Mediterranean Hegemony Road

On July 4, 1897, the London negotiations were held as scheduled, and delegations from various countries gathered in London, setting off a new round of political and diplomatic games!

As the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Constantine naturally became the head of the Balkan League delegation.

On the first day of the negotiation, due to the huge gap between the conditions offered by the two parties, the negotiation soon failed!

Constantine made the following demands to the Ottoman Empire on behalf of the Balkan League

1. The Ottoman Empire gave up all the territory in Europe including Constantinople;

2. Immediate withdrawal of troops from Greece;

3. To be responsible for the Ottoman Empire’s enslavement of various ethnic groups in the Balkans for hundreds of years. The specific requirement is to make a public apology and compensate the economic losses of each ethnic group totaling 200 million pounds;

4. Take full responsibility for the Balkan War, and pay 3,000 pounds of war reparations to the Balkan Allies, namely 15 million pounds for Bulgaria, 13 million pounds for Greece, and 2 million pounds for Monte Negro;

5. Recognize the independence of Bulgaria and Montenegro;

6. Ceded Crete to Greece;

...

The Ottoman Empire stated that except for the fifth article that can recognize the independence of Bulgaria and Montenegro, other articles are unacceptable!

The Foreign Minister of the Ottoman Empire, Harim Pasha, also clearly rejected the claims for compensation and land cession in Articles 1, 3, and 4, but he agreed to withdraw troops from Greece conditionally.

And also made the request of the Ottoman Empire

1. Request Bulgaria and Monte Negro to immediately withdraw from the territory of the Ottoman Empire and restore the pre-war borders;

2. Require the Balkan Alliance to compensate the Ottoman Empire for 35 million pounds in war losses;

3. Demand that the Balkan countries stop all hostile actions against the Ottoman Empire and surrender political prisoners who have been asylum;

...

Well, both sides have opened their mouths to the lion, which can be regarded as testing each other.

If it is said that the Balkan Alliance made these demands based on the fact that it already has a dominant position in the military,

And on the premise that they have already eaten the territory of the European region of the Ottoman Empire!

Then the Ottoman Empire made these demands in accordance with the provisions of the Mediterranean Agreement!

Although Harim Pasha is also very clear, neither Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece, nor the Ottoman Empire is a party to the Mediterranean Agreement.

But now the Ottomans still shamelessly took it out as a legal basis!

Just because in the second Mediterranean Agreement, Britain, Austria, and Italy jointly agreed to maintain the status quo in the Near East, protect the Black Sea Strait, confirm Turkey's suzerainty over Bulgaria and Asia Minor, and jointly resist the growth of Russia's influence in Turkey!

Now, in order to gain the support of the United Kingdom and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Harim Pasha did not hesitate to pull the tiger skin of the Mediterranean Agreement!

But this is not enough to make Ferdinand make concessions for this, because the Mediterranean Agreement is not binding on the British, and the agreement does not stipulate specific military obligations for the British!

And now it is impossible for the British to take millet from the fire for the Ottoman Empire. South Africa is an indispensable member of the British Empire's world hegemony!

Especially financial hegemony, if there is not enough gold in the gold standard era, the currency status of the pound will not be guaranteed! In contrast, the interests of the British in the Balkans are much smaller!

Not to mention the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the surging national movement at the end of the 19th century not only suffered from the Ottoman Empire, but also the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which is also a multi-ethnic country!

Although it has not yet developed to the point of rebellion, it has also restricted the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At least the Hungarians will not support the government to continue to expand to the Balkans now!

After the negotiations reached an impasse, Constantine visited representatives of France and Russia respectively, and after receiving accurate information, he went to visit British Prime Minister Salisbury.

At this time, they bumped into each other awkwardly with Ottoman Foreign Minister Harim Pasha. The two glared at each other and were invited into the living room together.

Constantine thought to himself, what the hell! This time I collided with the Ottomans, and I will probably return in vain!

The British Prime Minister laughed when he received the news. He was still thinking about what the British Empire could gain from this negotiation. Now that the Bulgarians and the Ottomans have come to the door together, what could be more beneficial than letting the two bid for each other? so big?

The result is self-evident, in the face of the British looting, both the Balkan Alliance and the Ottoman Empire have shed a layer of skin.

As for the harvest? Then I can only hehe! Anyway, it is very in line with the habits of John Bull!

...

Negotiations belong to negotiations, and the Battle of Constantinople will continue. Originally, Ferdinand thought that the two sides would have a truce during the negotiations, and ordered the First Army to suspend the attack. In fact, it proved that he was thinking too much!

