Bulgarian Empire

Chapter 73: State of Affairs

When the dust settled, Ferdinand finally put his restless heart down, as he had seen in the history of the Franco-Russian Alliance, which St. Petersburg had delayed for two years before ratifying.

The obvious "Russian-Bulgarian Alliance" is only limited to economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation.

But the Great Powers are not fools. No country will believe that this is merely an economic one.

However, the international situation at that time was such that Britain, Germany, and Austria wanted to turn Russia's attention to the East and relieve the pressure on Europe and India. In contrast, France wanted an alliance with Russia, so in this context, the Great Powers agreed tacitly to create the Russo-Bulgarian Alliance.

Because of this aspect, Ferdinand sent Chekhov on a visit to Russia at that moment of the Russian-Bulgarian talks. After all, it was more proper to send someone from the Ministry of Industry simply to purchase goods.

The route starting from Great Britain and then going through France, Germany, and Austria-Hungary reveals to the countries that Russia's strategy is moving east. Although this is no longer a secret, this move is purely a gesture of goodwill to the Great Powers to show that this alliance is not directed against all countries.

A single butterfly in the Amazonian rainforest of South America, with a few occasional flaps of its wings, could cause a tornado in the Americas two weeks later.

The butterfly effect of Ferdinand's traverse, which has already happened, has given birth from history without the Russian-Bulgarian Alliance. The Great Powers can ignore that they are strong, but the Balkan countries can not ignore it.

The first to be affected were Romania, caught between Bulgaria and Russia. Also, Russia has never concealed its ambitions for Romania.

Romania should be thankful that the current Tsar of Russia is Alexander III, a pacifist. It would be even worse for them otherwise.

After that was the Ottoman Empire, their feud with Russia has been there for hundreds of years, and both sides are blood feud. Although the average war is less than twenty years, the skirmishes have not been broken, and it is almost time to start counting the days.

Next is Serbia, the war between Serbia and Bulgaria only a few years past. In 1886, if not for Austria-Hungary, it is difficult to say what Serbia is now.

Bulgaria's rapid growth in recent years has already caused them alarm. Now the Russian-Bulgarian alliance is even more worrying for them. Even the pro-Russian faction in the country has been hit for a while.

Around the Russian-Bulgarian alliance, the Balkan countries have been engaged in diplomatic activities, each in its own way.

The Ottoman Empire continued to strengthen its diplomatic search for support with Germany, even making concessions on the "Baghdad Railway".

At the end of the 1880s, Germany pursued an eastward policy for world hegemony, extending its power into the Near East and building a railroad that would connect with the European continental railroads and become a great railroad from Hamburg and Berlin to the Persian Gulf via Constantinople and Baghdad.

This railroad not only enabled the expansion of German power in the Ottoman Empire. It also seriously threatened the Caucasus, Persia, and British Raj. It was thus opposed and obstructed by Russia, France, and especially Britain and was not completed until the outbreak of World War I.

Romania chose to remain close to Germany and Austria and opened a new round of talks. This time, they put even the disputed issue of Croatia with Austria-Hungary aside.

After looking around for a while, Serbia finally reluctantly leaned towards Austria-Hungary, and the previous grievance was hastily closed up.

The Serbian pro-Russian faction, for a time, was beaten and demoralized. The Russian Empire moves its strategy eastward, and their support becomes weaker as the pro-Austrian faction once again gains the upper hand.

At the end of the 19th century, Germany's foreign affairs were at their peak. Under the rule of Bismarck, most of the countries in Europe were pro-German, and allies were everywhere.

If not for the new line of diplomacy of the successor, coupled with the provocations of the European shit-stirrers, which forced Germany to make choices and abandon one ally after another, World War I would certainly have been very different.

The Balkans are in the balance, and history has become strange. Ferdinand now can not grasp the future is headed. But looking at the world, Ferdinand's butterfly effect is not yet so big as what should happen still happened.

At the end of 1891, Chekhov's diplomatic corps visited England, France, Germany, and Austria and returned to Bulgaria, finally in time for Christmas in Sofia.

Ferdinand summoned the delegation to the palace where Chekhov handed over a copy of the data and said, "Your Highness, this is the information we have gathered from our visits to England, France, Germany, and Austria."

When Chekhov finished, he saw Ferdinand nod and continued, "These only are what we have seen, because the time was too short we did not investigate deeply."

"From what we know, a first judgment, now the four countries, Britain, France, Germany and Austria, the level of industrialization is very high. It is especially the British Empire, whether it is the scale of industry, or the invention and creation of science and technology, as well as the promotion, are far beyond the other countries..."

Ferdinand listened to Chekhov's report without saying much. Although he knew that many of its contents varied, it was enough to give Bulgaria a reference.

At least the delegation exaggerates Britain too much. Ferdinand knew that the United States would overtake Britain in size in a few years, and in a decade or so, Germany would complete its comeback in size.

Britain has begun to lag behind with the so-called new technology promotion above. With vast colonies, the British capitalists have become feeble in pursuing technological innovation.

The Second Industrial Revolution had already begun. Because of the lag in the spread of new technologies, Britain only let the United States and Germany surpass them industrially for a short time.

Of course, none of this is relevant to Bulgaria right now. While new technology extends, it can increase productivity, but the process is tortuous.

What Bulgaria needs now is an industrial infrastructure. It does not yet have the capital to pay tuition fees for industrial, technological innovation, so this sacred task should be left to the Great Powers!

Various ideas were rising at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Affected by the chaotic trend of thought, many people's thoughts would go to extremes, with a one-sided pursuit of perfection neglecting other aspects.

Ferdinand, who came from a later era, knew that industrial development could not be one-sided in the pursuit of quality, nor could it be the pursuit of quantity, but must be a combined effect of cost per performance.

If the quality is good, it only exists in the laboratory and cannot be mass-produced, which is typical of high input and low output. If the quantity is large and the quality is poor, it cannot stand in the international market.

Bulgaria is lucky that people are more conservative in their thinking and do not think so much.

Ferdinand should be in good time. If he had crossed in the World War, or the Balkan Wars, even the person who traverses the world would not be able to return.