Chapter 598: The Treaty of the Near East
Chapter 585 The Treaty of Near East
Things did not surprise the British, time dragged to the end of 1874, see Austria has no intention of continuing the war, may be worried that no one behind the meal, or anxious to go home for Christmas, the tsarist government then decisively chose to compromise.
On December 18, 1874, Austria, Russia and the Ottomans signed the Treaty of the Near East in London.
The content of the treaty:
1. The Ottoman Empire admitted defeat in the war and took responsibility for the war;
2. the return of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the transfer of sovereignty over the Arabian Peninsula to Austria as compensation; (Remarks: excluding the Two River Basin region, but including the Kuwait region)
3. Cession of the Caucasus to the Russian Empire and compensation of 2 million rubles to the Russians for war expenses;
4. Open the Black Sea Strait as a free strait, and all three countries are not allowed to block the strait at any period of time and under any circumstances;
5, the lifting of the Austrian naval blockade of the Ottoman coast with immediate effect;
6, the exchange of prisoners between the two sides within one month from the date of the treaty, and the withdrawal from each other’s territory within three months;
……
The treaty reached the Palace of Vienna and Franz decisively ratified it. The Ottoman Empire itself was a pauper, just cede land, claiming war reparations was a waste of time.
The Russians fought so hard for so long and ended up with 2 million rubles in reparations, a huge sum for an individual, but insignificant for the country.
The most interesting thing about the war was not the blimp unit that made its debut, nor was it the allied forces that were so powerful, but rather the astronomical transfer fee from the Arabian Peninsula.
Although the treaty did not state the exact amount of the discount, Austria’s offer of 3 billion guilders in compensation was still reported in the newspapers.
This headline news was the most popular among the people who ate it. From the 3 billion sky-high compensation to the sovereignty of the Arabian Peninsula, the difference in value is more than ten times.
Just talk about it after dinner, no one in their right mind would think that the Arabian Peninsula is worth that much money, and even less would think that Austria would be able to claim that much money.
Ask for the price of the sky, the land to pay back money. Originally is the normal means of negotiation, the final result and the initial requirements of the gap is also normal.
Franz could not help but be glad that he did not ask for the amount of compensation to be written on the treaty, otherwise this topic could be argued until the next century.
As the victor of the Near Eastern War, Austria’s greatest gain was not territorial expansion or economic benefits, but the strengthening of its religious influence.
The recovery of Jerusalem was enough to make Franz famous in the history of religion, and along with it, his titles became longer, such as: “Recoverer of the Holy Land”, “Saint”, “Defender of Christendom”. ” ……
The Holy See this time very generous, honorary titles do not pay wholesale, not only the emperor has, to participate in the war to recover Jerusalem officers and soldiers are not left behind, collectively awarded the honorary title of “recoverer of the Holy Land”.
If not for the reaction of the government of Vienna, it is estimated that the Holy See will also wholesale paladins. Pius IX has led a group of archbishops to Jerusalem, waiting for Franz to crown, in order to revitalize the Holy See they are also desperate.
It is all forced out, in recent years, the Holy See was suppressed by the French very badly, even the Vatican Church headquarters are subject to others.
Not to mention the privileges, now the Pope has to comply with the French law on religious administration. When Napoleon III made an example of the Holy See, he even sent the cardinals who had violated the law to prison, not giving the Holy See any face at all.
Now running to Jerusalem to establish a diocese, that was also a compulsion. At least Franz offered them even more favorable conditions, and they could make their own decisions within the Holy See’s own acreage.
The Middle East is a complex region, and it can’t be done without a thunderbolt in front of it. With the reopening of the Diocese of Jerusalem, there is a future backstabber.
Vienna Palace, Prime Minister Felix reported, “This time, the battle of Jerusalem, mainly siege is the main focus, the city did not break out into a major battle, the building damage is not big.
The royal palace has begun repairs, at most two months will be able to build and complete, will not affect the coronation in April next year.
However, in recent times, the local religious conflict is more, although we have already repatriated the Ottomans back to the country, there are still fish in the net of sabotage.
The government is preparing to implement a security crackdown, implementing real-name registration of local identities and investigating saboteurs who are staying illegally in the area.
……”
Recovering Jerusalem does not mean that the matter is finished, Franz the king is still missing the final proverbial kick in the pants. Legally, it is not until after the coronation in Jerusalem that he will be considered the true and legitimate monarch of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Franz asked, “How is the performance of the people of the Holy See, and is there any support for them?”
