Chapter 837
Anyone can set a target. The Austrian Navy will target 80% of the Royal Navy, and the French Navy will naturally not be cowardly.
As the second largest naval power in the world, it has to surpass the Austrian Navy, for example, to reach 90% of the tonnage of the Royal Navy.
Everyone is very generous, and has no intention of challenging the British sea power. The shipbuilding plan is only close to the navy, and there is no call to surpass it.
Of course, this is only the view of France and Austria, and it is another view in the eyes of the London government.
Whether it is 80% or 90% tonnage, this affects the hegemony of the Royal Navy.
Everyone is a world empire, and it is impossible for the navy to gather together every day. If someone does not follow the rules and suddenly launches a sneak attack, the outcome is really hard to say.
Even if the Royal Navy could win, it would lose dearly. After taking down one challenger, there is no ability to take down another.
This kind of lose-lose war, the two army powers of Fao can afford to lose, and even if they fail, there is a chance to make a comeback.
Britain can't do it. Once the Royal Navy suffers heavy losses, the enemies of the past will pounce on them and carve up their world empire, and there is no chance of a comeback.
The real threat is imminent, and the British government, which took the initiative to provoke an arms race, will naturally not give up at this time.
In the Downing Street government building, comparing the French and Austrian shipbuilding plans, Prime Minister Gladstone smiled: "It seems that our opponents are very high-spirited!
Austria plans to build 5 battleships, and the total tonnage of various warships is close to 80% of our shipbuilding plan; the French build 6 battleships, and the total tonnage of various warships is almost 90% of ours.
An eight-point threat theory, a nine-point countermeasure theory, do they think that the navy is really just building warships? "
In the naval field, Britain has the confidence to despise any competitor. Although the French and Austrian navies have started for many years, the core of the essence is the land power state.
This deep-rooted cultural influence cannot be changed in a day or two. As long as the core does not change, it is difficult to really compete with the British Navy.
The way of expression is mainly reflected in money, and other aspects can find a way to make up for it.
In recent years, the military expenditure of the French Navy has remained roughly 55% of that of the Royal Navy, and the military expenditure of the Austrian Navy is roughly 50% of that of the Royal Navy.
It's not that the two governments have no money, or that the two governments don't want to continue to increase. The problem is that the family still has a large army to support.
Take Austria as an example. In recent years, the expenditures of both the navy and the army have been almost equal. As the son of the army, the annual military expenditure is only one or two points higher than the symbolic value of the navy.
Of course, the fact that the Austrian Navy can maintain 65% of the naval tonnage with half the military expenditure of the Royal Navy does not mean that the training has been compromised.
In addition to the slightly lower salaries of officers and soldiers, more overseas colonies are not as many as those of the British, and their distribution is not so wide.
Foreign Secretary George: "Who knows? But now the morale of the people of the two countries is very high, and the desire to build ships is very good.
According to the news from the embassy in Paris, many civil organizations such as the French Naval Federation and the French Naval Club are calling on the public to donate and raise funds for shipbuilding.
In just three days, more than 18 million francs were raised, and the cost of building a battleship came out.
Austria has not accepted private donations for the time being, but many organizations such as the German National Unification Committee and the German Renaissance Federation are promoting it.
If the arms race continues, they will most likely solicit donations from the entire German region.
Affected by public opinion, the previous arms purchase deal we reached with the North German government was rejected by the state parliament.
The Hanoverian government hopes that we can provide them with shipbuilding technology and help them complete orders in their own shipyards, otherwise the business will end up in Austrian hands. "
This is not the first time that the National Assembly has vetoed the British arms purchase. To be precise, it has not been approved once since North Germany was formally established.
The main reason for the frequent rejection of orders is nationalism. Most people believe that Britain is the main culprit for the division of the German region, and they oppose military cooperation with the British in any situation.
In the face of overwhelming public opinion, the weak North German central government was naturally unable to bear it, and the state parliament was only a tool to push to the front.
Hearing this explanation, Prime Minister Gladstone's good mood suddenly disappeared, cursing: "It's another damn nationalism, this is definitely the biggest ideological cancer in the world.
I bet that if the situation in Europe gets out of hand one day, it will definitely be caused by nationalism.
