Greece to roman road

Constantine frowned when he heard the news that a large gold mine had been discovered in South Africa.

The actions of various countries to carve up Africa were already in full swing. Now the news of the discovery of a large gold mine in South Africa comes at the right time and undoubtedly adds fuel to the fire.

"Banning, under the stimulation of the gold mine, what action do you think European countries will take next?" Constantine said, looking at Banning who had not yet discovered the problem and was immersed in the excitement of discovering the gold mine.

The expression on Banning's face froze for an instant, and he murmured, "Yes, yes, it's such a coincidence."

Although the area where gold was discovered was in South Africa, it was thousands of kilometers away from the Congo River.

But a question will naturally arise in the minds of politicians in various countries. Since there is gold in South Africa, will there be a large number of gold deposits distributed in such a vast area as the Congo River Basin?

Countries have a tacit understanding of Africa's expansion and have accelerated their pace.

In February, the Greek ambassador in London sent back a message to the effect that:

Portugal and the British government reached an agreement that Britain respects Portugal's historical status in the Congo River and recognizes the Portuguese government's territorial rights over the mouth of the Congo River.

According to the ambassador's private inquiries, Portugal would grant British merchants the same status and rights as Portuguese merchants in order to gain the consent and support of the British government.

To put it bluntly, these two families have announced that the Congo River Basin will be divided between the British and Portuguese families. The rest of you should stop wasting your efforts and give up.

The so-called historical status of Portugal is not entirely unfounded. As a pioneering maritime country in the Age of Discovery, Portugal and Spain were the first countries to establish colonies in the 15th century. The two brothers in the Iberian Peninsula made a lot of money through colonies. Full, mouth full of oil.

Therefore, the Angola colony has been occupied by the Portuguese for hundreds of years. Who else would have the reputation of an old colonial country?

The Congo River itself was the first to be discovered by Portugal. However, due to the obstruction of a series of waterfalls in the lower reaches of the Congo River, Portugal's idea of ​​going up the river was shattered, and the idea of ​​developing commercial trade along the river could only be delayed.

No way, before the invention of the train, the only way to conduct commercial activities deep in the interior was to rely on the two legs of a human and the four legs of a horse. In a desolate place like Africa, it was simply impossible.

This delay reached the end of the 19th century.

The world situation has changed. Territory cannot be yours if you see it first, right? There is no such reason.

You came early, and I didn’t see you occupying it early.

In fact, when Stanley led the expedition team to explore the Congo River estuary basin, Portugal was belatedly aware of the situation and was ignorant.

It wasn't until the frenzy to carve up colonies across Europe had set off, Portugal learned that Stanley's adventure team had established extensive strongholds, and the French had made public their attitude towards the Congo River, that they hurriedly went to England to find their father and hug him. It's just too late.

As for why Britain would take grain from the fire for Portugal?

On the one hand, it is for their own interests. After all, Portugal is not an industrial country and has limited ability to occupy the market. It is said that the two people will share it. In the end, the British businessmen will get most of the benefits.

On the other hand, Britain and Portugal have close relations. The alliance between the two countries has a long history.

The alliance between the two countries was established in 1373 with the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance Treaty, which lasted until the 21st century and is still valid!

This treaty was still written in Latin.

It's that long.

News of the British-Prussian cooperation reached Athens, and the committee members involved in the Congo operation were disappointed and believed that the plan had failed.

After all, Portugal is difficult to deal with, let alone one with Britain as its backing.

"Your Highness, what should we do now?" Banning said worriedly.

Although Banning is usually a scheming person, he is not a diplomat after all. It is normal to be confused about the diplomatic situation in Europe.

"Your Majesty the Duke, His Majesty the King and Queen Olga have summoned him," Steward Capet said to Banning and Constantine, who were discussing the situation in Europe and Africa.

"It just so happens that the two majesties also want to ask about this matter. Banning, you can go together and save me the trouble of talking."

The two of them came to the garden under the leadership of Butler Capet.

King George and Queen Olga are having afternoon tea in the garden.

"Constantine, your Congo Committee is in trouble this time. How are you going to solve it?" Queen Olga asked hurriedly when she saw Constantine.

"What can we do? The Portuguese can help us, so why can't we find foreign aid?" Constantine said lightly.

"But who would risk offending the British for our Congo Committee?" Banning took over the topic and expressed his doubts.

"For us to go through the committee to offend the British, the world hegemon, naturally no one will be happy, but for their own interests, it is different," Constantine explained.

Constantine's answer made Queen Olga and Banning even more confused. However, King George, who was familiar with politics, was very satisfied with Constantine's answer.

Using profit to drive people will always lead to disadvantages, and the same goes for the country.

Understand this, it is not so important what happened to Gangguo. His heirs are becoming more and more mature, and George I feels sincerely gratified.

"The ambassador in Berlin previously reported to me that the Bismarck government issued a severely worded protest to the British government two months ago." Constantine did not directly answer Banning's question, but said a seemingly unrelated statement. information.

"What does that have to do with your Congo Committee?" Queen Olga was even more confused.

Next, Constantine told everyone present the whole story.

The Greek ambassador in Berlin sent back news that industrial and commercial people in Germany were creating public opinion and demanding that the German government actively develop colonies.

As a leading figure in the unification of Germany, Pismarck held a high position of power and prestige in Germany.

Emperor Wilhelm I once lamented to his left and right in private: "Bismarck, the emperor of the German government, is not easy to do", which shows his strength.

Germany's colonial policy has also been influenced by Pismarck.

Now that the leaders of Germany have changed their previous opposition to colonies, Germany's long-suppressed desire to expand colonies has exploded.

For a long time, although Germany did not have colonies in name only, it was not completely free of overseas colonial activities.

Out of personal interests, German businessmen established some colonial strongholds (Cameroon, Togo, Namibia) in West and Southwest Africa to conduct commercial activities.

At the end of 1883, Bismarck asked the British Gladstone government whether it would

There are territorial claims in the Quina area.

As a result, the British government responded that Britain had a so-called legal claim to the entire coastal area of ​​South Africa.

This answer greatly annoyed Bismarck.

The UK only has a port in Cape Town (the Cape Town port was captured from the Dutch), but does it have territorial claims to the entire coastal area of ​​South Africa?

The British government's greedy appetite and arrogant attitude did not take other countries into consideration, which made Bismarck very angry.