Holy Roman Empire

"According to the news from the Embassy in St. Petersburg, since the outbreak of the Far Eastern conflict, anti-Japanese sentiment among the Russian Empire's populace has been continuously surging.

Many in the Tsarist Government advocate taking a tough stance against us, with the War Party's morale soaring, and we cannot rule out the possibility of them initiating a war.

The international community has been rather indifferent towards our conflict with the Russians, with only the United Kingdom verbally expressing support while most other countries are looking on with glee," Kaoru Inoue said helplessly.

Since the rise of fervent nationalism, being an official in the Japanese Government has become increasingly challenging, and being the Foreign Minister, responsible for handling international affairs, is like a hot potato.

The Radical faction among the populace doesn't use their heads when viewing issues; they always act impulsively, with a significant imbalance between ambition and actual power.

Under such circumstances, the Foreign Minister often ends up being the scapegoat, essentially synonymous with a "National Traitor" among the people.

It doesn't matter who takes over; after the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, even Ito Hirobumi, who played a major role, almost got labeled as a National Traitor.

Such a challenging job requires a strong heart to fulfill.

No matter how strong one's inner resolve, faced with the current international situation, Kaoru Inoue also felt a tingling of dread.

In the grand international backdrop of the clash between two powers, even if he had many skills to slay dragons, there was no space to wield them.

Since we are aligned with the British, we cannot expect to curry favor with Shinra. It is human instinct to rely on the powerful, and as a maritime nation, there is nothing wrong with siding with Britain, which boasts the most formidable navy.

The crux of the problem lies with the leader. In recent years, the British have suddenly become less reliable, gradually falling behind in international competition.

First, they lost their leading edge in the Second Industrial Revolution, then they lost control over the European Continent, and now even the hegemony of the Royal Navy is on the brink of collapse.

Their naval supremacy was challenged, all thanks to the Shinra Navy's world tours. Any country that has conducted joint exercises with them knows the gap between Super Battleships and traditional battleships.

Unfortunately, the British fell behind in this aspect, and although their Dreadnoughts have also been launched, due to rushing, they are plagued with many flaws.

Just like Shinra's earliest "Rome," it's fine to stand as a figurehead at home, but once it sails out, it's trouble.

Under this background, although the British also have Super Battleships, they can only watch as the Shinra Navy stirs up trouble and establishes dominance everywhere.

To the informed observer, this is a sign of naval inferiority, at least in shipbuilding technology, the British are again one step behind.

The saying "Pride comes before a fall" may not be popular in the European world, but it is well known in East Asia. This includes the seizure of the Philippines, which was based on such judgment.

What concerned Kaoru Inoue even more was that the British were not only lagging in technology, economy, and military, but also their strongest suit, diplomacy, was now encountering a bottleneck.

If the big brother can't even manage diplomacy, then it's even harder for the little brother to advance in it. In an era where Europe is the center, who would take note of Japan?

To change this passive diplomatic situation, a comprehensive westernization movement, namely "leaving Asia for Europe," erupted in Japan, and as the Foreign Minister, Kaoru Inoue was the leader of this strategy.

Ito Hirobumi said, "The situation is not so grave; it's merely a diplomatic conflict, and the Russians are not at the point of launching a war because of it.

The current international situation is highly polarized, with Britain and Shinra opposing each other as two powers, while the Russian Empire, seemingly imposing, is also in a very awkward position.

