Chapter 562
The sudden Russo-Polish conflict shattered all of Prime Minister Dąbrowski's plans. One mishandled step, and Russia and Poland could erupt into full-scale war.
Under these circumstances, without the support of the Kingdom of Prussia, Poland would not even have the strength to fight a single battle. It could be said that the Tsarist Government had done the Prussians a tremendous favor, forcing the Polish Government to compromise.
Was it really that simple? The tsar was no fool. Without sufficient benefits, why would they help their own enemy?
While the Polish Government was still completely bewildered, Franz, far away in Vienna, had already figured out the whole story. It was nothing more than Prussia and Russia secretly striking a deal to carve up the Kingdom of Poland together.
Before interests, there were no enemies. The Tsarist Government wanted to recover lost territory, while the Prussians wanted to expand their strength; both had set their sights on the Poles.
Only a few years ago, the two sides had fought one another to the death. The scars of war had not yet faded, and they had joined hands once more.
To ordinary people, this might seem utterly unimaginable, but reality was just that absurd.
For the Kingdom of Prussia, swallowing Poland whole was certainly tempting. But the Kingdom of Poland was simply too large, amounting to seventy or eighty percent of Prussia's size. If they tried to gulp it down in one bite, they might very well choke to death.
Under such circumstances, choosing to divide it with someone else, reducing the difficulty of the operation and sharing the international pressure, was the best choice.
The Berlin Government had also been forced into cooperating with the Russians. The only countries bordering Poland were Prussia, Russia, and Austria. Austria was too strong;