Mediterranean Hegemony Road

Ferdinand did not dare to gamble, he knew that Germany's opposition was only against France. In August 1895, William II and the Marquis of Salisbury met in Kuwait. Germany made it clear that they would not be interested in Turkey. As long as the plan was divided, the British would leave France behind and the two sides would further negotiate!

It was an accident in history. The Marquis of Salisbury was delayed, he did not attend the second Kuwait meeting, he lost the opportunity to have in-depth communication with William II, and the British and German lost the best opportunity for cooperation. !

There was no in-depth communication between Britain and Germany, and the Germans made a strategic misjudgment, believing that in order to get rid of the diplomatic deadlock, the British compromised with France and Russia in the Near East, which would increase the chances of the Franco-Russian alliance attacking Germany on the European continent.

The road to the British-German alliance was interrupted before it even started!

None of this has happened yet, and Ferdinand doesn't know what the future will hold. Once Britain and Germany move closer, where will the world pattern go?

After all, Germany at the end of the 19th century did not yet have the strength to challenge the British, and the empire on which the sun never sets was still developing rapidly.

Look at a set of data to know:

From 1890 to 1900, the UK's GDP increased by 34% in this decade, and Germany's GDP growth rate was exactly 34%!

Due to the gap in the base, the comprehensive strength of the two sides has not only not decreased, but has continued to increase. The British have obvious advantages!

During this period, in the hearts of the British, the biggest enemy was Russia, followed by France, and even the United States was ahead of Germany. The British had not yet felt the threat of the Germans to its hegemony!

Of course, Germany did not have the confidence to challenge the British. The pressure of the Franco-Russian alliance was enough to make the Germans concentrate on developing the army! Build a big navy? Germans are not so proud yet!

In order to stop this partition plan, the main targets are still Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, and we can only start from these countries.

There are good ways, Ferdinand does not, but there are still stupid ways. The simplest and most practical way is to intensify the contradictions between countries!

It is precisely the contradictions between these four countries that constitute the main contradiction in the current world. There are too many conflicts between the parties!

Ferdinand knew that although the conflict between Britain and Russia was serious, since the strategic center of gravity of the Russian Empire moved eastward, the conflict between the two countries has eased a lot, and it is unlikely that it will break out!

Not to mention the conflict between Germany and France, there is no need to provoke, both sides will stumble upon each other whenever there is a chance, and there is no room for Ferdinand to intervene.

The rest is the contradiction between Britain and France and the conflict between Britain and Germany. It is too risky to sow discord. Ferdinand has no intention of doing it himself. Few people in the world can bear the anger of Britain, France and Germany!

Then you can only use Yang Conspiracy to create an event to attract the attention of the foreign powers!

Dead Daoist friends do not die poor Daoists!

Ferdinand first thought of the Anglo-Boer War, which occurred between 1899 and 1902. The British and the Boers fought for the dominion of South Africa. A war broke out!

No way, who called South Africa too rich?

In 1867, the discovery of diamonds in South Africa by descendants of the Dutch caused a sensation in the world, and treasure hunters flocked to it.

In 1869, another large diamond, worth 625,000 francs, was discovered, which made Europeans more convinced that South Africa had rich treasures, which led to an unprecedented frenzy of finding diamonds.

In 1884 and 1886, the world's most abundant gold mines were discovered in Transvaal, which set off a gold tide in Europe.

The British colonial authorities in Cape, in order to monopolize the diamond-producing area, began to annex the land of South Africa: the annexation of the diamond-producing area Sigligaland in 1871; the annexation of the Boer Republic of Natalia in 1877; the annexation of all the cards in 1877-1878 Flaria and Walvers Bay to the northwest.

In order to prevent the Boers from developing to the eastern coastal areas, the United Kingdom prepared to seize Zululand in 1878 and wiped out the country of the Zulu people. In 1887, Britain annexed Zululand.

After the defeat of the Zulu, a conflict between the British and the Boers was inevitable. In 1880, the British annexed the Transvaal region, but in 1881 Britain had to withdraw from the Transvaal region after its defeat in the Battle of Majubai.

Shortly thereafter, a large number of gold deposits were discovered in the Transvaal area, followed by British gold prospectors from the Cape and Natal areas to the area, thousands of British people began to settle in the area and Petitions for suffrage and equal taxation - but no success. As a result, the situation in the region has become very tense.

In the early 1990s, the British South African Company expanded its territory to the Congolese border, and the British African Lake District Company occupied Nyasaland, thus uniting the British colonies in South Africa.

Rhodes, the Prime Minister of the British and South African colonies, clamored that the British would conquer the world and realize the so-called Cape-Cairo plan in Africa, which was an attempt to integrate the British North and South Africa into one.

By the mid-1990s, the only obstacle to Rhodes' Cape-Cairo imperialist project was the two Boer republics, Transvaal and Orange.

Rhodes is organizing foreign immigrants from Johannesburg to subvert the rule of President Kruger of the Transvaal Republic from the inside, while preparing an armed attack from the outside.

From December 1895 to January 1896, the Rhodes faction launched a sneak attack on the Transvaal Republic from the west, which was completely smashed by Kruger.

In order to safeguard their interests, the Boers moved closer to Germany against Britain. The contradiction between Yingbo became increasingly acute, and a large-scale war was brewing.

To put it simply, the situation in South Africa is on the verge of breaking out, and the British plan to carve up Turkey now is to stabilize the rear and concentrate on fighting for South Africa, the largest gold producing area in the world!

Knowing that South Africa is so rich, how could Ferdinand not get a piece of the pie? As early as 1885, when the United Mining Company was established, it entered the staking area in South Africa, and was not in a hurry to mine, and first got the land ownership.

A few years ago, Ferdinand's intelligence organization also extended its tentacles into South Africa. After several years of operation, it now has a certain strength.

There is no doubt about the contradiction between the British and the Boers. As long as the gold mines in South Africa are still there, it is impossible to ease them. In the face of huge interests, the British cannot let go anyway, and the Boers are also unwilling to give up the wealth they have acquired!

The two sides only need a spark, and the war will break out, and all Ferdinand has to do now is to detonate this spark.

On this issue, Rhodes, the Prime Minister of the British South African colony, is the best ally, or the British capitalists behind him are the best ally.

On the issue of pushing Britain to go to war with the Boers, everyone has the same interests, and there are many common topics to speak of. Under the guidance of the United Mining Company, the capitalists who are eyeing South Africa's gold mines are connected with each other!