Chapter 699: Meat in the Pot
Chapter 683 – Meat in the Pot
The “misunderstanding” that occurred in Panama is too big, an accidental armed conflict can kill a division, this kind of thing no one would dare to believe.
An explanation is a cover-up, and it won’t do any good. Soon after the incident, the Austro-Central American colonial government claimed responsibility for the incident, which was actually the result of Franz’s intervention.
Taking the initiative to stand up and take responsibility would also allow for an avoidance of the obvious, salvaging as much of the international reputation as possible and minimizing the adverse effects.
Holding people accountable is naturally non-existent. The Austro-Central American colonial governments were not at fault, as is the way of colonial empires these days.
It’s not like something like this hasn’t happened before. It’s just that the impact wasn’t as great, not only was Colombia an independent country, but more critically it was a white country.
The European population has always been very sensitive to this kind of thing, especially the many small countries, and it’s a thing of the past.
In the view of many people, today they do not stand up for Colombia, it is possible that tomorrow a similar thing fell on their heads, and no one is willing to stand up.
Similar to the original time and space of the Anglo-Boer War, Austria was also sprayed by public opinion, foreign embassies are surrounded by demonstrations in front of the crowd.
Of course, the initiative to take responsibility is still useful, so that the international image of the Vienna government does not look so bad.
Spraying is fine, who hasn’t been sprayed by the powers these days! Anyway, people are just paying lip service to the idea and are unlikely to actually take action.
Compared to the calmness of the Vienna government, Franz’s reaction was much stronger. Franz could have cared less about his international reputation if Austria had been left alone abroad, which was clearly not possible.
The poor strategic position dictated that Austria had to do have a good international image in order to get more options in diplomacy.
……
“How are the preparations for the Panamanian government going, and when will we be able to withdraw our troops?” Franz asked with concern
Colonial Minister Stephen: “Your Majesty, the Panamanian government has been formed and is ready to declare independence at any time.
The problem now is that they lack the armed forces to defend themselves, once we withdraw our troops, it will be difficult for them to block the Colombian government’s counterattack.”
It wasn’t that easy for the Panama region to become independent, and in the original time and space, it was still the Americans who personally intervened with their troops, and the Colombian government had no choice but to back down.
It didn’t come without a price, the Americans went out of their way, that’s how vital the Panama Canal was to him.
Not so with Austria, the main purpose of seizing the Panama region was to mess up the Panama Canal so that it could not be navigated smoothly.
The value was different and the price that could be paid was different. In order to Panama region, make the South American countries rabbit dead fox sad, together boycott Austria that would not be worth it.
In this context, while instigating the Panamanian independence movement, Austria must minimize its own presence.
In other words, it is a bitch who wants to be a whore.
Franz asked in surprise: “Aren’t there plantation owners? Don’t they have the power, yet, to resist the Colombian invasion.”
The political significance of Franz’s definition of the Colombian government’s military campaign to suppress the insurgency as an “invasion” before Panama had even declared its independence was self-evident.
Stephen frowned and explained, “Your Majesty, the situation in South America is very special, most of the immigrants came from the Civil War period, and there is a lack of aristocratic backbone.
The Austrian Central America region has been operated by us for a long time, and the defects in this area have gradually been remedied, and the military strength is still okay.
The Panama region is different, there is no big plantation owner or big colonial company there, and it was not under our control before, there is no way to organize military training there ……”
Franz heard and understood. Many of the Civil War immigrants had run away to escape the war, which meant that the local population did not have a strong desire to fight.
“Lack of noble stalwarts,” in other words, a lack of officers.
The absence of “large plantation owners and colonial corporations” meant that there was no strong local armed force.
The absence of “organized military training” means that the soldiers being recruited are peasants who have just laid down their hoes or workers who have just come out of the workshop and need a lot of time for training.
The combination of all these reasons means that the soon-to-be-independent region of Panama has a very weak military force, which will not be able to compete with the Colombian government forces in a short time.
In reality, the situation may be even worse, the so-called brutal rule of the Colombian government, exploitation and oppression of the local population, itself is a political need to appear, how much truth remains to be proved.
The Panamanian Independence Organization was organized by Austria, and it is still uncertain whether it can gain the support of the local people.
The information provided by the Austrian colonial government in Central America was likewise mixed with personal emotions. They were not bold enough to fake it completely, but they had to do some artistic work.
This kind of thing belongs to the instinct of the bureaucracy, there is no way to eliminate. Not to mention this era of constant communication, even in the age of the Internet, the same is repeatedly prohibited.
“The current international situation, we are not suitable for the direct occupation of the Panama region, the withdrawal of troops is sooner or later, and this time the sooner the better.
What plans does the Colonial Ministry have for this reality?”
Colonial Minister Stephen: “We are in the process of organizing emigration, and through the efforts of the colonial government, we have now convinced a dozen or so colonial teams to emigrate to the Panama region.
These armed civilian forces will be the main force in the early stages of the fight against the Colombian government forces, helping the Panamanian government to get through the toughest years.”
Franz nodded, it wasn’t necessarily the best option, but the most suitable option for Austria at the moment.
It was better to have the “immigrants” as a cover than to go straight to the mercenaries.
In any case, as long as these “armed immigrants” get the Panamanian region of the household registration, is the Panamanian region of the people and the Colombian government between the conflict.
