Mediterranean Hegemony Road

Support Bulgaria and the Turks to compete for the Bosphorus Strait and the Sea of ​​Marmara. It is not big enough to change the strategic focus of the Russian Empire; it is not too small, it means a new round of Balkan wars About to explode!

In the first Balkan war in history, the Russian Empire supported the Pau-Serbian Union and ended the Ottoman Empire's dominance in the Balkans. One of the purposes was for the Bosphorus Strait!

But unfortunately, due to the intrigue of the Balkan alliance, this strategy has not been realized! Bulgaria's status in the hearts of Russians has been greatly reduced. After all, the Bulgarian army was only more than 20 kilometers away from Constantinople at that time!

No matter what reasons the Bulgarians have, but they did not take Constantinople and complete the strategy of the Russian Empire, the pot is doomed!

In the eyes of the Russians, this is a sign that the Bulgarians only want to take advantage and do not want to take responsibility! There is also a hidden factor that the Bulgarian government wants to suppress the influence of the Russian Empire at home - exposed!

Moreover, the position of the Bulgarian government at that time fluctuated between the Allies and the Allies, which made the Russian Empire even more dissatisfied. Of course, Ferdinand's title of tsar made Nicholas II embarrassed. He once declared: One tsar in the world is enough!

So many factors add up, and under the combined effect, the Russians abandoned Bulgaria and chose to support Serbia!

Everything is different now, the crippled Serbia is now the meat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, even if the Russian Empire wants to support them, there is nothing they can do!

To put it simply, without the nod of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it would be difficult for the Russians to enter Serbia, so what else is there to say?

After a brief silence, the Minister of Finance questioned: "Can the Bulgarians complete this plan? Don't forget, no matter how weak the Ottoman Empire is, it is a big country with a population of more than 30 million, how can it be compared to a small Bulgaria? "

The opposition of the Chancellor of the Exchequer is not surprising. Well, basically it costs a fortune, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer doesn't like it!

The Foreign Minister opened his mouth and explained: "I can answer this question. In a purely comprehensive comparison of strength, the Ottoman Empire is indeed far superior to Bulgaria.

But now the Turks are not having a good time. There are many revolutions in the country, and the British are trying to attack Egypt and the Euphrates. The French and Italians are eyeing Libya and Morocco in Africa. Of course, their main force is still staring at us. !

They are very strong, and they can only use three or four points in the Balkans. This is still based on the premise that they are very heavy on the capital Constantinople and prepare in advance!

If the Turks are smart, the Armenian issue should be resolved immediately, regardless of international public opinion!

Except for the British, the powers now do not intend to attack them. It just so happens that the British have been dragged down again, and the Italians have been trapped in the quagmire of Ethiopia! It will be much easier to resolve domestic conflicts as quickly as possible, and then meet challenges from them!

Of course, even so, in the Balkans, the Ottoman Empire could theoretically amass 400,000 troops.

It's still challenging for Bulgaria and without our support, both sides would probably lose both! "

Nicholas II's eyes lit up, and he asked incredulously: "Really? Bulgaria now has the strength to defeat the Ottoman Empire and suffer serious losses?"

The Minister of War boasted with a smile: "Your Majesty, the Bulgarian Army was trained by us. How is the combat effectiveness? Our Ministry of War knows the best, even if there is still some gap between us, but it is still stronger than the Turks. A lot!"

The explanation of the Minister of the Army, everyone takes it for granted, the current Russian Empire is so awesome! Otherwise, how can we suppress the German-Austrian alliance at the same time,

Still have the confidence to challenge the hegemony of the British Empire?

The words of the Minister of War gave Nicholas II enough confidence. He is young and vigorous, and now he needs to make achievements and prove his ability to the world!

It is nothing more than "civilization and martial arts, diplomatic maneuvering"! There is no need to consider "cultural governance". This is a long-term project. It is not too late to look at it again in ten or eight years.

What about "Martial Arts"? Now that the Russian Empire is in full swing, the Siberian Railway has not opened to traffic, and Europe is crowded with foreign powers, it is difficult to achieve a breakthrough. Unless you go to the ocean, in fact, the expansion of the Russian Empire on the mainland has reached its limit!

Diplomatically, during the period of Alexander III, the "France-Russian Alliance" and the "Russian-Paul Alliance" were established. International diplomacy? I'm sorry, now the German-Austrian alliance is unbreakable, the "British-Russian conflict" cannot be resolved, and there is no room for him to exert himself!

The Far East strategy is now the most important part of Nicholas II, but the Far East transportation has restricted the eastward expansion of the Russian Empire!

Historically, in order to concentrate on expanding eastward, the Russian Empire made concessions to Austria-Hungary on the Balkan issue in 1897, and the situation in the Balkans was stable for ten years. And the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not much better, it has been busy cleaning up the domestic mess in ten years!

For the small Balkan countries, this is the "Golden Decade", but unfortunately everyone has not grasped it!

Greece and Ottoman came to a friendship pk, and the vitality was licking the wound.

Bulgaria is busy with political struggles at home.

In Serbia, King Alexander I is busy revising the constitution, plus shame (taking a palace maid ten years older as the queen. Well, compared to him, Emperor Apocalypse is weak and violent!); the people are busy making rebellion against the king, such as Alexander I was assassinated in 1903.

After Russia's strategic center of gravity shifted eastward, first the big food empire fell with blood mold, and then it was the turn of the Japanese.

There is no doubt that Nicholas II's attitude towards the Japanese can be described as "bad". The scar on his forehead is the shame of his life!

In history, after the Sino-Japanese War, the "Three Kingdoms Intervention to Return Liao" happened in this context.

... (omit a few)

The proposal of the Admiralty is still very suitable for Nicholas II. For the sake of the Bosphorus Strait, his ancestors did a lot of work with the Turks. Now if you can easily start, that would be great!

He smiled and said: "Since the Bulgarians have that strength, how can we not push it?

Let Ferdinand master the Bosphorus for us first. If possible, including Ma Aegean, we can all support them! "

The Prime Minister laughed and said: "Your Majesty, the Bulgarian army still has some combat power, the navy? Do they have this type of arms? How can I remember that it is just an anti-smuggling brigade! It's not a joke to rely on them to control the strait?"

The crowd burst into laughter. Yes, can the Bulgarian navy be considered a navy? All the tonnages added up are not comparable to a battleship! The Russians have enough confidence to despise the world's weakest navy.