My Italy

"I don't agree to this condition."

Despretis rushed to the palace excitedly and reported Bulgaria's generous conditions to Carlo, but was given a slap in the face.

He had no idea that the king would refuse the Bulgarians' conditions as soon as he opened his mouth.

For this reason, DePretis believes it is necessary to explain. "Your Majesty, the conditions for the Bulgarians are already very generous. The expansion of the port of Thessaloniki and the financing of the railway to Sofia will not only exert economic influence on Bulgaria, but also have many political benefits..."

Listening to the Prime Minister's explanation of the benefits of Bulgaria's generous conditions, Carlo felt irritated and couldn't help but interrupt the other party's speech. "Prime Minister, there are preconditions for the Bulgarians. This is to help them keep Saloniga. Have you considered that other countries may have different views?"

Faced with Carlo's words, Depretis immediately explained. "Your Majesty, we have considered this before, but we think this problem is not a big one. The attitudes of Serbia and Greece will be discussed by the Bulgarians, and what we mainly face is the pressure from big countries such as Britain, France, Austria, and Russia. In this regard, we After comprehensive consideration, the government believes that the attitudes of Germany and France do not need to be taken into consideration, because they have little interest in the Balkans. Although Britain is tilted towards the Balkan issue due to its relationship with Greece, its influence on the Balkans is still limited. It is also basically focused on Greece and is not very interested in other regions and countries. Austria-Hungary is our ally. As long as we give some benefits from Bulgaria, I believe we can gain the other party's understanding, so the only Russian attitude that needs to be considered.

However, although Russia has the ability to exert influence on the Balkans, it is separated by Romania after all, so it is quite inconvenient in terms of actual influence and measures. In addition, the exchanges between our country and Russia are not intensive. Even if they want to take measures, it will only be in economic diplomacy, which we can bear. "

After Depretis' analysis, it seems that Italy only needs to put in a certain amount of pressure to reap sufficient rewards.

This seems very incredible to Carlo. When did the government become so confident and completely regarded the pressure from Austria-Hungary and Russia as nothing.

In fact, this is a deviation in Carlo's and the government's understanding of Italy. In Carlo's mind, Italy is still a big country with poor national power. Although it has the power to crush other small countries, it fails to fight against big countries. They are naturally at a disadvantage.

On the government side, perhaps it is the result of Carlo's hard work. In the eyes of other Italian officials, Italy has continuously expanded its territory and has the upper hand everywhere. Therefore, Italy is no longer the country that relied on weakness during the Tunisian crisis. An unbearable look. Whether it is economically, militarily or politically, Italy has the confidence to make its voice heard in Europe, and other major countries must also give Italy the necessary respect.

It is precisely these two cognitive deviations that lead to differences in opinions between Carlo and the government regarding Bulgaria.

The government believed that this condition was enough to stand up for the Bulgarians, while Carlo believed that Italy's strength was not currently suitable to fight Austria-Hungary and Russia in the Balkans.

Therefore, in the face of Prime Minister Depretis' explanation, after some consideration, Carlo still believed that Italy's center of gravity could not shift to the Balkans, even if Italy had already won a large area of ​​territory in the region this time.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, we cannot accept Bulgaria's request this time. Our country's current focus still needs to be on the country. Improving our national strength is the top priority at the moment. Investing too much energy in the Balkans will only drag down our country's development." economy."

Faced with Carlo's explanation, Prime Minister Despretis somewhat disagreed. "But we need a market, and the conditions in Bulgaria this time are very conducive to our country's expansion of the market in the Balkans, which can also promote economic development."

Depretis had already sent someone to calculate before, and according to Bulgaria's conditions, it would bring nearly 20 million lira benefits to Italy every year. This benefit is already very good, enough for Italy to make the choice to fully support Bulgaria. Even if you pay a certain price for this, it is worth it.

However, although Depretis said how tempting the benefits of Bulgaria were, Carlo still did not change his words and continued to ask Prime Minister Depretis. "Your Excellency Prime Minister, what would you say is the core of our country's current diplomacy?"