Of course, everything has its pros and cons, the civilian colonization team also needs to return. Now rely on them to sell their lives, the future interests of the Panamanian region will have to share a large share of them.
Similar things have happened many times during the Austrian colonization process, and the Colonial Ministry has already had a lot of experience.
It is by relying on large and small civilian armed teams that Austria has been able to build a huge colonial empire in just over twenty years.
This aspect of Franz is still generous, let ambitious people run overseas to grab the land, it is better than staying at home to grab the land, the colonies on the large and small fiefdom aristocrats, are the best of them.
The actual situation now was a little better than Franz had expected. Although there are many nobles in the fiefs, there is no one who claims to be a king, and even less who is independent.
This is enough, you know in the anticipation, he also prepared for the idea that when the vassals become bigger, they will be allowed to establish a state.
Facts have proved that he thought too much, Europe is popular is the theory of blood, no “king and vassal would rather have the seed of the” argument, even if you want to be the king, the emperor, but also to see the public support or not.
The nobility of the expansion of the expansion of the nobility is not as powerful as he imagined, and then get the fiefdom after, one by one on the road to planting, and not all the way to expand the territory, build a country to be king.
Of course, no money, no one is also the most important factor to limit the ambition.
Expanding the territory is very costly, the colonies also need a lot of money to invest in the early stage of the operation, and even if the family is strong, it can’t withstand the war, the money in the pocket is consumed, and you want to not stop planting can’t be.
No one, not to mention, even the big nobles can mobilize the immigrants are limited. At best, there are only a hundred and twenty thousand, just so little population, not honestly farming, king, hegemony is completely tired of living performance.
Fools may exist, but nobles who can lay a foundation are definitely not fools. Without sufficient strength, how can they negotiate with the central government?
“Panama issue, just follow your plan. In addition to the bottom line that active military personnel can’t appear outside the battlefield to be observed, the rest of the colonial ministry will be arranged according to the actual situation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will negotiate with the Colombian government as soon as possible, striving to reach an early agreement on compensation, and then hand over the prisoners to the local government of Panama, and let them and the independence organizations take their time on the rest of the issues!”
The bottom line must be respected, this is the rule of the game. It is not only to take into account the international impact, but more importantly to protect one’s own interests.
The rules of the game of international politics now itself is the British, French and Austrian led the establishment of the establishment of the purpose is to maintain the interests of the three countries, blindly overturned the board, Austria’s losses will only be greater.
Not to mention, the cost of maintaining the colonies will increase dramatically, and some remote colonies will even change hands.
The choice to deal with it as soon as possible was actually to calm the storm of public opinion. The public opinion was now very unfavorable to the Vienna government, and it would only get worse if it continued to be delayed.
The payment of “reparations” was only intended to make the Colombian Government recognize that it was a “misunderstanding”. If the parties involved said that it was a misunderstanding, and if the others kept on talking about it, then it would be a frame-up.
Franz is still very experienced in leading public opinion. In this age of constant communication, it is the newspapers that control public opinion, and it is very easy to turn black and white upside down.
To a certain extent, the British at this time to provoke public opinion offensive, in fact, is also a godsend, as long as the problem towards the London government on the right.
“The British government planted evidence to frame Austria, deliberately exaggerating and distorting the truth”, this statement Franz himself is on the verge of believing, not to mention the general public?
Foreign Minister Weissenberg: “Your Majesty, if the British do not intervene, it will not be difficult to convince the Colombian government.
However, as things stand, the London government wants to take advantage of the situation to do something to strike at our international reputation.
I’m worried that the Colombian government will propose a sky-high compensation to deliberately embarrass us.”
This worry is not superfluous, in front of the interests of people are always easy to lose, as long as the British fooled, the Colombian government proposed “sky-high compensation” is almost inevitable.
Agree, Austria will become the wrongdoer; do not agree, public opinion and can not pass, not in line with as soon as possible to calm the dispute, quietly swallowed the Panama region strategy.
After a little thought, Franz sneered: “If the total number can not be negotiated, then we will take the initiative to open a sky-high price. For example: the pension for each fallen soldier is raised to one thousand Shendian, but it requires the Colombian government to provide a death certificate.
As for the loss of property, we don’t have to be too calculating and can make appropriate concessions. Whether this money will be given or not, and who it will end up going to, is still uncertain.”
“Death certificate” this is a joke, Panama area are in the hands of the Austrian army, want to destroy the corpse is not simple.
The Colombian government can’t produce the proof, and in the end the number of people who will have to pay the pension is what the government of Vienna says.
If the total number of people goes down, the standard of payment will be higher, but in reality it will be the same.
Since the incident had been characterized as a “misunderstanding”, it would not be convincing if the number of casualties was too high.
In contrast, compensation for property damage is more negotiable. The money could be paid to the Colombian government, as well as to the local Panamanian government, or to the government of post-independence Panama.
If the Panamanian region wanted independence, the Colombian government would certainly not agree, and war would be inevitable.
After the war, the local government will need a lot of money to rebuild the area, which the Panamanian government will not be able to come up with, and the Austrian government will have to pay for it.
Anyway, we have to pay this money, Franz also do not mind to take out in advance to buy reputation. When the future annexation of Panama region, these investments and recovered.
Of course, the Colombian government also needs to appease a little, or give some money in advance, otherwise people will not cooperate.
……
(End of chapter)