Chapter 75 Beijing Peace Conference (Part 2)

The French expansion in Morocco has greatly stimulated the German Emperor.

The German ambassador immediately met with the French Foreign Minister and demanded that France "compensate part of the French African colonies in Germany as compensation", which was rejected by the French side.

On March 1, 1907, the German Emperor announced the "protection of overseas Chinese" and sent the gunboat "Leopard" to Agadir, Morocco, in a favorable position to cut off the long-distance routes of Britain and France at any time.

This "leopard jump" shocked Europe. The imperialist sentiment that Britain had already been stimulated was immediately detonated. The excited MPs even demanded that the government "immediately cut off diplomatic relations with the Germans" and "protect maritime rights" at all costs.

British Prime Minister Bannerman announced that "British will not give in", and British Navy Secretary Marshal Fisher immediately mobilized the navy and sent a fleet.

Seeing that Germany and France were at odds, the Italians believed that their actions would not be interfered with. In addition, Türkiye was unable to take care of its civil strife, so they immediately launched a military operation against Turkey in Libya.

On March 15, 197, Italian troops landed in Tripoli and immediately attacked Delna and Benghazi. By late May, Italy had occupied Tripoli and Cyrena and controlled a series of islands such as Rhodes.

Faced with the aggressive offensive of the Italians, the Turks were caught off guard. The Turkish Al-Shabaab was busy dealing with the counterattack of internal conservatives and could not draw too much power to deal with the Italians, but they were unwilling to admit defeat. The war between the two sides was delayed for a long time.

Although the Italians temporarily gained the upper hand in the front battlefield, they were fiercely resisted by the Libyans. With the secret support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Libyan rifles riding camels attacked the Italians' rear supplies, causing the Italian army to suffer.

The war between Italy and Turkey also stimulated the Balkan alliance.

Although Serbia is facing Austro-Hungary's eye, Bulgaria and Greece do not have such worries. Under the strong opposition of the two countries, the Balkan alliance announced that it was "overthrown" due to Turkey's legal politics. The conclusions of the 1878 London Agreement and the Berlin Conference needed to be "reexamined", and immediately issued their respective territorial requirements: countries demanded the division of the Macedonian region, Serbia demanded the Albanian region, and Greece demanded the Thessalonika region.

The Balkan Alliance's territorial demands shocked the Turkish Ottoman Empire, and the Al Shabaab was even more caught off guard.

Radical nationalist soldiers demanded to "resolutely reject the unreasonable demands of the Balkans", but the political side was hesitant and worried about fighting on both sides.

In addition, the Russian civil war in the north gradually subsided, the country was reunited in form, and the Bolsheviks were exiled abroad again, and Turkey had to worry about the "settling accounts after the autumn" of the new Tsarist Russian government.

After quarrels, the Balkan League had taken the lead in taking action. The Serbian army advanced into Albania, while the Greeks marched towards Adrian Fort with the Bulgarians.

The chaos became more and more intense, and even an undercurrent was quietly surging in Russia. The soldiers eager to avenge their shame demanded the opportunity to abolish the treaty with Turkey and retake the Caucasus region.

The chaos in Europe has almost put all powerful countries in a dilemma.

German political differences are serious.

Although the German Ministry had successfully convinced Emperor William II that "war is inevitable", Germany's entire plan was to complete basic combat preparations in five years and start war ten years later. But the current situation is that Britain, France and the United States are working at full speed to expand the army and navy. The two camps are increasingly tense in Europe, and the tension on the border between the two countries continues to escalate. The second Moroccan crisis even triggered national sentiment among French residents in the German-occupied Alsace Lorraine, and the entire situation began to slide rapidly to the brink of losing control.

No one can be sure that the millions of troops confronting the borders of Western Europe and the fleet with guns opposite to the North Sea will not be fired at some point, causing a catastrophe of European civilization.

German politics have to face reality.

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The peace proposals put forward by the Chinese emperor are in line with their own thoughts.

Crown William followed the decree of William II and immediately responded positively: “…War is a monster, and no one knows how big its appetite is… Thank God, the German Eastern friends held the reins of the carriage on the brink of danger, which fully demonstrated the Eastern friends’ friendship for Germany and their love for peace.”

Austria-Hungarian Crown Prince Ferdinand and Italy's Crown Prince Victor Emanuel naturally had to keep up with Germany's footsteps.

Austro-Hungary is currently concentrating on digesting the Austro-occupation part of Russia's Poland, and the country has been furious by Serbia's "pork war", which is really a headache.

Next is the British Crown Prince George V.

The British's attitude towards European wars is contradictory and negative. On the one hand, they are wary of the rapid expansion of Germany's strength and are even more worried about China's rise. On the other hand, they hope to resolve disputes through peaceful consultation without touching their fundamental interests and continue the world order dominated by the British Empire.

As vested interests, the British had natural resistance to war.

Now, China has put forward a peace initiative, Germany has expressed its support, and the UK naturally has no reason to oppose it.

France and the United States were followed.

