Chapter 1118 Balkan Crisis
East Africa has never stopped building its public opinion system. After all, Ernst had a deep understanding of the power of public opinion wars. Therefore, even during the worst economic period in East Africa, he never stopped penetrating the Western public opinion system.
The Titanic is indeed an opportunity for a war of public opinion. As a proper "man-made disaster", the United Kingdom, as the country that manufactured and operated the ship, used public opinion to completely throw away all responsibility for the Titanic. The American media is responsible for the hype, portraying the Americans on the ship or the American ships that participated in the rescue in a tragic and heroic light.
In fact, the sinking of the Titanic was definitely not as "beautiful" as described by the British and American media. However, the mainstream media in the United Kingdom and the United States will only select and publish statements that are beneficial to their own countries, and may even fabricate some news to confuse the public.
For example, the American "Brooklyn Eagle" reported on April 19, 1912: "The only stain is that at the bottom of a lifeboat leaving the Titanic, two Far Eastern bodies were found squeezed under the seats. The corpses of the imperial coolies and the eight living people...these people...had rushed into the lifeboat at the first sign of danger."
There are countless false stories like these, which were not vindicated until the 21st century. For example, Tim Martin, a scholar who studies the history of the Titanic, said that there is no evidence that the rumors of Chinese survivors disguising and hiding actually happened. Since it was believed at the time that only women and children deserved to be rescued, he believed these were "stories made up after the fact" by the media and the public.
But when these false news were corrected, European and American countries actually no longer cared about the Titanic, but the negative impact it left has lasted for nearly a hundred years.
It is not difficult to understand. Decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union changed from an anti-fascist ally in World War II to a "murderer" who assisted Adolf in invading Poland. Although the Soviet Union's performance in World War II was not glorious, the European and American media also changed their faces. In fact, after all, Europe and the United States did not say this when things happened in World War II and the Soviet Union needed to join.
Of course, if the Titanic has become the focus of the world's attention for a short period of time, Europe and the United States will not ignore the facts to offset East Africa's contribution.
The media controlled and influenced by East Africa in Europe began to make efforts on the second day of the Titanic accident to provide a true reconstruction of the accident.
Of course, public opinion in East Africa has not spared the owner of the Titanic, the British White Star Line. As the fundamental scourge of this accident, the White Star Line's cutting corners and operational errors were the fundamental reasons for the sinking of the Titanic.
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To East Africa, the sinking of the Titanic was just an inconsequential incident in the northern hemisphere. To put it bluntly, except for the national officers and soldiers involved in the rescue, no one would care about the Titanic no matter how many people died.
The focus of the East African government is the 1912 war on the Balkan Peninsula. As the powder keg that detonated World War I in the previous life, changes in the situation in the Balkan Peninsula can be said to be the direct cause of the outbreak of World War I.
East Africa has been monitoring the situation in the Balkans and installing its own forces there through Bosnia to avoid the loss of East Africa's local voice.
Because the changes in the Balkan Peninsula also have a huge impact on East Africa, the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea on both sides of the Balkan Peninsula are also important routes from East Africa to the Central and Eastern European markets, and the Central and Eastern European markets themselves rank first in the trade of East African countries. In the first place.
As one of the largest countries in the world, East Africa is also one of the maintainers of the world order, so it has access to a lot of first-hand information. For example, if the countries in the Balkan Peninsula want to launch a war against a behemoth like the Ottoman Empire, they must first communicate with the big powers in the world. To put it bluntly, these countries in the Balkan Peninsula cannot even achieve independence without anyone behind them. arrive.
Therefore, the countries in the Balkan Peninsula attach great importance to contacts with other major countries, and East Africa cannot be missing among them. Although East Africa is an African country, this is what makes the countries in the Balkan Peninsula feel more at ease. It is better to seek help from East Africa than from Austria. The Hungarian Empire and Russia are better. After all, if Austria-Hungary and Russia join in, it will be more difficult to kick them out.
The same is true for the Ottoman Empire. Because it has a lot of land on the Balkan Peninsula, the Ottoman Empire can also be regarded as a country on the Balkan Peninsula. The relationship between the Ottoman Empire and East Africa has always been good, so both sides are actively seeking support from East Africa.
Sweet said: "Now the countries in the Balkan Peninsula have very good relations with us, especially Romania, Bulgaria and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They even have military cooperation with us. As for Greece and Serbia, we also have trade relations. So in this war, we in East Africa must think carefully.”
"However, from the perspective of actual interests, we should prefer the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire controls Constantinople, which also controls the passage of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The smooth flow of the Black Sea is particularly important to us. Russia and even the entire Black Sea coast The country has always been an important consumer market for our country’s agriculture and industry.”
"Of course, if the Ottoman Empire lost Constantinople in this war, that would be a different story. Judging from the current state of the Balkan countries, this is not impossible, but the Ottoman Empire and East Africa The relationship does not only exist in the transportation hub of Constantinople. We also have to deal with the Ottoman Empire in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, so we must be very cautious in our attitude towards the Ottoman Empire. "
After Sweet's point of view, Merkel added: "We cannot support the Ottoman Empire too much. The emotions of the countries in the Balkans are also worthy of our consideration. After all, when we deal with international relations, it is best not to offend too many people." "The most important thing is that we have no historical issues with the Balkan countries, so it is best not to fall out with the Balkan countries just because we support the Ottoman Empire."
After others made some suggestions, many people within the East African government expressed support for the Ottoman Empire. The fundamental reason for this result was that the Ottoman Empire itself had a greater value for East Africa than the countries on the Balkan Peninsula.
East Africa and the Ottoman Empire, as two important countries on the Indian Ocean coast, can be said to be the only independent countries that are not controlled by the British or other colonists.
Although the Ottoman Empire could not play any role in the Indian Ocean at all, under the same suppression by the British, East Africa and the Ottoman Empire shared many common languages. The main reason was the existence of the common enemy, the British. Therefore, the two countries had a common goal of driving the British out of the Indian Ocean. Same.
Of course, East Africa actually has no real feelings for the Ottoman Empire. Many cooperations between the two countries are purely based on interests.
While within East Africa there were those who supported the Ottoman Empire, there were also those who opposed and supported the Ottoman Empire.
Constantine said: "The decline or even disintegration of the Ottoman Empire is very likely to happen. We should stand with other European countries. Only in this way can we cater to the mainstream sentiment of the international community and avoid our country being I am not very optimistic about the fate of the Ottoman Empire. There is a high probability that the Ottoman Empire will be at a disadvantage in this war. "
Constantine’s words are also worthy of attention, because siding with the Ottoman Empire is basically tantamount to diplomatically isolating yourself from European society.
Of course, as an African country, East Africa actually doesn’t have much feeling about the life and death of the Ottoman Empire or the countries in the Balkan Peninsula. As long as there is no anti-East African force, it can basically be accepted reluctantly.
(End of this chapter)