1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 352 Russian-Turkish Confrontation

If we say that Europe in the first half of 1853 was still shrouded in the clouds of war and in a state of tension.

In the second half of 1853, all parties actually entered a de facto state of war.

Menshikov, a loser, failed to bring good news from the Ottoman Empire to Nicholas I.

Events seemed to be developing in a direction that was not favorable to Tsarist Russia.

Nicholas I personally proposed the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Danube Principality in exchange for the privileges of the Russian Empire in the Ottoman Empire.

Nicholas I hoped that the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid would sign this "equal" treaty without amending the treaty, and claimed that this was the last effort by the Russian Empire to peacefully resolve the dispute between the two countries.

effort.

In letters to Megid, Nicholas I constantly emphasized that the Russian Empire had made its utmost efforts to peacefully resolve disputes, and even made the decision to withdraw Russian troops from the lower Danube area in good faith. He hoped that Megid

If De can understand his good intentions, don't be ignorant of praise.

Mecid also knew that this was the ultimatum given to him by Nicholas I.

Before Mecid came to the throne, many wars had broken out between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

Meguid has a relatively clear understanding of this country and its rulers. The probability that the Russians will abide by the treaty is about the same as the probability that believers of God and Allah in the Ottoman Empire can live in peace and be as close as brothers.

It was false that Nicholas I wanted to withdraw Russian troops from Moldova and the United Principality of Wallachia, but it was true that he wanted special privileges within the Ottoman Empire.

Megid could certainly see through such a clumsy tactic of retreating in order to advance.

Based on past experience in struggles with Russia, once the Russians do not get what they want at the negotiation table, Russia will definitely resort to war and use force to resolve disputes.

Lord Canning, the ambassador of the British Empire in Constantinople, also reminded Megid not to fall into the trap of the Russians and not to imagine that signing a treaty with the Russians would lead to peace.

At the same time, Canning also said that once the war breaks out, the Ottoman Empire will not fight alone. The British Empire and even the French Empire will be the strong backing of the Ottoman Empire.

Although Britain has often been criticized for betraying its teammates in the past, this time, Britain did not betray the Ottoman Empire.

Because once the Russians control the Dardanelles Strait, the only channel between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the British Empire's privileges in the Mediterranean will be directly threatened by the Russian navy, which has threatened Britain's core interests in the Mediterranean.

Britain hoped to use Ottoman power to limit the scope of Russian naval activities to the Black Sea.

After weighing the pros and cons, on the one hand, he mobilized all available troops in the empire and ordered the entire army to prepare for war with the Russians.

On the other hand, Mecid sent troops to Moldova and the United Principality of Wallachia, two vassal states of the Ottoman Empire on the lower Danube River where Russia was most likely to attack.

The United Principalities of Moldova and Wallachia are two highly autonomous vassal states in the northwest region of the Ottoman Empire, and are also the land border between the western Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire.

The geographical location of these two principalities was in later Romania and Moldova.

As for the Georgian region at the land border between the eastern Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, Meguid and his generals and ministers all believed that the Russian army would not sacrifice the near and far because of its poor logistics level and cross the mountains and ridges to attack the Ottoman Empire itself through Georgia.

Once a war breaks out, the direction of Moldova and the United Principality of Wallachia must be the main direction of the Russian attack.

After making these arrangements, Megid still had some concerns. He thought Canning expressed his concerns: "If the Austro-Hungarian Empire sides with the Russians, the Ottoman army in the Danube region will be attacked from both sides by the Russian-Austrian coalition forces, and it will be difficult to survive alone.

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"Dear Sultan, I assure you that the Austro-Hungarian Empire will not stand on the side of the Russians." Canning confidently assured Megid, "The Austro-Hungarian Empire will remain neutral!"

"The weak navy of the Ottoman Empire cannot resist the Russian navy. I hope that your country and France can help." This was Meguid's second concern.

"As long as you open the Dardanelles Strait to us, the British Empire's fleet will enter the Black Sea and provide maritime security for the Ottoman Empire. We will join hands to restrict the Russian fleet to the Black Sea and even the Sea of ​​Azov." Canning remains confident.

He assured Mecid fully.

With the promise of the British, Mecid finally made up his mind to reject Nicholas I's ultimatum, and at the same time opened the Dardanelles Strait, allowing British and French troops to freely enter and leave the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

Nicholas I did not realize the seriousness of the matter. After the ultimatum was rejected by the Ottoman Sultan Mecid, Nicholas I became furious.

The Ottomans' rejection made him, the European arbiter, feel ashamed.

