Chapter 793: Looking for an Opponent
Chapter 776: Looking for an Opponent
Some people are pleased and some people are disillusioned, Russia and Austria are celebrating their victory, the atmosphere within the London government is particularly bizarre.
Politicians are not good when, even if the mood is no longer bad, Prime Minister Gladstone still forced to send a congratulatory message.
There is no way, the British public is still watching? Secretly support the Ottoman Empire is one thing, explicitly butt still can not sit crooked.
The butterfly effect is getting bigger and bigger, the international conflicts are far less intense than in the original time and space, and everyone’s temperament is correspondingly higher.
Really only a drop, but also face to face, secretly should stab the knife, should not stab the knife, are stabbing each other.
In the Prime Minister’s residence in Downing Street, Foreign Secretary George took out a document and said, “This is the agreement we have just reached with the Austrians, redrawing the spheres of influence of the two countries in the Middle East.
We conditioned our support for Austria’s annexation of the Ottoman Empire in exchange for their not expanding into Persia.”
Does this agreement make sense?
Can a contract really bind Austria?
That depends on the perspective. Austria’s annexation of the Ottoman Empire was a foregone conclusion, and it was not something that the British government could oppose.
But there were British admissions that could have made this expansion more legalistic. In this respect, the government in Vienna had an incentive to compromise.
On the flip side, this was all based on the premise that the Viennese government was mindful of what it was eating.
If the Vienna government suddenly drops its modesty one day and does not care about the pressure of the international community, these agreements are a waste of paper.
Gladstone inhaled a mouthful of cigar smoke in his hand and said slowly, “It seems that we still have a few years of peace and quiet, the Austrians need time to digest the Asia Minor Peninsula, and this agreement is valid in the short term.”
Foreign Minister George added, “According to the intelligence gathered by the embassy, Russia and Austria are conducting secret negotiations. The specific content is unknown, but it is certainly not just about dividing the spoils after the war.
Not long ago, the Vienna government was also engaged in migrant relocation in the Asia Minor Peninsula, and millions of people have already been deported, and it still hasn’t stopped, with the intention of emptying the Ottoman Empire.
The real purpose is not yet known, anyway, it is certainly not for the safety of Ottoman lives to carry out relocation.
We have already sent people to verify that there is no large-scale plague in Asia Minor, not to mention the Black Death.
Having spent so much on relocating the population, the Austrians have paid more attention to Asia Minor than anyone can imagine.
It is worth mentioning that the war was over, the tsarist government did not send administrative officials to Asia Minor, not even the intention of establishing administrative institutions.
This is very abnormal, perhaps and the tsarist government’s financial relationship, unable to bear the post-war reconstruction and restoration work.
Analyzing these indications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that it is possible that the Russians will give up their Ottoman heritage in exchange for financial compensation from the Austrians.”
Regardless of how passive the British Foreign Office appeared to be in previous dispositions, they were still at the pinnacle of the age in terms of diplomatic professionalism.
Being able to connect several unrelated matters together through the clues on the surface and analyze the purpose behind it is proof of their professionalism.
Hearing this explanation, Gladstone directly stood up and walked to the map behind him, staring dead center at the Asia Minor Peninsula.
Only after half a ring had passed did he say helplessly, ”We’re in big trouble in the future, without noticing it Austria has gotten too big to limit.
Relocating the Ottomans, I’m afraid that the Vienna government is trying to incorporate the Asia Minor Peninsula into the mainland. By then it will be connected from Vienna to Jerusalem.
You look at the map, after taking the Ottoman Empire, in addition to the absence of Constantinople, Austria’s current sphere of influence, and the Eastern Roman Empire, what is the difference?”
Difference? There is definitely a difference. The heel of the Italian shoe is gone, as is Bulgaria and the Crimean Peninsula.
But Austria’s territory reached deep into Central Europe and colonized half of Africa, controlling a power sphere that far exceeded that of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Taken together it was just stronger. Before the fall of the Ottoman Empire, it wasn’t obvious to everyone, but now any random person who opens a map knows what this means.
Astley Cooper Key, the Minister of the Navy, blurted out, “They’re trying to rebuild the Roman Empire!”
Immediately followed by a denial, “It’s impossible, none of the European countries will agree to it, it’s suicide to do so.”
Foreign Minister George said indifferently, “Rebuilding Rome is naturally impossible, but the current Austrian Empire is no less than the Roman Empire.
From Central Europe to the Middle East are all Austrian territories, and once these areas are digested, Austria’s native area doubles.
If you add the Arabian Peninsula, the land connected to their mainland is up to more than five million square kilometers, and the Roman Empire at its peak was no more than that.
However, this is only part of the picture. If their overseas colonies are included, Austria has already surpassed the Habsburgs at their peak.
Unlike any previous empire, the Austrian Empire had very few internal problems. The Vienna government’s unwavering policy of population transfer kept the newly expanded territories free from the pitfalls of domination.
