Chapter 1031: A Seemingly Fatal Misunderstanding

  Chapter 1011 – Seemingly Fatal Misunderstanding

Facts proved that efficiency was forced out. Ordinary international conferences often failed to reach a consensus in ten days and half a month.

The European Economic Summit was different, as the wave of revolutions continued, the governments panicked. If it continues to drag on, no one knows how far the situation will deteriorate.

The mark of terror left by 1848 still reverberates in the minds of the rulers. Although the revolutions were eventually extinguished, the repercussions were far-reaching.

In a sense, the current situation in Europe is the result of the 1848 Revolution.

If the revolutionary wave had not taken away the Orleans dynasty, there would have been no Bonaparte’s Great French Empire; if the Revolution had not provided an opportunity for reform, the Habsburg dynasty would not have been revived so quickly; if the Revolution had not stimulated the nationalism to flourish, Shinra would not have been united so easily. ……

With a series of coincidences, it became inevitable that the international situation would develop to the present point.

Revolution meant reshuffling the distribution of benefits, and those with vested interests were naturally unwilling to start over. Whether reshuffling is good or bad for the country, no one knows until the reshuffle is complete; but for the ruling class, it’s definitely a disaster.

In order to prevent the situation from continuing to deteriorate, the representatives of all countries attended the conference with full sincerity. In just three days, the countries reached an agreement on a joint “bailout”.

On September 1, 1894, the Economic Committee of the European Union issued a bailout announcement, in which the eighteen countries of the European Union jointly contributed 1.2 billion guilders to revitalize the European economy.

According to the plan, the funds required for the economic revitalization plan were to be “jointly financed” by each country according to its own actual situation. In other words: which country the money is spent in, which country’s government is responsible for the money.

This fully embodies the principle of fairness and takes into account the interests of all parties, so that no one takes advantage and no one loses.

As for the source of funding, naturally, “printing” money. Franz is still very careful to eat, this time there is no pitfalls. Although the shield is issued by the government of Vienna, but the proceeds from the increase in currency is taken out and shared with the countries.

Whether it is an interest-free loan, or material assistance, it is a disguised form of compensation. The larger the economic volume, the more you get, the smaller the volume, the smaller the compensation is naturally. This is matched by the fact that the risks must be borne by all.

At the same time as the adoption of the European economic revitalization plan, countries also have their own currencies linked to the Chinese rupiah. Franz’s “European Economic Integration” strategy has finally taken the first difficult step.

The political impact of the “bailout program” was not visible for a while, but the impact of the economic crisis began to ferment immediately. Without any surprise, the first to be affected is the capital market.

The stock market began to climb slowly, the capital has quietly entered the market began to plumb the bottom. A pool of stagnant water market, finally began to splash waves.

At the same time as the market warmed up, governments also took measures one after another, and the first large-scale government intervention in the economy in the history of mankind began.

At this time, no one accused the government of not being able to intervene in the economy anymore. All industries were having a hard time, and the mouth-breathers were facing the same unemployment crisis. The people were so busy trying to make ends meet that they didn’t have the heart to listen to them.

Never mind whether it is right or wrong for the government to interfere with the market, at least jobs are out there. Even though the jobs are not that pleasant, having a job to be able to support your family is more important than anything else at this time.

The most popular one is the three-year African tour, which has low requirements and high pay, and as long as you are strong and able-bodied, you can do it, so it’s hard not to be noticed.

Of course, this “high pay” is also relative. Before the economic crisis, this kind of treatment would only be considered ordinary in most countries, but now is a time of economic crisis, it is the conscience of enterprises to get 60% or 70% off the salary.

In this context, to be able to get the salary of ordinary treatment in normal times is definitely a job that can be envied, especially when the requirements of this job are also exceptionally low.

The only regrettable thing is that the workplace in Africa, the specific in which the pimples are not an accurate letter, to what place all rely on God’s blessing.

This little predicament, does not affect the enthusiasm of everyone. After all, people always need to eat. Although the government is also sending relief food, but the black stick is obviously more suitable as a weapon than as food.

If one wasn’t starving to death, absolutely no one would go to receive that unpalatable and deadly relief food. In that respect, the bureaucrats were not useless, at least they made sure that the food actually got into the hands of those who needed it.

The European world was busy with bailouts and the Philippine War had reached an inflection point. Originally, Japan and the West were fighting for resilience, betting that the other side wouldn’t be able to hold out first.

Now the situation is different, with the eighteen European countries announcing a joint bailout, it’s obviously unrealistic to expect Spain’s domestic economy to collapse again.