Logically speaking, after decades of the Russian-Austrian Alliance, the Russians should be supporting Shinra, but they share the European Continent as neighbors."

```

Even a single mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, and similarly, the European Continent cannot bear the presence of two great powers. Once Shinra defeats Britannia, the Russian Empire could no longer hope to advance further.

From the strategy of forming distant alliances to combat nearby threats, forging an alliance between England and Russia to jointly tackle Shinra would be the best choice. After all, both Russia and Austria are terrestrial powers, while the United Kingdom is a maritime power.

Even if Britannia secured hegemony, it could not threaten the survival of the Russian Empire; the reverse, however, was not true.

Yet, the animosity between Britain and Russia was deep-rooted, not something that could be resolved merely by wishing it away. The two sides lacked even the most basic trust, making an alliance foundation nonexistent.

At this juncture, supporting either side did not align with the interests of the Russian Empire, but they were compelled to choose sides, otherwise neither London nor Vienna would be at ease.

This was a major dilemma, and until it was resolved, the Tsarist Government would not deviate from its current path.

Moreover, given the Russian presence in the Far Eastern region, they were not powerful enough to initiate a war. Should war break out, logistics alone could spell their doom."

After hearing Ito Hirobumi's explanation, Emperor Meiji's expression visibly relaxed a great deal. Due to the butterfly effect, Japan was nowhere near as fortunate as it had been in the original timeline.

Despite reaping substantial rewards from the war against the Far Eastern Empire, Japan was also mired in a costly war with the Philippines, and its naval fleet was much larger than in history.

All of these required funding; the war reparations seized were funneled into filling these two massive voids, which naturally left less capital for domestic development, rendering the nation weaker than it had been historically.

This was most directly reflected in the finances. Balancing the budget was an unthinkable dream; just avoiding national bankruptcy was already a blessing from the eight million gods.

Going head-to-head with the Russians, Japan faced not only immense military pressure but even greater financial stress.

In this respect, Japan and Russia were similarly poised, both being impoverished countries whose wallets were cleaner than their faces.

Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu said, "Ito-kun, this is the conventional logic under normal circumstances, but don't forget that the Russian Empire often behaves abnormally.

I've studied Russian history, and many times, the decisions made by the Tsarist Government did not go through any rational process.

The most famous example is Peter III, who, due to personal preference, violated an alliance and supported Prussia, directly severing the Russian Empire's path to the west.

There are many more lesser-known instances, including several wars in recent Russian history, which are difficult to characterize as rational.

Including Emperor Nicholas, who is greatly revered by the Russians, he blindly initiated the Near East War; although in the end, he seized the Constantinople region, he seemingly won the war.

But from the price paid by the Russian Empire, it is clear that it was a pyrrhic victory, with the Russians gaining only a superficial win.

Alexander II was similar, not weighing the pros and cons carefully before blindly waging war against Prussia.

Ultimately, they did win the war, but at the cost of the Russian Empire falling from a top-tier to a second-tier great power.

…

In short, when the Tsarist Government makes decisions, we cannot judge by conventional logic, otherwise, we would suffer great losses."

Without thorough analysis, one wouldn't grasp the depth of the issue. Dealing with a competitor who habitually defies common sense would give anyone a headache.

In fact, the very idea of inferring interests doesn't hold. Although state affairs do prioritize interests, rulers are still human. And since they are human, they cannot be utterly rational.

More often than not, the personal preferences and sensibilities of politicians can also influence state decisions, particularly in feudal monarchies.

Undoubtedly, the Russian Empire is a prime example of a feudal monarchy. Even with the reforms by Alexander II, the essence of this system remained unchanged.

```

One cannot say that national decision-making is entirely controlled by the will of a single monarch, but the personal perceptions of a monarch do, undoubtedly, hold significant influence over national decisions.

The most classic example is the unanimous anti-Japanese faction at the top of the Russian Empire, with very few pro-Japanese elements to be found within the Tsarist Government.

The reason is none other than the two scars on Nicholas II. This alone is enough for everyone to despise the Japanese Empire.

This is also politically correct. If someone attempts to assassinate your loyal monarch and you remain indifferent, then do you still wish to get ahead?

You reap what you sow. Whether willing or not, the Japanese Government must pay for its past mistakes.

Of course, people thought of even more. It seemed that the recent decades of policy failures by the Tsarist Government always ended up benefiting Austria.

They couldn't help but overthink it, once could be a coincidence, but coincidences happening twice, three times, were just too coincidental.

As much as they thought, what they could actually do now was quite limited. They could all see the problem, and so could everyone else.

This included the top echelons of the Tsarist Government, who had also noticed these issues. Otherwise, it wouldn't be the case that each new Tsar's first task after ascending the throne was to try to break free from dependence on Vienna.

No one wants to be led by the nose, let alone the stubborn Mao Xiong.

But the gap between reality and ideals was a bit wide, and they could not make up their minds to sever the connection between Russia and Austria themselves.

