Chapter 658: Outbreak of the Pacific War
Chapter 644 – Outbreak of Pacific War
Early in the morning, Franz had just finished his morning training and had not yet had time to enjoy his breakfast. Foreign Minister Weissenberg hurriedly arrived with bad news.
“Your Majesty, news has come from our embassy in Bolivia that two days ago the Chilean army invaded Bolivia, and the balance of South America has been upset.”
The main reason why the Austrian government was concerned about this war was still because of the saltpeter trade. Because of the South American colonies, Austria’s relations with Chile and Argentina were not very good.
Ever since 1863, when rich deposits of saltpeter were discovered in the Atacama province on the Pacific coast of Bolivia, it became the main import area for Austrian saltpeter.
With the increase of commercial trade, the relationship between Austria and Bolivia also warmed up, and almost became a quasi-alliance.
Only the Vienna government’s strategic core is not in South America, put into the South American region of the force is very limited, did not go further.
In any case, as a great power in the international arena is certainly less likely to play the role of shit-stirrers. The lack of notoriety was mainly due to the fact that their British counterparts were too good and stole the limelight from everyone.
Little power invested doesn’t mean no investment. The government of Vienna in South America is also supportive of having a little brother, just the relationship between the two sides is not deep, is considered a partner.
Bolivia is one of them, in the military to get Austria’s help. Unfortunately, the Bolivian government is not very smart, seeing that Britain, France and Austria are secretly competing with each other in South America, they chose to sway left and right.
Swinging from side to side also needs capital, with capital that is flexible foreign policy, without capital is walking a tightrope. There is no doubt that Bolivia is a country without capital.
As for the saltpeter trade, it seems to be very important, but in fact it is just that. For Britain, France and Austria, it would be better if they could get cheap saltpeter, but if not, they could produce it themselves.
These days and did not make fertilizer, the demand for saltpeter is not very large. Even if the cost of their own production is a little higher, it is not difficult to defeat the three powers.
Moreover, Bolivia is only one of the saltpeter exporting countries, not a monopoly. Next door, Chile is also an exporter of saltpeter.
Facts have once again proved that wallflowers have no future. Bolivia was abandoned after all parties failed to bring it together, while Chile turned to the British.
During the War of Independence, Chile and Bolivia were allies, fighting together against Spanish colonization. But it’s easy to share the pain, but hard to share the riches.
The Atacama Desert, where Chile meets Bolivia and Peru, was never clearly demarcated during the Spanish colonial period.
After the independence of the three countries, Bolivia took possession of the Antofagasta region in the central part of the Atacama Desert, Peru took possession of the Tarapacá region in the northern part of the desert, and Chile acquired the southern part of the desert. All three countries declared their sovereignty over the desert region
If this part of the desert had no resources, it would probably have ended up being a non-starter. Unfortunately, this area is not only rich in resources, it is also very rich in resources, and conflicts arise.
Chile was more powerful and now with the British in their lap, they had the credentials to employ force.
Franz asked with concern, “Did the British intervene?”
The causes and consequences, Franz is not interested in deeper investigation, in the final analysis or interests. Right or wrong is actually the least important in international politics.
In the age of imperialism, if you want to talk about right and wrong, then most of the time it is an even match, or a great power intervenes, or else justice belongs only to the victor.
Foreign Minister Weissenberg: “For the time being, there is no sign of British meddling, and from the point of view of interest, it is more in the interest of the British to maintain stability in South America.
If the Chileans are allowed to win the war, they will have a complete monopoly on saltpeter exports, which is not what the British want to see.
Of course, this is only analyzing the interests from the bright side. If the British had a secret pact with Chile, it would be impossible to say.
We have a very cold relationship with Chile and have limited strength on the ground. In the short term, there is no ability to determine whether the two sides have a deal in the dark.”
Franz wandered; he had paid little attention to South American history, and only vaguely remembered that a Pacific war had broken out between Chile and Bolivia and Peru.
The exact time, the passage of time, the attitudes held by the powers, none of it was clear. Even if it is clear, it is useless, under the influence of the butterfly effect, the international situation has long been completely different.
Franz: “Putting aside external factors, who do you think will win the final victory in this war?”
Foreign Minister Weissenberg: “I am more favorable to the Chileans, who clearly surpass Bolivia in terms of military strength.
Although Bolivia has learned from us militarily in recent years, the Bolivian government is too stupid.
If they had only learned the military of any European power, they could have succeeded. Instead, they tried to learn from more than one country at the same time, and ended up with a military that is unlike any other.
The likelihood of Bolivia’s victory from a purely military point of view is almost nil. But with other countries involved, the situation is impossible to say.
