Holy Roman Empire

By the late 19th century, the colonial wave had reached its end. Almost all lands suitable for colonization had been divided up, leaving only scraps and challenging territories.

As colonial expansion continued, the buffer zones between countries vanished, and international conflicts increased.

The competition for the remaining lands became especially intense, reaching a peak during the “Anglo-Boer War.” After Britain and Austria seriously clashed in South Africa, nations began to realize the horrors of war and gradually calmed down.

The essence of European colonialism was profit, not simply expanding territory. In colonial pursuits, the main consideration was always the balance of investment and return.

Britain, France, and Austria were the major winners of the colonial era. Even France, with the smallest colonial empire among them, controlled millions of square kilometers.

As the primary beneficiaries, Britain, France, and Austria had had their fill. The pursuit of colonies was no longer as fervent. The most fertile areas had already been divided, and the remaining marginal lands were not worth the continued rivalry.

The British proposed a tripartite alliance, not only to weaken the Franco-Austrian alliance but also to ease tensions among the three powers.

Looking at the map, one could see that Britain, France, and Austria occupied half the globe. As long as there were no internal problems among the three nations, their hegemony could not be challenged.

For established powers, stability was the best option. Now, as they were all “wearing shoes,” they could no longer act as recklessly as when they were still “barefoot.”

A tripartite balance was the most stable structure, and until that balance broke, global turmoil was unlikely. Even the tension between Prussia and Russia was largely due to intentional neglect by the three powers.

Three countries dividing the world would result in greater benefits than four or five countries sharing it.

Prussia and Russia were both powerful. If they weren’t pitted against each other, they would also have the strength to participate in dividing the world—something the old empires wished to prevent.

Under the combined will of the three nations, the Prussian-Russian conflict became insurmountable, much like the Franco-German rivalry in the original timeline, where peace was impossible until one emerged as the victor.

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At the Vienna Palace, Franz held high expectations for this trilateral conference. Despite the apparent rivalry between Britain, France, and Austria, they still shared a common stance on key issues.

For example: maintaining European stability, suppressing emerging imperial challengers, and consolidating their global dominance.

In terms of hegemonic distribution, Britain, France, and Austria roughly shared influence in a 4.2:3.0:2.8 ratio. On the surface, Austria appeared to be getting the short end of the deal, seemingly misaligned with its national power.

However, this couldn’t be calculated so simply. The value of this “hegemony” essentially equated to international influence. Austria had entered colonial expansion much later than Britain and France, so its overseas influence was naturally weaker.

This isn’t something that could change overnight, and as long as Austria secured tangible benefits, Franz wasn’t overly concerned with international influence.

Foreign Minister Wessenberg handed over a document and said, “Your Majesty, this is the draft from the first day of negotiations. The main points are in two parts:

Firstly, a treaty to delineate each nation’s sphere of influence, reducing international conflicts, with the possibility of inviting other colonial powers to join later;

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Secondly, a joint effort to suppress potential rivals, ranked by threat level by the British.

In the first tier: the Russian Empire and the United States of America;

In the second tier: the Prussian-Polish Federation, the Confederate States of America, and Spain;

The third tier includes a larger group: the Nordic Federation, the German Federal Empire, Brazil, Argentina…

Overall, apart from the first and second-tier nations, the rest are not seen as significant threats. These countries may have some development potential, but none show imminent signs of rising in power.”

There’s no doubt that this so-called threat report is simply just for show. At present, Britain’s true concerns only revolve around France and Austria. Other countries are far from posing any real threat to them.

For the British, French, and Austrians to truly collaborate in earnest would require something drastic, like the Russian Empire making an extraordinary move to swallow the Prussian-Polish Federation in one stroke, which could indeed provoke a sense of panic and lead to a joint response.

Otherwise, any actions would likely remain superficial—diplomatic resistance at best, with little chance of direct intervention, as it was too difficult to get everyone to completely let down their guard and cooperate.

Franz took the document and said, “Let’s start by discussing the division of spheres of influence! What territories can we gain, and at what cost?

Suppressing emerging powers isn’t a short-term task. It’s enough for us to prevent American unification and avoid a definitive outcome between Prussia and Russia.”

It wasn’t that Franz didn’t understand the importance of suppressing competitors. The problem was that these countries’ current strength was still limited, and nobody really perceived them as threats.

The British bringing this up so early already showed remarkable strategic vision. However, these threats only existed in the future and were full of uncertainty, while the benefits of dividing spheres of influence were immediate.

Politics can’t afford to overlook reality. No one would sacrifice present gains to counter a distant, hypothetical enemy.

Rather than worrying about potential competitors, it was better to consider current competitors. Having excellent foresight and seeing far-reaching problems was good, but the prerequisite was that Austria remained strong.

If their own strength was insufficient to share in world hegemony, then even if they eliminated all these potential competitors, they would just be doing others’ work for them.

Wessenberg replied, “This matter involves a vast scope, almost covering the entire world, including regions like the Mediterranean, West Asia, the South Seas, the Far East, Africa, and South America.

The areas affecting our interests are primarily concentrated in the Mediterranean, Africa, the South Seas, South America, as well as West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula.”

Franz was taken aback. If this plan became a reality, the international landscape would undergo a dramatic transformation.

The major colonial empires dividing spheres of influence through treaties might seem ineffective, but if agreements are reached, conflicts between nations could be reduced by more than half.

Even if a conflict arises, the three major powers could intervene as mediators, significantly lowering the likelihood of war.

Looking at this, it didn’t seem like John Bull’s style at all. Since when had the British become such peace lovers?

Well, Franz admitted he was prejudiced against the British, but this was a conclusion drawn from countless cases.

In the past few hundred years, more than half of Europe’s wars have been linked to the British, making any association with peace unlikely.

“Do you know the reason? Why do the British suddenly want to reduce international conflicts?”