Chapter 127 The Albania Question (two chapters in one)
On May 2, Ottoman diplomatic representatives came to London again.
It is still led by Foreign Minister Kahvich. As a senior member of the Freedom and Harmony Party, it is incredible that he has escaped the liquidation of Al-Shabaab.
In fact, if you think about it carefully, it is completely feasible. He was able to escape the coup in the Ottoman Empire entirely because no one was willing to take over, which would inevitably lead to humiliation of the peace talks. In order to allow Kahvich to continue to lead the team, he was used as a waste.
Let him continue to come. And they are ready to agree to the peace conditions of the Balkan Alliance in this peace negotiation.
This time, the countries of the Balkan Alliance did not improve the conditions for the Ottoman Empire. This was not because of conscience, but because the places they could get were already shown in the first peace talks. The Ottomans could not get it in Istanbul, the most elite place in Europe. In terms of compensation, the Ottomans' finances
It is not allowed, and the European powers will not agree to it, so we can only continue to impose the last conditions.
In the negotiation venue provided by the British government, after the warring parties, the Balkan League countries and the Ottoman diplomatic teams, sat down, and with the attention of representatives of the European powers, the negotiations finally began.
This time it was Bulgarian Foreign Minister Dirasloch who stood up and asked. "Mr. Kahvich, I wonder how the Ottoman government has considered our conditions this time?"
Kahvich has long received the conditions from the Balkan countries. In his opinion, based on the situation, the current conditions are pretty good, but he still wants to test it out.
"We think this condition can be negotiated."
Foreign Minister Dirasloch asked mockingly with a smile on his face. "What are you discussing? Are you giving up Constantinople?"
Hearing the sarcastic words of the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, representatives from various Balkan countries couldn't help but laugh. They had already known through intelligence the embarrassing position of the Ottoman Foreign Minister in his government. It is estimated that he will be there after this diplomatic negotiation.
No one knows, so the Balkan countries are not polite at all.
Faced with the ridicule from the representatives of the Balkan countries, Kahvich also felt that his old face was a bit embarrassing, but he still knew his responsibility. Faced with the sarcastic question from the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, he still answered. "We have no possibility of giving up the capital.
This is something that 28 million Ottomans would not agree to."
After hearing Kahevich's answer, Greek Foreign Minister Constantine felt that he needed to correct his mistake. "Mr. Kahvevic, I want to correct your mistake. Now you don't have 28 million people, only two
There are 11 million people. This is our bottom line, you should be grateful that we did not increase the price."
Kahvich heard the words of Greek Foreign Minister Constantine and knew that this was a trap with many years of diplomatic experience. If he did not deny it, it would mean that the Ottoman Empire had recognized the conditions of the Balkan countries. Now he intends to maintain the final status of the Ottoman Empire.
Dignity. "Our negotiations have not yet been completed, and the division of regions such as Macedonia and Thrace has not yet been completed. Are Foreign Minister Constantine's words too anxious?"
When asked by Kachvich, Greek Foreign Minister Constantine immediately changed his face and retorted, "Do you still dare to go back on your word?"
The host of the negotiations, British Foreign Secretary Edward Gray, saw that the negotiations were so noisy just after they started, so he had to step in to appease both parties. He said loudly to the negotiators, "Gentlemen."
The foreign ministers who were interrupted by the words of British Foreign Secretary Edward Gray all fell silent. They all respected the British Foreign Secretary. This is a reflection of Britain's status as the most powerful country in Europe. After seeing his words, he still asked them to quiet down.
, Edward Gray was very satisfied, and he continued. "Dear negotiators, we are gathered here to negotiate to bring peace to the Balkan people. Governments of all countries are eagerly looking forward to the results you will bring back. I hope you can get it as soon as possible.
The results of the negotiations will be achieved and peace will return to that land."
After British Foreign Secretary Edward Gray finished speaking, the negotiations progressed very quickly. Both sides understood the situation on the other side and did not have much disagreement on the cession of territory, so the progress was very fast and it only took a week to basically negotiate.
