The Great Game in Europe

1912 The Austrian Monarch had amazingly survied to see the start of another year. War between the European powers had been prevented only due to the fact that the rulers of the countries had seen the wisdom of making sure that there was no war. The Bavarian Royal family that ruled Germany had little desire to see another war. While it had some disagreements with its French neighbor none was likely to lead to war. The Kingdom of Italy on the other hand did not like the French and were bitter over being pushed out of Tunisia .
 
1914 Kaiser Franz Joseph passed away in his sleep. Europe's oldest living monarch had finally passed away. Many of the nations of the Balkans had never known another Austrian ruler. Relations between Austria and Serbia had been set on its path by the late Kaiser. Delegations from all over Europe would be there to attend the funeral. The Empire now had a new ruler and the line of Succession indicated that should he die the his cousin Archuke Karl and his family would be the heirs to the empire.
 
The death of Europe's longest living Monarch started to have an impact on European affairs. The new Austrian Kaiser did not have the relationship with the German Kaiser, King of Poland-Lithuania .Czar of Russia, Kin-Emperor of British Empire and of all of the other states of Europe. He had started to build a relationship but these things take time. With a Hapsburg on its throne the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania probably would be expected to work with Austria and support it. However, despite everything Germany began to chart an independent course and that did not bode well for maintaining a Balance of power and keeping the Great Game on a course that did not lead to war..
Germany's Bavarian Royal Family had connections to the British Royal family , which traced back to the Stuarts and the English Civil War.
 
July 1914 the new Austrian Kaiser Franz Ferdinand was reading reports from the Empire's Intelligence service. Serbia continued to remain friendly but pro-Russian elements were embolden with the death of Franz Joseph. There was sympathy in the country for Greece's desire to regain the lost lands and punish the Ottomans. Bulgaria felt that it had been cheated by the Greeks out of gaining lands from the Ottomans. Albania had a German on its throne and despite the fact that its Christian population outnumber the Muslim one it faced a hostile Serbia and Greece. Only Austria kept a war from Breaking out.

Italy was still bitter about France shoving it aside and taking all of Tunisia . The taking of Ethiopia had not kept that feeling from flaring up.
Austria's alliance with Great Britain was firm. The British did not trust the Russians and Britain also distrusted the French.
 
The Death of Kaiser Franz Joseph had lead to instability in Europe. The Two Major Alliance systems Entente ( France and Imperial Russia) vs the Central European Alliance ( Austrian Empire, Germany, Kingdom of Poland -Lithuania and Great Britain with Kingdom of Italy as an associated Power). However, with the Death of Kaiser Franz Joseph the link between the powers had weaken somewhat. True the Family connection between
Austria and the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania remained strong but the connection with Italy had weaken. The Connection with Great Britain remained the strongest as Britain still saw Imperial Russia as a threat to the crown Jewel of India.
The fact that the Bavarian Monarch Royal Family was somewhat not as close with the new Austrian Kaiser meant a chance for the other alliance to make gains.
 
Archduke Karl arrived on a mission for the new Austrian Kaiser in Germany. Karl had been designated as the heir to the Empire and he was meeting with the Bavarian Crown Prince Ruphardt who would soon take over the throne of Germany. The two got along quite well and managed to discuss problems that concern each of them Germany had little to worry about as it had no border with Russia and its relations with France were on the whole not bad. While the German Reich had an impressive Navy it was not engaged in a Naval arms race with Great Britain. Indeed the only reason that Germany was busy buildin new ships were that Russia and France appeared about to expand their fleets.
 
It appeared that tensions were on the rise in Europe. The death of Franz Joseph had lead to a series of miscalculations that had Europe on the verge of War. While Czar Michael had been making some effort to know the man who at the time was the heir to the throne he really hadn't gotten to really know him. But at least he did have some idea. Napoleon the IV was getting on in years and he was trying to prepare his heir to take the throne. The result is that he had no idea of the positions that the Austrian Monarch would take.
Germany had moved away from Austria with the death of Franz Joseph and that was a possible opening that might allow Russia and France to make territorial gains at the possible expense of Poland and the Ottoman Empire in the case of Russia and Italy in the case of France.
 
Tensions were beginning to rise in Europe. The Austrian Government warned the Russian Imperial Government not to violate the border of the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania. Great Britain also informed the French and Imperial Russian Government not to do anything that might possibly Trigger a war.
 
It appeared that the March toward war was beginning. There were elements within France that wanted to deal with the Kingdom of Italy once and for all. In Russia the Czar was told that now was the time to strike while Germany was not locked to Austria, The Greeks would also like to regain the lost lands in Asia Minor as well as the Island of Crete.
The Ottomans while not seeking a war felt that they had gained strength.
Britain however did not want a war and surprisingly neither did Czar Michael. He turned down the move to war and would try diplomacy first. Last time he tried it a compromise had given him some of the disputed border lands with the Ottomans.
 
An so the first slide toward war was avoided and an uneasy peace once again reappeared. Things just did not seem right. The relationship between the rulers of the European Powers was off. The Austrian Empire's Relationship with Germany was not as close. The new Austrian Emperor attempted to change that by meeting with the German Crown Prince Ruphardt . Archduke Karl had made a numer of trips to Germany and Poland in an effort to keep relations on track.
 
Europe had come very close to seeing the start of another major conflict. Part of the reason had been the drifting away of Germany from the alliance. The death of Franz Joseph had broken one of the strongest bonds that had helped to create a unified Austro-German Alliance that was tied in with Great Britain and also had the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania and Kingdom of Italy.
The anomisity between Italy and France was considerible and it was all tied to North Africa.
 
The British were attempting to mediate so as to prevent another European War. There was some question whether Emperor Napoleon IV wanted a war or not. There were competing forces in France those desiring for a showdown with the Austro-German-Polish _Italian Alliance and those that say such a war as nothing but a disaster which would bring ruin to France.
 
And so the Great Game continued between the powers. Many wondered if it would be a small power that might trigger a war. A war might seem glorious but it could very well lead to a massive economic ruin of Europe that might very well trigger a major economic upset that could be worst than anything seen before.
 
Austria had a friendly relationship with the Arb ruler of Arabia. The Austrian Foreign Legion helped to maintain the security of the kingdom and train its army. Austria was also developing its oil industry (after the discovery of oil in the Kingdom). At the same time the Austrians and the British continued to shore up the Ottoman Empire, which was on the verge of a giant shake up as reform elements wanted massive changes to a structure which was riddled with corruption. The Young Turk Movement looked toward the Austrians and the Germans to help reform their army and to the British for ships to help protect them from the Russians and now the Greeks. The Greeks were buying some of the old American predreadnought battleships to strengthen its navy> The Greater Greece Movement had not yet died out in Greece. Some believed that they might be able to rebuild the empire of Alexander the Great.
 
Russia's Czar was relieved in a way that war had been avoided. The Russians had a strong relationship with Greece and had had one with France. French Banks had helped to finance the modernization of Russia/ Still the Russians reallian would like to pry lose the Serbians from its relationship with Austria and Bulgaria as well. The Russians really thought that another prize would be to move Germany from the Ally of Austria to a Neutral power. That would really change the balance of power on Mainland Europe.
 
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