Standing on their own position, European countries will not let the situation in Spain get out of control now, after all, the revolution is contagious. It is not easy to calm the wave of revolution, if Spain collapses then it will be a lost cause.

In order to avoid another deterioration of the situation, now not only can not let Spain collapse, even the Philippine War Continental Union must intervene.

Otherwise, if Spain’s defeat stimulates the nationalists in the country and triggers a chain reaction leading to an out-of-control situation, who will be responsible?

As for the interests of the Japanese, does it matter? A small country in the Far East that most people don’t even know about, just listen to the arrangement; if they don’t know what to do, the iron fist of imperialism will make them understand what social cruelty is.

Thanks to the efforts of the Spanish government, on September 9, 1894, the European Union made a resolution to intervene in the Philippine War.

Frankly speaking, such a decision at an economic summit was clearly out of place and incongruous.

It couldn’t be helped, who made the European countries not take it seriously?

Starting an international conference specifically for this purpose?

Sorry, everyone is too busy right now to worry about the Japanese. Add to that Spain’s PR influence, and it’s simply a matter of making quick work of it.

Who made the Japanese unlucky and offended?

Just a few years ago, when Nicholas was traveling around the world, he was assassinated by his Japanese entourage in Tokyo. Although he picked up his life, those two stabs still left a shadow on the teenage Crown Prince.

It would have been fine if that was all, but the Japanese government did a perfunctory job and sentenced the assassin to life in prison. More ugly is still in the back, the top “patriot” title of the assassin, explicitly for imprisonment, in fact, not subject to sanctions.

As a result of this, the relationship between Japan and Russia dropped to the freezing point. Not only Crown Prince Nicholas wanted to retaliate, even the most cultured Alexander III also repeatedly called to give the Japanese “billion” some color.

If not for the Russian financial impermissibility, Japan itself does not have much oil, the Tsar’s government would have sent troops to the Spanish to help the scene.

Though it didn’t send troops, the Tsarist government made it easier by allowing the Spanish government to recruit mercenaries from the Russian Empire to fight in the war.

Perhaps out of wariness of the Russians, or perhaps for the sake of the Bourbon dynasty’s own interests, the Spanish government finally chose French mercenaries.

Similarly, the Dutch were not happy with the Japanese. As a small country, the Dutch were able to occupy Java, the richest island in the South Seas, through political maneuvering.

The Japanese, who did not know the rules, suddenly broke in, making the original political rules observed by European countries become fragmented, and the Dutch South Seas became precarious all of a sudden.

When there was no one to take the lead, the Dutch government could only make a few small moves in secret due to the British’s position. Now that someone was taking the lead, it was necessary to vote in favor of it.

Together with Shenla, who had already taken sides, and Spain, who was fighting with the Japanese, almost all the important countries in the Continental Union were involved.

Anyway, to interfere in the Philippine War, it was enough to have these few countries. The rest of the countries that wanted to contribute were also too weak to do so, and only needed to follow the flag-waving and political pressure to be enough, so naturally there was no reason to refuse.

Against this background, a sternly worded diplomatic note in the name of the European Union was delivered to Hidetsugu Yamamoto, the Japanese Minister in Vienna.

……

“This is impossible!”

“You can’t do this, it’s not fair to the Great Japanese Empire!”

……

Although he had received a lot of blank stares in Europe, this was the first time Yamamoto Hidehisa had encountered such bullying.

There was no way around it, the staff of the European Union were all stationed in various countries, and after the Union made a resolution, a staff member from the Spaniards took the initiative to take on the job of drafting the instrument of the note.

The basic meaning did remain the same, but the tone and wording changed a little, completely rubbing the Japanese face into the ground.

For the sake of SHIELD, the official in charge of reviewing the document did not have the slightest intention of making things difficult, but simply ignored this little difference.

The “little difference” in the eyes of bystanders, fell into the eyes of Yamamoto Hidetsugu, that is to kill people.

The first big theory of nonsense, can be directly skipped; accusing the illegal Japanese government of invasion destroying world peace hat, can also be ignored, after all, by the newspaper scolded more, Yamamoto Hideto has been accustomed to hearing.

The most unacceptable thing was: the European Union ordered the Japanese army to withdraw from the Philippine Islands within the year, and to hand over war criminals to be tried by an international court organized by the European Union.

Otherwise, the League would send troops to intervene in the Philippine War and reserved the right to further hold the Japanese government accountable.

Such an overbearing and blatant mediation note is rare in world history. Obviously, not something that would occur in normal diplomacy.