Faced with Carlo's question, Depretis answered without hesitation. "It's an alliance treaty with Germany and Austria."

Yes, even Prime Minister Despretis knows that the current core of Italian diplomacy is the Alliance of the Three Emperors. Italy relies on this alliance to thrive in the past ten years.

After hearing Depretis' answer, Carlo continued to ask. "So is it worth it for us to have a bad relationship with Austria-Hungary over the Balkans?"

In fact, Carlo was not asking about Austria-Hungary, but the Germany behind it. In the Alliance of Three Emperors, Italy was far less closely related than the other two countries. Not only Carlo knew this, but everyone in the Italian political arena also knew this.

Given the huge benefits Italy has gained from the Alliance of Three Emperors, Italy is now inseparable from this relationship. Not to mention the large area of ​​territory that Italy is about to acquire, which will also take time to digest.

Not to mention that in order to get Germany to agree to support this war, they had already hurt the other side. If they offended Austria-Hungary again, what would happen next?

You must know that in this era, there are no clear boundaries and the diplomatic relations between countries are not fixed, so Italy must take into account the attitudes of its allies.

Despretis, who also knew this, fell silent after hearing Carlo. Before, he was carried away by interests and thought of the problem too simply. Only after Carlo proposed it did he realize that full support would inevitably harm the relationship with Austria-Hungary. Compared with that benefit, the Three Emperors Alliance would be more important.

"It seems that the conditions for the Bulgarians are not easy to get, which is a pity."

With these words of Depretis, it was also announced that the Bulgarian attempt had completely failed.

The subsequent negotiations were also difficult to handle in Bulgaria, which lacked Italian support.

Facing other countries with malicious intentions, the Bulgarian delegation was in a dilemma in the venue.

A few days later, the Bulgarian delegation, looking ashen-faced, even left the meeting angrily.

"These damn guys, they don't want to see our country completely regain its territory."

A member of the delegation who couldn't help it couldn't help but cursed after walking out of the venue.

As the head of the delegation, Prime Minister Stambolov was indifferent to the curses behind him. Because he was mentally prepared after Italy rejected their proposal.

But when he thought about Salonica being handed back to the Ottomans, he felt as if a knife had been stabbed in his heart. In particular, Adrianople also had to be returned to the Ottomans, which was even more heartbreaking.

However, although he left the venue angrily this time, Stambolov knew that this time it was just to let other countries see Bulgaria's dissatisfaction, and they would eventually need to return to the venue. After all, so many sacrifices have been made, and most of Macedonia must get it, otherwise it will fail the people in the country who are waiting for it.

So after a month of wrangling, the quite dissatisfied Bulgarians could only sign the treaty.

After more than a month of negotiations, all countries finally signed the contract. According to this contract, the Ottomans lost most of their European and African territories in this war. Only Southern Macedonia (today's Greek Macedonia) and Eastern Thrace remained.

Among these lost territories, Italy took the most in Europe; they took Albania and Kosovo, as well as the Southern Twelve Islands headed by Rhodes Island. (Considering the feelings of other countries, Italy withdrew half of the twelve islands, the least important)

Moreover, they also ensured the independence of Crete and could be counted among its vassals. Coupled with the Libyan area it acquired, it can be regarded as quite profitable.

After Italy, the seemingly aggrieved Bulgarians gained the second largest territory, and most of Macedonia was included in their pockets. Although the Salonica, which he coveted the most, was not obtained, at least his gains outweighed his efforts, and he was considered to have made a fortune.

As for Greece and Serbia, although they each won a piece of territory due to other factors, they are not comparable to Bulgaria. Therefore, when facing the increasingly powerful Bulgarians, the two countries quickly announced their alliance, which made the future situation in the Balkans more and more turbulent.

As for the weakest Grand Duchy of Montenegro, a little benefit can satisfy them.

With all countries signing the contract, the war came to an end. But anyone with a discerning eye can see that the turmoil in the Balkans has just begun. As for the future, this requires the wisdom of all countries.