That much can be glimpsed from our revenues alone. The expense of maintaining several hundred thousand troops is no small sum.
The Near East War is a long war of attrition. Given enough time, it could completely squeeze dry Britain's entire potential.
And in the foreseeable future, Britain and the Ottoman Empire are certain to be unable to outlast Russia.
Faced with a hopeless, massively draining war, what would you do?"
"Cut our losses in time?"
Napoleon III had not fought many wars, but he understood the principles of business well enough.
"Exactly. But Russia is unlikely to abandon its ambitions, and the Ottomans will not easily give up their land.
At the very least, Britain, as their ally, cannot persuade the Ottoman Empire to voluntarily cede its territory. Otherwise, there would be no point in being allies at all.
So the best approach is to increase the pressure until the Ottomans have no choice but to surrender, while bringing in Austria to check Russia."
Walewski was exceedingly confident in his conjecture, but Napoleon III had doubts of his own.
"But what about the British contribution? What did they gain? A rather undignified defeat?"
"This is cutting losses, understand? Cutting losses! The Near East War is nothing but a burden! Being able to cast off that burden is already a stroke of immense luck."
"Heh, I don't think it's that simple. And how did the British manage it? If they had that capability, why not assassinate Nicholas I—or Joseph I?
Isn't assassinating just one empress making a mountain out of a molehill? Doing so might even alert the enemy."
Walewski could not explain it either, so he could only change the subject.
"Neither the British nor the Americans have come to ask us to remain neutral. They really can keep