Chapter 572: When it’s true, it’s also true
Chapter 559: When It’s True, It’s Also True
In the Middle East, the Austrian army launched an attack on the Ottoman Empire in two directions. One way was from the Sinai Peninsula, targeting Jerusalem; the other way was from the sea, heading straight for the Kuwait region.
The Kuwait region has harsh natural conditions, belonging to the tropical desert climate, drought, little rain, many sandstorms, the whole territory is desert, not suitable for agricultural production.
Before the discovery of oil resources, it was not taken seriously by everyone, and it was only in 1871 that the Ottoman Empire established a county in Kuwait, thanks to the age of the great voyages.
In order to develop the domestic economy, the Sultan’s government was prepared to build a railroad to allow direct access to the Indian Ocean from the Persian Gulf.
However, plans were always just plans, and the railroad existed only as an ideal that the Sultan’s government did not have the ability to implement.
Due to the limitations of the natural conditions, Kuwait region is still a poor and backward countryside, the domestic transportation has not been solved, want to carry out overseas trade is also more than enough.
Now the Sudanese government didn’t have to worry about these problems, the Austrians made the choice for them. Faced with a sudden enemy, the Kuwaiti defenders collapsed in a state of confusion.
It wasn’t that they didn’t try hard, it was really that the difference in strength was too great. The Sudanese government did not anticipate that the Kuwaiti region would be the target of the Austrian attack, and there was only one unorganized garrison regiment in the region.
Politically speaking, the strategic Kuwaiti region is of little significance now. However, if you look at the map, you will understand that Austria is circling the wagons.
To this day, the world is pretty much divided up, and the rest is either hardcore or a confluence of powers that hold each other back, so it’s not a good idea to risk upsetting the balance.
Although the Arabian Peninsula is a little bit barren, at least it is a soft persimmon, relatively few competitors.
In addition to Austria, only the British put tentacles over, only John Bull seems to look at these small countryside, put very little power.
Vienna Palace, Franz is carefully reading the British diplomatic note, in a nutshell: protesting Austria’s actions in the Middle East to the detriment of Britain’s interests, the government in London is very angry.
After a few moments of work, Franz put down the document and asked with a smile on his face, “The British ran to protest, what do you think?”
The British protested, which in Franz’s opinion was a good thing. The fact that the Royal Navy was not sent to block the door was enough to prove that the London government did not attach much importance to the Persian Gulf.
Formal diplomatic notes looked serious, and very often they were just that, nothing more than an exchange of interests. Under normal circumstances, as long as the core interests of each country are not involved, then everything is negotiable.
Foreign Minister Weissenberg: ”Your Majesty, judging from the current situation, the British are trying to get us to call it quits.
In Palestine, the Ottoman Empire is heavily armed, and this war has only just begun. The Kuwait region is just a small countryside area with not much interest to speak of.
The British so-called loss of interest, not necessarily 10,000 pounds, so little interest is not worth the British Foreign Office so much.
If they really want it, the big deal is to pay them back. The Foreign Office has already communicated with the British, and it’s certain that they didn’t come for this little bit.”
Kuwait is just a small county in the Ottoman Empire, with a population of only a few tens of thousands, and a very scattered distribution. Constrained by natural conditions, how can the word “poor” be said.
The British Colonial Company had once established a stronghold here in preparation for opening a colony, but later withdrew due to an imbalance in income and expenditure.
In the original time and space or after the end of the First World War, the British only colonized Kuwait after oil was discovered in Persia, Iraq and other areas.
Now Austria is occupying the Kuwait region, mainly for the harbor. The Yemen region is subject to the monsoon, and many of the ports are only available for a few months, making them unsuitable for naval bases.
Of course, that’s what Austria says to the outside world, and that’s the biggest value of Kuwait right now. Whether people believe it or not is not Franz’s concern.
Prime Minister Felix: “If that’s the case, we can have a good talk with the British. We can always call a truce if the interests are right, and we’re not prepared to destroy the Ottoman Empire right now anyway.
However, I think it’s unlikely, it’s not true that the British want to keep the Ottoman Empire, but the current situation in Europe is changing, and the London government is hesitant to take action, so I’m afraid there’s a conspiracy behind this.”
It had become the habit of the Vienna government to speculate about the British with the utmost malice. It was not that people thought a lot, but it was the experience accumulated from dealing with the British for a long time.
If you don’t grow a few more eyes, you may be pitied by the British at any time, especially when you are an ally.
For example: the Kingdom of Sardinia, in order to hold on to the British thighs, even the last Near Eastern War had absolutely nothing to do with them, and in order to please the British, the Kingdom of Sardinia sent troops to the war.
They thought that if they hugged the British, everything would be fine, and then united the Italian region with the support of the British, but then they turned around and were sold out by the London government.
If we analyze the reasons carefully, we will find that the poor performance of the Sardinian army in the Balkan battlefield stimulated the ambition of the French to a certain extent.
Before the Austro-Sardinian War, the Kingdom of Sardinia still had some military power, as evidenced by its ability to mobilize more than 100,000 troops. Even after losing the war, European countries still generally gave the Sardinian army a good evaluation.
And the last Near East war was different, Sardinian soldiers simply do not want to fight, and then it is all the way to paddle.
