Chapter 294: International response

  Chapter 284 International Reaction

Since the outbreak of the Near East War, the Ottoman Empire had moved its capital to Ankara. Compared to Constantinople, Ankara was truly described as a small remote city.

Located in the inland mountainous area, the transportation is closed, the population is only a few tens of thousands, not as many as half of the Ottoman government’s administrative team, the only advantage is that it is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The only advantage is that it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Based on the principle of security first, the Sultan’s government decided to choose this place. The transportation is closed, can build railroads, Britain and France are very happy to help.

Despite modernization and reforms, the barbaric nature of the Ottoman Empire remained unchanged. After the failure of the Near East War, the nobles who had suffered from the reforms of Abdul Mejid I launched a counterattack.

They attacked Abdul Mejid I’s reforms and advocated a return to the traditional feudal religious system on the grounds that it had made the Ottoman Empire untenable.

These were only explicit excuses; the deeper reason was still that the Ottoman nobles and bureaucrats in the Balkans had lost everything and were now going to Asia Minor to get a share of the pie.

The struggle of interests, not to retreat, the two sides are naturally impossible to talk about it. The Vienna system has just been re-established, to determine their own security, the two groups of people on the war.

Up to now, or Abdul Mejid I led the reformist faction prevailed, of course, this is also the result of external forces.

As the saying goes, the one who owes money is the master, the Sudanese government owes a debt to Britain and France, and if they fall, it is unknown whether this debt can be honored.

This is also the reason why the Vienna government is eyeing the Ottomans, backwardness will be beaten. Now the Ottoman Empire is obviously declining, became the object of beatings.

Ankara.

Foreign Minister Fouad said in a deep voice, ”Your Majesty, the Vienna government has sent an official diplomatic note requesting the purchase of the sovereignty of Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus, the Great Solafono Islands …… and Libya.

Now the Austrians’ navy has moved in and they have forcibly landed on Crete and expelled our officials on the island.”

As early as six months ago, the government of Vienna had asked the government of Sudan to buy enough territory, only at that time, the government of Vienna was still very good at talking, and after the intervention of Britain and France, the two sides did not talk to each other and forget about it.

The news of the outbreak of the great Indian insurrection had not yet reached Ankara, and the Sultan’s Government had no idea that the British had taken matters into their own hands.

The unequal information affected the judgment of the Sultan’s government. Upon hearing the news, Abdul Mejid I was immediately enraged.

This is simply bullying, even if the Ottoman Empire is in decline, there are still three nails in a rotten boat, how can the huge Ottoman Empire decline all of a sudden?

“Immediately invite Britain and France to mediate, and at the same time send a strong protest to the Vienna government, demanding that they abide by the rules of the Vienna system!”

There’s no way, there’s only three nails left, you can’t just dump them all at once, right? On the Ottoman Empire that navy, fight is impossible to win, then a little civilized protest is good.

Foreign Minister Sanad replied in a hurry, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

After the end of the Near East War, the Vienna system was quite discordant towards the Ottoman Empire, and the position of Foreign Minister Banner Ade became unstable.

The main reason for staying in this position was political necessity, there were not many diplomatic talents in the Ottoman Empire, and even fewer qualified to become a foreign minister.

Ader is the leader of the pro-British faction, obtained the support of John Bull, plus we all know that the Vienna Peace Conference, the great powers held the meeting there is no room for them to bargain, so they kept the position.

In this case, he could not afford not to be careful, in case it caused Abdul Mejid I’s dissatisfaction, he would be finished.

……

London.

The British government received the news of the Indian rebellion a little earlier than the government of Vienna, and by this time the counter-insurgency armies were beginning to prepare.

Receiving the plea for help from the Sudanese government, Granville frowned and said, “We tried hard to block the news, but we didn’t think that it would still be exposed so soon.”

John Russell, the Minister of Finance, said indifferently, “There is nothing surprising about this, any news becomes an open secret once it enters the parliamentary discussion.

It won’t take more than a few days for it to be published in the London papers. It will not be difficult for the Austrians to receive the news.”

It is the state of England that great events need to be discussed in Parliament. And the mouths of the members of Parliament all belonged to no storm door.

To be able to keep a secret for a few days is for them to be temperate, and the fact is that while they were discussing it, the news was already published in the London papers.

Granville thought for a moment and said, “Well then, the issue of leaks ends here, this is what the system decides, not our responsibility.

Now here’s the trouble: since the Austrians know about the Indian rebellion, I would venture to infer that most of the European countries know about it.

