Chapter 616: The Speculator
Chapter 603 – Speculator
Before one wave subsides, another wave rises.
The conflict in Tubo hadn’t been resolved yet, and there was another incident in East Asia. The Japanese government, which had just carried out preliminary social reforms, bared its fangs to the outside world.
In May 1875, Japanese warships such as the Unyang invaded Pusan, Korea, as a demonstration of force, and the corrupt and incompetent Joseon dynasty did not organize a counterattack at the first opportunity, but hoped for the intervention of the boss.
Unfortunately, the boss next door was equally corrupt and too busy with internal strife to care about such trivial matters, which further stimulated the ambition of the Japanese government.
In order to test out its neighbor’s bottom line, the Japanese army invaded the area around Ganghwa Island in September, and this time there was no escaping it, and the Korean army was forced to resist.
After paying the price of 2 casualties, the Japanese army won the battle. Under the threat of force, the Korean government quickly conceded.
(Remarks: About 35 Korean troops were killed in action)
The exact sequence of events was not explained in the telegram, and Franz did not bother to dig deeper. This kind of children’s house fighting still refreshed his three views.
To know the Korean kingdom at least is a population of more than 10 million, standing army of 100,000 to 200,000 countries, actually after losing a platoon of troops to concede.
This was simply telling everyone that there was still a fat sheep in East Asia that was so stupid that it couldn’t even kick people, so come over and share its meat.
You should know that ambition is never indulged, the current Japanese government is just testing the waters externally, it is not yet the Showa government of the mid-twentieth century that was so arrogant and wanted to be the head of the ball.
Austria’s entry into the Far East is too short, there is almost no interest in East Asia, this news in the Vienna government is also to add a laughing stock.
But for other European powers is not the same, at least next door to the Russian Empire has been stimulated. If the Prussian-Russian conflict is not too deep, it is unlikely that the tsarist government will turn around and look east.
In the original time and space the woolly bear turned, is to be stimulated out. West are hard bones can not be gnawed, although the east is a little farther, but are fat meat ah!
Bears are meant to eat meat, only dogs gnaw on bones. This is a good multiple choice question, all instinct is enough.
Compared with the original time and space, the international situation is now completely different, and the European continent has generally remained stable.
Britain, France and Austria, the two sub-powers of Prussia and Russia and each other, and then below that there are Spain, the Nordic Federation and the German Confederation, three medium powers, this pattern can be said to be the British dream.
Anyone who wants to break the balance will have to bear the pressure of many parties. The situation will naturally be stabilized when the strength of all parties reaches a balance.
Once the contradiction between the major European colonial empires to ease, the world’s other independent countries will be under great pressure, especially the Joseon dynasty such as the country is regarded as “fat sheep”.
“What do you think about the changes in East Asia, will it affect the world situation?”
There is no way, almost every colonial empire has a foot in East Asia. Originally, Japan was a fat sheep that everyone had their eyes on, but suddenly everyone realized that this sheep had evolved into a wolf and jumped out to steal meat from everyone.
Benefits are so much, you take more I take less, one more to share, the impact on everyone is still very big.
Foreign Minister Weissenberg: ”Your Majesty, Japan is not enough to worry about. It’s only if they make a small fuss, but once they go too far, Britain and France will let them know what the rules are.
Our interests are mainly centered in the South Seas region, the Japanese can only hang around at home now, and there is no place for them in the South Seas region at all.
Besides, the unequal treaties signed between various countries and them are also shackles that restrict their development. Not to get rid of the shackles, they used to be unable to develop.
I am afraid it will take decades of work just to deal with these problems. The Japanese have a long way to go before they can be truly strong.
The Meiji Restoration was a great slogan, but I don’t see any results other than training an army with second or third rate fighting ability.
The Japanese success this time is full of serendipity, and if the Far Eastern Empire next door wasn’t busy with infighting, there would have been no chance for them to show off.”
“Despise” is the general view of European society towards Japan, this year also popular “white supremacy”, people of color are naturally discriminated against.
Even within the white race, there are different classes, geographic, ethnic, and national. ……
For example, Western Europeans look down on Central Europeans, Central Europeans look down on Eastern Europeans, and Europeans look down on people from overseas.
