Chapter 281: International Reaction (Bonus Chapter)
After the outbreak of the Near East War, the Ottoman Empire moved its capital to Ankara. Compared to Constantinople, Ankara was truly a remote and small city.
Located in an inland mountainous area with limited transportation and a population of only tens of thousands, it has less than half the population of the Ottoman governments government staff. Its only advantage was that it was easy to defend but difficult to attack.
The Ottoman government, in keeping with the principle of safety first, has decisively chosen this location. Regarding the issue of limited transportation, railways can be built and both Britain and France are very willing to help.
Despite the modernization reforms, the barbaric nature of the Ottoman Empire remained unchanged. After the failure of the Near East War, the nobles, who had suffered losses due to Abdulmejid Is reforms, launched a counterattack.
They denounced the reforms of Abdulmejid I and advocated the restoration of the traditional feudal religious system, claiming that the reforms had made the Ottoman Empire vulnerable.
These are superficial excuses; the deeper reason is that Ottoman nobles and bureaucrats in the Balkans have lost everything and now want a piece of the pie in Anatolia.
There is no room for compromise in the struggle for interests, so naturally, the two sides cannot come to an agreement. As soon as the Vienna System was established and the countrys own security was confirmed, the two factions began to fight.
For now, the reformist faction led by Abdulmejid I still has the upper hand, although this advantage is also the result of outside influence.
As the saying goes, the debtor is the master; the Ottoman government owes a huge debt to Britain and France. If they were to collapse, it is uncertain whether this debt could be repaid.
This is also why the Austrian government has set its sights on the Ottomans; those who lag behind are bound to suffer. The current Ottoman Empire is clearly in decline and has become a great target.
Ankara
Foreign Minister Fuad solemnly said, Your Majesty, the Austrian government has sent an official diplomatic note requesting the purchase of Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus, the Dodecanese Islands...and sovereignty over Libya.
The Austrian Navy has already taken action, forcibly landing on Crete and expelling our officials from the island.
As early as half a year ago, the Austrian government had made territorial purchase demands to the Ottoman government. But at that time, the Austrian government was still reasonable. Under the intervention of Great Britain and France, the two sides failed to reach an agreement, but it was left at that.
News of the Indian rebellion had not yet reached Ankara. The Ottoman government was completely unaware that the British were distracted.
This information disadvantage affected the judgment of the Ottoman government. When Abdulmejid I heard this news, he was immediately furious.
This is simply outrageous! Even if the Ottoman Empire has declined, a broken ship still has three catties worth of nails. How could such a vast empire suddenly collapse?
Immediately invite Britain and France to mediate, and at the same time send a strong protest to the Austrian government, demanding that they abide by the rules of the Vienna System!
Theres no other way; we only have three nails left. We cant throw them all out at once, can we? With the Ottoman Navy as it is, it is impossible to win a battle. Its better to protest diplomatically.
Foreign Minister Fuad quickly responded, Yes, Your Majesty.
After the Near East War, the Vienna System had been quite hostile to the Ottoman Empire. Foreign Minister Fuads position has been unstable ever since.
The main reason why he was able to remain in this position was political necessity. The Ottoman Empire lacked diplomatic talents, and even fewer were qualified to become foreign ministers.
Fuad is a leader of the pro-British faction supported by John Bull. In addition, its clear to everyone that at the Vienna Peace Conference, the Great Powers are in complete control and there is no room for them to negotiate. Thats how he managed to keep his position.
Under such circumstances, he has no choice but to be cautious. If he were to incur the displeasure of Abdulmejid I, he would be finished.
London
The British government received news of the Indian rebellion even before the Austrian government, and preparations to put down the rebellion were already underway.
Upon receiving the request for help from the Ottoman government, Grenville frowned and said, We tried to keep the news under wraps, but it seems it has been exposed sooner than expected.
Chancellor of the Exchequer John Russell shrugged his shoulders and remarked, Nothing is surprising about it. As soon as any news is discussed in Parliament, it becomes an open secret.
It wont be long before its in the London papers. Its not difficult for the Austrians to receive the news.
This is the situation in Great Britain. Major events require parliamentary discussion, and once they are discussed in Parliament, they become public knowledge. The mouths of parliamentarians are essentially loose.
That they were able to keep it secret for a few days shows their integrity, but in fact, by the time they discussed it, the news had already been published in the London newspapers.
