London, Britain.
The sudden peace left the British Cabinet somewhat bewildered. No one knew when it had begun, but the British had become increasingly hazy in their assessments of the diplomatic situation. It was growing harder and harder for them to grasp the pulse of the age.
This was a heavy blow to Britain's entire diplomatic establishment. At the same time, its voice in the diplomatic arena was steadily weakening. Several key principles they had struggled to establish had been inexplicably cast aside, and the diplomatic order had been smashed to pieces by a handful of barbaric nations.
But no matter what, the Holy Alliance's willingness to agree to peace talks was a victory for Britain. What remained was how to preserve the Ottoman Empire as much as possible and ensure that the Black Sea Straits remained unthreatened.
To that end, the British government drew up several plans. However, as more and more detailed intelligence came back, John Russell felt that his judgment had been correct: some conflict must have arisen between Russia and Austria.
What Britain needed to do now was magnify it and lay the groundwork for manipulating the relationship between the two countries in the future.
John Russell sifted through the resources at his disposal. The Russians wanted to hold the peace conference in Saint Petersburg; perhaps that was the point of breakthrough. After all, the Austrian Empire had previously loved holding conferences to expand its influence.
Saint Petersburg happened to be too far away and difficult to reach, so they could encourage certain people to demand that the conference be held in Vienna instead.
The British themselves certainly could not approach the Austrians directly. That would be too obvious, and it would also underestimate the Austrian Empire's diplomatic finesse. After all, this was the country that