Holy Roman Empire

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Events often have a dual nature: while the economic crisis ravaged the European Continent and sparked political upheaval, it also hastened the establishment of the Vienna System.

As gunshots rang out in Lyon, the French government was trapped in both domestic and foreign difficulties; the flourishing Italian independence movement nearly pushed the formidable Greater French Empire to the brink of collapse.

To change its disadvantageous political and diplomatic situation, the French urgently needed a stable international environment, and the Paris Government had no choice but to make concessions on the issue of disarmament.

Without French obstruction, the disarmament conference proceeded exceptionally smoothly.

On January 21, 1882, 15 European countries including England, France, Russia, and Austria signed the "Army Restriction Treaty".

According to the treaty, the sizes of the national armies were as follows:

Russian Empire: 500,000;

Austria: 486,000;

France: 382,000;

Spain: 246,000;

German Federation Empire: 156,000;

Britain: 116,000;

Nordic Federation: 98,000;

Belgium: 48,000;

Netherlands: 33,000;

Switzerland: 32,000;

Portugal: 28,000;

Prussia: 28,000;

Greece: 18,000;

Montenegro: 3,600;

…

Overall, this military treaty was crafted based on the comprehensive strength of each country, taking into account regional military balance.

The Kingdom of Prussia’s allocation was low because the Berlin Government was poor and couldn’t afford a large military.

Half a year earlier, the Berlin Government had already begun planning disarmament, with the biggest challenge being the inability to convince the military to agree.

Fortunately, with the Army Restriction Treaty now in place, the government naturally would not lobby for a higher quota on behalf of the military.

With the treaty ratified, creating an established fact, the Prussian Military had to comply, no matter how dominant they were; defeated Prussia had no right to stir up trouble.

With the signing of the Army Restriction Treaty, the shadow of war that loomed over the European Continent instantly dissipated. At least for the next ten years, everyone’s safety was guaranteed.

By limiting the number of ground forces, the advantage of the major powers remained apparent, but with mutual checks among the nations, they lost the ability to annex smaller states.

Indeed, it was mainly aimed at France. After disarmament, French military strength was sufficient to protect their own safety but insufficient for further expansion.

Though aware they were being targeted, the French could only accept it. At this point, Napoleon IV had to curb his ambitions to avoid being caught between internal and external pressures.

The Army Restriction Treaty only limited forces on European soil; the military in the overseas colonies was tacitly ignored by all. This was not about leaving a backdoor open but was a necessity of reality.

There were mainly three reasons for this oversight: first, the practical needs of maintaining the colonial system which could not be managed without sufficient military strength;

second, most colonial military forces had limited combat effectiveness and were not a major concern;

and last, the limitation of the era’s productivity. Transporting overseas troops to the European Continent required significant human and material resources, and was economically less viable than simply expanding the armed forces.

After the signing of the military treaty, the rest was open to discussion.

The purpose of the Vienna System was: The countries of Europe collectively guarantee each other’s domestic security to maintain peace and stability on the European Continent.

In an era where anti-war sentiment was rising, governments had no interest in initiating wars on European soil and naturally would not refuse such agreements.

The main disputes were over details, but overall, the countries of Europe loved peace. Even if politicians were not inclined toward peace, the international situation and the European public would make them favor it.

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...

Just as everyone was celebrating the arrival of peace, another arms race was beginning to take shape.

In the Vienna Palace, a military conference that would determine the future of Austria and even the world was secretly underway.

At this moment, Franz was holding a set of naval ship design specifications that would appear very familiar to anyone knowledgeable about the history of naval development.

Displacement 14,147 tons, full load displacement 15,786 tons;

Length 126.7 meters, width 21.86 meters;

Cruising range of 10 knots/4700 nautical miles, maximum speed of 18.3 knots;

Design coal storage capacity is 950 tons;

Equipped with 4 305mm main guns, 10 150mm quick-firing guns, 16 57mm quick-firing guns, 12 47mm machine guns, and seven 450mm torpedo tubes.

...

That’s right, it is the beginning of the Pre-Dreadnought. Franz’s butterfly effect still had an impact on the history of naval development.

Without the Prussia and France War, the French Navy did not veer off course due to funding issues, and together with the rising Austrian Navy, the competition at sea was much more brutal than in the same period in history.

With competition comes development, and in this era of rapid change, no one dared to stand still.

Discover stories with empire

Against this backdrop, naval technology in various countries had advanced at least a decade ahead of its historical period, and the concept for Pre-Dreadnoughts had naturally emerged.

On this issue, Franz couldn’t be of help. Warships are a reflection of a nation’s industrial strength, not something that can be propelled by a so-called idea alone.

If one were to look closely, they would find that designers were never short of creativity—with a plethora of advanced concepts sidelined due to various reasons.

Let alone Pre-Dreadnoughts, ideas like Dreadnoughts and aircraft carriers had already been proposed.

At first, Franz was astonished, thinking he had encountered a fellow transmigrator, but it turned out he was overthinking things.

The person who proposed a concept similar to the Dreadnought, let’s not discuss him for now—although a bit ahead of the times, it was still acceptable, and with Austria’s industrial strength, there was a slight possibility of implementation.

Those who designed aircraft carriers, on the other hand, were much more interesting.

Take, for example, the airship carrier theory. As the name suggests, it involves placing airships on ships and launching them into the air for bombing during combat.

Technologically, there’s no issue with this. Ignoring the bombing accuracy for a moment, the key issue is that the airship takes time to ascend, and by the time you’re airborne, the enemy could have already sent you to the sea.

That’s not even the half of it. Another designer proposed a "suicide attack" tactic, and Franz almost thought it was a reincarnation of the kamikaze squadrons.

Aircraft had just been born, and combat was out of the question. Yet a designer boldly imagined placing airplanes on ships to be used as one-time bombs, crashing them directly into enemy vessels during war.

There’s no technical issue, but where would you find so many brave souls willing to fly a plane into a suicidal crash?

Regardless, such wide-ranging creativity is commendable. As for their design concepts, let’s first store them in the naval technology reserve.

Franz asked, "How long would it take to build such a battleship?"

The designs that reached his hands had all been reviewed multiple times by the Ministry of the Navy and were only presented after confirming there were no technical issues.

Navy Minister Castaigne answered, "At normal construction speed, it would take about a year and a half, but if we speed up the process, it could be completed in one year."

The construction time is a year and a half, adding the prior preparation time and the trial period after launching, it might take up to two years before the ship could really be commissioned.

Compared to previous battleships, this speed was slow; but compared to future battleships, this speed was quite fast.

Generally speaking, the construction of the first new-type warship is the slowest, and as more are built, the speed of subsequent ships increases.

Franz nodded and said indifferently, "Proceed with the normal construction speed, just build one for now to see the effect."

Pre-Dreadnoughts are not cheap; one main gun costs 20,000 Divine Shields, and a warship costs over a million Divine Shields.

The costs might decrease later, but as a prototype, the first warship will definitely not be cheap.

Literally stated parameters do not equate to actual performance, which can only be known after a warship has been built.

Design values are theoretical, and under normal circumstances, there will be some discrepancies. The exact size of the error depends on luck.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

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