The relationship between South American countries is so complicated that it’s hard to sort it out in a moment. The war over the Atacama Desert also involves Peru.
Of the three countries, Chile now has the strongest military power. Peru and Bolivia alone, are no match for the Chileans.
With common interests, the possibility of the two countries joining forces is very high. If Bolivia and Peru give up their differences, it’s hard to say where this war will go.”
To intervene in this South American war, Franz was very hesitant. The main problem was still the input and the return, and he was not sure if the final result would be proportional.
Austria’s strength in South America was limited, and with only the little power in Austrian South America, it was not qualified to intervene at all.
As for the Austrian military force in Central America, the same can not be lightly moved, otherwise the balance of North America will be broken. Without enough strength to deter, no one can guarantee that the United States and the Union Congress will not take advantage of the opportunity to do something.
For the sake of the war in South America, it is certainly not worth the risk. Primary and secondary Franz still distinguish clearly, the Americans bigger is the threat, as for Chile is not even worth mentioning.
It was not worth mentioning as far as Chile was concerned, unless Chile was able to annex Argentina. This was obviously impossible, not to mention the fact that the Powers agreed or disagreed, and Argentina itself was not weaker than them.
After a few moments of hesitation, Franz made the decision, “Let’s wait and see, and remain neutral for the time being until our interests are jeopardized.”
This was the safest course of action; Austria’s interests in South America were not large enough to warrant bloodshed.
Even if we were to intervene, it would be by being begged to do so, not by delivering the goods themselves.
Small country nationalisms all have a common problem once they rise, and that is that they tend to lose their self-awareness.
Not waiting for them to win or lose, running to interfere in advance, but no one will appreciate.
……
Choose to wait and see the situation is not only Austria, Britain and France also chose to wait and see.
South American countries are full of contradictions, this Chilean and Bolivian war, and may even trigger a South American chaos.
Early intervention into, obviously will fall into a passive state. In the event of a wrong bet, even the Great Powers will lose a lot of money.
Other than that, a commodity market would be messed up. Under normal circumstances, the small countries of South America do not have the courage to say no to the big powers, but if someone backs them up, it may be possible.
……
Bolivia, ever since the war with Chile broke out, President Hilarion Daza’s whole being is not good.
Unlike the fanatical nationalists at home, as a national leader, Hilarion Daza still has self-awareness.
Militarily, Bolivia is indeed no match for Chile. That’s just one thing; there is also the fact that Bolivia lacks international support.
It is not his responsibility, Bolivia has not yet entered the era of democracy, and the so-called governmental elections are essentially all remote-controlled behind the scenes by the military caudillo.
The people behind the scenes want to play a balancing act between the great powers and put out a government that naturally cannot be rejected. However, this diplomatic balance is not easy to play, and Hilarion Daza is not capable of managing it.
Now that the war had broken out, there was hardly a single country among the Great Powers that had flagged in their favor.
Mind you, from the standpoint of a bystander in this era, this time it was Chile that took the lead in invading Bolivia.
Normally, public opinion would have sympathized with the victims. In this context, everyone would have at least verbally condemned the Chilean military invasion.
However, Bolivia’s diplomatic equilibrium has failed only a few years ago, and the British, French and Austrian governments are still holding a grudge. Internationally, the Bolivian government has been having a hard time in recent years.
Now that the big three have not taken a stand, other countries, whose business is not theirs, will naturally not risk offending the big rogues by doing justice on Bolivia’s behalf.
President Hilarion Daza: “Gentlemen, war has broken out. This war is about Bolivia’s national destiny, and we can’t afford to lose.
If we lose the war, we will not only lose our most important source of wealth, the saltpeter mines; we will also lose our most important access to the sea and become a landlocked country from now on.
For the sake of the great Republic of Bolivia, I hope everyone will do their best to win this war.”
Foreign Minister Preeta Gul: “Your Excellency the President, it is up to the military to solve the problems on the battlefield. We’ll just have to think outside the battlefield, in addition to doing a good job with logistics.
In order to increase our chances of winning this war, I propose to temporarily join forces with Peru, which is just as conflicted as Chile, to fight the Chileans.”
There is no way, in this country of powerful warlords, Preeta Gur, even if it is clear that Bolivia is not a rival to Chile, he does not dare to say it directly, but can only carry out artistic processing, as much as possible to embellish.
President Hilarion Daza nodded: “Well, that’s a good proposal. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send someone to contact the Peruvian government as soon as possible, as long as their conditions aren’t too excessive, they can all agree first, we need allies now.
Are there any other proposals?”
……
(End of chapter)