The Prusso-Russian negotiations had concluded, and the Vienna Peace Conference had reached its most critical moment: disarmament, establishing a new international order.
The disarmament progressed relatively smoothly, with everyone agreeing that disarmament was necessary. The crux of the dispute centered on the specific number of troops to maintain.
For small countries, it barely mattered. Their military forces were limited in number and posed no threat to anyone, so whether they disarmed had little impact.
The core contradiction lay with the Russia, Austria and France alliance. Austria proposed a military force ratio of 10:10:7, that is, Russia and Austria would maintain a total army strength of 500,000 each, while France would keep 350,000 troops.
The French representative, David Provencal, vehemently opposed, saying, "As a major country, this is an insult to France.
