Mediterranean Hegemony Road

Everyone's faces changed slightly. If there is another power besides Germany that has the best relationship with the Ottomans, it is France.

Without it, interest!

In 1895, France's investment in the Ottoman Empire was second only to Russia, with a total investment of more than 2.5 billion francs, accounting for about ten percent of France's total foreign investment.

In addition, France also holds 60% of the government bonds of the Ottoman Empire. Together, the total amount of funds that France has invested in the Ottoman Empire has exceeded 3 billion francs!

For the sake of interests, the French government most wants the Ottoman Empire to maintain the status quo! After all, when the war broke out, the interests of the French in the Ottomans would certainly be affected.

It is a pity that apart from France, Germany may secretly support the Turks to win over the Turks, other powers are the enemies of the Sudanese government!

Could France join forces for the Turks and the Germans? Of course it is impossible! Unless the French government is crazy, it will choose to stand with the Germans.

And it is impossible for the Germans to provide much substantial assistance to the Turks.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire in the "Triple Alliance" fought endlessly with the Turks in the Balkans, and the Bosnia-Herzegovina issue was the focus of the conflict between the two countries; the Italians were also eyeing the Turks' Libya and Morocco; the Germans could not always win over the Ottoman Empire. Ditch Austria-Hungary and Italy!

The British, just by looking at the plan they proposed to divide the Ottomans, knew where they stood. Especially at the juncture of the Anglo-Boers War, the British still had to worry about the Sudanese government, taking advantage of the fire to recover Egypt!

Needless to say, the attitude of the Russians. If you look at the history of the Russian-Turkish war, you will find that small wars have continued. The average war is less than once every 19 years. In terms of time, a new round of the Russian-Turkish war should come again. !

The two sides have been fighting for more than two hundred years. The hatred is deep like the sea. If you want to ease the relationship, dream!

The Russians rejected the British plan to divide, mainly because they were worried that the British would be uneasy, such as destroying Russia's Far East strategy, or taking the opportunity to enter the Aegean Sea.

There is no way who can call the Black Sea Strait, is it so closed? If any of the main roads are blocked, the sea line of communication leading to the Mediterranean Sea can be blocked!

And even if Britain kept its promise, it would be of little use to the Russian Empire. The foreign powers will not allow the Russian navy to establish a foothold in the Mediterranean Sea, and there will be many more enemies by then. With the current strength of the Russian navy, it is impossible to challenge the maritime hegemony system established by the United Kingdom!

Anyway, the risk is too great, the benefit is not enough!

But on the issue of weakening the Ottoman Empire, Britain, Russia, Italy, and Austria have the same position! The Russians are worried that the Ottoman Empire will rise again and threaten itself again!

It can be said that the current international situation is worse for the Ottoman Empire than the First Balkan War!

If Bulgaria wants to challenge the Ottomans now, the foreign powers do not mind supporting it!

This is different from the "Greek-Turkish" war in 1897. At that time, the foreign powers had reached a preliminary compromise, the Armenian issue had been diluted, and the contradictions between the Turks and other countries had been temporarily eased.

At that time the attitude of the powers changed, hoping that the Balkans would remain stable and did not support the fighting of the Greeks. Even so, the attitudes of the great powers tended to favor the Greeks when negotiating.

But now it's all different! Due to Ferdinand's butterfly effect, Bulgaria, which was originally on both sides, now embraces the Russians' thighs; Serbia has been abolished and may be annexed by Austria-Hungary at any time.

The situation in the Balkans has changed, and the historical conflict between Russia and Austria-Hungary has become less intense.

Historically, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had an advantage in the Balkans. The Russians feared that Austria-Hungary's expansion in the Balkans would threaten the security of the Black Sea Strait, and all opposed Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In addition, Serbia and Montenegro also stood up to support the Russians and opposed the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary. The attitude of the Bulgarian government was wavering again.

At this time, the Germans were busy fighting for South Africa with the British, and did not want to be involved in the disputes in the Balkans. Austria-Hungary, without the support of the Germans, was forced to make concessions.

The Russians also did not intend to expand in the Balkans in order to implement their Far East strategy. In 1897, the two countries reached a compromise on the Balkans!

Now everything is different, although the Germans and the British have become more acute because of the "Anglo-Boers War" and have no energy to join in the disputes in the Balkans.

However, due to Ferdinand's butterfly effect, the Russian Empire's operation in Serbia has not been successful, and the second Bulgarian Serbia War broke out. Serbia has been completely controlled by Austria-Hungary, and has no ability to come out and sing the opposite of the boss; and Bulgaria hugged again. The thighs of the Russians are blocked by Bulgaria, and the threat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the Black Sea Strait has not been reflected!

The contradiction between the Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was far less acute than it was in the same period in history. Although the two sides have not yet reached an agreement on the division of the Balkans, there is no conflict of core interests between the two sides.

Now the Russians' strategic focus is in the Far East, and the expansion of the Balkans is mainly to support Bulgaria.

At the same time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's Balkan partition plan and Ferdinand's Balkan strategy are basically the same in the short term!

This, of course, cannot be concealed from shrewd politicians. In the second Bulgarian war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire did nothing to watch the war, and ate the biggest cake, which is undoubtedly the best example!

In the eyes of people with a heart, Bulgaria is likely to have reached an agreement with Austria-Hungary on the Balkan issue!

President François Philippe Fore recognized this, and he was sure that the Russians would support Bulgaria's actions!

Putting Constantinople in the hands of the Turks is no better than having the peace of mind in your own hands!

As for Bulgaria, forget it! In his eyes, the Bulgarian Army is okay, the Navy? What kind of creature is that?

In any case, a Bulgaria without a navy had to turn to the Russians to control the Black Sea Strait. In essence, Constantinople was still in the hands of the Russians!

"It seems that the Turks are going to be unlucky again! But this has little to do with us, as long as we can protect our interests!" François Philippe Faure thought for a while and said

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said with a smile: "If we don't plan to intervene, then the Bulgarian loan will be handed over to the capitalists to handle it themselves. I believe they will have a satisfactory harvest this time!"

Everyone looked at each other and smiled. Not only the capitalists will have a satisfactory harvest, but everyone sitting will also have a satisfactory harvest. After all, international loans require the government to come forward, otherwise the capitalists will not be able to go to a country to collect debts!

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