Chapter 1122 French Temptation
When Constantine passed away, the First Balkan War was basically over. The Ottoman Empire perfectly demonstrated the strength of the "Sick Man of West Asia" and was completely unable to resist the offensive of the Balkan Alliance. The Balkan Alliance was advancing vigorously, while the Ottoman Empire was retreating steadily. In this kind of situation Under the situation, the Ottoman Empire once again had to ask other countries for mediation to avoid further losses.
In May, with the support of various countries, the Ottoman Empire finally chose to give up almost all of its European territory in exchange for peace.
But the smoke in the Balkans did not dissipate with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. Because of the uneven distribution of spoils, conflicts among the countries in the Balkans soon broke out, and the Second Balkan War broke out.
The most striking feature of the Second Balkan War was that the supporters behind Bulgaria and the anti-Bulgarian alliance were different. In this round of war, Germany, Austria-Hungary and East Africa almost unanimously supported Bulgaria, while other powers supported Bulgaria. Countries such as Serbia and Greece.
The entire Balkan Peninsula seems to be showing a competition between two camps, an alliance of German countries and an alliance of non-German countries, as if Germany, Austria-Hungary and East Africa have joined forces.
The fact that the three German countries took almost the same political actions will inevitably arouse people's conjecture. Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire was a dual system, there is no doubt that the Germans still hold the main influence in national politics.
As for the three countries of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and East Africa, any one of them is very important in the world. If the three countries unite, this is definitely not what other countries in the world want to see.
With the death of Constantine, there have been some apparent changes in the East African government, which has made other countries want to test the attitude of the "new" government leadership in East Africa.
Before the outbreak of the Second Balkan War, French Ambassador to East Africa Thomson once again communicated with the East African government.
Rhine Palace.
Now three months have passed since the death of Constantine. Ernst has also temporarily come out of the gloom and begun to handle national affairs as emperor. Ernst received Ambassador Thomson at the Rhine Palace.
Thomson asked directly: "Your Majesty the Emperor, I wonder if your country has intentionally communicated with Germany in this round of Balkan conflicts. What is your attitude towards Bulgaria and other Balkan countries?"
Although East Africa is on the side of Bulgaria, it is not surprising. After all, Bulgaria has been conducting military cooperation with East Africa before. It is the Balkan country with the best relations with East Africa except Romania. However, when Germany, Austria-Hungary and East Africa sided together, , still makes France feel terrified.
So the most important thing about Thomson's question is to use words to test whether there is secret collusion and collusion between East Africa and Germany.
After all, East Africa, as a German country, is prone to misunderstandings. It can be said that without involving the external situation, East Africa and Germany have a natural basis for cooperation. The two countries have similar cultures, deep economic cooperation, and greater military cooperation in East Africa. It is very similar to Germany.
Therefore, if Germany secretly forms an alliance with East Africa, it can be said to be quite logical in the eyes of other countries in the world.
Ernst told Thomson: "East Africa does not have clear political intentions in this round of Balkan war. Our support to Bulgaria is completely a continuation of the relationship between the two countries before the war. You should also know that we are in military affairs." We have in-depth cooperation with Bulgaria, so the current support for Bulgaria does not require in-depth explanation, it is completely a coincidence.”
Of course, as a seasoned diplomat, Thomson would not believe that East Africa really had no contact with Germany or the Austro-Hungarian Empire just because Ernst said so verbally.
So Thomson continued to test: "The main thing is at this stage. It is difficult to reassure people about the consistency of the diplomatic actions of Germany, Austria-Hungary and East Africa. This coincidence will cause misunderstandings in many countries."Three German countries Supporting Bulgaria at the same time, although each has its own excuses, can easily make France feel that everything is at stake.
Ernst explained: "I believe Ambassador Thomson also knows that the Austro-Hungarian Empire's support for Bulgaria is entirely out of fear of Serbian extreme nationalism, so supporting Bulgaria is a decision made by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in order to stabilize its own security. , As for our East Africa, although we have some military cooperation with Bulgaria, this does not mean that our East Africa can have much influence on the Balkan Peninsula. "
“Therefore, East Africa and the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s support for Bulgaria was unexpected, and East Africa, as an extraterritorial country, never had too many thoughts.”
Taking the Austro-Hungarian Empire as an example, that is because the Austro-Hungarian Empire obviously had geographical considerations in its support for Bulgaria. The Austro-Hungarian Empire needed Bulgaria to attack Serbia to prevent the emergence of "Greater Serbia".
Assuming that Serbia does not exist, it is basically impossible for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to support Bulgaria. From this point of view, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's support for Bulgaria is speculative, and the same is true for East Africa. In this way, there will be no Germany, Austria-Hungary, and East Africa. Possibility of alliance.
Ernst continued: "At present, we in East Africa still focus on economic development. This can be seen from the East African navy. Our total naval tonnage is obviously low in the world. Since East Africa has not participated in naval armaments Naturally, we have no intention of expanding our influence in other regions.”
This set of rhetoric can indeed make people feel more at ease. If East Africa really forms an alliance with Germany, then East Africa will inevitably participate in the war, and a country that is prepared to participate in the war will definitely not be slower than other countries in military construction like East Africa is now. nation.
This also gave Thomson reassurance. Through Ernst's words, East Africa indeed had no obvious intention to intervene in the European situation.
East Africa obviously intends to stay out of the matter. After all, the size of the East African navy cannot even catch up with France. Instead of worrying about East Africa, it is better to worry about the United States, a country that is actively expanding its armaments.
Ambassador Thomson settled down and began to have other conversations with Ernst. Although East Africa did not show the momentum of military expansion, it was undeniable that the East African National Defense Force was still an important military force in the world.
Therefore, France cannot tolerate East Africa joining the German camp, and if it wants East Africa to stay out of the game between Germany and France, it obviously needs to use more chips to win over East Africa.
After all, even if East Africa does not support Germany militarily, it can still support Germany through economy and trade, because France knows very well that as a non-colonial power, Germany relies on East Africa for a large part of its raw materials.
East Africa will obviously not sever trade relations with Germany, so that Germany will have the opportunity to get the cheap raw materials it wants from East Africa to promote its own industrial and military development.
For example, German military industrial enterprises require large-scale imports of special minerals needed for weapons, such as manganese, copper, chromium, rare earths, etc. from East Africa.
The only thing France can do is to drive up market prices so that it will not be too easy for Germany to purchase raw materials from East Africa.
So after Thomson determined that East Africa would not participate in the conflict between Germany and France, he negotiated several large orders with East Africa on behalf of the French government, especially the import of some materials from East Africa that might have been used by German military industrial enterprises.
Although France may not be able to use it, France's orders can at least increase the cost of Germany's military development. This can also be regarded as a means of killing one thousand enemies and damaging oneself eight hundred.
(End of this chapter)