Chapter 338: The Reaction of the British

It is not only 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 its ultimatum to Serbia, the British government held an emergency meeting to discuss the pros and cons of the event's trajectory for Britain, as well as the stance Britain should take in this incident.

According to conventional logic, if the Austro-Hungarian Empire's ultimatum could trigger a major war between it and Russia, it would certainly be beneficial for the British.

Britain only needs to support the Austro-Hungarian Empire from behind to weaken the military strength of two major powers simultaneously. In particular, weakening Russia's military strength is what the British value most.

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

But with the relatively tough stance taken by the Germans, the British government has had to discuss what new changes might occur in the European situation.

Because Britain has always advocated a policy of regional balance, this has led to the British government's diplomatic stance being in constant 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 conflicts with Britain.

But what if there is a powerful German Empire behind this Austro-Hungarian Empire? In the absence of any allies for Russia, the British would rather sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, letting Germany and Russia fight until both are injured.

But the struggle between Germany and Russia inevitably involves another European power, and that is France.

In Britain's balance policy, Germany is a relatively important link. The struggle for hegemony between Germany and France is an important means for Britain to maintain the balance of the European continent, which also means that Germany cannot suffer too heavy a loss in this war, otherwise it would be suppressed by the French again.

If France were to become the hegemon of Europe again, the threat posed by the French to Britain would be even higher than that of the Russians. This is something the British have to consider; how to ensure that the end of this war does not affect the current European situation is a relatively difficult problem.

Inside the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street, British Prime Minister Luo Bote Gaisikeyin-Saixier is holding a private meeting with several important cabinet ministers.

The content of the meeting is naturally the impact of this war on the European situation, and what stance Britain should take to survive this war.

First, let's talk about the current British Prime Minister, Luo Bote Gaisikeyin-Saixier. He is a thorough conservative and 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, consistently pursued a policy of splendid isolation, and maintained regional balance regarding the situation in Europe and even the whole world.

It is precisely because of his splendid isolation that the British government has had the energy to conquer colonies outside of Europe. During his tenure, the land expanded by Britain in terms of colonies 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. Judging from the current reactions of Germany and Russia, these two countries are also very likely to join this war.

If the situation really develops in this way, just because of a small border conflict, it is possible to create a super war involving several major powers.

What stance should we maintain in this super war? Should we join one side, or continue to pursue our isolationism?" Prime Minister Luo Bote Gaisikeyin-Saixier 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 views without hesitation: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, please allow me to state the views of the War Department."

After seeing the Prime Minister nod, Secretary William continued: "If Germany and Russia both join the war one after another, the scale of the war may reach an all-time high.

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

And what about us? Our domestic army has only 130, 00 men, and our reserves are less than 500, 00. For us, this will be a war that we simply cannot intervene in, and the direction of the war can only be determined by the intensity of each country's investment in the war."

What Secretary William said is actually an old problem for Britain, which is investing heavily in the navy and little in the army.

On the premise that the British Navy has always remained the world's number one, the size of the British Army is the smallest among the major powers, with a domestic standing army of only a little over 100, 00.

Currently, Britain has the smallest standing army in all of Europe; the only one with a smaller standing army than Britain is the United States across the ocean.

Although Britain still has hundreds of thousands of colonial troops spread across the globe, these colonial troops are clearly unable to be deployed to the battlefield of the Balkan Peninsula.

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

The meaning of Secretary of War William's words is also very simple, which is to remind the Prime Minister that the current British Army is unable to intervene in this war that has broken out on the European continent, and the British government should also consider its own stance and capabilities before making decisions.

Prime Minister Luo Bote Gaisikeyin-Saixier nodded with an unchanging expression; he was clearly aware of Britain's shortcomings in terms of the army.

It cannot be called a shortcoming, after all, Britain is an island nation detached from the European continent. As long as it 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 a navy and neglects the army. After all, the enemy cannot even reach its mainland, so what is the point of maintaining so many regular troops? It would only increase the consumption of military spending.

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

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

It was only during the Civil War that the US Army expanded to millions, but it quickly declined afterwards. Up to now, the US regular army has only a pitiful few tens of thousands, not even a fraction of the European countries.

An insufficient number of standing troops 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 government departments, or at worst, invested in the livelihood sector, increasing subsidies to various industries and enterprises, and promoting industrial and economic development.

Don't look at the difference of only one or two hundred thousand troops; the gap in military spending is a quite huge number.