Leave them alone, what is the difference between handing over the shipbuilding technology to them and giving it directly to the Austrians?
Tell the North German government that we can not order these warships, but they must not fall into the hands of Austria, otherwise they will bear the consequences. "
There is no way, the German region has always been the cradle of European nationalism, and it is not at all controllable.
The princes have been fighting for hundreds of years, and everyone has long been tired. In the original time and space, Prussia could easily annex many states in North Germany because of the spread of nationalism and people's peace of mind.
The same is true now. Even because the foreign powers interfered in the reunification of the German region, the people felt that they had been humiliated, and nationalism was a bit higher than the same period in history.
plus austrian
Adding fuel to the flames, anti-Britishness has become the mainstream thought in the German region, and the Hanoverian brother who was supported by this influence is not so obedient.
It is not that the British government has not fought back, but unfortunately the effect has not been very good. Not only did the people not buy it, but even the rulers showed little interest.
If before nationalism erupted, advocating the Austrian threat theory would certainly be effective, but unfortunately the time is not right.
In the minds of nationalists, the Austrian Threat Theory is similar to the Austrian Unity Theory, which is not scary at all.
In this context, it would be too embarrassing to expect North German shipyards to keep British shipbuilding technology secret.
It is not surprising that Prime Minister Gladstone is angry. In the face of a younger brother who only sees investment but sees no return, and whose position is swaying, whoever puts it aside will have opinions.
...
Lord Lord Astley Cooper Key: "Your Excellency, the Admiralty's new shipbuilding plan has been drawn up."
Prime Minister Gladstone took over the document and just glanced at the number and cost of the ships to be built. As for the specific parameters, this is not something he needs to consider as a layman.
"Is it too much to add six more battleships. If France and Austria are scared away, how can this game continue?"
Prime Minister Gladstone's concerns are justified. For a country, face is of course important, but face cannot be eaten as a meal.
If Britain is playing too hard, it is normal for France and Austria to retreat, after all, they are two land power countries.
If you lose the naval arms race, you will lose, and you will die. Anyway, if there is a referee, to put it another way, anyone can declare themselves a winner.
Hearing this figure, Chancellor of the Exchequer Xiaozhi Childers said first: "This year's budget has been allocated, and even next year's budget has a place to go.
The shipbuilding plans of France and Austria are three or five years, so we don't need to worry at all. The Navy's shipbuilding plan might as well be delayed for two years. "
In fact, the Royal Navy's shipbuilding plans are carried out separately most of the time. This time, only to get a head start, a "six battleships" were started together.
Naturally, the effect was great. Britain showed the world their powerful shipbuilding ability, which once again shocked the world.
With the exception of Britain, no country in the world has a record of six new battleships being built at the same time.
However, the world number one also has to pay a price, that is, the money is spent extremely quickly.
Although a fortune was made from the Jews, the bureaucrats' ability to spend money was unquestionable. In just a few months, the spending plans reported by various departments greatly exceeded the total amount.
In order to control the speed of the government's spending, the foresight Xiaozhi Childers chose to reduce his holdings of government debt early.
Except for a few important plans that were approved, most of the plans were shelved indefinitely. We will wait until we think of it in which year to implement it!
In this respect, this British government is excellent, at least in its sense of responsibility.
Astley Cooper Key frowned, looked at the Chancellor of the Exchequer for a while, and finally lost helplessly.
No way, the money bag can't afford it. Even if the shipbuilding funds are allocated, the subsequent increase in military expenditures will also require the support of the Ministry of Finance.
Astley Cooper Key took the next step and said: "The shipbuilding can be postponed, but I think it is better to announce the plan earlier.
To consume the financial resources of France and Austria, we must put more pressure on them. If they are as tepid as they are now, it will not have any effect at all. "
It is indeed tepid, and the arms race has only started in theory. The shipyards of various countries have not started their work at full capacity, building two or three battleships every year. Is this also embarrassing to say an arms race?
You know, Britain builds two or three battleships every year in normal years. Otherwise, it will not make up for the retirement gap of the Royal Navy's capital ships.
...
As the British continued to overweight, the arms race was in full swing. Watching the wonderful performances by the governments of Britain, France and Austria, Alexander III seemed particularly lonely.
At such an important moment, the Russian Empire was actually absent.
