In the blink of an eye, a new year arrived, and 1902 was upon them.
However, before the festive atmosphere of the New Year had completely dissipated, a piece of shocking news was enough to stir up the entire Europe.
[The British Foreign Secretary, the Marquess of Lansdowne, announced the Anglo-Japanese Alliance! The island countries of the East and the West have made peace!]
The First Anglo-Japanese Alliance.
In order to contain Russia's expansion in the Far East, as history had shown, Britain formed an alliance with Japan.
In fact, ever since King Edward VII had made his stance clear with an indifferent attitude at Queen Victoria's funeral, this outcome had already shown some signs.
In any case, according to the news reports, Britain and Japan would officially sign the alliance treaty on January 30th, which was approaching.
Thus, as soon as the world had entered the new year, it was already in an uproar.
The reactions to this were also varied.
[The Anglo-Japanese Alliance has caused a shock in public opinion. Some British citizens sarcastically remarked, "The prince is going to marry the miller's daughter."]
Firstly, in contrast to the calm attitude of the British government, the British people were quite shocked.
This was understandable. In the eyes of the British, since the Napoleonic Wars, Britain had always maintained its status as a superpower with a haughty attitude.
But now, instead of allying with the European powers, Britain was forming an alliance with Japan, which, even if highly regarded, was only an emerging power in the Far East.
If this wasn't enough to be shocking, then what else could be considered shocking?
[The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was announced, and the Japanese people are cheering! We have finally become one of the great powers!]
Of course, in stark contrast to the reactions of the British, the Japanese were completely immersed in a festive atmosphere.
For the Japanese people, the fact of allying with the British Empire was undoubtedly exciting and prideful.
Presumably, the entire Japanese archipelago was now immersed in a fever of pride, believing that they had finally been recognized by the Western powers.
However, from Hans' perspective, who knew the future, this was nothing more than the self-indulgence of an island nation.
[The Russian Empire strongly criticized the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. Nicholas II declared: Russia will guarantee the territorial integrity and independence of Qing China and Korea. If the Anglo-Japanese Alliance poses a threat to this, Russia will not hesitate to resort to force in response!] And Russia, naturally, did not hide its anger and continuously criticized Britain and Japan.
After all, as long as one wasn't a fool, it was clear who the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was formed against.
[The French Third Republic made a statement on the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. France supports its ally, the Russian Empire!]
It wasn't just Russia that held a negative attitude towards this; France did too.
However, France mainly made this statement because Russia was its ally, rather than being particularly angry about the Anglo-Japanese Alliance itself, and this was indeed the case.
While the Anglo-Japanese Alliance elicited completely different reactions from the relevant countries, the German Empire remained silent.
After all, the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was mainly aimed at the Russian Empire and had no direct relation to the German Empire.
However, although the German Empire as a whole remained quiet, Kaiser Wilhelm II was anything but.
"How could this have happened? The British actually decided to join hands with those despicable island monkeys?"
Wilhelm II's angry voice echoed in the room.
As soon as he heard the news of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, he immediately flew into a rage, and it seemed that Wilhelm was extremely dissatisfied with the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.
'Wilhelm II really hated Japan this much.'
And it wasn't just dislike; it was outright loathing.
This was one of the main reasons why he had been deeply involved in the "Yellow Peril" theory.
Therefore, since the early morning, Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow, Foreign Minister Alfred von Richthofen, and for some reason, Hans who was also present, had all had to listen to Wilhelm II's continuous tirade of accusations against Britain and Japan.
'But it's really tiring.'
Finally, Hans couldn't help but speak up:
"Your Majesty, please calm down."
"Hans, how can I calm down? This is clearly a betrayal! A betrayal of Europe and Western civilization!"
"In a few months, the new battleship you've been looking forward to will be completed, won't it?"
To be precise, it was scheduled to be completed in the early summer of this year.
By then, when its power is revealed to the world, just like the shock that the dreadnought brought to the world in history, the impact that Britain will receive will be several times the "blow" that the Anglo-Japanese Alliance brought to Wilhelm II.
"So, before that, please hold back your anger for a while. When that time comes, you can teach Britain a good lesson to your heart's content."
"Hmm... Even so, I really can't stand the complacent look of those island monkeys."
Wilhelm II still wore an unhappy expression and turned to stare at Hans.
