The early outbreak of the crisis in Morocco is not surprising to Yang Feng. It can be said to be a miracle that this small and broken country can survive to this day. Although it is not a good place, of course it should be considered a good place in North Africa.
But it is stuck at the exit of the Mediterranean Sea. The Port of Tangier and Gibraltar, one to the south and one to the north, are like two gates that can close this waterway, which is a choke point for Europeans, at any time.
Although the British who have Gibraltar are not very interested in this place, they will definitely not like another door controlled by others. Although the French have long coveted this country, because this can only force
Bear with it, they no longer need to bear with it. The establishment of the Anglo-French alliance allows them to take action with the understanding of the British.
As the navy gradually regained its strength, the army also emerged from the shadow of failure and well digested what it learned from the Vietnam War. At this time, the French Republic had regained its manly self-confidence and ambition for external expansion.
, inevitably re-emerged. Before that, the French government had already sent a note to the Sultan of Morocco, asking the Kingdom of Morocco to carry out reforms under the guidance of the French. Of course, this reform was very in-depth. From finance to police power, all aspects must be accepted by France.
The consultant's guidance is basically the same as the 21 points prescribed by the Japanese to Big Touou in history.
To explain this diplomatic rhetoric in simpler terms, it means that France will be the suzerainty of Morocco from now on.
It's a pity that the British allowed them to annex the Moroccans, but the Germans couldn't allow it. Emperor William himself was still worried about it. He just lacked a base to get involved in the Mediterranean. Morocco is in such a good position, why would you, France, talk about it?
Just pretend that Morocco belongs to you, just because of your navy that just got rid of the third-rate stuff? Or because of your army that was beaten to pieces by the Chinese?
The British promised you. Did I promise?
Since His Majesty the Emperor did not agree, he naturally had to say it. However, saying it in such a brutal and direct way still caught all countries off guard. This shows that some of the evaluations of William in history are still very pertinent.
, at least Emperor Yang would not be so disrespectful to others. It can be seen that the world's second largest navy and a powerful army that has not been defeated in nearly millions of decades can indeed easily make people arrogant.
William's speech in Tangier can be said to have added fuel to the fire in Europe, which was already tense due to the Austro-Hungarian Empire's ambitions towards Serbia. Immediately afterwards, the French government asked the German government to explain William's speech. Then
There is nothing left to explain. His Majesty the Emperor has already spoken out. Even if the German government has different ideas, it must support its emperor. Besides, the Germans don’t pay much attention to France at this time. Only Yang Feng came from Asia.
It's just a lost dog that was beaten back. Without the support of Britain, it's nothing. What qualifications do it have to point fingers at Germany.
German Prime Minister Billot, who was as ambitious as his emperor and loved to expand territories, then sent a note to the French government as arrogant as his emperor, asking France to respect the Treaty of Madrid of 1880. The Moroccan issue must be
It must be left to a meeting of relevant countries to resolve. It must ensure that all countries enjoy equal rights in Morocco, and Morocco's sovereignty must be respected. France's unreasonable demands on Morocco will be regarded as a provocation to Germany. If France continues its attempt to annex Morocco, then
Germany has not ruled out taking military measures.
At this time, the fragile little hearts of the French were once again seriously hurt. The arrogant attitude of the Germans completely detonated the suppressed hatred in the hearts of the French. Hundreds of thousands of French people on the streets of Paris held up slogans and shouted war slogans. Demands
After retaking Alsace and Lorraine, some people even burned the German flag and William's portrait in public. The French government even mobilized troops on a large scale to the German-French border. Even the two battleships that had just been commissioned left the port of Toulon.
, it is a completely desperate gesture.
The Germans were also not to be outdone. Hundreds of thousands of troops were deployed on the border, and they even began to recruit reserve troops. As their allies, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also entered a state of war readiness, and Britain and Russia also began mobilizing for war. Fortunately, Italy was still
Instead of joining, he advised all parties to exercise restraint, which made William very angry.
The whole of Europe was completely on the brink of war.
Of course, no one can really start a fight at this time. Everyone knows the difference between reality and reality. The more tense the situation is, the harder it is to start a fight. Even if you want to fight, the opponent must relax before launching a surprise attack. This kind of tension is nothing more than
It's just to build momentum for diplomacy. Once diplomatic negotiations break down, it's time to really start a war.
