Chapter 352: Chapter 39, Diplomatic Changes
St. Petersburg, the Tsarist Government, now belatedly alert, also reacted. Without a doubt, someone was plotting against them.

The Russian Empire, fresh from victory in the Near East War and the conquest of Constantinople, seemed to bask in boundless glory, yet it had also drawn full measure of hatred.

As the defeated, neither England nor France were content with their loss and constantly sought revenge; as mere onlookers, the rest of Europe feared a mighty Russia would threaten their own safety.

With everyone, deliberately or not, pushing the situation, the Polish Independence Organization had grown more powerful, fueled by every little bit leaked from beneath everyone’s fingernails.

Inside the Winter Palace

Alexander II roared, “Those bastards, since when did they get the right to meddle with the great Russian Empire!”

The foreign diplomatic interference had ignited the fury of His Majesty the Tsar. It was always them interfering in others’ internal affairs, but when had anyone dared to interfere with theirs?

As for whether the Polish issue counted as an internal affair of Russia, was there even a need to question it? Once occupied by the Tsarist Government, that land was Russian territory, regardless of whether the outside world acknowledged it.

No one dared provoke the enraged Tsarist; they tacitly watched as Alexander II vented his inner rage.

…

“Has the Rebellion Suppression Army departed yet? I want all those traitors hanged!” Alexander II said through gritted teeth.

Upon hearing Alexander II’s inquiry, everyone knew that His Majesty the Tsar had regained his composure.

Army Minister Matthias answered, “The hundred-thousand-strong Rebellion Suppression Army has set sail from the Baltic Sea and will enter the Polish Region the day after tomorrow to crush the rebellion.”

The Polish independence activists were not taken seriously by everyone. If the Russian Empire had been so fragile, it would have been partitioned long ago.

Alexander II continued to ask, “What about the Austrians? Have they provided a reasonable explanation?”

Foreign Minister Clarence Ivanov answered, “The Vienna Government claims to be unaware of these issues, believing them to be the handiwork of England and France, intending to instigate discord between our countries.

They have provided some information on the rebels; many of them aren’t permanent residents of Austria but have entered in recent years, and there are records of having served in the British and French armies.”

Without a doubt, most of this information was fabricated. In order to absolve themselves of responsibility, the Vienna Government didn’t mind letting England and France take the blame, especially since it was difficult to verify in that era.

This answer was undoubtedly hard for the Tsarist Government to accept, but they had no choice but to do so. Of all the great powers, only Austria remained supportive of them. They couldn’t simply turn an ally into an enemy over such an issue, could they?

Alexander II asked in irritation, “And what about Prussia then? Are England and France also seeking to stir up discord between Prussia and Russia?”

Make no mistake, his being pro-Prussian could change at any time in the face of national interests.

Foreign Minister Clarence answered, “No, the Berlin Government claims it is purely the individuals’ own actions and they bear no relation to it.

To prevent similar incidents in the future, the Berlin Government has announced the revocation of their citizenship, leaving them at our mercy.”

This explanation was even more untenable than that of the Vienna Government. The Berlin Government had no choice; they had provided more substantial support to the Polish Independence Organization and couldn’t cover it up even if they wanted to.

The relationship between Russia and Austria had been good for decades; the Vienna Government could afford to be a bit more brazen and pin the blame on England and France, but Prussia could not. Relations between the two countries had been sour, and there was no need to stir things up.

Besides, with Prussia planning to attack Denmark, mending ties with the Tsarist Government now would be useless.

After pondering for a while, Alexander II pieced everything together; in essence, the countries of Europe did not wish to see Russia undergo reforms and become stronger.

Knowing the truth, Alexander II calmed down.

“Regardless of any reactions from the outside world, the Polish rebellion must be suppressed. The Foreign Ministry has its work cut out, as looking around, the European Continent has become Russia’s enemy. So where are our allies?

We cannot rely on Austria for everything. When one day there is a conflict of interests between the two countries, or should the Vienna Government feel this alliance no longer benefits them, it will be too late to do anything!”

The Russian Empire needed new allies to change its passive state in foreign affairs.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” answered Foreign Minister Clarence with a wry smile.

This wasn’t because they weren’t working hard enough, but because Russia genuinely couldn’t find suitable allies at the moment. Geopolitical realities dictated that the countries on the European Continent naturally stood opposed to them.

Unless the Tsarist Government gave up its European strategy and refrained from expanding in the European Region, such conflicts were inevitable.

No European country wanted to see the Russian Empire grow stronger; a powerful Russia threatened everyone’s survival.

The deterioration in Prusso-Russian relations was not due solely to the Danish issue; it was more about the Tsarist Government’s desire to expand in Europe, and Franz had merely pierced through this pretense.

Feeling their security threatened, the Kingdom of Prussia had no choice but to drift closer to England and France. The growth of the anti-Russian faction was because the sword of Damocles of Russo-Austrian partitioning of the Kingdom of Prussia hovered overhead.

…

Unable to find a break on the European Continent, the possibility of Russia turning to America was propitious. In the fall of 1864, the Tsarist Government dispatched a naval fleet to visit the United States.

This wasn’t the best choice, but it was the only choice for both the Tsarist Government and the United States. Two isolated entities choosing to band together for warmth was the most natural course of action.

“`

Franz’s butterfly effect merely postponed the convergence of Russia and the United States by two years.

