Chapter 950 Paris Conference
"Your Highness, the Spanish government has revealed to us its intention to negotiate peace with the United States. They have completely lost the confidence to continue fighting. This war is about to end." Hermann reported to Ernst that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had obtained the information.
In the Spanish-American War, Spain was originally the side that was passively beaten. After the entire colonial navy was annihilated, it was completely flat.
As East Africa and France, which were on Spain's side before the war, became Spain's preferred mediators.
“We can just follow France in doing this kind of thing. I think France can get the best conditions for Spain.”
This is also true. Without French mediation in the previous life, Spain would have only suffered a worse loss.
However, Ernst was in a good mood overall. Although Spain was defeated, it also taught the United States a lesson. Even the bottom line of a great power like Spain can cause trouble to the United States, not to mention the navies of Britain and France that have not shown any signs of decline. There is still a lot of room for improvement for powerful countries and even the two navies.
Although all countries seem to be developing in the direction of "big navies", in fact, they have not squeezed out their final potential. To realize this potential, at least a world-class war is required.
November 2, 1898.
Paris France.
With France as the host, diplomats from Spain and the United States gathered in Paris to conclude the Spanish-American War. Lawrence, the East African ambassador to France, also participated in this mediation meeting.
After the outbreak of the war, the relationship between the United States and Spain has completely reached a freezing point. With Spain's defeat, the hostility of the Spanish people towards the United States has exceeded the limit, surpassing that of the United Kingdom.
A former world hegemon like Spain has many enemies, including Portugal, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, etc., but there is no doubt that in the history of Spain, the United Kingdom must be ranked first in depriving Spain of its maritime hegemony. Of course, this is already in the past Hundreds of years old.
And the impact of the Spanish-American War on Spain was no worse than the destruction of the Armada. This time the Spanish Navy repeated the history of basically annihilating its entire army.
If it weren’t for the fact that the Spanish mainland was barely adequate in terms of size, then it would be entirely possible for Spain to become a third-rate country like Portugal this time.
After the meeting began, the United States and Spain accused each other of being the main person responsible for this war. The entire meeting was filled with a strong smell of gunpowder. In fact, the post-war negotiations were also wars in a peaceful situation.
Soon, after the two countries expressed their respective views, France began to persuade them, which was nothing more than asking the two countries to make concessions. Hello, he, everyone.
When Lawrence spoke, the "war" was ignited again. As a more determined pro-Westernist than France, Ambassador Lawrence came up and said in a strange way: "Spain is the obvious victim in this war, although the source of the contradiction between the two countries is It was the Maine incident, but there is no conclusion about the Maine incident. Maybe it was a drama directed and performed by a third party. After all, Cuba's illegal armed forces have always received support and other assistance from third countries. This is a sign of Cuba's political instability. the root cause.”
"In a region like Cuba, which is inherently geopolitically and ecologically fragile, there is absolutely no need for Spain to conflict with the United States. Therefore, the Maine has revealed an air of conspiracy from the beginning, and the Spanish government has no need or motive to target the Maine. Hands on."
"Ambassador Lawrence, the Maine is a scar on our United States. Hundreds of American soldiers and a large number of American expatriates have sacrificed their lives. We have long conducted a detailed investigation on the Maine. The reason has long been pointed out. The Maine was launched because of the Spanish." caused by a mine."
Lawrence said politely: "Unilateral survey has never been persuasive. After all, the evidence can be forged, and a torpedo makes this Benin directly outbreak. This is obviously unreasonable." , a Spanish torpedo hit the Maine's ammunition magazine, causing a larger explosion," the United States argued.
Laurence: "The Spaniards have not participated in the construction of the Maine. How could they know the hull structure of the Maine so well..."
The dispute between the two sides over the Maine is naturally unlikely to come to a conclusion, but this is exactly what Lawrence wants to see. It is not important what the United States does. What is important is to convince other countries that the United States is really behind the scenes, even if it is just suspicion of its own purpose. That's it.
“Okay, Ambassador Lawrence, it’s better not to say some things casually without evidence. Only when there is no doubt about the guilt can the fairness of this meeting be reflected.” The Belgian diplomat advised on the side.
The French also interrupted Lawrence's speech at the right time: "This kind of thing was not clear from the beginning. Now our focus is still on the outcome of the war between the United States and Spain. As a defeated country, Spain will naturally bear the consequences of defeat. As a result, this war mainly took place on Spanish territory, so no matter what the excuse was for the war, the United States did something wrong. "
The French government initially attacked the United States and Spain 50 times each, and then said: "As the winner of this war, I wonder what outcome the United States wants?"
At this time, the U.S. government has no intention of arguing with Lawrence, a bastard. It still wants to get the benefits first: "As a victorious country, we demand that Spain withdraw from Cuba, the Philippines... several colonies, and compensate our country for its losses in this war. …”
The United States suffered considerable losses in the war this time. Including the Maine, the United States lost four cruisers, five more were seriously damaged, and other warships were also lost.
Of course, compared to the United States, Spain was even worse. The colonial navy was completely wiped out, and the local navy also suffered heavy losses in Cuba. After this war, Spain's naval strength will not be able to revive in the next few decades.
Therefore, it is naturally impossible for the Spaniards to agree to the conditions of the US government. They were already distressed enough by ceding the land, but they actually had to pay compensation, which made the Spaniards even more unacceptable.
Of course, the United States has no fear of Spain's rejection. After all, the Spanish navy has been abolished. If the war continues, it will really hit Spain's doorstep.
“The value of Cuba alone is enough to make up for the losses of the United States, not to mention the compensation. The losses of the Spanish Navy are much greater than those of the United States, so the United States should, in turn, pay Spain for the losses.” Lawrence jumped out at this time and said.
Facing Lawrence, a clown who jumps up and down, American diplomats are speechless. Is Spain your real father in East Africa? Of course, the Spanish government is grateful for East Africa's "righteous speech".
However, Lawrence’s words will not arouse strong dissatisfaction among Americans. As he said, the value of Cuba alone, an important sugar and tobacco producer in the world, is enough to make up for the losses of the United States.
And what Lawrence said doesn’t mean that East Africa has no objection to the United States’ annexation of Cuba! Therefore, American diplomats chose to forgive Lawrence for his inappropriate remarks.
Of course, Cuba is Cuba, and the Philippines is the Philippines. East Africa can acquiesce to the United States' annexation of Cuba, but cannot tolerate the United States' easy annexation of the Philippines. Therefore, the next issue of the ownership of the Philippines is Lawrence's main battlefield.
"The Philippines should not be the subject of discussion in the first place. After all, the Maine incident occurred in Cuba. The Philippines suffered a completely unreasonable disaster. Moreover, the US Navy has been training in Hong Kong since June last year and responded quickly to the Philippines after the war. Therefore, the Philippine issue cannot be conflated with the Caribbean region, and the sovereignty of the Philippines should continue to be dominated by Spain.”
On the issue of the Philippines, Lawrence directly encouraged Spain not to make concessions. After all, being a neighbor with Spain is far more reassuring than being a neighbor with the United States. Moreover, it is somewhat inconsistent with international morality for the United States to use the Philippines as a battlefield. The fuse of the war was Maine. No. It is understandable that Cuba should bear the main responsibility. To a certain extent, dragging the Philippines into the battlefield is an act of overstepping the bounds.
(End of this chapter)