But to the cornered Spanish government, this was no matter. If the Japanese government can be angered and the situation can be enlarged, it is estimated that the Madrid government’s celebration banquet can be held for a month in a row.

Perhaps the expression on Minister Yamamoto Hidetsugu’s face was too exaggerated, or perhaps the Spaniard’s efforts played a role, Dalton, who was in charge of delivering the note, interrupted, “Your Excellency the Minister, calm down a little.

This is a resolution shared by the eighteen countries of the Continental Union, and it would be better for you to send it back home sooner rather than later. If your country has any doubts, you can raise them at the subsequent mediation meeting.

But before the mediation meeting is officially convened, your country is requested to follow the contents of the note first. Starting next month, the Union will officially implement economic sanctions against your country.

All spheres of influence under the control of the Alliance will be temporarily suspended from all trade with your country, and the waters of each country will be off-limits to your country’s ships.”

If any of the officials attending the meeting were here, they would immediately raise a question, did the Alliance meeting say anything about economic sanctions?

It seemed like there was, but that was based on the Japanese government’s refusal. This current approach of coming up with sanctions regardless was clearly the result of adding fuel to the fire.

Unfortunately, none of this is something that Hidehisa Yamamoto can know. Even if he knew it, it was useless, the Spanish had already done a good job of public relations, and the League would not entertain their complaints. Right now he can only send the contents of the note back as it is, and the rest will depend on how the country chooses.

……

The question is, does the Japanese government have a choice?

No matter whether the content of the note is modified or not, once submitted, it represents the position of the European Union.

Everyone wants to save face, and as the largest organization in the world, the European Union is no exception. To withdraw the note would be a slap in the face, and the Japanese obviously don’t have that kind of weight.

Moreover, what the Spaniards had done, which appeared to be a falsification of the contents of the note, would not have been possible without the acquiescence of some people.

……

Before the Japanese government received the news, the British had already received the information first. The London government was directly stunned, and Robert Cecil never dreamed that someone would be so feckless.

Originally, the European economic revitalization plan is already exciting enough, I did not expect that there will be even more exciting “intervention plan”.

On the surface, this is only European countries in order to retain the domestic economy, purely an international cooperation, the Japanese only suffered an undeserved disaster.

However, politics can never be taken at face value. Today, the European Union can intervene in the Philippine War for the benefit of Spain; tomorrow, the European Union can intervene again in overseas affairs for the benefit of the XXX countries.

A few more times, the European countries will realize the benefits of the alliance. With the tiger’s skin of the Continental Union, even a small country can have the status of a great power overseas.

In the long run, driven by interests, this loose international organization will become a real alliance.

By that time, not to mention a small country like Japan, even Britain, as the world’s hegemon, would have to step aside when it encountered the union of the European world.

Prime Minister Robert Cecil, who thought he had gained insight into the Vienna conspiracy, immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

It is important to realize that Britain’s most enduring national policy is the strategy of continental balance, although lost at the end of the Continental War, but the government in London up and down the country that this is only temporary.

Back then, Napoleon did not also once swept across Europe, suppressed a variety of disobedience, the back is not cool.

Including Robert Cecil himself, many people in the British government were waiting for Shinra to make a mistake, ready to go up and stab again at the critical time.

However, plans don’t change as quickly as they should, and while Shinra’s wrath of the heavens didn’t wait for him, a freak called the European Union appeared first.

Originally thought that the European countries are full of contradictions, this loose alliance sooner or later will be divided because of differences in interests. As the leader of the God Luo, because of the inability to reconcile the contradictions of all parties, and finally got into a mess inside and outside.

Unfortunately, an economic crisis of unprecedented scale shattered all these illusions. In order to save themselves, the European countries had to temporarily give up their conflicts and unite to ride out the crisis.

As the Lord who has always practiced interest first, Robert Cecil knows very well that as long as the interest is big enough, there is no contradiction that cannot be reconciled.

Once the countries were allowed to experience the benefits of union, it would be difficult to dismantle the European Union again. With such a freak in place, how else can we let Britain live?

Slamming the table, Robert Cecil said fiercely, “The European Union must be dismantled! From now on, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has only one focus – to provoke conflicts between European countries and dismantle the Continental Union.

I don’t care what methods you use or where you start. In short, a freak like the Continental Union should never exist in this world.”

“Disintegrate the Continental Union at all costs.” This was the only thought in Robert Cecil’s mind at this moment. As for Japan, who was the party involved, it was no longer in his consideration.

(End of chapter)