The original plan to put down the rebellion in the shortest possible time, without leaving them an opportunity to take advantage of it, is obviously out of the question. What does everyone think should be done about the aftermath?”

The importance of India to the British Empire cannot be overstated; without it, the British hegemony collapsed.

In this era Australia was still a convict exile, the colony of New Zealand had just been opened, South Africa was merely a transit point, and Canada had yet to develop.

Without India as a large market and source of raw materials, the British would soon lose their industrial advantage, and their hegemony could not be supported by their small territory and lack of people.

This is a well-known fact, the eyes of the British hegemony of many people, even if they do not dare to challenge them directly, to take advantage of the opportunity to engage in a little action is also inevitable.

Austria is just the first to jump out, making an example of the chicken is an option, but the prerequisite is to make sure that the chicken will not fly. If you don’t kill the chicken, it will be a mistake.

Foreign Minister Thomas replied, “Your Excellency the Prime Minister, India is our soft underbelly, and now that a crisis has arisen, this is the time of year when all our enemies pop up.

However, the countries are also conflicted, they are afraid of each other, afraid of being made a fisherman by others, and don’t dare to challenge us directly.

The Austrians are most likely using the Ottomans as a raft to test our reaction. Since they want to conduct a test, they might as well play along with them.

Stall them with negotiations first, and as long as the Indian rebellion is quelled in the shortest possible time, they will retreat on their own.”

This is true, if the government in London can quell the Indian insurgency within a few months, then Franz still only has to concede.

John Russell reminded, “Mr. Thomas, don’t forget there are the Russians. Other countries will fear our retaliation, but not the Tsarist government.

Now that they are still supporting the Persians against us, it is not surprising at all that they would support another Indian rebellion. It is not unlikely that even the Russians are behind this Indian rebellion.”

There is no way around it, the Near Eastern War is not like the historical Crimean War, where the Tsarist government was still nominally the victor despite heavy losses.

This preserved the arrogance of the tsarist government, and as victors they naturally could not bow down and admit defeat to the British. This struggle for British and Russian hegemony is still going on.

If we don’t do something at this time, is the woolly bear still a woolly bear? The British can’t scare the Russians now, even if they want an economic blockade they can’t do it.

After a pause, Thomas explained unhurriedly, “Of course, the Russians are still so annoying. But the Tsarist government is notoriously inefficient, and by the time they move to intervene in India, I think the farce will be over.

Central Asia is no good either, and with the credibility of the Czarist government, neither Afghanistan nor Persia would dare give the Russians a loan route unless they could fight their way through.

I don’t think the Tsarist government has the financial resources to start such a war. At best, it would send military instructors to the insurgents and provide them with weapons and equipment.

That would give us a little trouble, and the Indians, even if they were armed, would be as worthless as they are in fighting.”

Hearing this explanation, Granville’s face changed and he said with a serious expression, “What if someone were to provide funds to the Russians?”

The faces of all the people turned ugly, the biggest shortcoming of the Russians was their finances, once there was a golden master to support them, then the situation changed immediately.

John Russell, the finance minister, spoke up and said, “Currently the only ones who have the strength to provide funds to the Russians are the two French and the Austrians, if the foreign ministry can stabilize them, then there is no problem.”

When he said this, he had already greeted the capitalists in London in his heart, and had just lent money to the Austrians in time, if he hadn’t lent money earlier, he hadn’t lent money later.

If it had not been for the huge construction bonds issued by the government of Vienna not long ago, the French would now be the only ones with the strength to support the Russians, and then comparatively speaking the problem would have been half solved.

Earmarks, politicians’ guarantees worth a few bucks? There was no default, that was just not a big enough interest, and as soon as the interest was in place, it was a pity that it changed its mind in a minute.

Wiped the sweat on his forehead, Thomas forced himself to calm down, paused for half a minute of effort before slowly opening his mouth to say:

“The situation is not that serious, whether it is the French, or the Austrians, they do not want to look at the Russians bigger.

Once the Russians are allowed to annex India, Austria will bear the brunt of the pressure, and will have to bear a huge amount of pressure, it is impossible for the Vienna government not to think of it.

In this case, the Vienna government is still most likely to use this as a condition for exchanging benefits with us.

The French have just fought a war with the Russians, and even if they want to ease relations, they will need time, which cannot be done in a moment.

We can mobilize our influence in the French government to provoke infighting and prevent this from happening.”

This explanation caused the crowd to look slightly relieved, as long as it wasn’t the worst case scenario, then everything was fine. Exchange of benefits and whatnot, they were the best at it.

(End of chapter)