The French were completely driven by Germany's step by step and Russia's collapse. Faced with the worry-free China-Europe group, the French could not imagine what kind of nightmare France would face once the war broke out. Seeing the Chinese emperor himself proactively proposing peaceful negotiations, French President Falier could no longer wish to hug the newly married young emperor and kiss him.

As for the United States, although they were somewhat expecting the European war in a sense, it was obvious that they could not come out to sing the opposite tune in the face of such a situation.

On the issue of peace and war concerning Eurasia and Asia, Russia was originally one of the important dominants, but now it has become a soy sauce man. Despite his depressedness, Witt could only accept reality and raise his hands to "welcome the dawn of peace."

In this regard, Zheng Yu also fully carried forward the spirit of "national equality, no matter how big or small the country is." In the nominal "Beijing Conference", in addition to European powers, Turkey and a large number of East Asian brothers, he also brought the special envoys of Spain, the Netherlands as the King of Kings, Finnish Foreign Minister Otto Mannheim, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Romania, and the Balkans to attend the conference, and even brought the Grand Duke Maconan from Ethiopia.

Of course, the meetings on the surface are just a form, and what really works is the "small club" composed of several powerful countries.

Chinese Emperor Zheng Yu, German Crown Prince William, British Crown Prince George, French President Falier, and US Secretary of State Alihu Lute.

In a sense, this can be regarded as the "five gangsters" of this era.

In this way, the old and young foxes, who had their own ulterior motives, chatted and laughed in the living room, horse farm, and golf course, conveying various light and dark signals, and carrying out various calm or quarrels of interests, trying to exchange for the greatest benefits for their country at the lowest cost.

The Germans' attitude towards this meeting can be considered "sincerity" in a sense.

The straightforward German crown prince pointed out almost bluntly that the root of all problems lies in the injustice of colonial possession. Germany believes that all resource possession "must be linked to strength". Putting aside changes in strength and the needs of the country and talking only about the status quo, then all "working" is "meaningless".

He proposed that since this meeting is to bring peace to human society, it is necessary to "resolve the root causes of the conflict of possession injustice" and re-divide the sphere of influence.

British Crown Prince George responded to the Germans' doubts with British reserve and indifference. He clearly pointed out that Britain "can understand Germany's reasonable demands in certain 'undefined' areas, but he will never give up the subjects and territory of the British Empire, will not abandon the promises the British Empire made to the people of these areas, and will not abandon its own responsibilities."

Prince William, who understood the knowledge, tentatively asked "What do you think about the Ethiopian region?" Both Britain and France, who had already made the decision, expressed "no intention to interfere in Ethiopia's internal affairs", and the United States expressed respect for Ethiopia's autonomy, but had no intention of bearing "any obligation" for this.

Zheng Yu actually has a good impression of the Ethiopians, and he even considered making some arrangements in Northeast Africa. But under this background, he could not directly be hostile to Germany for the sake of Ethiopia.

Faced with the silence and even tacit approval of Britain, France and the United States, Zheng Yu implicitly expressed his opinion: Ethiopia is a nation-state. Although it is far from the level of civilization compared with the current strong countries in civilized society, this country is a representative of African civilization after all... I hope that all countries can act prudently on the issue of Ethiopia. However, Zheng Yu also said that "it will not assume international obligations to Ethiopia" and the relationship between the two countries "will be limited to normal diplomatic, economic, and cultural exchanges."

The German side then began to secretly connect with Italy.

With such a buffer, the five powerful countries can finally face the most core problem with a relatively frank way: the real war.

In front of Prince William of Germany, Zheng Yu could talk about "war requires sufficient preparation time" and "the more you prepare, the greater your chances of victory", but here, he fully demonstrated his sincere hope for peace.

"The worst peace is better than the best war." Zheng Yu said sincerely, "There is nothing in this world that is more just than a war against aggression, which is more just than a war to recover the homelands of our ancestors, but nothing is more cruel than war. China's European policy is to promote peace - peace based on fairness and reason."

The speech of the Chinese emperor resonated strongly with many countries, and Britain, France and the United States had to pay tribute to such high-level and humanistic appeals. As for those small countries that were so-called, even Russia, they were full of doubts and fears about the European war. Even for Russia, although an European war could bring it opportunities, it was also likely to cause trouble. This country needs long enough and stable enough to cure physical pain and mental division.

First of all, the Italian-Turkish War.

The Germans' attitude is contradictory. Turkey is a potential ally he has always strived for. He has also made a heavy bet and shoulders the important task of "communicating China-German land transportation" in the future, so he naturally cannot give up.

Italy is an important tool for the Germans to restrain and even attack France, and it is of great significance to strive for it on their own side.

Faced with the war between these two countries, the Germans could only pretend to be deaf and dumb.

The attitude of Britain and France is also very clear: gloating. They wish that the Italians and the Turks would beat them to death, and even involved Germany, Austria and other countries.

China is the most active in mediation, and Italy and Türkiye are also eager to end the war.

For the Italians, all the goals they have been required have been occupied. If the war is not ended as soon as possible, the country will be burdened with heavy burdens and the gains will not be worth the loss. Once Turkey launches a large-scale counterattack, the outcome will be hard to say.