The Tsarist Government attempted to use the Federal government to divert the attention of European nations, easing their diplomatic pressure on the European Continent; meanwhile, the Federal government hoped to gain Russia’s support to offset some of the pressures from the powers.

At the end of 1864, at a crucial moment when the American Civil War was on the verge of determining a winner, the Russians took a stand on the side of the Northern government, which bolstered the relocated Federal government in New York significantly.

…

The American West Coast, in this era, was still in the development phase. Even the later highly acclaimed “California” was just getting started, far from catching up with the states on the East Coast.

After the outbreak of the Civil War, the main force of the Federal navy was concentrated on the East Coast. This was not favoritism from Governor Lincoln’s administration, but a situation dictated by reality.

In this era, shipbuilding in the United States was concentrated on the East Coast, and the shipbuilding industry on the West Coast was too underdeveloped to build warships.

After the Civil War erupted, the Federal navy’s warships were never sufficient. Since the areas of conflict between the North and South were on the East Coast and because of the intervention of the powers, the Federal navy failed to gain an advantage. Naturally, the Federal government was unable to spare warships to reinforce the West Coast.

Of course, the Southern Government’s navy also never appeared on the West Coast; the states along the western coastline faced privateers, which, in other words, were legal pirates.

After the outbreak of the Civil War, both sides issued letters of marque to strike at each other’s maritime transport.

Due to the scarcity of islands on the Pacific western coast, pirates lacked supply points, which relatively kept the American West Coast peaceful.

Besides the occasional attack by opportunistic pirates, most of the time was free from the threat of war. That is, until a few months ago, when the situation changed, and the number of pirates on the West Coast suddenly surged.

The rampant pirates once seized the Channel Islands dozens of miles from California, frequently attacking coastal ports and bringing much distress to states along the West Coast.

Everyone understood that the pirate’s main base was in the Mexican Empire. The two nations had been sworn enemies for a long time, and it was no surprise that the Mexican Government caused trouble for them at this time.

Eradicating the pirates was out of the question; the Federal government was already struggling with the Civil War, and if they provoked a foreign war, they would undoubtedly be overwhelmed.

No matter how weakened Mexico was, it was not something that a few states on the West Coast could handle. Apart from diplomatic protests, there wasn’t much the Federal government could do.

Within this context, the visit of the Russian Far Eastern Fleet to San Francisco, and its incidental destruction of a pirate ship, immediately garnered an enthusiastic welcome from the populace of California, who had been threatened by pirates.

Admiral Popov, who was originally visiting to improve relations, became so drunk on praise after a few drinks that he hazily made promises to combat piracy.

The speaker was careless, but the listener was intent.

It wasn’t just Americans who attended the banquet; envoys from various countries stationed in California were also present. Although they all had their biases in the Civil War, the Americans still adhered to diplomatic etiquette.

After the banquet was over, the British representative appeared at the Austrian embassy in California.

“Carter, don’t you think the Russians are too arrogant? With just those few shabby ships of theirs, they want to fight pirates. I think they’re more likely to get beaten by pirates,” prodded British representative Rhodes.

The Russian Far Eastern Fleet didn’t have many ships to begin with, and it was just a fraction of them present, so it’s not surprising that they could lose to pirates, especially considering these were no ordinary pirates.

If someone investigated, they would find that these pirates originated from Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean region. Their presence on the West Coast undoubtedly implied someone was pulling the strings.

The main reason for this situation was, after all, profit. Pirates also needed to fence their loot, and therefore, there were financial interests at play.

Perhaps, many think piracy, as a get-rich-quick scheme, is hugely profitable, but in reality, those who control the fencing points truly make enormous profits.

The same goods, once inside the fencing market, would be worth at most a third or a quarter of their original price, with the max profit never in the hands of the pirates, but with those behind the scenes controlling the channels.

Establishing such a channel in Mexico was obviously not a simple task. Without a bunch of protectors, it would probably have been wiped out by the navies of various countries long ago.

Without a doubt, Rhodes had been pulled into it. The Russians aiming to combat piracy meant cutting off his revenue stream.

To probe Austria’s stance was simply to fear the Austrian fleet in Central America would back the Russians. One wouldn’t want to have just dealt with the Russians only to invite bigger troubles afterward.

The Austrian representative Carter cooperated and said, “There’s no way around it, perhaps the Russians have always been this arrogant. Maybe they even intend to make a fortune by fighting pirates.

You see, in the past few months, the goods plundered by pirates amounted to tens of millions of US Dollars. Even if only a tenth of that remained, it would still be a substantial sum.”

As the saying goes, money talks. As long as there are financial interests, even if the entire Russian fleet were to be annihilated, it wouldn’t matter.

Russia and Austria may be allies, but that doesn’t mean there are no conflicts of interest between them. For example, right now: Austria supports the Southern Government, while Russia supports the Northern government, and both sides stand opposed.

Given these circumstances, to avoid affecting the bilateral relations, everyone naturally made concessions. Apart from the customary greetings, Carter and the Russian representative had no further contact.

In fact, this also made their stance clear: on the American issue, Russia couldn’t count on Austria’s assistance.

The British targeting the Russian fleet was not just for show. Privately, it was due to personal financial losses; and in the line of duty, it was to suppress the Russian arrogance.

If the visiting fleet were to be attacked by pirates while fighting them and ended up defeated, should such an event occur, the Tsarist Government would be subjected to ridicule for at least twenty years.

The diplomatic support that the Russians brought to the Northern government would also vanish overnight as a result.

“`