The most friendly country in Morocco is the United States, but now the United States has almost been forgotten by the great powers. Their words are no different from farts in the eyes of the great powers, so they naturally have no say in this matter.
Another important stakeholder in that place is Spain. Spain still has a large piece of protected land in southern Morocco, including the entire modern Western Sahara and Ifni. Of course, it is not a direct colony, but something they grabbed and demarcated themselves.
In addition, it also has a long and narrow territory on the south bank of the Strait of Gibraltar in the north from Ceuta to Tetouan and then to Melilla. In this way, Spain’s opinion is very important. After all, Spain now relies on its victory in two wars against the United States.
Obviously, they are also at the level of quasi-great powers. Although their main power is in the Americas, they also have a certain say in Europe.
In fact, before this, France and Spain had reached an agreement with a carve-up nature. France obtained the suzerainty of Morocco, Spain received confirmation of their protectorate, and France's reform of Morocco allocated part of its interests to Spain.
But now that the Germans are so strongly opposed, the Spanish government naturally has no interest in following France to fight against Germany. Canovas still has to rely on William to help him safeguard American interests, including Moroccan sand, Cuban sugar, and Florida citrus orchards.
In comparison, it is obvious that the latter two are more important to Spain.
Since Russia withdrew from the Caribbean Alliance, it has replaced the United States as the number one threat to the alliance. Nicholas does not have the guts to take action against Yang Feng's interests, but he has no worries about Spain. Now Spain relies entirely on China and Germany.
Of course, it is impossible to offend William because of the French. Since William said that he wanted to hold an international conference to solve the problem, let’s hold it. The last meeting was held in Madrid, and this time it will be held in Madrid, led by the Spanish Prime Minister.
Canovas extended an invitation, and all countries were invited to the meeting more than 20 years ago.
Out of politeness, we also invited representatives from China, which cannot be beaten by eight poles, and Hamid II, who is now the spiritual leader of the Muslim world. After all, China has actually become Spain's most important friend, although it has not yet risen to the top.
To the ally level, but that is just because Yang Feng is not interested yet.
As for the United States, an important member of the last meeting, they can stay where they are. Their arrival is not enough to cause trouble for Canovas!
"There is only one principle, let neither of them get what they want. The French want to control Morocco, which is absolutely impossible. On this issue of principle, we must help William, that is, Morocco's sovereignty must be respected, but William wants to get involved
Morocco, this is also not possible. He is just worried about Tangier Port. If we help him on this issue, the British will definitely not be happy.
So your task is to make peace with the mud. It is not to solve the Moroccan problem, but to add a thin layer of iron outside the boiler that is about to explode. You can study the details yourself. Once you have determined the plan, tell it to the Ottomans and Spain.
The two families, just say this is what I want and they will cooperate." Yang Feng said to Tang Shaoyi, the special envoy who was about to go to Madrid.
In fact, it doesn't matter to him whether Europe fights or not. It would be nice to delay it a little longer. If it can't be delayed, just let them fight. After holding back for so long, it is indeed time to fight.
But he probably couldn't fight. Although the Germans were a bit arrogant in this matter, in the final analysis the French were unreasonable. In 1880, various countries had reached an agreement on the Moroccan issue in Madrid, which was basically the same as what Germany has now.
In a similar high-pitched tone, the French's move was tantamount to breaking the treaty that year.
After Tang Shaoyi accepted the order, he took a cruiser south, transferred to Singapore and transferred to the Great White Fleet, and then went to Madrid with this fleet. Emperor Yang had no interest in taking care of the rest and let everything take its own course! He will also continue
There was a guest to receive, a real distinguished guest, Her Majesty the Queen. Of course, he would not have any thoughts about the Queen because the Queen was almost seventy.
The visitor is the famous Empress of Austria, Princess Sissi, who is far more famous than her country thanks to Hollywood movies.
Of course, the queen's life was not like the beautiful fairy tale in the movie. In fact, the queen's life was accompanied by tragedy. Not only did the couple separate for decades, but the only son also committed suicide.
She herself was also assassinated in Geneva by an Italian anarchist with a file just to attract attention. However, this history has been rewritten because she was not in Geneva at that time, but in Paris to watch the premiere of the Count of Monte Cristo.
reflect.
In the following years, the queen, who spent the rest of her life traveling, continued her journey around the world, and now she has traveled to China. (To be continued...)