"Hans, you always come up with some brilliant ideas at times like this. Think of a way this time too, so that they can taste our might."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Hans replied and bowed his head in agreement to Wilhelm II.
Wilhelm II finally calmed down a bit, patted Hans on the shoulder, and left the room.
"It feels like I've become the 'Magic Conch'."
Hans muttered to himself and turned around.
Of course, this wasn't a bad thing. After all, the fact that Wilhelm II had said such a thing showed that he truly trusted Hans.
So, the three of them, Chancellor Bülow and Foreign Minister Richthofen who remained in the room with Hans, exchanged a look.
"Hans, what are you planning to do again?"
Chancellor Bülow frowned and asked directly.
It was no wonder, after all, Bülow had suffered a great deal because of Hans.
But he had to do this thing.
Last year, when Hans first met King Edward VII, he had formulated a plan.
If this plan was successfully implemented, it might be able to improve Germany's awkward diplomatic situation; even if things didn't go well, it could at least avoid the worst-case scenario.
The first stage of the plan was to convey a sense of crisis to Britain that "Russia might win" when the Russo-Japanese War broke out.
And now, it was time to carry out the second stage of the plan.
So, Hans smiled apologetically at Bülow and said:
"This is of vital importance to the German Empire."
"Tsk... It seems I won't be able to have a peaceful year either."
"Chancellor, let's first listen to what the Baron has to say. No matter how the process goes, the results are always quite good, aren't they?"
Foreign Minister Richthofen, who had become friendly with Hans after witnessing the Boxer Protocol together before, spoke up for Hans.
Hans nodded slightly to express his gratitude to him and then continued:
"Chancellor and Foreign Minister should both be aware that our current diplomatic situation in Germany is not optimistic."
"You're hitting the sore spot right at the beginning."
Of course, the German Empire wasn't completely without allies.
Currently, Germany was one of the member states of the Triple Alliance, and even the leader among them.
But the problem was that the allies of this Triple Alliance happened to be: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which not only couldn't help but instead dragged Germany into the quagmire of World War I, and the Kingdom of Italy, which had already signed a secret treaty with France and was preparing to defect.
"France is our obvious enemy, and Russia is France's ally. And the current situation of the Triple Alliance is almost like Germany fighting alone."
What's even worse is that Britain, the only major power that had remained neutral, had started to be wary of Germany since Wilhelm II ascended the throne and Germany pursued an expansion policy.
Germany's diplomatic isolation would undoubtedly be further exacerbated.
"So, what exactly are you trying to say?"
"We need to help Russia."
"...What? Are you out of your mind?"
Chancellor Bülow frowned, shocked by Hans' suggestion of helping Russia. This reaction was exactly what Hans had expected.
After all, the Russian Empire was France's ally and was likely to become an enemy that would fight against Germany alongside France in the future.
But in international diplomacy, there are no permanent friends, nor are there permanent enemies.
Everything depends on national interests, and the situation can change at any time, and now is precisely the time to make a change.
"I'm perfectly sober. Because with the establishment of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, a war between Russia and Japan will soon break out in the Far East, and Russia will lose this war."
"Russia will lose to Japan? This is the most ridiculous thing I've heard this year, or even throughout the entire 20th century."
"I thought the same way, Baron. The Russian Empire is indeed extremely corrupt, but it is still one of the major powers and one of the most powerful countries in the world."
Both Chancellor Bülow and Foreign Minister Richthofen shook their heads in disbelief, clearly not believing that Japan could defeat the Russian Empire.
"Of course, just looking at the overall national strength, it's almost impossible for Japan, an emerging power, to defeat Russia by force. But think carefully, where will the battlefield between Russia and Japan be? It will definitely be in the Far East, not in Europe."
The territory of Russia was vast, too vast.
In defensive wars like the Napoleonic Wars and the Patriotic War, the vastness of the territory was a great advantage. But on the Far Eastern battlefield like the Russo-Japanese War, this instead became a fatal weakness.
"Indeed, once the Russo-Japanese War breaks out, the battlefield will be in the Far East."
"Yes, and the Russian troops in the Far East are different from those in Europe. They are merely at the level of militia. Moreover, due to the great distance, the logistical supply is extremely insufficient."
The same was true for the Russian Pacific Fleet stationed in Vladivostok and Dalian.