That’s it. One week is already quite fast for war and peace talks. After all, it involves territorial changes, whether people in the changed territories will be relocated, who needs to be relocated, whether military prisoners and weapons and equipment are returned, etc. all need to be negotiated one by one.
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Representatives of the warring Balkan Alliance and the Ottomans were almost at peace with the terms of the peace talks. British Foreign Secretary Edward Gray asked both sides, "Are you still satisfied with the terms?"
At this time, a discordant voice came over. "I have some objections."
The representatives present looked around and saw the words spoken by Bode Ert, the observation representative of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Boris, the Russian Observer Representative, felt that he needed to stand up and defend his Balkan brothers. "Mr. Bodeert, why didn't you say it earlier if you had objections to this treaty? You can only talk about it now after the talks are over. And this is between the Balkan countries and the Ottomans."
You, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, are too involved in negotiations."
After being bombarded by Russian representative Boris, Austria-Hungary representative Bodhel was not angry. Instead, he said slowly, "I have objections to the failure of this treaty to protect the Albanian people."
It turns out that Bodhel's intention is the Albanian region. The Albanians are the descendants of the Ilyans, the ancient inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula.
In 167 BC, Albania was occupied by Rome. In the following centuries, the country was invaded repeatedly. After the 9th century AD, it came under the rule of the Byzantine Empire, the Kingdom of Bulgaria, the Kingdom of Serbia and the Republic of Venice. Independence was established in 1190
A feudal principality, Albania was invaded by the Turkish Ottoman Empire in 1385 and was invaded by Turkey in 1415. It was ruled by Turkey for nearly 500 years.
By the 18th century, two ethnic groups gradually formed around the Albanian settlement area and developed different written languages. The Tuscans living in the south of the Shikun River were mainly engaged in agriculture. Due to better geographical and transportation conditions, their economy was
The culture is relatively developed.
Albania declared independence last year, on November 28, 1912, but none of the Balkan countries recognized its independent status. Both Serbia and Greece wanted to divide it. Serbia got most of it, so that it could get the port she dreamed of.
To get rid of the problem of domestic exports, it needs to go through Austria-Hungary. This is also the area that Seville should obtain in the previous Balkan League, while Greece obtained the northern Epirus region and the Saranda region of Albania. Now Austria-Hungary's position has allowed Serbia to
The hope of getting a port of his own became elusive.
Faced with this situation, Serbian negotiator and Foreign Minister Milanovic could not sit still, and immediately stood up and retorted. "Albania was liberated by Seville and the Greek army through hard battles. We cannot give up our position."
A place where bloody battles took place.”
The words of Foreign Minister Milanovic, who represents Seville, were echoed by Greek Foreign Minister Konstantin, who has the same territorial needs in Albania.
"We cannot give up Albania just because of your words."
Faced with the indignant expressions of the foreign ministers of Serbia and Greece that they would never give in, Austria-Hungary representative Bodhel stared at Russian representative Boris and answered them casually. "What is your slogan for launching war?"
He asked himself and continued, "I remember it was about liberating the people of all ethnic groups who were oppressed by the Ottomans. Now that Albania is independent and there is no Ottoman oppression of them, why should we carve up the territory of an independent country?"
Seeing the actions of the Austro-Hungarian representative, Russian representative Boris knew that he had to support them at this time. He thought about it and said, "Albania, which we call a country for the time being, is not recognized by the international community. We cannot do it because of a small group of
When people declare independence here, they recognize it as a country. If that happens, society will be in chaos."
After hearing the Russian representative's speech in support of him, Seville Foreign Minister Milanovic also agreed with his speech. "Mr. Boris is right. We cannot recognize a small group of ambitious people just because they declare independence."
It’s the country.”
Seeing the Austro-Hungarian representative being questioned by Russia, Serbia and Greece, a representative from another country stood up and said, "But both our country and the Austro-Hungarian Empire recognize Albania's independent status."
Everyone looked over and saw that it was the Italian representative Vittorio who was supporting the Austro-Hungarian representative's speech. Seeing that the Italian representative supported Austria-Hungary's views, the Russian representative Boris knew that the Balkan countries no longer have a say in the Albanian issue.
