Mediterranean Hegemony Road

In the summer and autumn of 1887, Bismarck and Salisbury extended the Mediterranean Agreement to the Balkans.

In December, Britain, Italy, and Austria exchanged notes, and the second Mediterranean Agreement was signed, an alliance aimed at Russia's Near East issue was established.

This was the adjustment made by Bismarck to the alliance system, which facilitated the mutual restraint between Britain, Italy, Austria, France, and Russia in the Near East, without causing France and Russia to form an alliance, and ensuring Germany's position in the European continent.

Since the late 1880s, the Three Emperors Alliance has gradually collapsed, but Germany has established alliances with Russia and Austria.

After Besmarck stepped down in March 1890, the successor's foreign policy changed, and the alliance system came to an end.

Germany's new line is foreign, and the most important one is that the German-Russian Reinsurance Treaty is not extended.

After Germany tore up the German-Russian Reinsurance Treaty, Russia's diplomatic situation became increasingly severe. Forced to move closer to France, the two countries started alliance negotiations since 1891. Due to mutual distrust between France and Russia, the Franco-Russian alliance was not formally established until 1894.

Under the leadership of Germany's New Line, in July 1890, the British and German Helgoland-Zanzibar Treaty settled the dispute over the colonial issue between the two countries.

Considered at the time a major concession from Germany, the purpose was to draw Britain into the Triple Alliance.

From 1890 to 1894, Germany repeatedly urged Britain to expand its obligations under the Mediterranean Agreement. Demonstrations in the Mediterranean showed the world that the four countries are in harmony.

In this context, Ferdinand sent Archbishop Clemente to visit Russia with the main purpose: firstly, to appease the mainstream pro-Russian factions; secondly, to improve the relationship between Russia and Bulgaria, and to hug his thighs without paying much.

Time is running out, and in a few months BP will step down and Germany will tear up the German-Russian Reinsurance Treaty. If Russia wants to break the diplomatic deadlock, it is logical to win over Bulgaria.

In fact, since the establishment of the Three Emperors Alliance, there have been many contradictions, especially the contradictions between Russia and Austria are difficult to reconcile.

In 1885, there was an uprising in Eastern Rumelia, the people expelled the administrative officials of Ottoman Turkey, announced the merger with the Bulgarian Principality, and Duke Alexander was established as the monarch of the merged country.

It was originally just a move for Bulgarian national independence. Under the intervention of European powers, in order to gain control of Bulgaria, it caused the Bulgarian crisis that lasted for two years.

The Principality of Bulgaria was the main position retained in the Balkans after the Russo-Turkish War of 1878. In 1881, there was an agreement on the unification of Bulgaria in the Three Emperors' Alliance, but due to changes in the relationship between Russia and Bulgaria, Russia could not continue to control the Bulgarian puppet regime.

Archduke Alexander, a descendant of the nobility of the small German state, is the nephew of the Russian empress. In 1879, with the support of the Tsar, he became the monarch of the Bulgarian Principality.

After Grand Duke Alexander came to power, he gradually expressed dissatisfaction with the arrogance of Russian officials in Bulgaria, and the two sides negotiated many times to no avail. In order to get rid of Russia's control, Grand Duke Alexander's anti-Russian moves became more and more obvious.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire was an alliance with Russia, it did not want to see Russia's monopoly on Bulgaria, so it and Alexander began to move closer to each other.

After the breakdown of the relationship between Russia and Bulgaria, Russia, seeing that it could no longer control the Bulgarian government, began to hinder the unification of Bulgaria, and threatened to withdraw its officers and disintegrate the Bulgarian military power.

At the same time, he asked other major powers to jointly put pressure on Bulgaria to force Archduke Alexander to dissolve Bulgaria.

At the meeting of the great powers, Austria-Hungary stood on the Russian side under the mediation of Germany, but was resisted by the British, because the German and Austrian positions were not firm.

In the end, the two sides reached a compromise.

With Archduke Alexander as governor of Eastern Rumelia, Bulgaria was virtually unified, and Turkey retained its nominal sovereignty.

It's not over yet, the merger of Bulgaria has attracted the prying eyes of small countries such as Greece and Serbia, hoping for territorial compensation.

The King of Milan of Serbia visited Vienna in September, hoping that the territory would be supported by Austria-Hungary. When seen at the meeting of the great powers, can not get support after.

In November, Serbia sent troops to invade Bulgaria, but the outcome was unexpected. The Serbian army, which had an absolute advantage, was defeated by Bulgaria. The Bulgarian army took the opportunity to occupy some important towns in Serbia.

In order to safeguard its interests in the Balkans, the Austro-Hungarian Empire intervened in the Bulgarian War. Forced Bulgaria to withdraw, but excluded Russia. At the same time, the defeat of Serbia also led to the rise of pro-Russian factions, laying a hidden danger for the contradiction between Russia and Austria.

Unwilling to fail, Russia planned a coup d'état and overthrew the rule of Archduke Alexander. However, due to the intervention of Britain and Austria, the situation exceeded Russia's control, Ferdinand was established as the new Grand Duke, and the relationship between Russia and Austria deteriorated.

The German-Russian relationship was not as good as expected, and conflicts broke out between the two sides over trade issues. The entry of cheap Russian agricultural products into the German market affected the interests of the Junkers aristocrats. Under their intervention, heavy taxes were imposed on Russian agricultural products; Russia also retaliated by imposing heavy taxes on German industrial products, and the German-Russian trade conflict broke out.

In November 1887, Germany banned the securities of domestic banks from Russia, and the German capital market was closed to Russia, prompting Russia to invest in France, and the German-Russian alliance began to come to an end.

At the end of November 1889, the Bulgarian diplomatic mission arrived in St. Petersburg. The following month, Archbishop Scriment was received by Alexander III, and the four-year-old diplomatic stalemate between Bulgaria and Russia began to dawn.

At the same time, Ferdinand, who was familiar with the face of the foreign powers, was forced to admit that he signed secret agreements with Britain and Austria-Hungary during the Stam government.

Britain and Austria have obtained preferential rights to Bulgaria's foreign trade, and both sides only need to pay extremely low tariffs. Considering the industrial gap between the two sides, it is extremely unfair to Bulgaria.

At the same time, because the tariffs were mortgaged, the power of Britain and Austria began a new round of penetration into Bulgaria. Paying a heavy price, Ferdinand's government won the support of Britain and Austria, and the relationship between the two sides has been further developed.

In the long run, Britain and Austria, by virtue of their industrial advantages, have an advantage in Bulgarian trade, which has attacked the development of the Bulgarian national bourgeoisie.

Fortunately, Ferdinand was preparing to develop state capitalism from the very beginning, relying on the inclination of policy, the overall planning of resources and the competition of foreign powers. There is no plan to rely on the bourgeoisie to become a powerful country, otherwise it will be difficult for Bulgaria to develop.