In fact, this fleet, which couldn't even be considered second-rate but was third-rate, had almost no ability to fight back against the attacks of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet and was trapped in the port throughout the war.
For this reason, the Baltic Fleet, which used to be the most powerful force of the Russian Navy, set out for the Far East in order to rescue the Pacific Fleet and regain control of the sea. However, as is well known, its ending was a crushing defeat in the Battle of Tsushima.
And the entire fleet was annihilated.
"But you're saying that Japan is different, right?"
It seemed that Chancellor Bülow, who had been somewhat casual before, now spoke with a serious expression, as if he had understood Hans' meaning.
Hans nodded and continued:
"Even if we don't consider the qualities and abilities of the Japanese officers, the Japanese soldiers themselves are highly motivated and well-trained, making them a rather powerful army. In terms of geography and supply, Japan has an obvious advantage over Russia. In addition, due to this Anglo-Japanese Alliance, Britain will also start to officially support Japan."
"Hmm... If what you say is true, the situation will indeed be different..."
It seemed that Foreign Minister Richthofen understood Hans' intention and let out a low sigh.
Hans looked at them and continued:
"If Russia loses the war with Japan, its expansion policy will be contained."
Throughout the entire 19th century, the sharp confrontation between Britain and Russia would come to an end.
This was the conclusion of the "Great Game".
"And Britain, which has lost its fear of Russia's expansion, will naturally turn its attention elsewhere."
"Such as our Germany."
"Yes, and the alliance negotiations between Britain and Germany have actually broken down."
"Cough, why bring up these past events?"
Seeing Hans giving him a sidelong glance, Chancellor Bülow coughed awkwardly, as if trying to defend himself.
Indeed, Chancellor Bülow was also responsible for the failure of the Anglo-German alliance negotiations.
No, it should be said that his responsibility was very great.
During the negotiations, Bülow had always been arrogant. He had a tit-for-tat confrontation with Joseph Chamberlain, the British Colonial Secretary who dominated the Anglo-German Alliance, over the issue of the Boer War.
Chamberlain even, when defending the Boer War, made a statement like "The behavior of the British army is more gentlemanly than that of the Prussian army during the Franco-Prussian War", which directly infuriated Bülow and the German side.
This could also be said to be the decisive factor for the breakdown of the Anglo-German Alliance, ultimately leading to the failure of the negotiations.
Of course, there was also the reason that the British government itself (especially the members other than Chamberlain) was skeptical about the Anglo-German Alliance.
"Russia can't collapse now. If Russia collapses, Britain will officially start to contain Germany."
Currently, the British political circle has not regarded the threat from Germany as the most serious issue.
For them, the Russian Empire, which is still trying to enter the ocean, poses a greater threat than the German Empire.
However, after the Russo-Japanese War, this situation will change.
This will lead to the conclusion of the Entente Cordiale between Britain and France and the Anglo-Russian Entente, ultimately isolating Germany and causing it to be defeated in World War I.
Therefore, Russia must still maintain the image of that terrifying "polar bear" for now.
At least for the time being.
"Even so, supporting Russia still seems a bit..."
Chancellor Bülow still seemed hesitant, his tone halting.
Chancellor Bülow was also a member of the Junkers class.
And the Junkers class had no favorable feelings towards Russia.
"Your Excellency, Chancellor, you should also be aware that the German Empire cannot continue to be isolated in this situation."
In the original history, in order to solve the problem of isolation, this great figure created the "Moroccan Crisis", and that was precisely the problem.
"And this kind of temporary support won't make Russia too powerful. The support should be limited to the Far East, and it's enough just to ensure that Russia doesn't lose the war against Japan."
"Hmm, if it's just to this extent, there shouldn't be a problem."
"Hmm..."
Seeing that Foreign Minister Richthofen showed a positive attitude towards Hans' words, Chancellor Bülow's attitude also began to waver.
Very well, he was almost convinced.
"Your Excellency, Chancellor, although Russia may pose a threat to Germany, we still need them now."
Hostile coexistence.
In order to avoid the complete isolation of the German Empire, it is necessary to maintain a state of hostile coexistence with the Russian Empire now.
Finally, after listening to Hans' final statement that was like a summary, Chancellor Bülow let out a long sigh and raised his hands.
"Sigh, all right, all right. Then I will listen to the opinions of the military. Anyway, without their consent, there's no way to talk about whether to support Russia or not."