Chapter 721: Chapter 294, This Ends Here

Limiting land armaments isn't exactly a secret affair. Aside from the isolated British, all other European states benefit from it.

The Prusso-Russian War affected not only the two belligerent nations but also prompted their neighbors to expand their armaments, inflating the size of their armies to varying degrees.

It was Austria that set this unfortunate precedent. To ensure its security and maintain the capability to intervene in wars at will, the Vienna Government was the first to expand its army, triggering a chain reaction.

As of now, Austria's land force has inflated to 947,000; to call it an army of a million wouldn't be an exaggeration.

While expanding active troops, the Vienna Government also mobilized a large number of reservists under the guise of training.

If Franz wished, he could assemble an army of two to three million within a week, sufficient to deal with a variety of emergencies.