When the French took a look, they realized that their next-door neighbor was so weak that it was hard not to have ambitions! The latter is needless to say, the patriotic youth died to give the French an excuse.
As an ally of the British, after a symbolic effort, behind the scenes and the French negotiated a deal, it sold the Kingdom of Sardinia.
There are many more such cases, just open a history book and look for them. With so many lessons learned, it is only natural that experienced politicians would be wary of the British.
Finance Minister Karl: “Could it be that the British are trying to make a deal with us? There are quite a few places where our two countries’ forces intersect, and although major conflicts rarely occur, minor conflicts come every once in a while.
The foreign ministries of both countries are very busy in order to deal with these issues, and many of them have remained pending. It’s also in the interests of the British to take advantage of the opportunity to make a deal with us at this time.”
Opening the world map shows that with the continuous expansion of the major colonial empires, there are more spheres of influence where everyone intersects with each other, and the conflicts between the powers have increased significantly in the last few years.
The alliance between Britain, France and Austria actually had the meaning of dividing the colonial spheres of influence. After all, the rich and flickering areas have been divided almost, the remaining scraps are not worth fighting for.
Colonization is the need to consider the cost, we open up colonies is also to plunder the wealth, blindly rob rob rob, the cost of light can be dragged to death any empire.
The Anglo-Boer War in South Africa is a clear example. Austria, who won the war, could slowly recover the cost; the British, who started the war, lost all their money.
The government in London had no choice but to deal with the situation as coldly as possible in order to minimize the political impact, and the previous government even fell as a result.
After a lesson, in the colonial struggle in the countries are very restrained, not every place underground are buried in a large amount of gold, may not win the war, and finally can not recover the cost.
Staring at the map on the wall, Franz carefully pondered for a while, and finally turned his attention to Ethiopia and Sudan.
The Suez Canal is crucial, yet France and Austria simply won’t let the British intervene. Not being able to get the Suez Canal was just a matter of maintaining influence over the canal was still needed.
Against this backdrop, John Bull could only play the attention of the Bab-el-Mandeb. Yemen was occupied by Austria, leaving them with Africa.
Unfortunately the African continent had fallen into the hunting ground of France and Austria, and at this time the British had to pay for the negligence of the early stage.
To make amends, the British launched the Ethiopian War and the Anglo-Boer War, the latter having failed and the former only half successful.
The British did defeat Ethiopia, but unfortunately it took them several years to do so, and Ethiopia is still in a state of chaos, with anti-British forces growing stronger by the day.
There is no doubt that the two Fao teammates behind this must have been pulling their leg again. Without support, the Ethiopian natives would have succumbed to their bayonets.
Franz drew a circle on the map with his hand, which happened to be the whole Arabian Peninsula: “The Foreign Office and the British talk slowly, no matter what their purpose is, as long as they want to realize it, sooner or later they will be exposed.
If they are not in a hurry, we don’t have to be in a hurry, it is a good choice to keep dragging it out, and it is best to drag it out until the end of the Near East War.
If the British want an exchange of benefits, just let them give up the entire Arabian Peninsula, just a mere Kuwait, there is no need to talk about it.”
After a pause, Franz drew another circle around the African continent, including Ethiopia, Sudan, and most of Somalia.
“These areas are the price we can pay, if the British want to talk, take your time and grind with them, don’t rush to reach an agreement.”
Colonial Secretary Stephen said hastily, “Your Majesty, we would lose a lot of money in such a deal. The Arabian Peninsula is of limited value, and the island’s economy is still in the primitive age.
It is dominated by nomadic tribes, and there is not a single decent city. The gains from colonizing the area may not even be enough to cover the cost of ruling the area.”
A loss? In this day and age, that seems to be the case. If it wasn’t worthless, it wouldn’t have been Austria’s turn to do it.
Franz didn’t explain that in this day and age, oil was a pipe dream. The internal combustion engine is still in the laboratory stage, far from the market.
The biggest role of oil is to be processed and used for daily lighting. Unfortunately, Austria is vigorously developing the power industry, and daily lighting is a sunset industry.
After a few moments of contemplation, Franz drew a line: “From Jerusalem to build a railroad, all the way to the Gulf of Aden, and then along the Arabian Peninsula all the way to Kuwait. What do you think?”
There is no doubt that Franz is “not talking about economics, only strategy.” By building a traffic circle railroad along the Arabian Peninsula, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf will not be able to escape Austrian influence in the future.
If the Ottoman Empire collapses, it will also be an opportunity to expand its power into the Euphrates River Valley, and Austria’s hegemony in the Middle East will be assured.
Finance Minister Karl: “Your Majesty, we must consider the cost, the economy of the Middle East is not strong, these inputs may not be able to recover the cost in thirty years.”
Thirty years is a very optimistic estimate, if we don’t consider the resources underground, Franz thinks that we won’t be able to recover the cost in a hundred years.
After hesitating for a few moments, Franz said, “This is just a plan, whether it can be implemented or not is a matter for the future, for now let the British believe that this is true first.
Think about it, once the Ottoman Empire collapses, we and the Russians divide it up and extend the railroad from Asia Minor all the way to the Arabian Sea, doesn’t that look tempting?”
True is true when it’s true, and Franz wouldn’t have been able to see which of the strategies he’d pounded out was true if he hadn’t been a strategy maker.
(End of chapter)