Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 361 Russian Poland
With one less competitor, this is also very good for Iran. For the next hundred years, it won't have to see the ugly face of the Americans; it can simply focus on dealing with Europe.

Among major European powers, Iran is categorized into three types: friendly, neutral, and hostile. The friendly countries are Austria and Sicily, where Iran has substantial investments and loans, which have helped alleviate their economic crises.

Franz repeatedly convened meetings with Austrian and Iranian businessmen, proposing that the two countries should go further and strengthen trade cooperation. Austria's increased revenue would also allow the government to function normally, and it would begin developing vast tracts of land to boost income.

Both countries also maintained a united front with Iran on the Ottoman issue. Although Austria had no interest in developing colonies, it did have a desire to expand into the Balkans. Iran also wanted to bring the Ottoman Empire under its protection, and the two sides quickly reached an agreement.

Sicily is even simpler; it needs to guard against the newly formed Italy. Naturally, it also needs the support of Iran and Austria. It has no interest in expansion; its domestic affairs aren't even that good yet, so it shouldn't be thinking about that.

There are many neutral countries: Prussia, Spain, Belgium, and a number of smaller nations. They don't have major conflicts of interest with Iran, at most experiencing some trade friction.

Currently, Iran faces only one hostile nation: Russia. Iran maintains hostility towards Russia in three directions: Transoxiana, the Caucasus, and the Black Sea, and has deployed troops along its borders. Russia, in turn, has deployed over 22 troops in the Caucasus and over 4 in Central Asia. This was unprecedented, indicating the significant impact of Iran's rise.

Russia did attempt to negotiate with Iran, proposing that the Syr Darya River serve as the border, with the north belonging to Russia and the south to Iran. However, unrest in the Far East and Northwest regions prevented the negotiations from even beginning. Russia sought to seize territory, but Iran blocked it, stating that any further gains would be considered a loss for Iran.

Although Russia is Iran's biggest enemy, Nasser al-Din hasn't forgotten established powers like Britain and France. One uses its industry and navy to commit atrocities, while the other uses chivalry to engage in piracy. Neither is a good person.

Naser al-Din could clearly sense that British overseas colonial activities had slowed down since the suppression of the Indian rebellion. Or rather, the pace of British colonial expansion had slowed after the Crimean War. The fact that French colonial activities on the African continent lagged behind Iran was also clearly causally related to this war.

The wealth of the British and French financial circles did not equate to government wealth. Colonialism required massive amounts of silver, which could not be raised solely through taxation. However, endless borrowing for colonial expansion was unsustainable. Borrowed money needed to be repaid. In that era, currency was pegged to gold and silver, rarely depreciating, making debt repayment no easy task.

Therefore, to prevent Britain and France from having surplus power for international intervention, their financial resources must be depleted. The same applies to Russia; without money, how can they muster troops and transport supplies? Even if they borrow money, they won't be able to repay it, ultimately ending up like Spain.

"Shah"

Anwar Najib bowed to Nasser al-Din, who, as the intelligence chief directly under the Shah, was primarily responsible for carrying out the Shah's various orders and ensuring that there was no opposition to the Shah within Iran.

"Tell me about the situation in Russia."

"Alexander II initiated reforms in other areas, but so far they seem to have yielded little result. Officials and nobles are opposed to them, and railway construction is still under discussion."

Iran invested heavily in its espionage efforts against Russia, focusing on two main directions. First, it prioritized recruiting young intellectuals, as they were most susceptible to influence. Second, it aimed to fuel their nationalism, leading them astray with such ideology. In addition to its existing network of newspapers and personnel, and leveraging trade opportunities, Iran began establishing a significant intelligence network in its southern region. A large amount of information began to reach Tehran, influencing Iran's policy towards Russia.

"What has Alexander been up to lately?"

"He was discussing how to change Russia in St. Petersburg, but so far it seems to have backfired, especially in Poland."

To win over the Polish people, Alexander softened his rule in Poland. The government pardoned Polish political prisoners and allowed the establishment of a Polish medical school and agricultural association in Warsaw.

These concessions by the Tsar pleased the Polish nobility. The convening of the congress gave them a channel to exert influence on domestic politics.

Polish society in the Kingdom of the Conference faced two choices. Either cooperate with the Tsarist government, which could bring some relief from national oppression and some incomplete social reforms; or cooperate with the Russian revolutionary movement to work together to overthrow the Tsarist rule.

Clearly, although choosing the second option could secure funding from various European countries, the success rate of rebellion was never high, and it would not be the choice of nobles and landowners.

However, the revolutionary organization received British sponsorship, and Alexander II's reforms caused them concern. If the Russian Empire was so powerful even in its feudal era, what would happen if they were allowed to complete social reforms?

The British feared that a continued rise in Russian power would threaten their global hegemony, given the Russians' long-standing territorial ambitions. Everyone in Europe, except Russia itself, generally agreed that a divided and weak Russia was the best Russia.

With covert coordination from countries such as Britain and France, the Polish independence movement signed an agreement with the Russian revolutionary organization to jointly oppose the rule of the Tsarist government. The agreement stipulated that once the Polish independence movement launched an uprising, the Russian revolutionary organization would provide them with support and, at an appropriate time, also launch an uprising within its own country.

After the Tsarist government compromised with Poland, the Kingdom of Prussia also joined the ranks of those supporting Polish independence organizations. They secretly helped train the Polish army and allowed Prussian Poles to renounce their citizenship and join the revolutionary organization. Austria, in order to prevent a rebellion by Poles in Galicia, also decided to fund their revolution within Russia.

Iran wouldn't be absent from Poland's activities; remember the Polish soldiers captured during the Crimean War? They all joined the Polish Restoration Army formed in Tabriz, trained using Iranian military methods, and currently number around 30000.

Every day they dreamed of restoring Poland to its independence, but constrained by Iranian support, they had to wait for the right opportunity. During this time, they used their connections to attract many Poles to Trabzon, forming the largest overseas Polish community in Eastern Europe.

“Now is the time to use these Poles,” Nasserdin said.

(End of this chapter)