My Italy

Several monarchs had a happy gathering to relax, but the senior military and political officials of the three countries were not as leisurely as their own monarchs.

In a large conference room in Sanssouci Palace, a talk about the Three Kingdoms was also going on.

"Your Excellency Biro, your country's request to amend the alliance treaty will cost our country a lot of money. So, has your country considered our country's actual needs?"

It was Antonio who spoke. As Italian Prime Minister, he also needs to safeguard Italy's interests. This time the three countries negotiated to renew the alliance treaty. In his opinion, this new treaty was detrimental to Italy's interests.

Because the original Triple Alliance Treaty was mainly aimed at Russia and France, but when the alliance was about to be extended this time, Italy was surprised to find that the Germans actually added the British Empire to their targets.

Faced with such a situation, Italy is currently unwilling to see it. The reason is simple. Although the relationship between Italy and the British Empire has no longer been harmonious in recent years, Italy is not willing to add the British Empire to the list of enemies. Because Italy has a long coastline, if a war breaks out with the British Empire, the Italian Navy has no confidence that it can ensure the safety of the coastline.

This sudden move to target the British is most detrimental to Italy and should be stopped. That's why Prime Minister Antonio stated Italy's attitude at the beginning of the meeting.

Faced with Antonio's reaction, Prime Minister Bülow, who is on the host German side, was not surprised. I saw him opening his mouth to answer. "Sir Antonio, I think this is a misunderstanding on your part. Our country has no intention of targeting the United Kingdom, but only as a possible preventive solution, so it was added to the treaty."

The German Prime Minister's words made General Yagier, the Italian representative, intolerable. "Does your country know the threat to our country by targeting the UK? Currently, the British Navy has warships with a total tonnage of 2.1 million tons, while our country currently only has 480,000 tons, and your country only has 810,000 tons. Our two countries combined Neither is two-thirds as good as the other party.

Does your country have any good solutions to such a disparity in naval strength? And it is possible to add the million-ton navies of France and Russia.

Besides, if there is a war with Britain and your navy does not go to war, it will not put all the maritime pressure on our country. This is simply an unacceptable treaty. "

Faced with Admiral Yagier's accusation, the German side turned its attention to Marshal Tirpitz, obviously hoping that he could stand up and convince the other side. However, Tirpitz dodges in the face of everyone's expectant eyes, because he is also a navy, and of course he knows that it is difficult to answer this question.

After all, in terms of naval tonnage, the combined tonnage of the two countries is only two-thirds of that of the UK. Could this obvious gap in strength be changed with just two or three words from him?

However, facing the intimidating looks of everyone, Tirpitz felt that it was impossible not to say a few words and spoke. "Your Excellency Yagir, our country acknowledges the current gap with the British, but this gap will not increase. The dreadnoughts currently developed by your country have brought naval battleships into a new era, and at the same time it has given us the opportunity to catch up. Only We need the three countries to invest sufficient funds, then we can use the advantages of new warships to turn the situation around in one fell swoop.”

Although Tirpitz spoke impassionedly and even attracted praise from other naval officials, in the eyes of Admiral Yagir, what Tirpitz said was empty talk and was of no use at all.

Because Tirpitz avoided one of the most important issues, which was the issue of government funding for the navy.

As a technical service, the navy is the most dependent on funding. It takes money to build ships, money to train, and money to develop new technologies and new equipment. All of this money basically depends on government funding. Therefore, Marshal Tirpitz did not talk about the amount of military expenditures, but what could he do to compete with the British Navy.

If the other party doesn't talk about it, then don't blame him, Admiral Yagir, for making it clear. "Your Excellency Tirpitz, as far as I know, the current shipbuilding cost of your country's navy last year was 118 million marks, which is even lower than that of our country (Italy's shipbuilding cost in 1906 was 160 million lire ≈ 128 million marks). The British shipbuilding cost is 18 million pounds (360 million marks). I think there is no need to say more."

Admiral Yagier directly clarified the problem. How could Germany convince Italy that it had the strength to compete with the British Empire's navy when its shipbuilding costs were so low?

Faced with Admiral Yagier's doubts, Tirpitz did not deny it.

"Your Excellency is right. The current cost of shipbuilding in our country is indeed low, but this is only temporary. The main reason is that the Navy Act passed previously did not predict the increase in shipbuilding prices. Our country is preparing to pass a new shipbuilding bill next year. The Ship Bill will significantly increase our country's shipbuilding costs, which must reach at least half of the UK's level. Only in this way can our country be guaranteed to obtain 60% of the UK's naval strength."

When Tirpitz mentioned this 60% statement again, Yagier felt like veins were popping out. "Your Excellency wants to rely on 60% of the strength of the British Navy to hold back the opponent. It is simply ridiculous."

Agil continued without giving the other party a chance to speak. "Your remarks have already exposed the practices of your country's navy. If your country only wants to preserve its naval strength and wait for our country to take grain from your fire, then your country is overthinking. Our country will not accept such allies and alliances. treaty."

"Your Excellency Yagir, our country does not have this idea..."

The war of words between the two navy ministers was witnessed by everyone present. For Billo, one of the decision-makers who proposed amending the Alliance Treaty, the Italian Navy's fierce rebuttal represented Italy's fear of adding Britain to one of its targets.

Bilo still values ​​Italy as an ally. Because this not only means adding more defensive pressure to the old rival the French, but also allows Germany to use Italy to extend its power to the Mediterranean.

In addition, Italy's heroic and aggressive naval force, which is expanding rapidly, is also a great help to Germany. According to estimates by the German Navy, if the Italian Navy's expansion is completed, it will have 16 battleships, 6 cruise ships, and hundreds of small and medium-sized battleships to control the powerful naval power in the Mediterranean.

If this force can be utilized well, it can contain at least one-third of the energy of its old enemy France. This is equivalent to a disguised reduction of the French investment on land, which is more conducive to the implementation of the Schlieffen Plan. In addition, it can help Germany share the pressure from the British, why not?

But it is not easy at all to get the Italians to agree.