The stability of this empire far exceeded that of the historical Habsburgs, and it was simply impossible to expect them to collapse internally.
If the Austrians are allowed to continue to grow and digest these regions, all of our previous plans will be a joke.”
Don’t look at the Middle East and the Arab region’s natural conditions are harsh, that is also relative, at least than the Russians’ Siberia is suitable for human survival.
If we really let Austria develop it, nothing else can be guaranteed, with the productivity calculation of this era, it is still easy to feed 200 million people.
Including the Austrian Africa, this population carrying capacity of at least more than 500 million, the development potential is comparable to the entire European continent.
Finance Minister Xiaoji Childers laughed: “Sir, you are too pessimistic. A country is not as powerful as its territory, or else the world’s number one power would be the Russians.
However, the Russians, who are number one in the world in terms of native area, are only fourth in Europe in terms of overall strength, and do not have the strength to match their territory.
This is not only the czarist government is corrupt, but also the geographical conditions, the harsh environment of the ice country from the innate about the economic development of Russia.
Now Austria is facing a similar situation, it seems that through the expansion of a large area of territory, but most of these lands are deserts, can not be developed and utilized.
The slightly better conditioned Asia Minor was also reduced to white land because of the war, and could not produce benefits in the short term.
If you want to develop the economy, you must first improve the environment yourself. Otherwise, the Vienna Government would not have introduced the Land Fallow Law in the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula.
Nature is not so easy to change, it’s been so many years and still no results have been passed out, the Vienna government’s plan should have failed.”
Foreign Minister George shook his head, “No, the Austrians still have results. I’m not sure about other areas, but a large forest has indeed been added outside of Jerusalem.
Now that the sandstorms can no longer threaten Jerusalem, it was even published in the London newspapers, and was unanimously considered a gift from God by the religious people.
At least 200,000 to 300,000 square kilometers of woodland and grassland have been added to the area under Austrian control since the implementation of the land fallow law.”
No surprise there, the people have left, the grass is now growing where the fields were planted, and the greenness has naturally gone up.
This is a virtuous cycle, no more water-consuming agriculture, grass and trees innately have the role of wind and sand, preserving soil erosion, the gradual abundance of water resources and promote the expansion of the oasis area, the local ecology is slowly recovering.
Of course, this recovery is mainly the effect of the first period is obvious, from farmland can become grassland, woodland nature very quickly, want to increase the oasis area behind it will not be easy.
Relying on nature itself to restore the ecology is not an overnight problem. Jerusalem is just an exception, mainly driven by political and religious interests.
The declining religion needs miracles to consolidate the declining faith; the government of Vienna needs a beautiful Jerusalem to show its contribution to Christendom, improve international reputation, increase the national support for the government, the two sides hit it off and played with the planting of trees outside the city.
Jerusalem is 24 kilometers from the Dead Sea and 56 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea, and the lack of water in the area has been solved after the migration of hundreds of thousands of people away.
The results are naturally impressive after the big money has been invested. If we were to choose environmental ambassadors these days, Franz and Leo XIII would be at the top of the list.
Seeing the topic more and more far away, Gladstone interrupted: “Well, two. It doesn’t matter whether the Austrians have any results or not, wanting to turn the desert into an oasis is not something that mankind can accomplish now.
The immediate priority is still how to limit the growth of Austria’s power, or to sabotage any Russian-Austrian deals that may exist.
It is important to realize that after the annexation of the Ottoman Empire, there would only be one Egypt between Vienna and Austrian Africa.
The French are only looking strong right now, but in reality they haven’t come out of their civil unrest yet. In the future competition, they are afraid that they will fall into a disadvantage.
As time goes by, the national power gap between France and Austria is constantly being widened, and there is no guarantee that they will compromise on any given day.
That horrifying picture, I simply can’t dare to imagine.”
Regardless of the age, the last thing that was lacking were mouth-breathing experts, and the subject of deserts turning into oases had long been brought up.
It was only that they were still shouting in the corner, not gaining the recognition of the mainstream society, and could not talk about influence.
Including the Vienna government’s desert oasis program, only the Jerusalem area has a specific program, other areas only a land fallow law, and wait for nature to slowly recover.
In contrast, the consequences of the Franco-Austrian compromise are more serious.
To know that now France and Austria are still maintained on the surface of the alliance, as long as the gap between the two sides of the strength of the distance in the continuous pulling, one side of the self-proclaimed loss of the strength of the struggle for supremacy, the compromise is a water to the thing.
Foreign Minister George: “The best way to stop this from happening is to drag Austria into the war and drain their strength.
Politics and diplomacy were the Habsburgs’ strengths, their only shortcoming was in the military.
Of course, this shortcoming is only relative, looking around the world only France and Russia can give them a rival.”
……
(End of chapter)