Chapter 372 Deterioration of British-German Relations
"How could this William send such a telegram?"
The joy of signing a shipbuilding contract with Spain had not lasted for a few days when Carlo felt a headache from reading the newspaper in front of him.
What Carlo saw in front of him was a Times newspaper, which published the full text of a telegram from Wilhelm II, which he sent to President Kruger of the Transvaal, South Africa. In this telegram, Wilhelm II praised
Transvaal President Kruger.
"You and your people have single-handedly repelled the invading armed elements who undermined peace without the help of any friendly forces. I would like to express my most sincere congratulations. You have maintained the peace of the country and defended the independence of the country."
Such a telegram was an offense to the British Empire, which had always regarded the two Boer countries as tributary states. Therefore, the Times published an article saying, "England will never retreat in the face of threats, and will never yield to insults!"
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Not only that, the windows of German shops in London were smashed, and German sailors were frequently attacked in British ports. It can be said that because of this telegram, the Germans in Britain were not having a good time.
Of course, as to why Emperor William sent such a telegram to the little-known President Kruger of the Transvaal, this involves another question, where is the Transvaal?
The Transvaal is located in the northeast of South Africa. It was originally a country of Boers mainly based on livestock farming.
However, in 1884, prospecting experts discovered the world's largest Witwatersrand gold mine (Rand for short) on a remote pasture between Pretoria and the Vaal River in the Republic of Transvaal.
gold mine), and then Johannesburg was built on this gold mine. In addition, the Transvaal held 40% of the world's gold reserves at this time.
Now you understand, money moves people's hearts. Faced with 40% of the world's gold reserves, it doesn't seem to matter much for the Kaiser to send a congratulatory message.
But unfortunately, this congratulatory message was intercepted by the British, and now we were in trouble, and it was big trouble.
So how could the British not be angry when the Kaiser was peeping at what was considered their own gold? Especially in recent years, the factory owners, who had lost a lot of their share to Germany, took this opportunity to stir up everyone's emotions.
It can be said that the British people's perception of Germany has been rapidly deteriorating in recent years, because Germany's rapid rise has taken too much of Britain's share. We can see this from the data.
Take steel as an example. In 1875, Britain produced 47% of the world's pig iron and 38% of its steel. Compared with Germany, Britain's pig iron and steel production had about twice the advantage. However, 18 years later, in 1893, Germany
steel production exceeded that of Britain.
The British's more intuitive experience of the growth of German industry at that time came from the large-scale replacement of British domestic and overseas products by German exports. A best-selling book in the UK this year "Made in Germany" warned that "a huge trading country is using our country It has risen rapidly at the expense of my country's prosperity and competed with my country for the position of world trade hegemon."
One British newspaper even made the following remarks: "If Germany disappeared tomorrow, all the British people in the world would be a little richer. Nations have fought for years at war over a city or an inheritance. Wouldn't they?
Going to war over hundreds of millions of pounds of trade a year? The expansion of the German fleet will only make the British hit them harder, and their ships will soon be sunk to the bottom of the sea or towed to British harbours."
These naked remarks illustrate Britain's uneasiness about the rise of Germany. Its trade and market share are being occupied by Germany, and the British Empire's dissatisfaction with it is intensifying. And the Kaiser's telegram is more like a trigger that will give way to interests.
The damaged and disaffected British exploded.
Wilhelm II's approach is really speechless. In addition, the Kaiser had previously proposed an idea in parliament. He believed that Germany should declare itself a protectorate of the Transvaal and then send troops to the place. Prime Minister
When Hohenloe heard this, he opposed this approach on the grounds that "it would be tantamount to declaring war with Britain." The Kaiser bluntly replied: "Yes, but this is only fighting on land."
Well, no one can blame this. It was the growth of the German economy that gave the Kaiser the confidence to propose world policies. Germany needed colonies to provide raw material bases, product dumping grounds and capital export markets. This would definitely conflict with Britain and France, which had a large number of colonies.
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This move by the Kaiser only gave the British Empire room to develop.
Carlo clearly saw the dispute between Britain and Germany. Of course, this is not the path that Italy may take in the future. Italy's industrialization in recent years has also produced a large number of goods. If Carlo had not led Italy to seize several colonies,
, and the huge share of the Far East, how can this industrialization be so smooth?
Of course, Italy cannot yet threaten the status of Britain and France, so it cannot be the main target for the time being. But in the future, this is bound to be the case.
"By the way, is there any news from Berlin?"
Benefiting from the good relations between Italy and Germany, we have always paid great attention to Germany's actions. If there is any situation, we will send a telegram to the country as soon as possible.
"Hearing the news from Berlin, the Kaiser felt a little regretful. He probably didn't expect the British to react so strongly."
Foreign Minister Bacona reported to Carlo the news from Berlin.
"It's a pity that it's too late. The relationship between Britain and Germany cannot return to the past. The trade and economic conflict between the two countries is destined to lead to a dispute."
Carlo is now commenting on the relationship between Britain and Germany with high spirits. Since there is no one else, he is not afraid of spreading the news outside.
Of course, he didn't make any nonsense. The relationship between the two countries will only go further and further in the future.
As for Italy, it's easy. Carlo will work hard to improve the naval level of Germany and Austria. Carlo can't help much with the army, but he can still help with the navy. After all, judging from the current Three Emperors Alliance, the Italian Navy
No matter from any aspect, they can beat the German and Austrian families. Therefore, listening more to Big Brother will be of great benefit to their yet-to-be-formed navy.
Besides, how can Carlo harm them? As long as it is developed by itself, it will be used by the allies. To make Germany and Austria feel Italy's sincerity. At least the navies of Germany and Austria must be better than in history, and it is best to be able to achieve enough
To the extent that it threatened the British Empire. Only then could Italy's importance become apparent.
When Italy becomes the one who can determine the outcome of the war, then the two parties will offer a sufficient price, and it is reasonable for Italy to wait for the price.
Don't think there's anything wrong with what Carlo did, this is politics!