Grenville thought for a moment and said, Well, lets leave the leak issue at that. Its not our fault, its a problem of the system. The problem now is that since the Austrians are aware of the Indian rebellion, I can safely assume that most European countries are aware of this news as well.
The original plan to quell the rebellion in the shortest possible time, denying them any opportunity, is clearly no longer feasible. How does everyone think we should handle this?
The importance of India to the British Empire is self-evident; without India, British hegemony would collapse.
At that time, Australia was still a penal colony, the colony of New Zealand had just been established, South Africa was only a transit station, and Canada had not yet developed.
Without India as a major market and source of raw materials, the British industrial advantage would quickly diminish as their small and resource-poor homeland could not sustain their hegemony.
This was a well-known fact, and there were many who envied the British hegemony. Even if they did not dare to challenge it directly, it was inevitable that they would take advantage of the situation to make some small moves.
Austria was just the first to jump out. Killing the chicken to scare the monkey was an option, but the prerequisite was that the chicken couldnt fly away. If the chicken wasnt killed, it would backfire.
Foreign Secretary Thomas replied, Prime Minister, India is our Achilles heel, and now that a crisis has arisen, our enemies will come out of the woodwork.
However, there are many contradictions between the various countries; they are suspicious of each other and afraid of becoming the next victim. They do not dare to challenge us directly.
The Austrians are likely using the Ottomans as a raft to test our reaction. Since they want to test us, we might as well play along.
Lets delay using negotiations for now. As long as we can crush the Indian rebellion in the shortest possible time, they will retreat on their own.
This is a fact. If the British government can crush the Indian rebellion within a few months, Franz will be forced to retreat.
John Russell reminded him, Mr. Thomas, dont forget the Russians. While other countries may fear our retaliation, the Russian government wont.
At the moment, they are still supporting the Persians against us, so it wouldnt be surprising if they also supported the Indian rebellion. There may even be Russian involvement behind this Indian rebellion.
There is no way around it: unlike the Crimean War in history, the Russian government was nominally victorious in the Near East War, even though it suffered heavy losses.
This preserves the pride of the Russian government. As victors, they cannot bow down to the British. The power struggle between Great Britain and Russia continued.
If they didnt make trouble now, would the Russian Bear still be the Russian Bear? The British could not intimidate the Russians now, even an economic blockade would not work.
After a brief pause, Thomas calmly explained, Of course, the Russians are still as annoying as ever. However, the Russian government is notorious for its inefficiency. By the time they take action to intervene in India, I believe this farce will be over.
The routes through Central Asia are not easy either. Given the reputation of the Russian government, neither Afghanistan nor Persia would dare grant the Russians passage unless they could fight all the way there.
I dont think the Russian government has the financial resources to fight such a war. At most, they could send military advisors and provide weapons and equipment to the rebels.
This may be a minor inconvenience to us, but even if the Indians are armed, their fighting capability remains negligible.
Upon hearing this explanation, Grenvilles expression changed, and he said seriously, What if someone provides funding to the Russians?
Everyones expression turned ugly. Russias greatest weakness was its finances. If someone with money supported them, the situation would change immediately.
Chancellor of the Exchequer John Russell spoke up and said, At present, there are only two parties capable of funding the Russians: the French and the Austrians. If the Foreign Office can keep them in check, there shouldnt be a problem.
As he said this, he mentally cursed the capitalists in London. Just when they decided not to lend money, they found themselves in a situation where they had just lent money to the Austrians.
If it werent for the huge construction bonds issued recently by the Austrian government, only the French would be able to support the Russians. So, relatively speaking, half the problem would have already been solved.
Money earmarked for a specific purpose, how much were politicians promises worth? Not breaking the contract was only a matter of insufficient benefits. Once the benefits were sufficient, a change of heart could happen in a matter of minutes.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Thomas forced himself to calm down. After a long pause, he said slowly:
The situation is not as bad as it seems. Neither the French nor the Austrians want the Russians to become too powerful.
If the Russians were to swallow India, Austria would be the first to bear the brunt and would be under enormous pressure. The Austrian government must have considered this.
In such circumstances, the Austrian government is most likely to use this as leverage and engage in a trade of interests with us.
The French just fought a battle with the Russians, so even if they want to mend relations, it will take time. Its not something that can be done overnight.
We can use our influence within the French government to stir up internal conflicts and prevent this from happening.
This explanation eased everyones expressions a bit. As long as it wasnt the worst-case scenario, everything was manageable. They were experts at negotiating the exchange of interests.
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