The furious Nicholas I decided to send more troops to the Danube region and continue to put pressure on Mecid, forcing Mecid to make concessions.

If Mecid did not make concessions, he would unite with the Austro-Hungarian Empire to attack Domoldova and the United Principality of Wallachia, and take these two vassal states of the Ottoman Empire into their hands and become the territory of the Russian Empire.

At the same time, you can also recognize and support the independence of the Principality of Serbia, bring Serbia into the sphere of influence of the Russian Empire, and then expand the entire Balkan Peninsula.

In this way, Russia will not have to worry about the problem of not having an outlet to the sea. There are many excellent outlets in the Balkans.

When Nicholas I proudly proposed this crazy plan, Nesrrod, the foreign minister of the three dynasties, felt that Nicholas I was crazy.

Nicholas I had two prerequisites for realizing this plan.

One was that the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, Franz Joseph, sided with the Russian Empire.

Nicholas I felt that he was indebted to Franz Joseph. In 1848, a revolution broke out in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Nicholas I sent troops to help Franz Joseph suppress the revolution and save Franz Joseph's throne.

Lanz Joseph will definitely stand on the side of the Russian Empire and become a reliable ally of the Russian Empire.

But Nesrrod, a veteran in the diplomatic field, did not think so. The personal friendship and favor between emperors were not worth mentioning in the face of national interests.

It was true that Russia sent troops to suppress the revolutionary movement in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but after the Russian army entered the country, almost all the villages and cities they passed through were looted by the Russian army.

The citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had a very bad impression of the Russian Empire, especially the Russian army. In their eyes, the Russians were no different from bandits.

It was impossible for Franz Joseph to ignore the interests of the people at home and stand on Nicholas I's side without hesitation in order to restore Nicholas I's popularity.

What's more, the United Principalities of Moldova and Wallachia and the Principality of Serbia also bordered the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Russian Empire wanted to dismember the Ottoman Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire also wanted to.

The Russian Empire was encroaching on the United Principalities of Moldova and Wallachia and the Principality of Serbia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was definitely not happy.

Therefore, Nesrrod believed that an alliance with the Austro-Hungarian Empire was purely wishful thinking of Nicholas I and was not realistic at all.

The second is that if Nicholas I's plan is to be realized, the Russian army must quickly capture Moldova and the United Principality of Wallachia before Britain and France send troops to intervene, climb over the Balkan Mountains, and march to the gates of Constantinople.

Forcing the Ottoman Sultan Mecid to quickly surrender.

Create established facts and do not give Britain and France the opportunity to intervene.

However, in order to realize such a battle plan, the Russian army needed to make a quick decision, defeat the Ottoman army in a very short period of time and march straight to Constantinople.

Although Nesrrod has retreated to the second line, he still understands the situation of the Russian army. He knows very well that with the mediocre abilities of the current Russian generals and the poor logistics of the Russian army, this plan cannot be realized in any case.

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To put it bluntly, after the Patriotic War in 1812, the Russian army did not improve its armaments. The equipment level of Russian soldiers was still at 1812, and the combat thinking of Russian generals was also at 1812.

"Your Majesty, if we send troops to Moldova, the United Principality of Wallachia and the Balkans, the Austro-Hungarian Empire may not side with us, so please think twice," Nesserrod advised.

Nesrrod's inappropriate words made Nicholas I very unhappy. Nicholas I said coldly: "Even without the Austro-Hungarian Empire, our powerful Russian army can defeat the weak Ottoman army!"

Nicholas I unceremoniously ordered Nesrrod to be invited out, and then discussed with his generals how the Russian army should defeat the Ottoman army if Russia had to use force to solve the Near East problem.

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Nicholas I was convinced of the weakness of the Ottoman Empire. He believed that as long as the Russian giant moved his fingers, he could knock down the weak sick man of West Asia.

At this time, Nicholas I still did not take Nesrrod's advice seriously. Not only did he believe that once a war started with the Ottoman Turks, not only Austria-Hungary, a reliable ally, would be on his side.

Britain will also stand on this side. Even after Britain joins Russia's side, France will follow Britain and join its own camp in order to eat some leftovers.

After all, we are all Europeans. There is no reason for Europeans not to unite to carve up an Asian country. This was the logic of Nicholas I.

After the Ottoman Sultan Mecid rejected his ultimatum, and the Ottomans allowed British and French ships to freely enter and exit the Dardanelles Strait.

Nicholas I announced the severance of diplomatic relations between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. On July 3, 1853, he sent troops to the Danube principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia.

Nicholas I was very satisfied with his operation and believed that the next thing he had to do was to wait for Mecid to surrender.

(End of chapter)