Palace of Versailles
British Foreign Secretary Thomas said to Napoleon III, "Your Majesty, the Russo-Austrian Alliance poses far too great a threat to us. Since the outbreak of the Near East War, if not for Austria's support, the Russians would have collapsed long ago.
Now the opportunity has arrived. The Austrians want to unify the German regions, and the Russians will certainly oppose it.
Judging from the current situation, the Vienna Government has made concessions. In exchange for Russian support for annexing South Germany, they agreed to support the Russians in obtaining Constantinople.
This deal, which appeared to satisfy both sides' needs, ran into trouble during its execution. The Russians failed to take Constantinople, while Austria swallowed South Germany in one bite.
There must be many within the Tsarist government who do not wish to see Austria's plans succeed. Therefore, their support for Austria is bound to be limited.
Faced with the combined diplomatic pressure of the European nations, the Austrian Government naturally will not be able to withstand it. They were already on the losing end of this deal. If they then discover that the Russians are putting on a show without doing the work, the Vienna Government will certainly become dissatisfied.
If we offer to recognize their annexation of South Germany and use that as bait to induce Austria to abandon the Russo-Austrian Alliance, the likelihood of success will be very high."
The existence of the Russo-Austrian Alliance had already gravely threatened the core interests of Britain and France. This concerned the struggle for dominance over the European Continent.
From the end of the anti-French wars until now, Russia, having obtained continental hegemony, had failed to expand outward. Aside from the restraints of the Vienna System, the more important reason was that the Tsarist government's diplomatic methods were