Why was the theory of great unification able to spread in the German region? In fact, the main reason was that the German population could only be considered as second-class people, and everyone needed a strong state.
As we can see from the 19th century United States, the German immigrants were discriminated against, and were at the bottom of the social ladder like the Irish, the Italians, and the Eastern European immigrants.
This situation in the original time period lasted until after the unification of Germany.
Now the situation has changed a little faster, with the revival of Austria, the international status of the German nation has risen with it.
This is why Austria has been able to maintain its influence in the German region.
Even if you don’t go abroad, capitalists who are engaged in international trade can’t feel at ease in their own hearts without getting a citizenship of the New Shinra Empire.
After taking the nationality of the Empire and enjoying the benefits brought by the big country, the position of these people naturally fell towards Austria.
Against this background, although many Austrian practices, in the opinion of German nationalists, were very conservative and could not satisfy their appetite, they were still recognized as orthodox.
It is not surprising that the Japanese were belittled. The Meiji Restoration had only just begun, and the so-called “development” was a relative term.
For a penniless Japan, development in any industry was a great achievement, but from Austria’s point of view, it was not worth mentioning.
The total amount of industry in all of Japan combined is still more than one industrial park in Austria. If we calculate the value of production, it may not even compare to a large conglomerate.
The “elite navy” trained by the Japanese government is probably no match for the Austrian fleet stationed in the colonies, which can be crushed by a single main ship.
The so-called modernized army, with only a few tens of thousands of men and poor weaponry, and natural contempt, may be seen by many as inferior to the Austrian reserves.
In the case of a total run-over, want the Vienna government to take Japan seriously is also impossible. The original time and space Japan is recognized by the world, that is also after the Russo-Japanese War, stepping on the shoulders of the Russians to get to the top.
Franz was not prepared to reverse everyone’s perceptions, trying to fit his own ideas into other people’s heads was just too difficult.
Besides, it was still early for Japan to rise to power, and even if it did, it could not threaten Austria. None of the power of the Austrian colonies in the South Seas was something that the Japanese could challenge.
But Franz still admired the ability of this Japanese government to develop a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country under such difficult circumstances.
Just now, for example, the Japanese government picked a good time. It took advantage of the time when European countries were attracted by the Turkish-Polish conflict to strike and create an established fact.
If it was a year or two later, when Britain, France and Austria had agreed on the division of the colonies and the international situation had eased, the Japanese government would have died a horrible death if it had made a move to take custody of it.
To put it bluntly, the Japanese have not yet challenged the strength of the international order, can only play a ball, in the European powers against East Asia before the establishment of the international order of action.
The “Yunyang incident” opened the door to Korea, but the Japanese government did not enjoy the benefits of it, the major powers can get benefits from it, naturally, there is little resistance.
It seemed that there was not much to be gained, but in fact, the political significance was not small. The Japanese government utilized this opportunity to gain a chance for foreign expansion.
European countries acquiesced to this action of the Japanese government, then it also means that the international community can accept the Japanese to colonize Korea, laying the foundation for the next colonial expansion.
However, there are advantages and disadvantages, “speculation” and “gambling” are too easy to get addicted to, and once addicted to it, it is very difficult to quit.
If you win, you can get a good return, but there is always a time when your luck runs out, and if you lose, you will lose all your money.
This is the sadness of small countries. If you don’t gamble, you will never have a chance to rise; however, once you are on the gambling table, it will be difficult to come down.
Victory will make people confused, once caught up in it, there is only success in their eyes, and it is difficult to continue to see things rationally.
Franz: “Observe first! If the Russians look east, the Japanese will have their chance. The British are still more interested in supporting such little imps than the Far Eastern Empire.”
Whether the Russians will look east or not is a question no one can answer. Everything depends on the outcome of the next Russo-Prussian War.
With France and Austria now sharing the hegemony on the European continent, if the Tsarist government wins badly, then withdrawal from the continental rivalry becomes inevitable, and eastern patronage becomes one of the options.
If the Tsarist government failed miserably, then all was lost. A defeated Russian Empire would inevitably be dismembered. Self-preservation was a problem, let alone continued expansion.
From Austria’s standpoint, it was natural to hope that the two countries would fight to a draw, or that one side would win by a narrow margin. Eliminating two potential rivals at once could not have been better.
……
(End of chapter)