After thinking about it, Prime Minister Felix: “The performance was moderate, it looks like they were tossed by Napoleon III and basically operated within the scope we agreed on beforehand.
Judging from the current situation, several cardinals are behaving similarly, and it’s the same to support whoever comes to power. It’s the restoration of Jerusalem that comes next, and that’s when their abilities will be tested.”
The Jerusalem restoration work can be more than just repairing damaged buildings, but also rebuilding ancient buildings that were destroyed by the Ottoman Empire.
The Holy See has the most to say about this, and they have well-documented information. Restoration of the Holy Land was not a one-nation affair, and Franz was not prepared to be the wrongdoer.
The best person in Europe to do this was the Holy See, so the task of raising funds and remodeling the city fell to the Holy See as well.
After the reconstruction of the Holy Sites, the Diocese of Jerusalem also needed a weighty religious leader to take charge of the local faith indoctrination work, which could not be done without ability.
Franz nodded: ”The reconstruction of Jerusalem is completely decentralized to the Holy See. If they do a good job, even the management work can be given to them together.
We are just responsible for tax collection and law and order, Austria does not lack a small city. The government’s focus is still on the land fallow, the Middle East land is seriously sandy, if not treated, it won’t be long before it is completely reduced to a desert.
It doesn’t matter if the Holy Land becomes a desert in the hands of the Ottoman Empire, but if it becomes a desert in our hands, we will be the guilty ones.
The government should organize manpower as soon as possible to turn the local arable land into mountains, forests, and grasslands, and plant windbreaks and sand-fixing plants in the land that has already become sandy, with the funds raised mainly from the hands of believers, or directly encouraging pilgrimage believers to do it themselves.”
Franz had little interest in Jerusalem, an ancient city that would be little more than a tourist city even if it were developed, but the oil resources of the Middle East were too much for him to care about.
Protecting the holy sites was only in name, but in reality it was still laying the foundation for the future exploitation of oil resources. Now the natural environment of the Middle East, not as bad as the latter days, as long as a little protection will not appear water is more expensive than oil special situation.
Anyway, there is no need to pay a lot of money, the local population was relocated away, the land is fully fallow, the sand problem will be solved for the most part.
Then call the pilgrimage believers, participate in reforestation such meaningful activities, every year to increase the hundred and eighty square kilometers of oasis, or can be done.
The people naturally did not know what Franz was playing at, but this did not affect everyone’s execution. Since Jerusalem had come into Austria’s hands, even for the sake of saving face, the Vienna government could not let the area turn into a desert.
Colonial Minister Stefan proposed, “Your Majesty, the Arabian Peninsula also has a serious land sanding problem, and the Colonial Ministry suggests relocating the local population and similarly fallowing the land.”
Franz nodded with satisfaction, this ability to learn is fast. The desertification of the land in the Arabian Peninsula was even more serious and more difficult to manage, but this was not the point, the key was that the nomadic tribes on the peninsula were not good to rule.
Now Austria wants to control the Arabian Peninsula, mainly because of the strategic location of the peninsula, and does not expect to plunder wealth from the peninsula.
Nomadic tribes on the peninsula are poor, the main economic pillar is to raise camels, even if they are sent to collect taxes, but not necessarily able to support the tax collector.
If left unchecked, as long as someone secretly supported them, these tribes would again threaten Austria’s rule over the area. Against this backdrop, relocating the local tribes was undoubtedly the best way to reduce the cost of rule.
Franz replied, “The Arabian Peninsula has long been over-exploited, and in order to protect the natural environment, it really needs to be fallow for several decades.
However, the Arabian Peninsula is not small, and there are quite a few small countries on the peninsula, it’s not easy to do this, has the colonial ministry made any plans?”
The Arabian Peninsula was not a small area, even if it was sparsely populated, there were at least two to three million people. It’s not something that can be compared to the Jerusalem area, and it’s not that simple to relocate the local population to leave.
(Remark: not counting the densely populated areas of the Euphrates and Tigris river basins, which were not included in the treaty)
Colonial Minister Stephen explained: “Your Majesty, the Arabian Peninsula is arid and lacks water, the distribution of the population is gathered along the water sources, we just need to control the water sources and that’s enough.
The Colonial Ministry plans to leave a portion of the young and strong labor force to be sent to the African continent to dig mines and build railroads, and repatriate all the rest back to the Ottoman Empire.”
Lack of water is the biggest shortcoming of the Arabian Peninsula, once the water source is lost, the nomadic tribes can’t swim up.
(End of chapter)