Chapter 885: Anti-drug campaigns

  Chapter 868 – Anti-Drug Campaign

Public opinion momentum was created, Franz naturally would not give up this opportunity to brush up his reputation, combating the drug trade is properly positive energy.

Other people are afraid of being retaliated by the opium traffickers and need to be cautious about what they say, but he, the emperor, is not afraid!

On June 26, 1889, Franz published the “War on Drugs Initiative”, calling on all countries in the world to act together to ban the drug trade.

Being the focus of criticism of the natural opium trade, Franz will not give face to the British, and directly asked the British government to be responsible for the opium flood.

On the same day, the Austrian Foreign Ministry also sent a diplomatic note to all countries in the world, inviting them to participate in the International Anti-Drug Conference to be held in Vienna one year later.

There was a long time gap, and that couldn’t be helped.

Communication is not easy these days, and when the news is spread all over the world, it will be a few months later, and then when the representatives of various countries arrive in Vienna, there is not enough time for one year.

The main purpose of the International Narcotics Control Conference is to put pressure on the British government, naturally, the more representatives attend the conference, the better.

Franz always like to plan and then move, since the decision to combat the British opium trade, naturally to make results.

Do not ask the British government to compromise, at least in international law to clearly prohibit the sale of opium, the use of opium is limited to the field of medicine, rather than can be sold at will health care products.

Franz’s personal stand naturally greatly boosted the confidence of those who opposed the opium trade. With the release of the initiative, Franz also became the leader of the international anti-drug movement.

No one grabbed this position with him, and the opium traders were not to be messed with. In the past hundred years, I don’t know how many knowledgeable people who opposed the opium trade died under their butcher knives.

It was hard to come up with one who could withstand the counterattack of the opium dealers, so everyone naturally wanted to push him to the front.

This is especially true for the countries that have suffered from the poison of opium, which has caused a greater impact.

After waiting for so many years, a lord who could fight the British finally appeared and came out to carry the anti-smoking flag.

……

Foreign Minister Weissenberg: “Since His Majesty’s declaration, we have gained the support of Russia, Greece, Montenegro, Switzerland, France, Spain, the Nordic Confederation, and a number of states in the German region.

The situation is pretty much as we expected before. If nothing else, there will be a few more countries outside of Europe that will support us when the news spreads.

The opium trade is harmful to everyone, and the remaining countries have not taken a public stand for fear of retaliation from the British, who most likely want the anti-smoking campaign to succeed.

Once the international conference is convened, there should be no problem in passing a bill banning the circulation of opium.”

The British plundered the wealth of the world’s countries through the opium trade, seriously damaging everyone’s interests.

No one has lifted the lid, and in addition to fearing retaliation from the British, it is more likely that there is a group of interest groups in the country that have profited from the opium trade.

With the efforts of the interest groups, the opposition was suppressed. All this, however, went up in smoke with Franz’s declaration.

The knowledgeable people who opposed the opium flood came forward, the dangers of opium were revealed, and the lid finally came off.

Interest groups were able to influence the government, but they could not make decisions for the government. When it came to the critical moment, politicians naturally had to kick away these dirty shrouds.

With the exception of France, Spain and the Nordic Confederation, these countries that openly supported the smoking ban all had one common characteristic: they were heavily influenced by Austria and largely unaffected by the British.

It doesn’t matter even if they offend the British, anyway, John Bull’s tentacles can’t reach through without fear of retaliation.

Frankly speaking, obtaining the support of Spain and the Nordic Confederation, Franz is not surprised, the British plundered their wealth through the opium trade, it is natural to oppose.

What the French did, that was rather bizarre. Let’s not forget that Britain and France were allies, and recent Franco-Austrian relations were so bad that it made absolutely no sense for the French government to support it for political reasons.

However, it didn’t even work, the French government jumped right in to support it, and was still one of the first countries to make their position known, almost tied for first place at the same time as the Russians.

Had it not been for the support of the French government, Austria may not have been able to gain the support of so many European countries in such a short period of time.

“Is there something wrong with the Anglo-French relationship, and how come the French government has always been causing trouble for the British in recent times?”

It was not that Franz was sensitive, from the beginning of the alliance until now, the French government had always been causing trouble for the British, and of course the British government hadn’t dug a hole for the French.

Putting aside a paper alliance, the relationship between Britain and France is more like an enemy than an ally.

Foreign Secretary Weissenberg explained, “Your Majesty, the Anglo-French relationship is a very complex one, dating back to the Middle Ages.

During this long period of time, Britain and France have been hostile most of the time, and even now with the alliance, the two countries lack the most basic trust between them.

From the intelligence we have gathered, the Anglo-French alliance is more of a farce, and the two governments have never treated each other as allies.

But whenever there is a conflict of interest, or one side loses value, the alliance immediately falls apart.”

This answer was very speechless, but Franz understood it when he thought about the farce of the early days of the Anglo-French alliance in the original time and space.

Two hostile countries suddenly allied, it is not possible to immediately become friends, at least to grind for a period of time, both sides of the mentality to be able to switch over.

Now casually stop a person on the streets of Paris, ask them who is the biggest enemy of France, there is a 99% chance that the answer is: the British.

To look deeply into the reasons, in addition to the hatred between Britain and France, the main thing is that the Russian-Austrian alliance gave them not enough pressure.

After all, the Russian-Austrian alliance has been many years, in the past decades, Russia and Austria, in addition to joining forces to take out the Ottoman Empire, most of the time are in the single.

Especially now, with the Russians shifting their strategic center of gravity southward and Austria exercising restraint on European issues, France felt no pressure at all.

Without existential pressure, who are they to put their foot down and run to be a little brother to the British?

The alliance is completely the interests of the need, the greatest value is to enhance the political influence, rather than that the British and French to really join forces and Russia and Austria to go to war.

In this respect, it is not surprising that the French government jumped to support the anti-drug campaign. Even issuing bonds to the Russians, something like financing the enemy, let alone simply voicing their opinion!

Franz nodded in recognition and did not dwell further on the issue. The worse the relations between England and France were, the better it was for Austria, and there was absolutely no need for him to worry about his enemies.

After a pause, Franz continued to ask: “The Ministry of Agriculture’s promotion of potash fertilizer to what extent, this year’s domestic food production capacity, about how much can be increased?”

Minister of Agriculture Holls: “The promotion of potash fertilizer is still relatively smooth, most of the farms in the country have accepted potash fertilizer, and many farms have already conducted trials.

Just wait until after the fall harvest, when everyone sees the results, then we will be able to fully roll it out.

A substantial increase in grain production capacity should start to explode from next year, and this year’s grain production capacity will increase just slightly.”

This was the inevitable result, even better commodities had no bottom in everyone’s heart until they were tried and tested.

Especially on this kind of issue that involves a family’s income, it’s impossible for people to be sloppy, and no one is willing to take a risk until they see the results.

The fact that people are willing to take out a piece of land to try potash fertilizer proves that the Ministry of Agriculture has done a good job. When the effect comes out, then we don’t need the government to promote it, the people will promote it themselves.

This is also a good thing, if this year on the grain production capacity skyrocketed, the Russians will not cry.

Who knows after the heavy losses in agriculture, the tsarist government still have the courage to continue the war with the British.

If the fire suddenly went out, Austria’s previous investment will not be a waste of money?

(End of chapter)