Currently, Spain's annual military expenditure is as high as hundreds of millions of pesetas, which is also the reason why Spain can maintain more than 200, 00 domestic standing troops plus a large number of colonial troops.

If the number of troops could be reduced to the scale of the United States, Spain's annual fiscal budget could have more than 100 million pesetas extra, and this sum of money is quite considerable. Of course, for Carlos, it is impossible to reduce the army to such a small scale at any time.

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

"Your Excellency Prime Minister. What I am worried about is not the scale of this great war, but that in this war, the Russians already have a tendency to lean towards France.

At present, it seems that Russia is still quite wary 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.

From the perspective of 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 the European countries will no longer exist.

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

This great war may have nothing to do with us, but if a great war of the same scale breaks out next time, 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 pursuit of the policy of splendid isolation and regional balance, which is that Britain maintains an advantageous position over other countries with the posture of the world's number one and 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 original advantage will not seem so obvious when facing Germany-Austria or France-Russia.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the comprehensive strength of either Germany-Austria or France-Russia may not be weaker than Britain.

If they are really allowed to unite, Britain's splendid isolation will truly become isolation. This is not what Britain wants; Britain's splendid isolation is to avoid being implicated while still maintaining the right to speak on the European situation.

But if it is isolated by the united European powers, then let alone the right to speak, even the British mainland might be implicated.

"Germany-Austria, France-Russia..." Prime Minister Luo Bote Gaisikeyin-Saixier looked at the map of Europe hanging in the conference room, and then shifted his gaze to the European powers outside the scope of the discussion.

Spain? Prime Minister Luo Bote Gaisikeyin-Saixier shook his head decisively.

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

What does Britain abandoning Portugal represent? It represents that Spain will annex Portugal. A unified Iberian Peninsula would pose a huge threat, which is something the British do not want to see.

And although Spain has achieved rapid growth in comprehensive national strength through reforms, it has achieved good results in industry and the economy.

But the problem is that Spain has a congenital population shortage, which is the biggest flaw for a powerful country.

Other countries have tens of millions of people, which means that the country can mobilize millions of troops. And Spain's population is only over 20 million so far, so it can only mobilize about two million troops.

Prime Minister Luo Bote Gaisikeyin-Saixier moved his gaze away from Spain, and then placed it on Italy in the center of the Mediterranean.

But soon, Prime Minister Luo Bote Gaisikeyin-Saixier shook his head again.

If the rejection of Spain was because of the poor relationship between Spain and Britain, coupled with the fact that Britain did not want to see the merger of the Iberian Peninsula, then the rejection of Italy was simply because Italy's strength was not strong.

Even though Italy is also a major power, the European countries unanimously agree that Spain is a more powerful country.

Although Italy is also a major power, if it really faces a super war involving multiple major powers, Italy is of no use.

Scanning the whole of Europe, Prime Minister Luo Bote Gaisikeyin-Saixier was astonished to find that Britain is indeed in a rather awkward position.

Britain is certainly powerful, but the problem is that other major powers have allies. Is Britain still powerful without allies?

This is a debatable question.

"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 opponents of the German-Austrian alliance?" Prime Minister Luo Bote Gaisikeyin-Saixier looked back at the Secretary of State for the Colonies who put forward this point of view and continued to ask.

"For us, we may 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 too many conflicts and competition with us.

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

The united Franco-Russian alliance will definitely engage in greater competition with us in Western Europe, the Mediterranean, and Central Asia, which will disperse our energy and destroy our colonial plans in Africa and other regions.

The Russians have more population, and France has a developed economy and industry; these two countries united will be a deadly 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 the Russian mainland, future European competition will take place on the heads of the Germans, Austrians, and Russians."

Actually, such matters and related opinions should be expressed by the Foreign Secretary, but this cabinet government is a bit special.

British Prime Minister Luo Bote Gaisikeyin-Saixier did not concurrently hold the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer, which a general Prime Minister would concurrently hold, but instead concurrently held another important cabinet position: Foreign Secretary.

This led to the fact that if Prime Minister Luo Bote Gaisikeyin-Saixier did not pay attention to matters related to the diplomatic department, other department heads would need to remind him.

After listening to what the Secretary of State for the Colonies said, Prime Minister Luo Bote Gaisikeyin-Saixier finally nodded and said: "Then let's do that, 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 wish for any other major powers to join this war besides Germany and Russia; please express my point of view to other countries."

(End of this chapter)