Since they couldn't part ways, then they could only be cautious and vigilant when making decisions, to avoid being led astray.

After all, such influences are done in secret, with the Vienna Government not having done anything overt.

Even if they stepped into a pit, the Tsarist Government could only swallow its teeth and stomach the pain. They absolutely could not admit it publicly, as uncovering it would only prove their incompetence.

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Both governments were trying to avoid war, with the Japanese Government doing just a little bit more by stepping up their guard against the Russians.

But the public was different, with anti-Japanese sentiment on the rise in the Russian Empire, and equally strong anti-Russian sentiment within Japan.

Looking at the dense crowd protesting outside, the staff at the Russian Embassy in Japan were so scared they dared not even go out to buy groceries.

The endless stream of curses from morning till night seemed incessant, making Envoy Futoriak furiously angry.

"Get the Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the phone."

A staff member suggested in a low voice, "Envoy, the phone line has been cut. Shall we send a telegram instead?"

It was evident that Envoy Futoriak commanded great respect within the embassy, with the staff not daring to cross him.

Envoy Futoriak roared, "Then what are you standing around for? Go send it immediately!"

Having just shouted, Futoriak realized his own slip. Naturally, to send a telegram, there needed to be a message, and since he hadn't said anything, those below would be waiting for instructions.

"Sorry, Frank. I didn't mean to. I was just blinded by anger at the Japanese.

With such commotion outside, I refuse to believe the Japanese Government is unaware. They know there's trouble brewing and yet do nothing to stop it; this is a provocation to the great Russian Empire.

Prepare the guards. If anyone dares to cross the line, they need not show me any courtesy."

Without a doubt, that last sentence was just spoken in anger. If there was any willingness to shoot, the guards would have fired long ago.

After pausing for a moment, Futoriak continued, "Report our predicament to our homeland, and invite embassies from other nations in Japan to pressurize the Japanese Government.

Inform the Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to expel the troublemakers within two hours, or else..."

Or else what, Futoriak himself wasn't sure.

Diplomatic bluffs need the right target, and it wasn't that Japan couldn't be bluffed. The key issue was that the power of the Russian Empire in the Far East simply wasn't enough to intimidate the Japanese.

A harsh diplomatic note of warning like this might have some deterrent effect if coming from Shinra or Britannia, but from the Russian Empire, it fell just a bit short.

However, Envoy Futoriak wasn't worried. This was the embassy district and not just Russia had an embassy here but a few hundred meters away were the embassies of Britannia and Shinra.

With such a large commotion outside affecting more than them, the surrounding neighbors also had a tough time.

If it was about enjoying the spectacle, it had gone on long enough. Even just for the sake of a good night's sleep, everyone would pressure the Japanese Government.

It is well-known that in Japan, there is no shortage of extremists. Ordinary Japanese couldn't tell the difference between Europeans; they're all white, so protesting against them all was the right way.

If things truly escalated, no one would have a good life anymore. Incidental damages were all too common.

A "bang" resonated.

"What was that sound?"

Futoriak was sure it wasn't a gunshot; the sound of firing bullets was not like this. He had enough experience to know that.

Besides, those who served as guards for the embassy were no fools; despite their disdain for Japanese, they knew exactly where they were.

If there were hundreds or thousands of Russian soldiers stationed here, then naturally, there would be no question – they would just fight.

Unfortunately, the guards at the embassy numbered only about ten. Compared to the dense crowd of protesters outside, they were insignificant; their guns wouldn't matter.

When one is under someone else's roof, they must bow their head. With such a vast difference in power, no matter how furious they felt inside, they had to hold back for now.

"The glass is broken, someone is throwing stones into the embassy."

This was just the beginning. People are prone to follow others; as long as someone takes the lead, there are always those who follow suit.

Suddenly, the sound of pattering was nonstop, and the stones that flew in could not only break glass but also injure people.

The situation was spiraling into chaos, the fervent emotions ignited, and people's courage grew.

No one noticed that just a few hundred meters away, a dark gun barrel was aimed at the protesting crowd.

"Aim at the one with the flag and make sure the resolution is higher."

...