It depends on the attitude of the European powers. Behind Austria-Hungary and Italy, Germany knows what choice it will make. Now it needs the support of its allies, so it sets its sights on French representative Jean Buck. Faced with the Russian representative's request for help, France
It means that the head feels heavy.
Before arriving, he had been warned by French Prime Minister Joseph Caillaux that France should not be involved with Russia on the Balkan issue. If there was too strong a dispute over the Balkan issue this time, France should not get too involved. This is also true.
It has something to do with France's goals. They don't have many interests in the Balkans, and there is a hostile Germany next to France. The pressure on the border is already strong enough, and they don't want to have too many entanglements in other areas.
The French representative asked Barker to put forward his own suggestion after thinking for a while. "I think the Albanian issue needs special discussion. It is a bit inappropriate for Austria-Hungary to raise it now."
Seeing the hesitation of the French representative, the Russian representative turned his attention to the host, the British Foreign Secretary Edward Gray. Facing Russia's look for help, the Foreign Secretary Edward Gray said. "I agree with what the French representative said, the Albanian issue does need to be discussed specifically.
one time."
Seeing that both Britain and France suggested postponing the Albanian issue, Russian representative Boris knew that the current situation was unfavorable and could only agree. "Let's postpone the discussion on this issue."
The representatives of Austria-Hungary and Italy knew that the two sides were now offering a no-war card, and agreed to postpone the talks. Anyway, they had already seen that Britain and France did not give much support to Russia in the Balkans, and they obviously hoped that Russia would invest its experience in Poland and Germany and Austria.
Hungarian border.
Subsequently, the Balkan countries and the Ottomans had no intention of negotiating. The conditions had already been negotiated. Now the Balkan countries are more concerned about how Albania should be dealt with. After all, it is a land of nearly 40,000 square kilometers, which is obviously much better than arguing with the Ottomans.
British Foreign Secretary Edward Gray, who was presiding over the negotiations, saw this situation and said, "Everyone is exhausted. How about we continue talking another day."
His words made all the worried representatives nod in agreement, so today's negotiation ended without any problem. On the way out, Serbian Foreign Minister Milanovic approached Greek Foreign Minister Konstantin and planned to go out together. And Russian representative Boris
I found French representative Jean Buck, who seemed to be planning to go out together. Seeing this, other negotiators went out separately, ready to digest today's news. Seeing that everyone had almost left, representatives from Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy also planned to go out together.
Go back and discuss it.
Outside the door, the Russian representative Boris got on the carriage of the French representative Jean Barker. After the driver drove the carriage slowly on the road, the Russian representative Boris began to ask. "Mr. Jean Barker, this time about the Albania issue, we
Why can't the three countries form a joint force? This situation now makes us very passive."
After hearing what Boris said, the French representative asked Buck to speak slowly. "Mr. Boris, you have to know that we are in alliance with Russia, but we hope that the three countries will work together to fight against the Allies, not to allow your country to conquer the Balkans."
Expansion. Our country’s loans are also for this purpose. If there are no preconditions, then our alliance will be meaningless.”
After hearing that the French asked Buckmin to persuade, but actually to warn, Boris knew that this was a manifestation of France's dissatisfaction with Russia's expansion in the Balkans. Now he knew that France would not support the Russians too much this time, although
With little hope, he could only place his hope on the British.
In the evening of the same day, Boris visited British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey, hoping to get support from him. Although the British also supported Greece behind the scenes, they were obviously unwilling to get too involved in the Albanian issue.
Without the support of the two allies, Boris knows that this time around the Albanian issue, he probably can only follow the opinions of Austria-Hungary and Italy. The most he can do is win some territory for them, and Serbia's eager port is helpless.
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Sure enough, in the subsequent negotiations, Russia, Austria-Hungary and Italy took the lead, and the two sides repeatedly negotiated the Albania issue. In the end, according to the opinions of Austria-Hungary and Italy, Albania was separated and independent, and Germany sent a prince to serve as king.
.Russian representative Boris fought for Seville to transfer Albania's Kosovo to Serbia, and Greece received the northern Epirus region. This made both countries very dissatisfied, and a new crisis was brewing.
