Chapter 861 Dividing the spoils
“Ambassador Russell, just now a staff member from the White House came to our embassy. According to him, President Cleveland invited you to the White House for a chat.”
At this time, Russell had no idea what Cleveland had invited him to the White House for, because the incident in the Hawaiian Islands was a special operation in East Africa. Except for East African senior officials, the military and the Defense Security Agency, even East Africans rarely knew about it.
But Russell would not be too surprised. Since the restoration of diplomatic relations between East Africa and the United States, such high-level exchanges are not uncommon. However, President Cleveland only took office in March this year and has not had any communication with Russell.
The last president of the United States before President Cleveland was actually Russell Benjamin Harrison, so Russell was relatively unfamiliar with President Cleveland.
Of course, it is not completely unknown, because Cleveland is still the 22nd President of the United States. Yes, Cleveland has served as President of the United States for one term. This time he is just taking office again.
The main reason why Russell was not re-elected was that he advocated an economic "isolationist" policy, which caused the domestic capital to be dissatisfied with it when it encountered an economic depression. After all, the United States is already the world's largest industrial country, and its policies have made American capital The world feels that its interests have been harmed.
Although Cleveland is a supporter of "liberal economics", he actually changed the policy after taking office. The United States still maintains the "high tariff" policy, but it has been weakened compared to the Russell period.
Regarding Cleveland, Russell himself had a general attitude towards the American president, because the two had not had much interaction before, and the restoration of East-US diplomatic relations was mainly due to President Russell's political achievements, although Russell also conformed to the international situation after the South African War. He made flexible changes to the general trend, but Russell only looked at the results. When Cleveland was inaugurated as the 22nd President of the United States, he did not have much communication with East Africa.
However, as a diplomat, Russell would not be emotional, so he went to the White House as scheduled to communicate with the unfamiliar American president and see what medicine he was selling.
…
meeting room.
"Hello, Ambassador Russell, I think this is the first time we have met." Cleveland greeted Russell warmly.
“Hello, President Cleveland!” Russell replied politely.
Cleveland noticed that the East African diplomat was very young. Of course, this was not the first impression, but that Russell seemed a bit difficult to deal with as a diplomat. After all, he greeted him with a smile. This Russell's reaction was not like a qualified diplomat at all. of diplomatic personnel.
His feeling was correct. Russell was born in the military, and he had the rigidity and seriousness of a military personnel. East Africa, a country with a history of less than 30 years, did not have many professional diplomats. Of course, in other words, East Africa There are not many professionally trained diplomats who hold high positions.
The military system in East Africa is the fastest-promoted. People in the East African government are mostly people from the military system. In addition, East Africa has always been at war, so it is easier for soldiers to be promoted.
“Why did President Cleveland invite me here this time?” Russell asked straight to the point.
This further confirmed President Cleveland's conjecture, but he still said with a smile: "East Africa and the United States are both big countries in the world, so our exchanges are not necessarily for national affairs, but can also be for the purpose of increasing the relationship between the two countries. Feelings! I wonder what Ambassador Russell likes to drink?”
"It will be all right."
“Jabulun, prepare a cup of coffee for Ambassador Russell.” Seeing Russell’s answer, Cleveland ordered his secretary.
“Hawaii, what does this have to do with us in East Africa?” “Well, don’t you know!” President Cleveland thought Russell wanted to act stupid. You East Africans have swallowed up Kauai, and you still don’t want to admit it!
Russell was puzzled: "Hawaii should be an island country in the Pacific! The distance between East Africa and Hawaii is very far."
Seeing that Russell really didn't know the situation on the Hawaiian Islands, Cleveland explained to him what was going on: "...So, what is your attitude in East Africa?"
No wonder Russell didn’t know about this. After all, Hawaii is far away from the mainland of East Africa. If you want to send the message back to East Africa, you must first take a boat to the Southern Ryukyu Islands, and then transfer it back to East Africa by telegram.
The East African troops in Hawaii have not yet returned to the Southern Ryukyu Islands. After all, they have to ensure the stability of Kauai Island first, so there is a lot to do.
The mainland will naturally not send news to Russell before receiving the news. After all, it is a special military operation, so the fewer people who know about it before the dust settles, the better.
But now that Russell knew it from the president of the United States, he naturally did not dare to make any arbitrary decisions. He said to Cleveland: "I want to go back first and then discuss this matter with the locals."
Cleveland could only send Russell back first, but with Russell's line, there was a communication channel between East Africa and the United States. If it were before the South African War, this kind of thing might really cause trouble.
The next day, East Africa sent Russell the specific situation and explained East Africa's attitude. Russell returned to the White House again.
"It is true that our country will send troops to Kauai, but East Africa has no interest in the Hawaiian islands other than Kauai. Moreover, this troop dispatch was invited by King Kumari to help him avoid the exploitation of unscrupulous businessmen, and his own influence on the Kingdom of Hawaii. dissatisfied, so we must break away and restore the country.”
Only the first part of Russell's words is considered sincere, while the second part is a complete "slander" of East Africa. After all, Kumari did not know any East Africans before, so how could he possibly invite East Africa to send troops.
However, after knowing East Africa's plan, Cleveland also breathed a sigh of relief. If East Africa only supported a puppet regime on Kauai, it would be barely acceptable.
After all, the most important thing about Hawaii is Pearl Harbor. If East Africa went to Pearl Harbor, even Cleveland, who opposed the US annexation of Hawaii, would not agree.
Furthermore, the United States itself is in the wrong. The coup in southern Hawaii was carried out by its own people, so the United States cannot morally attack East Africa. In this way, criticizing East Africa is criticizing itself.
Therefore, morally the United States cannot drive the East African forces out of Hawaii, and it is even more impossible to achieve it militarily. The United States is now very cautious militarily, and Cleveland is not a militant. What's more, the military strength of East Africa deserves the respect of the United States, so it is obviously impossible to pass it now. Strong tactics were used to expel East Africa from the Hawaiian Islands.
The United States is ranked first, and East Africa is ranked fifteenth. Countries such as Britain and France would be happiest when East and America compete, so Cleveland prefers to divide Hawaii equally with East Africa.
That's right, Cleveland's original decision not to support the annexation of Hawaii also changed after East Africa's attitude was expressed.
After all, if the United States does not take action, the Kingdom of Hawaii will not be able to resist the aggression of the East Africans. In this case, it is better to recognize the illegal government of the Republic of Hawaii and then bring the southern Hawaiian Islands into the sphere of influence of the United States.
And in Cleveland's view, East Africa's involvement in the Hawaiian Islands is not a bad thing. Originally, the United States' annexation of the Hawaiian Islands would attract negative public opinion from the international community, but now East Africa is involved! Taking the blame together can distract other countries.
In the end, President Cleveland made a decision that went against his own heart and included Hawaii in the U.S. territory in advance. Of course, the state of Hawaii will have an incomplete territory without Kauai in the future.
(End of this chapter)