The Russians made it clear that it's okay to continue fighting. When Constantinople is captured, this negotiation will almost come to an end!

Well, now Ferdinand understands that in this day and age, it is undoubtedly a dream to expect the great powers to be virtuous. Especially the big rogue Mao Xiong among the great powers, let alone it!

That being the case, let's fight!

Having received the order, the First Army once again launched a strong attack on Constantinople.

Sure enough, after Harim Pasha got the news, he immediately protested to Bulgaria, accusing Bulgaria of violating the cessation agreement and launching an attack during the peace conference!

Prime Minister Constantine immediately said that this was just a small conflict. The soldiers on both sides have been fighting for so long, and the brains of the people are like pigs!

Just a little spark, both sides can fight, not because the Bulgarian army is better at fighting, we should be responsible for it!

To solve this problem, the best way is to complete the negotiation as soon as possible and sign a peace treaty as soon as possible to avoid this situation from happening again!

Regarding this point, both the Russians and the French have the right to speak. The military observers they sent took photos as evidence, showing that this was just a misunderstanding!

Well, the Ottomans can also produce evidence, but this issue is not important, and no one can rely on bullshit to do anything!

Whispering is all about wrangling, the battle still has to be fought, and now Eder Pasha's life is beyond his control!

An adjutant hurried over and said nervously, General, Bulgaria has started to attack again, and our defense line is about to fail!

Edel Pasha said lightly, Understood, order the frontline troops to continue to defend, and at night, use the cover of night to retreat to the next line of defense alternately!

Everything is so understatement, after a series of defeats, now Edel Pasha is used to defeat, and now it seems that no matter what happens, he can no longer move him!

General, since the Bulgarians blocked the coastline, we have not received supplies for more than half a month!

Edel Pasha nodded, and said weakly, Got it! Tell the soldiers that now is the critical moment for our negotiations, and tell everyone to persevere!

After saying these words, Edel Pasha suddenly had an ominous premonition, as if something bad was about to happen.

After thinking and thinking, I still didn't think of anything, I simply didn't think about it, it was nothing more than a defeat somewhere, when the battlefield became a habit, it was no big deal for Edel Pasha!

...

Damn it, just give us this, two potatoes is my dinner? a teenager complained

Okay, it's good to have two potatoes for dinner, or because we are a front-line army, or there is only one? Now the passage between us and the country has been cut off. In order to save food, All the troops have reduced their supplies! A veteran said cheerfully

Then what about the officers? Are they the same as us? the boy asked suspiciously

Such an idiotic question, do you still need to ask? Can the nobles be the same as us? Even our platoon leader, the sesame-sized officials, don't eat alone? The veteran said disdainfully

Damn it! the boy said harshly.

Be careful, the Bulgarians are about to attack again! the veteran said nervously

After a long period of fighting, both the morale and combat effectiveness of the Ottoman army have dropped very badly!

At this moment, facing the attack of the First Army, the first thought of the Ottoman soldiers was not to repel the enemy's attack, but how to save their lives!

The most obvious manifestation is that fewer and fewer Ottoman soldiers were killed by the First Army, and more and more Ottoman soldiers were captured. Of course, the number of casualties on our side has also decreased, which can be regarded as saving Ferdinand a lot of expenses!

Time flies, and in August, the resistance of the Ottomans has become weaker and weaker. In many places, established Ottoman troops have voluntarily walked out of the fortress and surrendered to the First Army.

They are all starving, the supply line has been cut off since the end of June, and now it is August, no matter how much we save, there is still not enough food!

If we work together and starve together, we can still lead the soldiers to fight to the death, regardless of whether we win or lose!

It's a pity that the Ottoman army couldn't do this. No matter how short of food they were, they never lacked the supplies of officers. Sharing weal and woe has never been the style of aristocratic gentlemen!

On the evening of August 14, after the last line of defense fell, Eder Pasha, the supreme commander of Constantinople of the Ottoman Empire, committed suicide by drinking a bullet!

So far, the Battle of Constantinople, which lasted for more than two months, with nearly 600,000 troops invested by both sides and more than 200,000 casualties, finally came to a successful conclusion!

After the Battle of Constantinople, the progress of the negotiations in London was obviously much faster.

It seems that they have understood that failure is inevitable, and the Ottomans are no longer asking for prices; similarly, now that Ferdinand does not want the war to continue, Constantine is making corresponding concessions!

Although it is still far away from reaching an agreement, the progress of the two parties is still remarkable!

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