For the Turks, their ruling center is in Istanbul at the junction of Eurasia, followed by Asia Minor. Lonely in North Africa, Libya is actually beyond the reach of the cracks between Britain and France. Since the Italians have occupied it, there is really no good way at present.

Finally, with China's mediation, Italy and Turkey reached an agreement, and the Italians were able to formally occupy Benghazi and Cyrenega, establishing the Italian African colony they had dreamed of. The Turks received a consolation prize: Italy promised not to support the war of the Balkans, agreed to Turkey's counterattack, and paid Libya a "diplomatic gift" of 50 million francs.

The success of mediating the Italian-Turkish war has greatly increased China's prestige.

The next one is the Balkan War.

On the front line, the Turkish army concentrated almost all the essence to launch a fierce battle with the Balkan coalition. The Serbian army, which had completed the occupation of Albania, also joined the front line, and the battle was unprecedentedly fierce. In a critical moment, the new Turkish army trained by Germany was mobilized from the Caucasus region to the European front line, and finally won the decisive battle of Fort Adria and stabilized the situation.

The Balkan coalition reorganized its troops with heavy casualties, giving the Turks a chance to breathe.

At this time, the Serbs first called out the tone of peace: they had already obtained Albania, and the elite Turkish troops on the opposite side were of great combat power, so they naturally did not want to fight to death for the interests of the Bulgarians and the Greeks.

Bulgaria was verbally "reminded" from Berlin, suggesting that they "respecte the sovereignty of the Turkish Ottomans."

At this time, Turkey's new policy had already lost money to Berlin, increased its development efforts to the Germans, and promised to expand the scale of the German new army and appoint more German advisers. The satisfied Berlin immediately announced a "mediation" and performed actively at the Beijing peace conference.

For Britain and France, the biggest crisis at present is the Moroccan crisis. Both countries are forced to lose their way out by the situation, but these sophisticated elites will naturally not be as hasty as the angry people. They all know that it is not the time for real war to start. And confronting the Germans on issues like the Balkans will only make the situation even more out of control.

After expressing his "understanding and support" for the "national liberation" of the Balkans, Britain and France also announced "mediation".

In this way, the conference was held on the surface, but in fact it was an internal discussion of the "Five-Nation Club". The final plan was that the Turks saved Eastern Thrace, most of Macedonia, and Albania remained the best, neither belonging to Serbia nor the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Bulgaria, Montenegro and Greece divided part of the Macedonian and Thrace regions.

Finally, there is the most difficult Moroccan problem.

After repeated exchanges of interests, with the efforts of China and the United States, Britain, France and Germany followed the situation, and the French transferred part of the French Congo colony to Germany, while Germany recognized France's "protection" of Morocco, which was considered a joy.

A series of problems have been resolved, the wars in the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa have gradually subsided, and the imminent European war has been eased. This peace conference was recognized as the "most remarkable" event in history, and the "most sincere" conference of all countries participating in the conference.

For a moment, "peace" became the catchphrase of the politicians of all countries present.

Seeing the peace tone among countries getting higher and higher, US Secretary of State Alihu Lutt proposed another proposal: disarmament.

The United States proposed that if all countries agree to take action, the United States is willing to significantly reduce its planned shipbuilding plan and is willing to abandon its proposed large-scale expansion of the army.

British Crown Prince George looked at the colonial descendant on the other side of the ocean and felt a little disgusted.

The American fleet has just begun to take shape. For the Navy Act, Theodore Roosevelt has become the target of the Democratic Party and various popular groups in the United States. In the United States, states and Congress have always been extremely vigilant about the armed forces in the hands of federal politics, worried that such a central armed force would threaten the American tradition of local autonomy and even undermine the separation of powers. In recent times, many states have shown great hostility to the expansion of federal politics on the Standing Army and Marine Corps. Governors and parliaments in states such as Kentucky and Texas have even publicly announced that they "oppose federal politics to expand central power." In the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, many congressmen in southern states have also complained about it, and the US newspaper has had several major debates.

If the White House had previously relied on exaggerating the threats of Chinese and Germans to convince the domestic masses, China has now taken the initiative to mediate and mediate, fully demonstrating its yearning for "peace". If the Americans stand up and oppose it, it will be impossible to explain.

As for China, they are still implementing the earliest 1906 national defense outline formulated, and there is no further action in the subsequent military expansion frenzy. If we talk about the plan to reduce military expansion, we may not have to sacrifice too much after the war.

But what about the UK?

Unlike the United States, Britain does not have two oceans as natural defenses, so it is not too worried about land security. The closest distance between the United Kingdom and the European continent is only 29 kilometers. Faced with the aggressiveness of the China-Europe Group, Britain's weak land power must be strengthened, and maritime forces are also facing renewal after China's Guangzhou-level emergence.

George, who was born in the Royal Navy, knew very well that if several major countries did nothing, then Britain would not be able to resist Germany and Italy on land in the future and would be difficult to fight against China at sea. This was the most terrifying nightmare.

However, in the face of the "peace initiative", he really couldn't say the word "opposition".

In this way, the US proposal became a formal "project" in a mixed manner.

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Chapter completed!