Chapter 808 The dust has settled
With several people working together in collusion, Portugal directly became the biggest victim. Not only that, but Erenthal's previous proposal to reduce Portugal's compensation was also rejected by Salisbury.
After all, eight million pounds is not a small amount. Anyway, it is East Africa that is the "evil", and Britain is the one who takes the money, so there is no need for Portugal to pay less. Salisbury even unscrupulously thought of East Africa's previous treatment of Portugal. The asking price is too low, and if it were doubled in the UK, it would be really profitable.
This idea was despised by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and East Africa, and being an ally to the British would not end well.
It was Alan Tal who said: "Forty-eight million pounds may already be the limit that Portugal can bear. If it is doubled, the Portuguese government may directly default on the debt. They are not the Portuguese emperor who once was so majestic around the world." A colonial power."
During the changes in the world structure in the 19th century and before, countries were actually snatching food from Portugal and Spain. After all, these two countries accounted for most of the colonies back then.
Now Spain still has some strength, but Portugal has completely declined, so the situation Portugal will face in the future will definitely be more difficult. However, most of the colonies left by Portugal are not of much value now, such as Portuguese Goa, East Timor, São Tomé and Principe Pido is a small colony with a small area.
As the East-British parties reached a settlement, the subsequent negotiation meeting was just a formality, and Portuguese representative Gers also discovered the changes in Salisbury.
Most of the time, Salisbury was debating with the East Africans, and the scene was very heated. But when it came to the Portuguese issue, Salisbury was vague, and sometimes he even went straight to the show.
And Gers is naturally unable to resist East Africa. This is a gap in national strength. Everyone can sell face to the new power that has risen in East Africa, and Portugal, who is it! never heard of that.
Of course, this is also related to the close relationship between Portugal and the United Kingdom. Everyone knows that Portugal is a vassal of the United Kingdom, so naturally it is not his turn to intervene in the Portuguese issue. Don't you see that the British are not anxious? So I am even less willing to speak for the Portuguese.
As for the previous huge military expenditure, in the final analysis, it was still eaten by Britain's own military-industrial interest groups, so Britain did not lose at all. Although the South African War did not meet the optimistic expectations before the war, it was able to exit with dignity and the current British government is the best result.
At the end of March, the East African government began to cease military operations in Cape Town in accordance with its previous commitments, and at the same time began to repatriate captured British soldiers.
The first batch of 523 British troops returned to the British mainland on April 26, 1889. This greatly restored the popularity of the British government. The British prisoners of war were greatly welcomed by the local people. After all, the size of the UK Not big, more than 60,000 prisoners of war can be distributed in almost every region.
While the Venice Conference was going on, the East African government also had many private exchanges with the United Kingdom. Selling out the Kingdom of Portugal and preserving British interests in South Africa had been recognized by both countries. The United Kingdom could also make a fortune at the same time, so why not do it? .
In fact, there should be more than 80,000 families. After all, East Africa will not be reincarnated in the dirt, and the 20,000 dead British troops cannot be resurrected and handed over to the United Kingdom.
So the living conditions and safety conditions of these prisoners of war have received great attention from the British people, which involves more than 60,000 families.
The Venice Conference was held until June. Although Britain and East Africa had determined the basic ideas in March, in order to save the face of the two British allies, Portugal and the Boers, Britain and East Africa launched a fierce war of words.
In fact, the number of casualties of the British army is relatively good compared with that of the coalition forces. The coalition forces suffered a total of 170,000 casualties and more than 300,000 wounded and sick people. This was enough to trigger a plague in South Africa.
And so it is that East Africa is still cleaning up the mess in Angola and Mozambique, especially as drug spending reaches new highs, which was also brought to the Venice Conference in June. East Africa's claims against Portugal increased instead of falling, directly exceeding 50 million pounds. This also forced the Portuguese government to speed up the negotiation schedule. In the future, the 120,000 Portuguese captured troops would be completely useless and could only get in but not get out.
Unlike Britain, Portugal really can't stand the trouble, especially the issue of prisoners. The total population of Britain is close to 40 million, so the importance of 60,000 prisoners of war to the British government is almost negligible. It is not as troublesome as the workers' riots. big.
The population of Portugal is only over three million, and 120,000 prisoners of war can basically connect a large part of the people in Portugal.
So the Portuguese government must ensure the safety of 120,000 Portuguese prisoners of war, otherwise the angry people can directly overthrow the Portuguese government.
As a result, with Portugal's compromise, the Venice Conference finally came to a conclusion on June 28. The three parties participating in the war signed an armistice agreement under the witness of the international community headed by Count Ellenthal.
According to the provisions of the armistice agreement:
The two sides in East Africa immediately stopped, and the troops of both sides were withdrawn to the pre-war border between the two countries. The British had to compensate the British prisoners of war for the consumption and treatment expenses during their stay in East Africa, which totaled 3 million pounds.
Portugal ceded Angola and Mozambique to the East African Kingdom and compensated East Africa for war reparations of 40 million pounds.
Due to Portugal's financial pressure, this part of the war reparations was advanced by the United Kingdom. Of course, the original two million pounds were converted according to the value of Angola and Mozambique. In other words, East Africa obtained Portugal's two pieces worth two million pounds. Colonies, thoroughly settling the issue of ownership of Angola and Mozambique.
Legally speaking, Angola and Mozambique can no longer have anything to do with Portugal.
Finally, there was the Boer issue. The Boer Republic was abolished and incorporated into the East African territory. Orange became part of the East African Kingdom, bounded by the Orange River and the Tugela River. The south was Britain, and the north belonged entirely to East Africa.
As for the opinions of the Boers, they were completely ignored by the East British and British countries. The Boer Republic now cannot even retain a government-in-exile.
After all, the premise of the government-in-exile is that the popular base of the Boer Republic still exists. Just like Poland, although it is occupied by Tsarist Russia, the people living on the land are indeed Poles. Therefore, the Polish government-in-exile in the UK is of great use and can incite nationalist sentiments in Tsarist Russia at any time. , in order to achieve the purpose of deterring Tsarist Russia.
East Africa was too decisive in what it did in the former Boer Republic, that is, the Orange region, which directly drained the local Boer people's base. Therefore, even if it retains the Boer Republic's government-in-exile, it is meaningless, except for fighting against the East African dogs across the Orange River. Yep, spending more British taxpayers' money has no effect.
Of course, the British government has a deeper consideration, that is, there are too many Boers in the Cape Colony. If the Boer Republic-in-exile government is retained, not only will it not threaten East Africa, but it may promote local forces that are not conducive to British rule.
Boers account for more than 60% of the population of Cape Town Colony. Therefore, the Boer Republic, a "big thorn in the side", naturally cannot stay longer.
(End of this chapter)