On December 21, 1887, British Prime Minister Gladstone publicly declared war on Afghanistan in response to parliamentary questioning. The Second Anglo-Afghan War erupted.
These days, the British Empire did not need parliamentary authorization to bully a small country. In fact, if not for the Walters Assassination causing such an uproar, Afghanistan would not even have been worthy of a declaration of war.
Like most indigenous small nations of this era, Afghanistan's government had never been recognized by the European world.
In the eyes of most Europeans, the Kingdom of Afghanistan was little different from an indigenous tribe. Even the British army's defeat in the previous Afghan war had not changed that perception.
That was because the Indian colonial army could not represent Britain's true fighting strength. The force that had fought Afghanistan was merely the East India Company, not the entire British Empire.
This could be seen from the declaration of war against Afghanistan. Though they knew Afghanistan might have been wrongly accused, the British Government still declared war, too lazy even to go through the motions of an investigation.
From the moment Britain declared war on Afghanistan, Franz retired after achieving success and became a cheerful spectator munching on melon seeds.
Yet after waiting and waiting, the good show simply refused to begin. The British Government's slogans were earth-shaking, but no actual action followed.
They had said troops would be dispatched after Christmas, yet February came and went without war breaking out. If they waited any longer, it would be the next Christmas.
If Franz still did not realize that the British were playing at declaring war without fighting it, then he would have been emperor all these years for nothing.
Franz asked, "How are the Russians preparing?"
Foreign Minister Wessenberg replied, "The Tsarist Government has assembled two