Chapter 792: The End of the Near East War
Chapter 775 – The End of the Near Eastern War
On July 12, 1883, the Russian army captured the Ottoman capital of Ankara, captured the vizier Midhat alive, and the Ottoman Empire was officially declared extinct.
From Vienna to St. Petersburg, all were immersed in the joy of victory, with various celebrations taking place.
In order to commemorate this great victory, Franz, who did not like banquets, personally organized a celebration party, and even once wanted to have an ancestor worship activity.
Traditions are meant to be broken anyway, and these days the Papacy is in decline and has no ability to dictate.
Just think about the traditional funeral of the Habsburg family, Franz will never have the heart of ancestor worship.
After the death of the Habsburg royal dynasty members the body is buried in three places, the heart is placed in the Augustinian Church, the internal organs are stored in the Stephen’s Cathedral, and the body is buried in the royal tomb underneath the Capuchina Church**.
Forgetting everything else for a moment, it was a question of which of the three churches to choose. Knowing that all three have different symbolic meanings, choosing any of the three churches would be interpreted on a political level by outsiders.
Fear of trouble Franz, directly abandoned this plan.
On the whole, this Near Eastern War went well. The only regret was that Abdul Hamid II was nowhere to be found, making the victory seem less than perfect.
However, this was only a minor problem. Even if he had escaped, Abdul Hamid II was so powerless that he didn’t even dare to show his face in public.
Exile is not for every monarch, and the Ottoman emperors were not just secular emperors, but religious leaders as well.
Perhaps it was not good for Franz, who was also a monarch, to cut off all the people, but the church would certainly not miss the opportunity to brush up its presence at such a time of pain.
Influenced by religious beliefs, even if the British government wanted to make things happen, it could not support the restoration of Abdul Hamid II.
No, it should be unable to find a place for restoration. Once the population transfer was completed, there were no Ottomans in the Ottoman lands, and where there were Ottomans it was not the Ottoman Empire.
……
Foreign Minister Weissenberg handed Franz a document and said, “Your Majesty, this is a request from the Tsarist government regarding the distribution of the fruits of victory after the war.
It’s roughly the same areas that were agreed upon before the war, and at the same time the Russians have proposed another option where they can give up some of the spoils of war as long as we are willing to make cash compensation.”
Upon hearing this news, Franz’s first reaction was that he had heard it wrong; the Tsarist government was actually giving up its greed for land?
It wasn’t until after receiving the document and flipping through it to see similar clauses that he came to terms with the fact.
Seen the big waves of Franz, naturally will not be this pie smashed dizzy, calm down and asked: “know the reason?”
Minister of Finance Karl replied, “Your Majesty, I think this problem can be attributed to finances.
According to the agreement the Russians could get the small half of the Asia Minor Peninsula, but because of the war, these areas have been reduced to ruins.
In the short term there is no return to be seen in these areas, not only do we need to station troops to maintain local stability, but we also need to invest a lot of money in post-war reconstruction.
If the tsarist government gets these areas, it will increase the expenses of at least fifteen million divine guilders every year, and it will be difficult to break even within ten years.
With the financial situation of the Tsarist government, they simply do not have the ability to bear this expense, and selling them to us is also a necessity.
In order to obtain resettlement money to improve their poor finances, the Tsarist government also took in a large number of Ottomans from the areas under our control.
To date, we have paid the Russians 23.86 million guilders for the resettlement of these people in the areas currently controlled by the Russian army.
If the territorial deal is successful, we will inevitably have to relocate the Ottomans throughout Asia Minor.
The Russians will not only receive a land transfer fee, but also a large resettlement fee. Even the immigrants they took in earlier will be able to receive another resettlement fee.
I very much doubt that the Tsarist government would have offered additional conditions to directly underwrite the resettlement.
This would not be any much difficult for them. There are large tracts of land in Siberia and the Far East where the emigrants can be resettled, and even though the conditions are a little bit worse, it still won’t hurt.”
Hearing this explanation, Franz’s were somewhat impressed by the business acumen of the Tsarist government. According to the previous agreement, the Russians had already completed one resettlement.
Although the people were still in Asia Minor, the Vienna government had only stipulated that the people be sent out of the Austrian sphere of influence; there was no such thing as a territorial transaction at that time, and the Russians had already fulfilled the contract.
