Struggle in Russia

Prince Alexander Gorchakov is a handsome, handsome, middle-aged man. Unlike the Russians of this era who like to grow beards, they always give people a rough feeling. He doesn't like to grow a beard. After getting up every day, he will always shave carefully in front of the mirror, and he will not be satisfied until his lips and chin are clean.

Not only the shave, hair, clothes, leather shoes, every part of his body is exquisite and elegant. Wearing small round glasses, he always gives people a sense of elegance of a university professor.

The Duke doesn't like to mingle with young people like his cousin Mikhail. In fact, he is more popular in the women's circle. Nicknamed the old playboy, he kills women from the eighties to the eighteenth. , I am really very feminine.

But that's not to say the duke is a pervert. On the contrary, the duke is indeed a passionate seed, but he is also very sincere about his feelings. In the early years, he fell in love with his current wife bitterly, but at that time his wife had already married his best friend and was already a wife and mother.

But this duke has never changed his infatuation, and has never married. It wasn't until 1825 that his friend was exiled to Siberia because of his participation in the Decembrist uprising.

Of course, it's not that the Duke jumped in right away, he wasn't that dastardly. In fact, he was very loyal to his friend. During his friend's exile, he always restrained himself and kept good manners. He just silently took care of his friend's wife and children who stayed in St. Petersburg. It was not until his friend died of tuberculosis in the exile that he began to pursue his lover again.

You know, the lover in his heart was no longer young at that time, and she was already the mother of four children. As the Duke and the fifth child of the diamond, he had a better choice, but the Duke did not hesitate. For him, love above all else.

Of course, the Duke is not the kind of good man in the traditional sense, and there are still some flirtatious things. He is quite envious of the colorful flags fluttering outside and the red flags at home that do not fall down!

It stands to reason that in Vienna, the capital of music, in this city where waltzes are better than walking, where singing and dancing are everywhere, old playboys should be happy. But today, he was not happy, because the situation in Vienna or Austria was very weird.

Since the beginning of winter, the whole of Austria has been shrouded in an extremely strong emotion. Dissatisfaction with the Habsburg family and dissatisfaction with national policies are unprecedentedly intense. Liberals, nationalists, and constitutional monarchists have jumped out one by one, and the whole country is like a pot of boiling water, already on the verge of boiling.

"Strike again?" Alexander Gorchakov asked the adjutant, "Where is this time?"

"Hungarians, they demand autonomy."

Alexander Gorchakov sighed,

Asked: "Is there any news from Prime Minister Metternich?"

"No, the prime minister is also in a state of distress."

Alexander Gorchakov shook his head and dismissed the adjutant, and walked slowly to the window of the embassy. The street in front of him was covered with leaflets, and occasionally an emotional street speaker could be seen.

In the beginning, the police worked hard, constantly arresting and driving them away, but in the past month, it is obvious that the police have begun to slack off.

This is not good news, it shows that something is wrong with the entire state apparatus! It means that the political situation is extremely unstable!

"This is something big is about to happen!"

Alexander Gorchakov stubbed out his cigarette, walked quickly back to his desk, took out the official paper, and began to write in a hurry, writing down the latest situation in Vienna as well as his own analysis and judgment in detail.

After a long time, he stuffed the letter into a diplomatic envelope and sealed it with wax, then rang the bell and called his attendants: "Take the diplomatic express line and send it back to St. Petersburg immediately!"

It's just that Alexander Gorchakov knows that his analysis and judgment may not attract much attention in the country. Both Nesselrode and Nicholas I stubbornly believed in the coordination doctrine, and they simply couldn't listen to the opinions of others. Most of his suggestions fell to the ground without any response.

Alexander Gorchakov went back to the window and sighed: "Do your best to obey the destiny!"

So what does Alexander Gorchakov suggest in his letter? His suggestion was simple but bold. He first predicted the political situation in Austria. He believed that Ferdinand I and Metternich could no longer control the situation, and Austria would soon fall into chaos.

He also believes that the chaos in Austria is beneficial to Russia. Russia can use the chaos in Austria to achieve aspirations that it has not imagined for centuries. It can use this to annex Wallachia and Moldavia, and even make Serbia also gained independence.

"...We can definitely flex our muscles in the Balkans and establish a new Orthodox Balkan order!"

Alexander Gorchakov is not a fanatical believer, and he has no deep hatred for Austria. He just sees opportunities belonging to Russia from the perspective of a diplomat.

In the previous decades and hundreds of years, Russia fought eight wars with Turkey. Although each time it achieved something, it was not a decisive victory. At most, it occupied the Black Sea and touched the gate of the Mediterranean.

But every time I pay a huge price, I can only make small steps forward. What is the reason? It's not that the Turks are so powerful, in fact the sick man of the Near East is completely vulnerable. What really made the Russian army have to stop was the poor geographical conditions of Wallachia and Moldavia, and then it was the entanglement of the big powers.

It is not only Britain and France that are stumbling Russia, but also Austria who does not want Russia to continue to expand its influence in the region.

As an ally of the Holy Alliance, in fact, the Austrians did not make a lot of trouble secretly. Every time the Russians fought against Turkey, the Austrians took advantage of it, but in the end it was a white-eyed wolf. As Russia gets closer to Constantinople, and as Serbia's pan-Slavic movement becomes more intense, the Austrians are deeply wary of Russia's continued expansion of influence.

Alexander Gorchakov felt that if Austria was hit hard during the turmoil, at least because of domestic affairs, then Russia could open up the situation directly. He even suggested to Nicholas I:

"...is it possible to provide some form of help to Austrian liberals and nationalists...it will help Austria to rely more on our support...so that our country can expand its influence openly...and it will be more Well consolidate the traditional friendship and alliance between the two countries!"

This suggestion is quite astonishing, at least for Nesselrode and Nicholas I, it is considered a thunderbolt...