Chapter 735 - 340: The Possibility of Surpassing France

The British intention to prevent the formation of a Franco-Russian alliance was more than just empty talk. To prevent the emergence of the superpower far surpassing the German-Austrian alliance, on February 17, 1889, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, shared his views on the Balkan War during an interview with Reuters journalists.

Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil first called on Austria-Hungary, Serbia, and Russia, the countries involved in the war, to remain calm and resolve the conflict on the Balkan Peninsula through peaceful means.

Afterward, the Prime Minister stated that the United Kingdom would not intervene in this war and would, in its neutral role, do its utmost to prevent the further escalation of the conflict.

To spare the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula and the countries involved from the troubles of war, the United Kingdom announced it would exert every effort to prevent other countries from joining the war and called on other European countries to avoid escalating the conflict and to mediate it as much as possible.

Although Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil simply urged European countries not to let the war escalate during the interview, no country would underestimate the words of this Prime Minister.

He is, after all, one of the most powerful people in the most powerful countries in the world. If the British warning is ignored, and the war is allowed to escalate, who can guarantee that the British will continue to maintain their neutral role as they claim?

The British threat was quite effective; at the very least, it visibly slowed the progress of contacts between the Franco-Russian alliance.

Regardless of whether the French feared the British, at this moment, the Russians truly feared them.

After all, the competitive relationship between Russia and the United Kingdom is well-known, and if trying to win over the French were to offend the British and lead them to intervene in the war on the side of Germany and Austria, the Russians would have no way out.

Moreover, for the Russians, limiting the scope of the war was not a bad thing.

If the warring countries were limited to Germany and Austria vs. Russia and Serbia, although Russia was at a disadvantage, it was not beyond hope.

While the Russians could win over France, Austria-Hungary, on the other hand, seemed able to draw many allies. Italy, which had undisclosed treaties with Austria-Hungary, and Spain, which expressed support for Austria-Hungary even before the war broke out, were both considered great powers.

As the saying goes, "a flurry of punches can beat a master," and while the combined strength of Spain and Italy might not match the superpowers like France and Russia, the outcome isn’t certain if the numbers favor them.

With the implied threats from the British, the Russians decided to confine the scale of the war within certain limits, not intending to spark a super war engulfing all of Europe.

Germany and Austria-Hungary also made similar decisions.

To be honest, the news of Russia and France drawing closer frightened Austria-Hungary. Even the German Empire, which had once defeated France, broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing of the possible union between France and Russia.

While Europeans often speak of the Five Great Powers, the more recognized concept is that of the Four Great Powers. The Four Great Powers refer to the UK, France, Germany, and Russia, which lead other powers in industry, population, economy, and military strength.

If two of the Four Great Powers were to form an alliance, unless the other two also formed one, the power of a single superpower would have difficulty resisting them.

The German-Austrian alliance was clearly not a match for the Franco-Russian alliance. Unless the Germans could also win over Italy and Spain, swinging the numbers to four against two might result in victory.

Because both sides of the conflict did not want the war to spiral out of control, coupled with British threats both overt and covert, the war indeed remained limited to the four involved countries.

Even though only four countries participated in this war, three of them are major powers. Although the scale of the war was restricted to a certain range, it can theoretically be considered a large-scale war.

Since the outbreak of the war, Austria-Hungary had been in contact with Spain. Not only was the Austro-Hungarian Empire Government reaching out to the Spanish Government, but Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria was also in communication with Carlo, inquiring whether Spain could join the war to assist the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Initially, Carlo took a wait-and-see approach, planning to make a decision after the British expressed their stance. Now that the British Government had made its position known, Carlo naturally would not delay any further.

On the second day after the British Government’s statement, February 18, 1889, Carlo summoned the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to Madrid to express Spain’s stance on the war.

Firstly, the Spanish Royal Family and Government supported Austria-Hungary in its war against Serbia. However, for various reasons, Spain could not join the war, and this naturally included the attitude expressed by the British Prime Minister the previous day.

Nevertheless, due to the ally relationship with Austria-Hungary, Spain was still willing to provide any material resources to Austria-Hungary, at pre-war market prices.

This was quite significant. Although the war had only broken out for a few days, it was certain that the prices of strategic materials would continue to rise in the future.

Mainly food, medical supplies, weapons, and ammunition—these materials’ prices would undoubtedly climb. Spain being able to sell these at pre-war market prices to Austria-Hungary was already fulfilling the duty of an ally.