, which also means that this country can mobilize millions of troops. And Spain's population is only 20 million-plus until now, so it can only mobilize 2 million-plus troops.

Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil's gaze moved away from Spain, and then placed it on Italy in the center of the Mediterranean.

But soon, Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil shook his head again.

If the negation of Spain was because the relationship between Spain and Britain was not good, and Britain was unwilling to see the merger of the Iberian Peninsula, then the negation of Italy was simply because Italy's strength was not strong.

Even though Italy possesses more people, the opinion of various European countries is consistent that Spain is a more powerful country.

Although Italy is also a power, if it really faces a super war with multiple powers participating, Italy has no effect.

Scanning the whole of Europe, Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil was astonished to find that the current Britain is indeed in a relatively awkward position.

Britain is indeed powerful, but the problem is, other power countries have allies. Is Britain without allies still powerful?

This is a question worth discussing.

"Then what is your opinion? Should we prevent the occurrence of the Franco-Russian alliance in this war? But if the Franco-Russian alliance is prevented, will the Russians still be the opponents of the German-Austrian alliance?" Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil looked back at the Secretary of State for the Colonies who put forward this point of view and continued to ask.

"For us, we might really have to prevent the occurrence of the Franco-Russian alliance," the Secretary of State for the Colonies continued: "The comprehensive strength of the German-Austrian alliance is not that strong, and the Germans and Austrians do not have many contradictions and competitions with us.

But the Franco-Russian alliance is different. France and Russia are both our enemies, and these two countries are both quite powerful powers. If they are allowed to unite together, it will not only be the Germans who suffer, but also us.

The united Franco-Russian alliance will certainly launch a greater contest with us in Western Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Central Asian region, which will disperse our energy and destroy our colonial plans in Africa and other regions.

Russia possesses more people, and France possesses a developed economy and industry; the union of these two countries will be a fatal enemy.

Rather than letting the Franco-Russian alliance roam Europe, it is better to let the Austrians defeat the Russians. As long as this war does not affect Russia's mainland, the future European competition will happen on the heads of the Germans, Austrians, and Russians."

Actually, such matters and relevant opinions should be expressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but this cabinet government is somewhat special.

British Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil did not concurrently hold the position of Minister of Finance, which a general Prime Minister would concurrently hold, but instead concurrently held another important cabinet position, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

This led to the fact that if Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil did not pay attention to matters related to the diplomatic department, other department heads needed to remind him.

After listening to what the Secretary of State for the Colonies said, Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil finally nodded and said: "Then let's do it this way; do our best to prevent the occurrence of the Franco-Russian alliance.

As for this war, we should pay attention to the development of this war from a neutral perspective. I do not hope that any other power will join this war besides Germany and Russia; please express my point of view to other countries."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 339 =====