Knowing that it had suffered a loss, the Vienna government could not say anything. International politics is like gambling, on the table should have the willingness to lose.
Franz smiled slightly: “If it’s because of the finances, then let’s talk to the Russians about the price.
Enhancing the strength of the Russians was already within the scope of our plan, and now it’s just that the plan has been advanced a little bit.”
Asia Minor was a burden to the Tsarist government, the finances could not afford it, not so to Austria.
Although there could be no economic gain in the short term, and a great deal of money would have to be invested, it was strategically significant.
Taking this place was not just practicing with the Middle East, but more importantly having a stable rear.
As long as a few million immigrated over from the mainland and completely controlled this area, Franz would never have to worry about being blockaded again.
“Strengthening” and “strengthening” were two different concepts. Franz was only preparing to strengthen the Tsar’s government, not the Russian Empire.
So this help was a test of skill. Helping the Tsarist government to complete industrialization was naturally impossible.
Even if you want to help, it is to help them to complete the industrialization similar to the later Mexican model.
Simply put, it is the surface scenery, looks completed industrialization, the substance is a large assembly plant, core parts all imported.
The Russians are not stupid, do not let them look strong, and how to let them give birth to the ambition to spy on the subcontinent?
Foreign Minister Weissenberg reminded, “Your Majesty, our negotiations with the British have also opened. If news of a deal for the Asia Minor Peninsula comes out at this time, I’m afraid it will cause another furor.”
The British shit stirrers were annoying, but there was really nothing they could do about them these days. Maybe they couldn’t do anything about Austria, but disgusting people, that was definitely a strong point.
Not to mention, once the shit-stirrers get involved, it will be difficult for this territorial deal to go smoothly. Even if an agreement is reached, the Vienna government will add extra costs.
After a few moments of contemplation, Franz made a decision: “Directly authorize the minister in Russia and the tsarist government to negotiate, the speed should be fast, we must rush to reach a deal before the British reaction.
In addition to cash compensation, we can help the Russians rebuild their navy.
Tell the Russians that if the deal is reached within a week, we will give them five additional battleships.
And, these warships can be delivered without immediate delivery, they can just notify us when they want them.”
Franz wasn’t prepared to press the price; from the time it had relocated the populations on the Asia Minor peninsula, the Tsarist government had known how seriously the Vienna government was taking the region.
The Tsarist government sold these regions, essentially to sell them for a good price and make up for the financial deficit, and price suppression was simply not possible.
The gift of five battleships was actually a disguised price increase. Deliberately setting a time limit is also a negotiation strategy.
The difference is that the Austrian ex-dreadnoughts will soon be launched, and these old battleships will soon be retired.
Five battleships that lagged behind the times and were about to be phased out, and eight state-of-the-art battleships, were not a concept at all.
Taking advantage of the information mismatch between the two sides, and utilizing the different prices in everyone’s mind, the Russians were misled into overestimating the value of these warships in order to reduce the cost of the land purchase.
Knowing that the Austrian Navy now owns a full 36 battleships, God knows where to find so many receivers.
No one to take over, a new round of naval arms race broke out, most of these warships can only be dismantled and sold for scrap metal.
……
The Russian-Austrian territorial deal is just one of the hiccups in the end of the war in the Near East, and more aftermath issues that will need to be resolved by the government in Vienna.
Internationally it’s a good idea, the Ottomans were sufficiently inviting to be hated, there was no one to run and shout for them, and public pressure was largely non-existent.
The people of Europe were celebrating this great victory, and even if some were upset, it was only a small group.
The trouble was the post-war reconstruction. When the locals moved out, someone had to come and replace them. Without sufficient population, post-war reconstruction is a joke.
Franz’s desk has been piled up with plans, what immigrant relocation plan, Baghdad railroad plan, Dardanelles Bridge plan ……
Looking at the thousands of plans, a time Franz head is big. Every day soaked in documents, hairline and backward a few points, and so on, he is going to be bald in his prime.
There is no way, the emperor is not good. It is not that Franz is greedy for power, but there are some problems that he must personally ask.
People in different times look at things very differently, and what seems like a good plan at this time could be a huge pitfall in the future.
For example: the Dardanelles Bridge, if the plans of the Ministry of Railways, this bridge will only serve the railroad, just add a carriageway.
It will be enough for the short term, and when automobiles become popular, it will immediately be scrapped and started over again.
(End of chapter)