You know, even the declining small countries such as Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands have gritted their teeth and announced their own shipbuilding plans.
Although the scale is a little smaller, or it is a symbolic construction of a brush to exist, after all, it still participated.
It's not that the Russian Empire is so poor that they can't even get the money to build a warship. The key is that they don't have the technology!
Several major Russian shipyards have not received orders for warships for decades, and the technology has long been abandoned, let alone new battleships, even the original ironclads have not been built.
The so-called shipbuilding materials are still in the era of sailing warships. Without any technical accumulation, is it not a joke to step into the pre-dreadnought era?
Alexander III asked with concern: "How about, did the Austrians agree to transfer the shipbuilding technology?"
These days, shipbuilding technology is basically the highest level of technology in a country, and everyone is strictly confidential.
Foreign Minister Oscar Jimenez: "The Austrian government has agreed to transfer the technology, but we need to discuss the cost with the shipyard ourselves.
Our people visited the heads of several Austrian warship factories, and the results were not optimistic. They asked for bundled sales, and the quotations far exceeded our ability to bear.
Venetian shipyard with lowest offer, latest battle
The technology transfer conditions for ships are also as high as 8 million Aegis, plus orders for 4 battleships, 10 destroyers, 6 cruisers, and 36 auxiliary warships. "
This is no longer a technology transfer, it is clearly a rip-off. But there is no way, there are only a few countries that master these technologies.
There are less than 20 shipyards in the world with new battleship shipbuilding technology, and even fewer are willing to sell the technology.
In fact, Oscar Jimenez still has something to say, that is, the Venetian shipyard with the lowest price has never built a new battleship.
How advanced the so-called advanced technology is, no one can answer this question.
In fact, many shipyards in Austria can build warships, but their main business is the construction of civilian merchant ships.
Participating in the manufacture of warships, the main goal is to make a sign for oneself, which is similar to advertising.
Generally speaking, the standard recognized by the outside world is that a shipyard that can build capital ships for the military is a first-class shipyard;
A shipyard that can build destroyers and cruisers is a second-rate shipyard;
A shipyard that can only build attached warships is a third-rate shipyard;
The shipyard of a ship that cannot be built, that is, a small family workshop, no matter how large.
Just like this Venice shipyard, it was pk down during the bidding process, and it still did not give up related technology research and development.
Originally planning to continue bidding for the next time, when they heard that the Russians wanted to introduce technology, they were ready to ripped off.
As for the other shipyards participating in the quotation, of course, they jointly raised the price together. If the business is negotiated, the Venice Shipyard will inevitably give everyone a compensation.
To expect shipyards to lower prices due to competition is simply overthinking, and no one will have a hard time with money.
Alexander III was surprised: "How can it be so expensive?"
Foreign Secretary Oscar Jimenez explained: "The main reason is that very few factories have mastered these technologies, and they also involve the core technologies of enterprises, which are generally not sold to the outside world.
If it weren't for the order from our navy, these shipyards wouldn't even quote a price. "
Alexander III nodded. People didn't want to sell their technology, so they deliberately quoted a sky-high price to scare them off. That's normal.
Outsourcing warships, this option never existed. A few more warships are meaningless to the Russian Empire without access to state-of-the-art shipbuilding technology.
After pondering for a while, Alexander III said bitterly: "Let's talk slowly! We are not in a hurry, anyway, this arms race has nothing to do with us.
If we can't get the most advanced shipbuilding technology, we will take the next step and get the related technologies of these warships in our hands. "
If Austria hadn't sent a bunch of warships to his door, Alexander III would never have thought of buying shipbuilding technology.
There is no way now, not to buy technology from Austria, the later maintenance of the warship, but also to drive the ship to the Austrian shipyard.
As a result, the Russian Navy can only rotate in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, and it is impossible to divide a fleet into the Baltic Sea.
As for Russian shipyards, there are quite a few who volunteered to say that they can do post-maintenance maintenance, but the Admiralty couldn't believe it, worried that these baby bumps would be harmed by them.
Not only the navy did not believe it, in fact Alexander III did not believe it either. He had received a new education and knew how complicated the Navy was.
There is a problem with the maintenance of the warship, which may be inconspicuous in normal times, and can kill people at critical moments.